Hi, just wanted share this. I had my car in for oil change today and asked the service rep to have the PCM reflashed. I was told that the PCM reflash was now a "recall". I think this is good news for those having hard time getting the M flash :)

I'll believe it when I get the letter in the mail......

I just asked them a few weeks ago if they heard of the M-flash recall, and had it been done to my 8. He said no and cheerfully made an appointment. My problem with this is that after he did it I found no sticker anywhere on my car, and it doesn't feel any different. Mileage is approx. the same too. Is there any other way to tell that I can test myself?

OH MY LORD!!!! IT IS NOT A RECALL!! it is MAZDA SPECIAL PROGRAM-MSP04. it was issued on 6/2/04 recalls are for safety issues and are mandated by the government. This is not. But it does show up as warrenty work that HAS to be done when they put your vin in the system when you go in for service. and they also have to do all dealer inventory. You will not get a letter.

read (http://www.rx8club.com/search.php?searchid=42336)

also print oout and read the Bulletin here (http://www.finishlineperformance.com/rx8/docs/01-022-04.html)

i hate it when dealerships spread around false information because they are too lazy to take the time to understand what the hell they are talking about.

I tried to get the M flash with my dealer on the 22nd of July. My work order shows MSPO4 completed. Does this mean I got the M flash?

I tried the oil pressure test check without success. Maybe i'm doing that wrong. Or, I did it right and the dealer is lying to me.

Steve

I tried to get the M flash with my dealer on the 22nd of July. My work order shows MSPO4 completed. Does this mean I got the M flash?

I tried the oil pressure test check without success. Maybe i'm doing that wrong. Or, I did it right and the dealer is lying to me.

Steve

if they said they completed it you got the M flash. as far as the test make sure you tap the pedal at least the minimum amount of times.

I'm supposed to tap the brake pedal 20 times with ignition in the "on" position, correct?

And the oil pressure gauge does a sweep, yes?

steve

My dealer had told me the same thing but i'll believe when i get a letter.

I'm sure zoom44 is correct. A recall is for when safety concerns are compromised. Recalls are meant to get a problem fixed asap, using measures such as mailings and news media reporting to inform the public about the problem and how to get it corrected asap.

The m flash has zero safety concerns, so it need not be treated as a recall. They're gonna see that all rx-8's get it. There's just no urgency to it.

I'm supposed to tap the brake pedal 20 times with ignition in the "on" position, correct?

And the oil pressure gauge does a sweep, yes?

steve

yep but i had to tap mine like 21 or 22 times.

if it does not work.. then your dealer did not do it.. Mine did the same thing.. had to take it back and did the break test infront of the service writer. My invoce said "recalibrated to "m" .

OK if Mazda and/or your Mazda dealer is to send you a letter of recall. Then why did I not get one for my Airbags?... It was not till my engin light was on about the time of my first oil change that my Mazda dealer had all my recall work pulled on my 8.

they are not allowed to sell you that car if the Air bag recall was not done before you took it home.. IF they did do this then tell the Owner of the Lot that you are going to inform the D.A. .... MY 8 was recalled on the dock in Longbeach before any dealer even got it. IT was not allowed into the Country untill the recall had been done. YOu should see a Port of entry recall sticker under the hood.

they are not allowed to sell you that car if the Air bag recall was not done before you took it home.. IF they did do this then tell the Owner of the Lot that you are going to inform the D.A. .... MY 8 was recalled on the dock in Longbeach before any dealer even got it. IT was not allowed into the Country untill the recall had been done. YOu should see a Port of entry recall sticker under the hood.
Wow. I have the paper work with all the recall work on my 8. The lish of them is; air bag, MFLASH, Oil light and one more I cant think of.

I'll believe it when I get the letter in the mail......

I never got any letters about the previous recalls, either. I got my touchup paint, though, so I know they have the right address.

Who's supposed to send recalls out? The dealer, or Mazda?

Wow. I have the paper work with all the recall work on my 8. The lish of them is; air bag, MFLASH, Oil light and one more I cant think of.
was it done after you took the car home ? or before they sold it to you ?

I never got any letters about the previous recalls, either. I got my touchup paint, though, so I know they have the right address.

Who's supposed to send recalls out? The dealer, or Mazda?
MAZDA USA will send you Recalls and such.. But there not going to because they think the cars are being fixed when the Dealer finds a buyer for them. The Dealers wont fix um until they have a Buyer to write the warranty work off on. That suxs but it the way it is..
Now the Air Bag stuff is supposed to be done before the Dealer can sell it.. By law. That's the only real safety recall . Besides the Dampener issue that also has to be done before the car can be sold. That is all assuming the dealer knew about the recalls before it was sold! So if you had one that was sold before Mazda released the recall, it is possible that you might be driving one around still...

I'm supposed to tap the brake pedal 20 times with ignition in the "on" position, correct?

And the oil pressure gauge does a sweep, yes?

steve

It's not really "taps". It's more like pump the brakes 20+ times. The pedal gets pretty hard after the first few presses so you have to be very deliberate and be prepared to press hard. If you don't press hard enough it won't register. That's why it can take more than 20 times.

I never got any letters about the previous recalls, either. I got my touchup paint, though, so I know they have the right address.

Who's supposed to send recalls out? The dealer, or Mazda?

I, Claudius - I like the King Crimson references. Now I have to fire up the turntable and play some vintage vinyl.

hehehhe

I live in FL where I bought my RX-8 new July of 2004. Naturally after buying the car I researched online to see what others were paying for the car, I guess to rid myself of buyer's remorse (but driving the car actually did that for me). That is how I found this great site and found out about the M flash. A week later I went back to have analignment done. I asked my service mgr about the flash. He then showed me the service history (since they've had the car since Sept 2003) which the M Flash was done June 2004.

So I guess voluntary flash updates vary from dealer to dealer.

This message is intended for the Court of the Crimson King: (:))

I have recieved the letter of recall for:
2004 RX-8 Passenger's Front Air Bag Recall 1604B-b
and also,
2004 RX-8 with Manual Transmission Dynamic Damper Recall 1704B
which were both sent-out March '04.

Those are the only official recalls to-date. The oil pan issue and others are merely TSB's.

I also recieved the book, the mug & thermos & the sweet little 1:24 scale model RX-8.

I did NOT however recieve the touch-up paint, which I think is actually an optional thing that the dealers are doing. (and mine didn't :()

Make sure you're in the Mazda system by emailing rx8orders [rx8orders@mazdausa.com].

Hmmm... I think I still have that album too, lemme go see... :)

was it done after you took the car home ? or before they sold it to you ?
Like a month after I took my 8 home?...

I just took in my 8 for the oil change.. My service adviser told me.."We will also do the M reflash as per mazda". I do not think it is a bonified "recall" BUT they want to upgrade older 8.. ( I have had mine since August of 03. ) It was done w/ out a hassle. I had never had problems, but I figure it might help in some way. The A/C part is on backorder, but I still love my 8. :cool:

I did a little sloothing M flash is a offical TSB.

01-022/04 MAZDA SPECIAL PROGRAM (MSP04) - 2004 RX-8 - ENGINE NO START, LACK OF POWER, DTCS P2107, P2108, P2402 OR P0420 - POWERTRAIN CONTROL MODULE (PCM) REFLASH

APPLICABLE MODEL(S)/VINS

2004 RX-8 vehicles built prior to March 12, 2004



VIN Range: JM1FE17**40100001 - 40135536
DESCRIPTION

Some vehicles may experience the following concerns:



Engine fails to start (cranks but no start) at cold engine temperature. This is caused by flooded spark plugs due to slightly rich air/fuel ratio for cold starting.
Engine is hard to start after short distance drive without engine reaching normal operating temperature at cold ambient temperature. This is caused by lower engine compression due to seals icing by moisture inside engine.
Engine has lack of acceleration power and / or knocking when driving at more than approx. 6000 RPM or at high altitudes. This is caused by poor combustion gas sealing due to the lack of amount of oil supplied from the metering oil pump.
MIL illuminates with DTC P2107/2108 stored in memory. This is caused by sub CPU - main CPU communication error after jump-starting the engine due to dead battery.
MIL illuminates with DTC P2402 stored in memory. This is caused by improper threshold setting for DMTL motor electric current tolerance.
MIL illuminates with DTC P0420 stored in memory. This is caused by improper threshold setting for rear O2 sensor output tolerance. NOTE:


UNDER THE MAZDA SPECIAL PROGRAM (MSP04), ALL CURRENT DEALER INVENTORY AND RETAILED VEHICLES FOUND TO BE WITHIN THE ABOVE VIN RANGES, AND PRODUCED PRIOR TO MARCH 12, 2004, MUST BE INSPECTED AND REPAIRED ACCORDING TO THE INSTRUCTIONS CONTAINED IN THIS SERVICE BULLETIN. THIS INCLUDES CUSTOMERS WHO HAVE BROUGHT THEIR VEHICLE IN FOR NORMAL SCHEDULED MAINTENANCE AND/OR RECALL REPAIRS THAT MAY NOT BE RELATED TO THE CONCERNS OUTLINED IN THIS BULLETIN.
BEFORE PERFORMING ANY REPAIR, VALIDATE THAT THE VEHICLE IS APPLICABLE TO THIS PROGRAM BY PERFORMING AN "eMDCS WARRANTY VEHICLE INQUIRY" AND VERIFYING THE VEHICLE DISPLAYS CAMPAIGN "MSP04". SEE "VEHICLE INSPECTION PROCEDURE" BELOW.

DEALER INVENTORY:

Inspect and repair all current dealer inventory according to the procedures contained in this service bulletin.

RETAIL VEHICLES:

When a retail vehicle is brought into the dealer for any type of repair or scheduled maintenance, inspect and repair the vehicle according to the procedures contained in this service bulletin.

VEHICLE INSPECTION PROCEDURE


Verify the vehicle is within the following VIN range, AND built prior to March 12, 2004:

VIN Range: JM1FE17**40100001 - 40135536

If the vehicle is within the above VIN range, AND built prior to March 12, 2004, proceed to Step 1.
If the vehicle is not within the above VIN range, return the vehicle to the customer or inventory.



Perform a Vehicle Status Inquiry using your eMDCS System and inspect the vehicle for an Authorized Modification Label MSP04 attached to the vehicle's hood. NOTE: Verify the campaign number as the vehicle may have multiple labels.



eMDCS System - Vehicle Status Inquiry Results

If eMDCS displays:

Compaign Label is:

Action Required:

"Campaign: MSP04 Open"

Present

Contact the Mazda Corporate Dealer Assistance Group at (877) 727-6626 to update vehicle history

Not present

Proceed to "REPAIR PROCEDURE"

"Campaign: MSP04 Closed"

Present

Return vehicle to inventory or customer

Not present

Complete a label and apply it to vehicle's hood

"Campaign: MSP04 Open" or "Closed" is not displayed

Does not apply

Campaign does not apply to this vehicle. Return the vehicle to inventory or customer


REPAIR PROCEDURE


Verify vehicle is within VIN range and has not been previously reprogrammed to the "M" calibration level. NOTE: Current calibration level can be checked using WDS. After identifying vehicle, select "Log Viewer" icon (center icon) at the lower left section of the screen. Scroll down on WDS screen and locate "Filename:". The last digit of the "Filename" is the current calibration identifier. For example: SW-N3H4EK. Vehicles that are not at the "M" calibration (Examples: J, K, L) or later need to be programmed using this repair procedure.



Using WDS B30.6 or later software, reprogram the PCM to the latest calibration (refer to "Calibration Information" table) by following the "Module Reprogramming" procedure. NOTE:


Always update the WDS PTU first, then install the needed calibration file that WDS shows during PCM reprogramming. Go to "WDS Calibration" on ESI and download the "update" file. If the PTU is not updated to the latest WDS calibration level, the calibration file will not install into the PTU.
It is not necessary to remove any fuses or relays during PCM reprogramming when the WDS screen prompts you to do so. You may accidentally stop power to one of the PCM terminals and cause the PCM to be blanked, or you may receive error messages during the WDS reprogramming procedure.
WDS shows the calibration part numbers after programming the PCM.
Please be aware that PCM calibration part numbers and file names listed in any Service Bulletin may change due to future releases of WDS software, and additional revisions made to those calibrations for service related concerns.
When reprogramming a PCM, WDS will always display the "latest" calibration P/N available for that vehicle. If any calibration has been revised/updated to contain new information for a new service concern/issue, it will also contain all previously released calibrations.
When performing this procedure, if the WDS PTU is not docked and connected to 115V-120V, we recommend that a battery charger be installed on the vehicle battery and turned ON to a maximum charge of no more than 20 AMPS to keep the vehicle battery up to capacity. If you exceed 20 AMPS, it will damage the WDS PTU.


After performing the PCM reprogramming procedure, verify the repair by starting the engine and making sure there are no MIL illumination or abnormal warning lights present. NOTE: After PCM reprogramming, it is no longer necessary to road test the vehicle to "relearn" KAM (Keep Alive Memory).



Place an "Authorized Modification" label (P/N 9999-95-AMDC-97) with the new calibration information on the drivers side "A" pillar, near the door hinges.



Verify repair.

Complete the blue "Authorized Modification" label (9999-95-065A-00) with the Campaign number "MSP04" written on the sticker and affix it to the vehicle's hood.



Return the vehicle to the customer.
CALIBRATION INFORMATION

Transmission

New PCM Calibration Part Number

File Name

A/T

N3H4-18-881A

SW-N3H4EM000

M/T

N3H6-18-881A

SW-N3H6EM000



NOTE: The PCM Calibration Part Numbers listed above are provided for PCM reprogramming purposes only. These are not necessarily the same Mazda part numbers used to order an actual PCM through the Mazda Parts System. It is not necessary to order a PCM as part of this repair procedure.

WARRANTY INFORMATION

NOTE:



This warranty information applies only to verified customer complaints on vehicles eligible for warranty repair. Refer to the SRT microfiche for warranty term information.
Additional diagnostic time cannot be claimed for this repair.
Warranty Type

A

Symptom Code

99

Damage Code

99

Process Number

A4432H

Part Number Main Cause

N3H4-18-881A - A/T

N3H6-18-881A - M/T

Quantity

0

Operation Number / Labor Hours

XX682XRX / 0.3 Hrs.

Had the airbag & dampener recalls serviced today, as well as the M-flash and low oil level light TSB; FWIW, both the service writer as well as the tech separately referred to the M-flash as a recall.

I was told that the dealer is responsible for the recall notofication.

I never received any notice for the recalls. If not for this forum I would still not know.

I never got any letters about the previous recalls, either. I got my touchup paint, though, so I know they have the right address.

Who's supposed to send recalls out? The dealer, or Mazda?

I was told that the dealer is responsible for the recall notofication.

I never received any notice for the recalls. If not for this forum I would still not know.MNAO sent my two recall notifications. They also must release press reports to the media. I'm sure that the dealers are supposed to ensure that all cars serviced have had all recall work done before they are released from their property, or at least, that the customer is aware of any recalls that have not yet been performed on their vehicle.

I'm tellin ya, make sure MNAO has you properly entered into their database! It took several rounds of emailing rx8orders, calling the dealership (who is responsible for doing the data entry) and finally, rx8orders getting the area rep involved, before I myself was entered into the MNAO database properly. Dealership desk jockies have certain degrees of ineptitude and empathy, which are typically inversely proportional.

I did receive a mailing on the 2 recalls. I got the L Flash done at the dealer when I had some other work done. When I mentioned the M flash, the dealer acted like I had to receive a letter from Mazda to get it. I'm pretty sure I can convince him that my car is suffering from the deficiencies which warrant the M flash but I wish they would just provide us with the latest and greatest without the hassle factor.

I'm so glad I know about this forum.

I did a little sloothing M flash is a offical TSB.





"sloothing"? did you mean "sleuthing" as in detective work? what did you do to find that? obviously you didn't read the posts i linked to in my previous post or even really read that post. if you had you would have seen that on 6/2 i posted a word version of that document early in the day . the bulletin in pdf (which i also linked to in my previous post in this thread) also was posted on the the same day on the tsb page and the tsb thread in technical. i spent the alot of time in june trying to educate people about it. if you had taken the time to understand what has been posted about it since that day you would know that it is not just a TSB . a TSB is a bulletin that is intended to help technicians identify the source of recurring problems and find the fix quickly if they have a car with matching symptoms. an MSP, along with SSP and Recalls are madatory repairs driven by VIN. when you go for service and they input your VIN they are directed to do the repairs covered by the program regardless of whether you currently have symptoms or not. MSPs and SSPs are mazda programs and are mandated by Mazda. Recalls are repairs mandated by the government. i really thought you were up on all of this :confused: after your flash thread/article :confused: your lack of understanding here is almost as bad bad as the dealers who 2-3 months ago were refusing to do the flash from the updated original tsb and now after all the complaints on this forum and Mazda releasing MSP04 they act like they are coming to our rescue "Oh look what we did for you isn't our service dept great? we did some slothing and found you needed a pcm flash!". what's even worse though is apparently there are some service people who are just now getting around to reading a 2 month old Bulletin that directs them to do repairs ON DEALER INVENTORY!!! how many have been sold off the lots i wonder without have the work done?

I wouldn't go overboard, about it being a recall or not. Personally, I think the dealer can make that decision, as this is not a safety recall.

Mazda dealers in the Uk were given the TSB, and flash update. Then some starting phoning their customers, to get it updated. Some updated the car when requested or the next time it was seen and some just couldn't be bothered reading the TSBs and didn't know anything about it.

It seems like dealers are the same the world over.

I wouldn't go overboard, about it being a recall or not. Personally, I think the dealer can make that decision,


no they can't. that is the point of the MSP. it takes the decision out of their hands completely.


It seems like dealers are the same the world over.

amen to that! i have seen enough complaints the world over on this forum to believe it!

I'm sure zoom44 is correct. A recall is for when safety concerns are compromised. Recalls are meant to get a problem fixed asap, using measures such as mailings and news media reporting to inform the public about the problem and how to get it corrected asap.

The m flash has zero safety concerns, so it need not be treated as a recall. They're gonna see that all rx-8's get it. There's just no urgency to it.

Correct. A car manufacturer can do a recall for anything they want; but in general, they only do it when it's a safety issue mandated by the federal government. Other repairs are generally done as TSBs (Technical Service Bulletins).

Recalls and TSBs are issued by the manufacturer (in this case Mazda of North America), not by the individual dealers.