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Split second flashing CEL, rough idle, white smoke

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Old 06-18-2016, 12:17 AM
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Split second flashing CEL, rough idle, white smoke

Ok guys hope you can give me some insight not sure if this is serious or not.

So my car has been running great for a while now, no issues. Today I took part in a car show/cruise, and during the cruise I redlined a few times, as I always do. Oh I should also add that I had jus adder more oil right beforehand. So on my 4th redline, I notice the CEL blinking for what was no more than half a second, I pull up to a stop light and now it's running really rough, rough idle. I get to the staging area and park it, shut off the engine.

I do my thing, then I turn my car back on about an hour later and it's idling rough on startup and white smoke is coming out of the exhaust. So now I'm panicking, I drive it a bit and all the smoke clears up after a few minutes of driving. Also the roughness has also gone, it rides smooth again like has been. No loss of power whatsoever, even when it was idling rough, but I'm nervous to redline again in case it happens again. Only other issue I have is once in a while the idle will drop from 750 rpm to less than 500 but then go back up again. Its been doing that for some time but it rarely happens.

One last thing to mention, I had left the car for a week without running, but when I tried to start it it was flooded but I had run it for a few days after I deflooded it.

I'm just curious as what could have caused my issues today.

About my car, it's an 2005 MT, has about 6th on it, original engine. Also two coils and wires were replaced last fall after I got a CEL. Why they only replaced two instead of 4 I don't know. Maybe the other coils are going bad?

Sorry for long post, hope someone can help.
Old 06-18-2016, 05:43 AM
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Originally Posted by icemantbi
Ok guys hope you can give me some insight not sure if this is serious or not.

So my car has been running great for a while now, no issues. Today I took part in a car show/cruise, and during the cruise I redlined a few times, as I always do. Oh I should also add that I had jus adder more oil right beforehand. So on my 4th redline, I notice the CEL blinking for what was no more than half a second, I pull up to a stop light and now it's running really rough, rough idle. I get to the staging area and park it, shut off the engine.

I do my thing, then I turn my car back on about an hour later and it's idling rough on startup and white smoke is coming out of the exhaust. So now I'm panicking, I drive it a bit and all the smoke clears up after a few minutes of driving. Also the roughness has also gone, it rides smooth again like has been. No loss of power whatsoever, even when it was idling rough, but I'm nervous to redline again in case it happens again. Only other issue I have is once in a while the idle will drop from 750 rpm to less than 500 but then go back up again. Its been doing that for some time but it rarely happens.

One last thing to mention, I had left the car for a week without running, but when I tried to start it it was flooded but I had run it for a few days after I deflooded it.

I'm just curious as what could have caused my issues today.

About my car, it's an 2005 MT, has about 6th on it, original engine. Also two coils and wires were replaced last fall after I got a CEL. Why they only replaced two instead of 4 I don't know. Maybe the other coils are going bad?

Sorry for long post, hope someone can help.
A flashing cel only means one thing. Misfire. Id change those other coils and wires quick. It sounds like mine last summer then when i got it out this summer. It wouldnt start. I did get it started eventually and it ran fine. Just a little rough idel here and there. And would not start when warm. End result im ripping the engine out myself because warranty is long over.


Old 06-18-2016, 04:59 PM
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Originally Posted by Charles R. Hill
A flashing cel only means one thing. Misfire. Id change those other coils and wires quick. It sounds like mine last summer then when i got it out this summer. It wouldnt start. I did get it started eventually and it ran fine. Just a little rough idel here and there. And would not start when warm. End result im ripping the engine out myself because warranty is long over.

The above is bad advice being issued as misfires can happen for a dozen reasons, including a coolant seal leak, which is not helped by spending money on replacement coils. Just as your own replacement coils did not help your particular situation.......
As i said my car smoked and flashed cel last summer. I knew coolant leak was obvious because white smoke and stops when warm. I did replace coils wires and plug and got the rest of the summer out of it. All it does is hold off the enebidable.
Old 06-19-2016, 01:04 AM
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Thanks for the replies. I hope it's not the coolant seal. I have no problems starting the car warm. Drove it today, when I turned it on same as last night, idled rough and smoke out the exhaust, excep not as bad as last night. I drove it a bit, turned it off while hot, turned right back on while hot.

I will check the coolant levels tomorrow and see if it's less than before.

Thanks again for the help!
Old 06-19-2016, 10:06 AM
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Hard cold starts are often a sign of coolant seal. Sorry
Coolant accumulates in the chamber while the car is sitting, then when you try to start, it takes a bit of time to burn off.

When you're restarting warm, the coolant hasn't had time to accumulate, so no problems.

The coolant level will tell you for sure.
Old 06-19-2016, 09:12 PM
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Well I don't know what happened but ran it today after being sat for a day and a half and no issues whatsoever.

Vid I made today. https://youtu.be/qjXVu4-uY84

So I don't know. I assume if it was a coolant seal problem it would have smoked like crazy but there was no smoke at all. No rough idle, no CEL either. I won't even bother bringing it to mazda like I was going to because they won't be able to diagnose a car that seems to run fine
Old 06-19-2016, 11:54 PM
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Originally Posted by Charles R. Hill
I rest my case, Ladies and Gentlemen of the jury.
That is just too much internet for today
Old 06-29-2016, 11:12 AM
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Just a quick update to my thread, been driving problem free since I first posted this, so not sure what the issue was, but it seems to have fixed itself.

Only other minor issue I get is once in a while I will be at a stop light at idle, and the idle will dip to something like 500 RPM, feels like its going to die, then go back to over 1000 RPM and settle back to 750-800 RPM as normal. This does not happen often though, I would say roughly once every 4 or 5 days. It's annoying but as I said, doesnt happen often. In any event, I will tell my dealer when I bring it in for my scheduled servicing next month.
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