evoego17

I've got my '04 8 in some seriously weather for the first time and I'm unfamiliar with the expectations for a cold start after a few days of mid-teen level temperatures. I anticipated that the start up would be slow simply based on the fact that I only get the chance to drive my car once or twice a week, but is a full 2-3 seconds from key turn til turn-over normal for these conditions? I've also heard that Mazda has an improved start motor available on later model years. Is that something worth looking into, or is my potentially slow start up a nonissue?

Thanks in advance.

04RX8man

that does not seem to be bad at all....the 04's had a TSB for an updated starter/battery/spark plugs....call your closest dealer and see if ur car has had it.....i never had the starter TSB done and never had a problem in the cold when i lived in the north!!!

VOODOO8

As you can see, I do live in a state that sees some seriously cold temps in the winter. I had the starter upgrade done on my '03 build and it has fired like a champ ever since, even in negative number temps that were cold enough to whack out the dashboard electronics and stiffen the cones on the speakers to uselessness.

Just tell the dealer you have a hard start condition, some magic words to trigger the option for the starter upgrade on the TSB that went with it.

04RX8man

yeah a few keywords at the dealership and u will have the new starter installed and maybe new plugs and battery....

alnielsen

iTrader: (4)

It was down to 1F this morning here and mine had no problems starting. While it was in warranty, the starter TSB was performed.

evoego17

Thanks guys! Sound like I need to just work some magic on the dealer.

dtrmnd

getting the dealer to replace the starter, plugs, etc is simple but be careful because you might have the same problem again....i am...

05rx8mazda

iTrader: (4)

my car is used to texas weather and i just got into illinois where the temperatures are in the teens..

i turned it off for a couple of hours and when i turned it on to move it it hesitated to start and A TON Of white smoke came out the exhaust and smelled like something was burned like burnet oil pretty much and then it had a loud ticking noise like i had a spun bearing...
TICK TICK TICK TICK.. and the motor was vibrating violently..

no power and it felt like it wanted to shut off when i would take off and it would not rev past 7K rpm.

drove it around the block and revved it up a lot and it backfired SOOO much and that seemed to fix the problem. hasnt come back since them and this was about 3 days ago.

dtrmnd

this is the second time for me.....the first time was my fault. I started it up and shut it off after about 2 minutes. i had it towed to the dealership and they said that everything would be covered except the tow....just once.....after that i would have to pay for everything...

evoego17

I've had the plugs and the ECU reflash done just not the starter. It just seems very labored in turning over. I havent experienced that white smoke or backfiring, luckily.

Grimacus

I've just had the same problem last night, car sat overnight here in Fort Worth, Texas and temps have been below freezing last couple nights. So I went out to start the car, and it took a couple cranks, then when it did start, it felt backed up, like someone stuck a banana in my exhaust. The car would sputter, make some thud sound and the car would vibrate, when I rev the car to 3k+ the car would shudder/vibrate worse. Also noticed lack of power while driving, of course after about 20 minutes of driving it got better.

dtrmnd

Does anyone know how hard the de choke procedure is on the motor?