Hi, I have the above issue and took it to my local garage. They feared the engine needs replacing and I'd be wasting my money if they carried out any work troubleshooting. The car was working fine and the car had been filled up with petrol the day before. The warning light and issue came out of the blue. I've had the car from 2010. It has done over 50,000 miles. The oil has been checked regularly, but I've flooded the engine twice before. If the engine is done and needs replacing it will cost more than the car is worth, but it's still mebbe worth about £2-£4k if the local garage is wrong and it is a solvable problem, so not sure I should scrap it just on their feelings. Should I take it to my nearest Mazda dealer to get their verdict? Don't think it Is likely to break down - 20 mile drive away, but that could be an issue. And if I scrap it for parts any recommendations about where I could get a good price? Thanks in advance.

 

Did anyone actually check what the code for the check engine light is? It could be as simple as a loose gas cap. Let's not jump to conclusions (or return to that garage).

Does the stick shake more than usual? Can you make a video or describe it in a bit more detail?

Have you replaced the ignition coils at any point in your ownership? They become a risk factor after 30-40k.

 

Hi, Thanks for taking the time to reply. No they didn't look for an error code, or if they did, they didn't give that as an explanation. I'm pretty sure the ignition coils haven't been replaced. As far as the gear stick vibration goes, it was noticeable and I hadn't noticed it before, and within 200m of driving the car out of the drive, I returned as it just didn't feel right. Typically, I've just tried it again now and whilst it isn't vibrating or the engine sounding as wrong to me as it was then. Hopefully, it's a good sign. You've convinced me enough to seek a second opinion.

 

Does the car sound different? The vibration could be a couple of things: bad engine mount, which is common and easily fixed, or ignition coil failure causing one rotor not to fire. The latter would make the car sound different.

Engine health can be assessed conclusively via a compression test. Definitely plan on replacing the coils regardless of symptoms.

 

Loki is really spot on here. You need to first read and diagnose the check engine light. You could be seeing misfires, which could be as simple as replacing the spark plugs, spark plug wires, and the coils. Are the plugs and wires original? If so, its long pat time for the replacement of the spark plugs. You can do a resistance check on the wires to confirm if they are good. However, its my opinion that while you're in there, replacing them is the way to go.

A compression test may or may not be needed depending on the stored DTC's. I will tell you that it wouldn't be a bad idea to perform a proper compression test with a rotary compression tester. This will give you a good idea of how healthy your engine is.

 

Thanks for your replies guys. I've been back to the original garage and asked whether they looked for an error code and they have.. Code: P0301-FF System: PCM Description: Cylinder 1 Misfire Detected Status: Continuous Memory DTC

 

Unfortunately that code could be many things. But compression loss is not one of them, by itself. Definitely by bad coils, which will kill your engine in short order, so don't sleep on replacing them. I would also have the garage check the catalytic converter visually, inside. Make sure it's not clogged.

 

Cheers Loki

 

I am not replying to you sorry, because I have my engine light showing atm too, but not the gear lever shuddering - my car is an automatic. But I'm also wondering if the cause might be that my partner put in oil because it was out of oil which was very kind of him, but I didn't remember to tell him it needed special oil. He put in 20w rather than the 5w or 10w I see is recommended. Do you know?
I wanted to start a new thread but I can't see where to do that.
Regards Jaedra

 

It's not because of the oil he put in, but it might be because of how much he put in. Get the code read to find out what the light is on for.

Also definitely don't let it run out of oil. It burns oil by design and needs regular topups

 

Thank you so much for that .. and yes, I didn't realise it had run out. It didn't indicate that until it was out it would seem. So yes, good advice thank you. I shall keep an eye on it.

 

Definitely by bad coils, which will kill your engine in short order, so don't sleep on replacing them. I would also have the garage check the catalytic converter visually, inside. Make sure it's not clogged.