Earlier today I drove my 8 and everything was fine... but just about an hour ago I turned it on and I immediately noticed something was wrong. The CEL was flashing. It turned over fine but the engine sounded completely different, definitely not as smooth, and every time I tried to move the car I had to give it more gas to keep it from dying. Once I got out of my driveway and tried to go forward I noticed I had quite a bit of power loss.

It was inside a warm garage earlier today for a short period of time and I'm hoping some water melted in it then refroze in a bad place when it sat out in the 12 degree temp for awhile.

My dealership wants 100 bucks just to diagnose the problem...

Does this sound familiar to anyone? After I noticed I had power loss I put it right back in my driveway and turned it off. I'm really worried I'm gonna have quite a large repair bill....

 

flashing CEL is usually an indication of a misfire.
you coils could be gone, you could have a loose spark plug wire (these do come loose from time to time) or your plugs could be bad.

how old are those 3 items?
done any work on your car lately?
do you have a code reader or know anyone who does? (maybe there's a pending code)

 

Coils, spark plugs, wires. Good xmas present for the 8.

 

Thats what the guy at the dealer thought. How much does it cost to get plugs and coils replaced?

Threy are both long overdue for being replaced so this doesn't surprise me after doing a little research.

 

My advice, do it yourself. No experience needed. Just follow the DIY instructions and pics. It will cost you about $30 per coil and $20 per spark plug. You will need 4 of each, so you are looking at about $200. If the dealer does it for you, you can easily double, if not triple that cost.

 

To have them replaced is expensive 500-600?.

To replace them yourself ~200 bucks. - $80 shipped for the plugs ~$130 for the coils.

For your first time you should definitely be able to knock it out in an afternoon.

 

thanks for the advice guys I'm gonna try to do them myself hopefully they don't take that long to ship. Can someone link the diy thread? I would search for it but I'm on my phone and can't use the search function.

 

zero: give me a minute and I'll get you those DIY threads

 

Dozer's Coil DIY: https://www.rx8club.com/series-i-do-yourself-forum-73/diy-mazda-ignition-coils-pics-178515/

Spark plug DIY: https://www.rx8club.com/showthread.php?t=31872.html

as for ordering the parts, I find that www.onlinemazdaparts.com is typically the cheapest

 

 

Plugs are on sale on Amazon right now - free shipping - $65.86 plus tax for the plugs.

You need two leading: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00..._luc_sim_01_01

and two trailing: http://www.amazon.com/NGK-RE9BT-Lase...gy_auto_text_b

 

^sweet fcken deal!

 

Yea I just picked up a set also, I was going to wait until tax return time and change them in the spring, but I wanted to jump on this price.

 

the ignition coils for 33 bucks from onlinemazdaparts... I need 4 of those right?

 

^yessir

 

yup, 4

 

cool... Well I guess me keeping my 8 is riding on this... My parents really wanna get rid of it and I don't own half the car yet... Engine failure would just add fuel to the fire.

 

^the 8 is a sports car, not a civic, ACTUAL maintenance is a MUST

 

I've kept up with all the maintenance myself they just b*tch because I have to change the tires every winter... Literally that's it. They want me to have boring utilitarian car. If I had to get rid of my 8 I would probably cry.

One more thing... When I started my car it seemed to smell a little funny. Are you guys pretty sure its just coils/plugs?

 

probably unburnt fuel from bad plugs / coils

 

yes.

 

The funny smell just solidifies the coils/plugs/wires. They don't burn the fuel completely, it gets tossed out the tailpipe.

Thankfully it's an easy fix!

 

Do you have a stock cat installed? Maybe it's a clogged cat. Just a thought.
Still a good idea to do plugs and coils and wires if it has not been done in a while though.

 

^That's why I get dogs. They are so free flowing.....

 

dogalytic converter?