Could it be the CAT?
 

I am still waiting for delivery for my car. The dealership I bought it from (Mitsubishi) had to send it out to Mazda beofre they could deliver it because the car wouldn't start when warm sometimes, or took a long time to start other times.

I have searched and read all about the TSB "flash" that should take of this. The Mazda dealership however is saying it is a clogged CAT and is replacing it. That lead me to do another search on here and find out a clogged CAT could be the issue.

The car has already recieved new plugs and a new battery

What are your thoughts? Could the clogged CAT prevent the car from starting when warm?

-Mike

My car had the problems with warm starting. It required the engine to be replaced. This doesn't sound like a cat problem. I wouldn't worry about if it ends up being the engine. The rebuilds that are coming out now should be pretty good. One of the techs has been posting on here. And he drives a Z.

It's not a TSB flash. It's almost definitely due to flooding. Dealerships are horrible at this. They start the car up, move it cold, and then don't rev the engine. They do this often whenever they need to move it or show it off. Search 'flood' on here and you'll get back about 9000 posts describing what is happening to you. :)

There are fixes for this but if the dealership has done it regularly it doesn't matter if you got new plugs - you'll probably need another set. Repeated flooding can foul your sparkplugs. I've had it happen to me twice during winter storage because of helpful family members who started up my car when I was away and then not letting it warm up and then revving it.

All that being said your CAT may be screwed up as well. If it is let Mazda give you a new one. That being said I don't think CATs cause problems starting. They cause problems to your engine, problems generating power, and heat problems to modified engines.

Thanks RK,

I told the dealership to do all of the TSB's they can as well as the new CAT. I'll keep in mind what you said if I ever need to move my car short distances. Start, warm, rev, drive.

I'd be pretty hesitant buying an 8 that's flooding multiple times before you even take delivery. Are you getting any sort of warranty besides whatever remains on the car?

I wouldn't be hesitant. Flooding jacks up specific parts of ur engine. Replace them and ur fine. I've replaced my battery and plugs and been fine.

As for op it's not warm, rev, drive. It's warm up, do what u gotta do, then before u turn your car off just give it a nice rev over 5k before turning it off. If ur doing normal driving it's probably unneccessary but doesn't hurt. If you're just moving your car a little but and it's not going to be able to warm up before u shut it off give it a rev before u do. Don't go much above 5k on a cold engine tho. I never get above 6k unless my water temp is at the halfway mark.

And once it's yours redline it once a day and your baby will probably never care if you shut her down cold without the rev once in a while.

yeah i used to rev up to 3 and settle to 1k then shut off but i really never do it anymore it seems to start harder if i do rev it but who knows it could just b me.....

there have been a few cases on these forums (that I remember) where a hard start when warm is due to a bad engine..

that said - you already paid for the car and did the paperwork for it before getting this stuff fixed?

any warranty on it?

When I posted that I had a warm start problem that required the engine to be replaced, I meant that it wouldn't start at all. I would stop at a gas station, fill up, and I would have to wait 10 min. for the engine to cool down before it would start again.

I had the same problem, exactly. Ask the dealership to run a compression test on the engine.

My engine's results didnt meet the requirements and resulted in being replaced due to poor compression. There is a TSB on this.

Yeah, when I test drove it, the car ran fine. And yes, I did pay for it already. There is a 5000K 30 day warranty/exchange program. Once I get the car I am going to try all of the 'techniques' to get it to not start, and if it always fires up I am ok.

Oh, ok. Yeah, this car fires up most the time. It just takes a little while to sometimes. The way I see it, I am getting the car at 60 000KM. That leaves me roughly 3 years and 100 000KM to figure out if the engine needs a rebuild. Does this sound right?

So it wasn't the CAT. It is an engine. I am getting a new (rebuilt I am sure) engine. That, plus a new CAT, plus new pads and calipers, plus a new battery/plugs/coils isn't too bad.

Ecspecially since I paid $16 500 for an 04 GT with 60 000KM on the body.

Good deal