Help!!!! my car's at the dealer right NOW!!!
 

I have 46k on my 2004. Bought it brand new, and have loved it. in March I took it in because it was starting with a longer crank than usual. they changed the spark plugs, tune up etc, "should run like new" is what they said. HA! I have an acceleration issue from 2nd to 3rd, it doesn't catch up to itself until I'm at 5-6 Rpm's. Not normal for my car. I kept taking it in and they kept telling me it was "just fine" I guess cause I'm a girl, they think I'm stupid. Now they are running a compression test and a vaccuum test on it only AFTER I had the tech drive it with me in the car--- He said, yeah, it's a little sluggish. Duh!!! lets say i would not want to race someone else off the line. the dealer just told me that if the compression test and vaacum test are bad, I'm looking at a NEW engine!!!!??? Hello?? is this normal???

Don't worry too much. If you need a new engine Mazda should do it for free. It's covered under warranty still.

Could be coils if they didn't replace when they replaced plugs.

But yes, if it's a new engine, take it gladly. We have a 10 year / 10,000 mile warranty on the engine core, so if they replace it, it should be 0 cost to you. If they give you any hassle on that, call Mazda USA.

Yes you may need a new engine. and it's covered under warranty. But you may not.

It is also common for the Cat. converter to fail even though it's not throwing a CEL. That sounds more like your problem.

Ask them to verify if the cat. converter is bad or not. If they tell you there is no CEL tell them it could still be melted upstream of the sensor and to please unbolt it and look visually to see if it's clogged in the front.


If they say you need a new engine or Cat. it should be COMPLETELY FREE. If they try to tell you otherwise tell them you expect them to honor the extended manufacturer warranty and if not demand they call Mazda North America with you on the phone and explain why they are not going to honor the warranty that comes with the car.

+1^



If they wont do the work for you under warranty go to a new dealer ASAP. There are many shady Mazda dealers out there that just want your money. (IE they can get more money from you lying about labor work than they can from Mazda under warranty) Trust me I'm on my 3rd dealer now finally getting my MT fixed with a 3rd to 4th gear grinding issue. My car is under full b2b and they still wanted to charge me $1600 just for a trans inspection. If they dont want to play ball get Mazda involved.

Thank you for all your quick responses!!:) I know I have the warranty, I just wanted to know if the dealer was being honest. They are shifty people sometimes. Btw, the tech who rode with me did mention the CAT possibility. Love the support on this site!!!

Sure. Let us know what they say and if you have any problems. Some dealers are really good and some are shady or worse, ignorant.

Check the regional section of the forum in your area for recommended dealers.

I will definitely do that! Thanks again!

$10 on its your coils

+1 hard starting sounds like coils more than Cat. converter.

how does it idle??? cause the fellas could be right.. the coils could cause it to run like crap in lower rpms. does it backfire ?

sorry if i'm repeating myself- went off-line. No, it doesn't backfire. I had an issue earlier with flooding, and the starting issue of longer cranking is still present, even after the sparkplugs were changed. the acceleration issue became the bigger issue for me, as it seems to be getting worse, yet I seemed to be the only one who noticed it. After the tech drove it with me, he felt it too. I even used a fuel injector cleaner, no help.

I also say coils!...but don't worry it it's a new engien should all b covered and then u have a fresh motor to break in again!

Trust me, getting a new engine for our '04's is normal. Our cars were the ones hit the worst for improper oil lubrication. Besides wearing out the seals, we also suffered from carbon buildup.

I'm at 78K on my '04, but I managed to get more life out it by lots of different procedures. I'm to the point that now my problem is worn seals from under oiling.

Is your car one of those that never seemed to use much oil? Mine was.

+1 on replacing coils.

premix helps any low oiling issues(hopefully) that's y i do it

don't be alarmed. Perfectly normal.

Should be able to get a third one out of them before 100k?

my car used to be a bit sluggish.

you should ook into getting a tune up and getting a whole new ignition system and i'm pretty sure it should be goood.

You may also want to make sure that you have the upgraded starter. I had the same problem on my 04 and it stopped once they installed the new starter. It should be under warranty it was a TSB.

Good morning! I am waiting for the results from a decarbonization test, then the final response from Mazda. The tech I had drive my car says he is sure he will be putting a new engine in my car. It was off the charts for failing the compression test and the vacuum test. I suppose it should be expected that things would go wrong with the first batch of 04s. Just didn't think it would be such a big thing. Glad I'm on my break, but I miss my car.

Auto or manual?

manual of course:) My car is exactly the same as yours, 2004 w/ tan & black leather. I love my car.

good news is that the engine and labor are covered under warranty. sucks that you are missing your 8. when mine went into the body shop for losing a parking lot scrap with a shopping cart, i was missing the car after two days..and they kept it for seven :( did the tech tell you or show you a printout of the compression results? i wouldnt argue with a new engine but a failing converter along with coils that are out of spec can cause an identical problem to the one you are facing. keep us posted with what transpires.

No, the tech didn't show me the results, he just told me the compression and the vacuum test failed "off the charts" Since my car is in the shop I have been looking at all of the TSB's to see if I have missed anything. Interestingly my visor had just went south and I had no idea it was on the TSB list! I was just going to go to a salvage shop and try to find one. The other one I found was the "snapping noise" in the front end when turning. It doesn't happen all the time and I have wider tires than stock, just thought it was flukey thing. So, I'm going to go in with my printed TSB's and have another little chat. They might as well fix it all while they have it in there. Is your Rx8 stock or have you put the cat-back on it? I'm on vacation and spending too much time looking at cool things to add to my car....