Dropped it off at the dealer this morning and got a call back this afternoon by the tech to tell me that he is replacing my engine and he has already ordered the parts.

When I took the car in, I told him that it still idles very low, and is sluggish when warmed up.

to Mazda

 

wow! Congrats...I'm am kinda pissed about my situation. My car was doing the same thing yours was, but I think the seafoam that I did, helped the problem, but did not fix it. I am still experiencing the low idle and rough idle when hot. Also the car will crank about 3 sec longer than usual to start the car after it is hot and I turn it off, and turn it back on within 10 min.

Where you experiencing long cranking when hot? My car is due for an oil change and I still need them to replace my faulty mazda battery. When I take the car in for those 2 things, I will tell them about the problems and see what they will do. It is just that the stalling has basically stopped since I did that seafoam, but I know there is still a problem with the hot starting and occasional rough idle. My car is 700 miles away from 60k and the end of the limited powertrain warranty, even though I still have the 100k warranty.

Did they ever do a compression test on your car? What where your results if they did? Did they test drive your car at all? I'm just curious as to what exactly they did other than the cleaning procedures you mentioned, that would make them come to the conclusion that you needed a new engine..

Thanks Kalne, for posting on this thread.

 

I just called my dealer and set up an appt for next thursday the 24th, for an oil change and for them to look at the car again. After spending money with them for diagnosis tests, compression test, new plugs, wires, and coils, adding up to about $800, I am not spending more money for them to preform "tests". They need to figure out this problem as I have been in there 6 times.

 

Different approach.

Issue is only when hot, only at idle, right? AC I assume is on? Are the fans on too? This is a significant power draw that the alternator is trying to make up. My 04 hated that situation. But, I was not getting a CEL, it would just die. I learned to flash the throttle a bit more when I started to keep it from stalling.

Problem is gone now. I did coils and plugs, cleaned MAF, did the "fan on low" mod and sealed around the radiator. Goal was to keep the car from getting high under hood temps. The only other thing I did was go after the ground side of the electrical system. I got most of the benefit from just putting a star washer and a little conductive grease (both from lowes) under each ground and tightening them back down. Ground kit made it a little better if you want to take the time. The most important one is the one under the air box that leads to the battery.

I cannot connect this to the CEL at all, but it is the only thing I can think of and it does not look like anything has been tired in that direction. Electrical can **** off a lot of stuff in funny ways.

Good luck.

 

I don't know which starter I have, but I do plan on getting one from a junkyard from an 07-08. Once I get my car back I'm going to put a new exhaust on it so I will check the starter with a telescoping mirror while I'm down there. But to answer your question, I did not check the start times between warm and cold. This is mainly because it seems to crank at least 4 times in either condition. It is definitely the longest starting car I've ever owned

As far as what the dealer did, and how they came to the conclusion, I am not sure yet until I get the invoice back. Based on the invoice from the first time I took it up there, it says that they used VP071M FUEL INJECTION CLEANER ($45.50) and performed 300B FUEL INDUCTION SERVICE ($93.00). They must have test drove it because the mileage in/out was a 4 mile difference. I was going to show them this TSB if they didn't seem to be going in the right direction:

http://www.finishlineperformance.com...14-08-1924.pdf

It definitely seems like you need to show them this TSB and see what they do. Don't forget that you can call Mazda NAO if they are unwilling or seemingly unable to resolve this issue. Are you experiencing loss of horsepower at all? Can you still pass cars in 5th/6th gear between 3-4k rpm? If not, you need to mention that the car feels sluggish below 5k.

I will post back with what they did on the invoice when I get it back next week.

 

not sure if u tried this yet , but i suggest , check all the connections on your intake from the throttle body to the head intake.....best idea is remove your whole air intake and re-install.....im not a genius , but i had the same problem and that fixed my whole problem somehow... it was due to the connection not sucking enough air to the MAF...causing the same CEL throw ...might be a small gap causing all that in your situation ....let me know if it helps...

 

kalne congratulations, that is awesome your getting a new engine.

well my car is getting worse seems like it. this weekend i got done putting all the stock parts back on and going to try and take it to dealer see what they can do. I still have not received the coils so i hope that this is all my car is missing. by the looks of the coils and wires they looked worn out and almost done so hoping that is the problem. i am tight on money so idk what they are going to tell me after a the test. i hope my engine is good im sure with my luck i'll get charged for a replacement lol.

 

Yesterday My CEL came back on. I haven't checked it yet, but I am assuming it is the same P2096 System too lean. On top of that, The car continues to crank longer when it is hot, and when I drive it in manual mode, I get misfires in high RPMs with a flashing CEL.

My appt is Thursday. I am going to ask and make sure I have the newer starter, and address the hot starting issues, misfires, and CEL. If these problems continue after I get the car back, I am calling Mazda and taking it up with them.

 

would it be possible for you to go to another dealership?

after i put all my stock parts on my two cels, p2096 and the cat delete cel disappeared today after i was leaving work. weird cuz i thought the p2096 was for the front o2 and didnt think my straight pipe affected it. i put my stock intake back together and the throttle body bypass back on.

my car also seems it struggles under 5k and it got flooded this weekend when before it would never .

 

Well I got my car back from the dealership. They were able to flash my system and they also did a carbon clean cuz it was never done. The plugs I got recently were out dated so they put in the updated once. Car started a little better but it still hesitates. In low rpm the car still hesitates to go. I have everything stock back on and all my codes disappeared before I took my car in. I'm still waiting on the coils and wires and praying that will solve the problem.

I asked about compression and they told me they ran a test on computer and the car showed no sign that the compression would be low so they don't think I need to have one. They said the car is running good but to me the hesitation in low rpm is telling me its not.

I'm planning on getting a new air filter today but Idk what else to do.

 

The coils should make a big difference, it did for me. I just dropped my car off this morning....had a CEL, I will see what they say....

 

Update: ok just got back from the dealer...they found 2 CEL codes, P0076 and P2096...they found 2 wires broken and hanging from the VDF solinoid harness. It is hard to see but it is behind the intake manifold. They want $1,100 for all the labor to take apart the intake and fix the wires. LUCKILY my extended warranty is covering it so I am paying nothing but a small deductible. The repair is scheduled for next Thursday the 1st. Since this VDF is part of the intake, they believe that is what is causing the CELs and low/rough RPM. I sure hope
so.

 

I think they mean VDI wiring harness, not VDF. I don't think there any such thing as a VDF.

 

bullshit ?

 

I find that a little hard to believe too...
The VDI is normally closed anyway at lower RPMs and opens above 7250 RPM.
So if the electrical wires to the VDI solenoid were broken, you wouldn't notice anything until the higher RPM range.
Not saying it isn't a problem that needs addressed... just difficult to see how this would cause your problems at lower RPMs.
Guess we'll wait and see... keep us posted!

 

Well, in the higher rpms I get misfires with a blinking CEL, so those wires are causing that most likely...

 

Oh, and they called it the VDF, I think they ment VDI. I know the one error code had VDI in it. But it seems like the wiring is pretty bad back there for some reason. If the SSV wire is also loose, would that cause low rpm problems? They also seem to believe that the P2096 code will go away after this repair...they did replace my battery for free and didn't even charge me for any tests on the car today, so at least I'm not paying for this. I guess after they fix the wires I will have to go from there

 

Possibly

Yup... no reason to speculate on anything until we see how the car acts after this repair.

 

I'm going try and research the ssv, haven't looked at mine (don't even know what or where it is lol). Bhr has emailed me and told the order will ship out in two weeks! It's already been two weeks since I placed it "sigh".

Adam good luck on the fix, I'm not sure what both of us haven't tried that could fix this issue but at least we are better then when we started.

 

I just so happen to know a thread that may answer some of your questions
https://www.rx8club.com/series-i-do-yourself-forum-73/diy-remove-ssv-beta-teaser-video-184663/

 

OK I picked up my car this Saturday. Here is what they did (based on the invoice).

It drives beautifully, and does not idle rough anymore, but still seems to want to play around 750 rpm. The only issue that remains is that the starting seems to take a 2-4 cranks to start (seems slightly better than before engine replacement).

I put my new exhaust on and looked at the starter with a telescoping mirror to find that I have the N3Z1, which from this post: https://www.rx8club.com/series-i-do-yourself-forum-73/diy-starter-change-swap-dummies-189410/ would lead me to assume that I am fine there. So I plan to see if a new battery will fix the problem.

Hope you get it resolved soon Sounds like everyone's dealers are sucking bad

 

you the man thank you

wow that looks like a weekend project lol. man that looks like pain in the *** to work on.

anything else i should clean while i have everything off jon361g?

 

yeah my car idles around 800 and wants to dip to 750 many times still. my starting is little better, takes only once but still longer then it used to be. the dealer carb clean really helped, also just got a new air filter and feels like my car is starting to get all of its power back. still get hesitation in low rpm.

raced a 6.0 gto and 67 mustang with 350 small block, had them both in the first two gears (i must be an amazing driver ) then the gto destroyed both of us once we all got into third gear lol. gave me confidence to solve this car problem :D

 

Update: had the car for a few days since they fixed the VDI harness. No real difference except there are no more CELs...the car still hovers around 750, sometimes fluctuating and vibrating the car. Hasn't stalled yet. They replaced my defective Mazda battery for free...I'm not sure if the ECU was reset when they replaced it, which could cause the weird idling since it is learning the fuel trims. It Did this before when I replaced the battery.

This morning I was driving it in the 90 degree heat, and I had my AC blasting and music cranked. The car kept hiccuping out of 1st..I'd not want to move for a second or 2...seemed to go away when I turned the AC off.

Lastly, before the repair on Thursday, I was driving it for awhile in the heat and at one point the car just seemed to crap out. I would push the pedal all the way down and they car wouldn't go faster than 40 mph in 3rd gear...the engine had a slight humming, helicopter sound to it. Never stalled though. I don't know if that had to do with the VDI, but it hasn't happened yet since the fix, but I really haven't driven it for a long period of time yet.....

 

mine the same way it shut down my engine when i turn on the ac lol in the very hot weather but now i know waat to do just turn off the acc when u at a stop sign or red light , turn it back on when u driving that all