CEL driving to work
 

Morning guys,

On the way to work thismorning after a foamy fill up.. (the gas stations pump wasnt working well, not sure if this could have an effect...) I was getting the revs up on a straightaway, and when I slowed down, I had a blinky CEL.. Didn't rev it up too high after that but it didn't seem to have any problems.. The CEL poofed about 40seconds later and I haven't seen it again.. Any clues?

Drove back from work, CEL was off. I saw a co worker pass me on a straight stretch (same road as I got the original CEL thismorninig) so I dropped from 4th to 3rd, waited a couple seconds for revs to match up and flew past him, got the revs up to about 8500-8800 and slowed down, shifted back to 4th and cruised. Got to the light ahead and saw that my CEL was FLAT. So, I don't know the exact moment it came on but it's now solid.

Got home, took a look under the hood before I turned it off. There was nothing UNUSUAL per-se, but I'm no technician, AT ALL. I heard a hissing sound from the passenger side, but I'm not sure if thats normal or not. No power losses at all. 6MT (my first standard car) 2007 with 6k miles on it.. Never been flooded, only mod is agency power exhaust with stock cat.

Any help would rock, the dealership near my place blows balls and has NEVER been able to find anything wrong with the other CELs I had when my mazdaspeed CAI was installed.

Your engine was misfiring. I had that before I changed my plugs.
Footman had stumbling caused by his CAI before he fixed the screens (the dealer didn't install the screens correctly)

can you give us info about maintenance and mileage.

Yeah, I am picking up my CAI from the dealership after reading that thread about misaligned screens. Maintenance? I've only really kept the oil up.. Any other suggestions? My dealership hasn't told me crap all, only that I need to "check the oil levels every couple months" but I do it every 2 fillups, and usually add some... Put abit of wiper fluid in too ;). 6k miles.

Oh, and my dealer put in new plugs when they were trying to diagnose the CEL for the intake.

You could have a weak coil or marginal plug wire. Try checking the plug wires. Make sure they're seated well at both ends

Not too sure where those are, I have never done any real work on my engine.. And I don't have much experience on working on any mechanical things. Would gladly love to learn though, mind telling me where they are? Is it the rubber connecty thingies on the driver side?

http://img236.imageshack.us/img236/6885/dsc00374ut2.jpg
By darkbrew, shot with DSC-W35 at 2007-11-24

Okay. In the shot the newer parts below the throttle body (right of the alternator) are the coils. The plug wires are on three of the coils in this shot. Follow the wires from the coils down to the spark plugs. The plugs are easiest to see if you remove the drivers side front wheel.

Don't really have a jack to raise the car and take the wheel off with.. If I pop a light under the car will I be able to see it better? Or do I not need to do anything with the spark plugs? Well seated plug wires would mean not loose, correct? OR a good seal..

Went out there, tried to find the plug wires. I took the big renesis cover off the mid compartment and realized that the huge assed intake box takes up 3/8 of the engine bay, going right over the side with the plug wires. To take a look at them I'd need to remove it.. I tried to un-latch the box but it appears to be attached at the bottom somewhere..

Was wondering if the Mazsport Ignition Solution would solve all my misfiring problems.. Anyone vouch for it? Looks like a good system..

unless its the coils that causing your problems I doubt the mazsport ignition solution would solve it, i HIGHLY recommend the mazsport ignition solution.. but find out what the problem is right now before you try to mask it.

There's no real way for me to figure out the problem.. I've got my stock airbox in, and it blocks the coils/plugs.. And my dealership is USELESS... I don't have a clue who to ask to assess the problem. And I'm far from a mechanic..

get the CEL code pulled.. go to a local autozone.. they will pull the code for free

Don't think we have an autozone in Canada, but I'm not sure, either..

What's your location?

I'm in B.C. (Vancouver area)

Went on a road trip for our long weekend (Victoria day). Drove my 8 through the winding roads of the sunshine coast :). CEL still going strong, no performance problems to note..

Someone in the area must have a scan tool to read the code.

You might consider buying one if the dealer really is that bad. I'm happy with my ScanGaugeII but there are others available.

Dude, come down to Seattle. We have Autozones everywhere.......and Pepboys...lol. It's about 2 hr drive max!!

Or you can go to NW forum and talk to some people. There are a few who live way up north close to the border and I'm sure they can recommand some places you can get it checked out. :) We have a couple of Mazder service centers here in north Seattle that are really reliable..:)

Yeah, I'm planning to take it into my dealership (seeing as its the closest source of that). The problem being, they will reboot the ECU probably and won't even tell me the code! We'll see what happens.

Got my car back from the shop today (GOT CLEAR CORNERS INSTALLED BEFORE I WENT TOO!). It was a misfire code, in #2? rotor. 1200 RPM he said.. He checked ignition system and plugs, seemed fine.. Now i have my 8 back with no problems APPARENTLY... -_- its still annoying though, that something could go wrong again.. Another misfire.. It's had like 10 since I've had it.

could be bad gas. are u using 91 or 93?
I had the same deal I was using 87 had a flashing cel + solid cel
I put 91 in it. Has not happen since

Try to see if it comes back doing the same thing you did before. If it comes back you probably have bad coils. There is a TSB for this and the dealership should check them (not just visually) and replace them if they are bad.

Else the mazsport ignition system or Charles R. Hill's solution can help. Since you're under warranty still I would keep getting the dealer to foot the bill.

Also PM dannobre. He is near you and has rebuilt his engine and installed a turbo. If you buy him beer he may be willing to give you some help diagnosing the problem.

I may be drunk, but I'll buy danobre 10 beer to fix my problems. The CEL is off, but I'm sketchy every time i floor it at 6k RPM or more, hope it doesn't send a CEL light to my dash :P