Razz1

If you have a problem with the way the car runs and it meets the criteria for an upgrade.

Rx8bydocabe

ok, i took my car in on a scheduled appt. to find out what flash i have. well they take my car in and everything, and after about ten minutes someone comes out and tells me that the mazda service tech just got married and wont be in until next week. he tells me they hooked it up and everything but they don't know what flash i have, cause apparantly he's the only one that can do it. he asked me to bring it in again next week, or to call and speak to the mazda service tech. those sons of biatches, is it that hard to tell what flash i have? oh and he tells me "there is no charge for today" huh, what a joke.

Brice-RX8

Couldn't they tell you **** like that over the phone and save you a trip down there, that is just stupid.

zoom44

you of course lodged a complaint with the GM of the place the owner and MNAO yes?

downshift

And which dealership in Mass is this?

zoom44

team- he scheduled an appointment. they did not have the THE ONE PERSON who could do work on his car there. they had to know their scheduling that this would happen unless it was and unscheduled absence. this is just wasting the customers time and their own people time who tried to do something they werent trained to do. thats just wrong. they should have scheduled his appointment for a different day

TeamRX8

iTrader: (25)

they thought they could do it and they couldn't, life happens man, deleted though

zoom44

oh you didnt have to delete it- it was your opinion and you are welcome to it. i just wanted to state why i disagreed with you.

RotaryIT

I told my dealer that my car stalled at a stop light, and had a rough idle. I said that it was intermittent, and they said that they addressed that concern by reflashing my car to "P".

That may be enough for those that are not getting their cars flashed by the dealer.

Rx8bydocabe

gallo in worcester, ma

wedge357

My eyes are watery now after reading through the postings so I may have missed the answer to my question here: I have a 2005 shinka model built 11/04. Would I have the most recent flash level at this point or do I need to strongarm my dealer to check it for me? I ask my service tech last week and his only reply was he cannot find any TSB on the car to warrant a new flash. BTW I bought the car new 4/2005.

zoom44

you are up to date

Rx8honey

Ok. I've read pretty much the entire thread and the majority of the threads on stalling (most are for AT, I have a 6SM) (eyes hurt)..

Anyhoo, today I gased up my 8 and rode home. Backed her up in the garage and while I was getting my stuff (was in neutral, hand brake up). She stalled on me. The last thing I remember is the AC being on, she's at about 800rpm and boom, flatline, stall <-- CRAP. WTF? I've had zero problems with my car. The last flash I got was an 'M', earlier this year. Tomorrow I'm taking her in for a check-up @ my dealer, hopefully there isn't anything major.

Brice-RX8

I just got the "P" flash this past Saturday, and I must say it feels better than what I had before (which I think was "M"), the mid range and off idle throttle response feels much better, and upper rpm still feels pretty good as well. Will see what it does for fuel mileage with time. Also, put the A/C on max and sat in the car and slowly revved the engine to redline with my dad watching the A/C compressor and it doesn't cut off till upwards of 7500rpms like what has been said in this thread so that should help cooling while driving it hard. Very worthwhile if you ask me.

zoom44

there are little switches that let the pcm know the tranny is in neutral. sometimes they stick so the pcm doesnt know its in neutral. it gets confused and doesnt go into idle properly and can stall. these switches have been replaced in some 6mt cars and this has eliminated stalling in 6mt cars that had the issue.

dwill9578

my dealer said, I don't get the "P" flash or AC work??? no open recalls in my vehicle??? Tried two dealships both told me same thing. it's running awesome power wise ( AC really is a joke unless cranked). If it ain't broke don't fix it I guess?? They are replacing the pads though cause of the squeaking.

Brice-RX8

Thats what mine said initially over the phone, and I told them it isn't a recall just an update to the computer, so when I went in there I had a paper where I wrote down things from this tread like WDS should be on version B37.3, the flash has a designation of "P" possibly a part number of N3Z2-18-881P (2004 M/T), A/C compressor cutoff moved from 5k to 7.5k, improved upper rpm power, and slightly better mpg. With that information they gave me my car back later and the receipt said that I asked for it to be flashed and that they did it. I am not sure if it pisses them off when you have that kind of info for them or helps them, but my service department seems to be pretty cool.

RedSheDevil

OK, I tried to read through most of this and just got really confused. Can someone please tell me 1) what this flash thing does, 2) where to go to find out what flashy version I have, and 3) is there a source for ALL the TSBs so I can become the nuisance that my dealership has nightmares about?

I've only had my car for three months and they are sick of seeing me (and I'm sick of driving those POS's they give me as loaners too)--don't even ask me about explaining that I KNOW the headlights are self-leveling for the five thousandth time. I'd like to get everything taken care of in one gianormous visit, but I can't seem to find one source to give me the answers.

Thanks!

zoom44

have you tried the FAQ ? here

you should find answers there

RedSheDevil

Thank you zoom! All questions answered!!

ZoomZoomH

iTrader: (1)

just want to contribute into this LONG but overall quite useful thread.

I took the car to Rosenthal Arlington last week to have a bunch of warranty work done. Among the requests I made I said I had *hard starting* on cold mornings and on an incline. I know I had M flash right from factory (June '04 build), so I was wondering what they would do.

Well they did flash my 8 with the latest calibration (N3Z2-18881-P, aka the P flash, with a MSP04 sticker under the hood to prove it :p ), and there is definitely an improvement, particularly on low-rpm takeoff from a stop and off-throttle response, everything just feels noticeably smoother. Probably due to the changes they made to low rpm timing/afr, the midrange (3000-6000) feels beefier as well. The top-end feels no different to me compared to the M flash.

I never thought a rotary engine can be driven so smoothly, especially during stop-n-go traffic lol

oh did I mention I gained ONE WHOLE MILE PER GALLON since I got the flash? lolol

hooray for P flash! :D

salituro64

Does anyone have a link to the TSB for this? I don't see it on the Rosenthal site.

zoom44

there is no tsb related directly to the P flash and since we have moved beyond P no wthere will likely not be one.

Vertigo-1

iTrader: (3)

Well I took my car in today for an oil change, and mentioned the hard starts and how there's supposed to be a PCM flash for it. The service guy said he knew there was a TSB for the hard starts so they'd look at it. Picked up the car and they said they had flashed it, so I take a look at the code for it, and it's: 01-011/04. Man isn't that a pretty old flash, if it was released in 04??? If I remember, the N flash came out this year. I know my car has at least the M flash because I bought it in July 04, don't tell me they just flashed it with the M or something.

zoom44

thats a generic number which they use for repoting for warranty reimbursement