icedemon690

So as the above says my car is at the dealership and they said my catalytic converter was almost completely clogged but they arent sure why and still have my car.

i have had a misfire for a year or so now but they dk if that was it. i picked up the car @ 30,000 miles and put 17,000 more on it. With never doing the wires nor coils but having the plugs done 3 times since i bought it. finally i had the cobb accessport running the stage 1 for 3 weeks without problems. Also had all the fluids and most filters done within a year. So now for my problems...

A few days ago I started the car and it stalled out. Started again and it was a really hard start and i had to raise my rmp to 4k+ to keep it running. it wouldnt idle on its own. But had to go to work 3 miles away and ran it anyway. started driving and it felt like it bogged down while driving. Got on a road with a high speed limit and started getting into the 25-35 mph region and with my foot to the floor couldnt get the rpms above 4k rpm nor above 35 mph in second or third gear and at this point my CEL was flashing. so i was on a hill and said o well and jammed it into 2nd gear and floored it again and it went above 35 mph to 8k rpm and the CEL light went off but when i stopped at the light it still wouldnt idle and had the same issues as above until i jammed it again. got to work and shut it down.

After work I uninstalled the Cobb Accessport and tried to start the car. Same problems as above. Eventually decided to peg the rpms and floor it around my store till i got to a buddies house. after 10 mins of flooring it with pegged rpms i limped it to my friends a mile away. at his house i tried letting it idle again. SUPRISE! it idled normal and ran fine. so virtually all the above issues went away. on its own. this puzzled me. but i took it carefully home.

next day i make an appt with the dealer and the car has the problems again as in the 3rd paragraph. so it barely limps to the dealer. and they say it is a clogged cat but they dk why and they want to know if i have any ideas. its a new madza dealer who isnt tremendously good with rotaries.

so im reaching out to the community and after reading a few dozen posts im stuck between compression and wires/coils but not sure. my cat was covered but im running close to the engine warranty. finally im broke cuz im still in college but im looking for more help than just reading on other peoples posts. the cat is on order so i have some time but less than a week.

--alan m.

xun4gvn4everx

iTrader: (2)

If you change your plugs but not the coils and wires, then you are just setting the new plugs up for certain death. You need new coils, wires, and plugs (the ones you "recently" put in are shot from bad coil packs). The OEM coil packs are only good for about 30k miles. Either get new OEM packs or upgrade them to BHR or another aftermarket coil pack.

xun4gvn4everx

iTrader: (2)

Also, it is the bad coil packs that killed your CAT. That is exactly what will happen if you do not change them when they need to be changed. You said you have been driving around on a misfire for a YEAR??!?!!? Are you trying to destroy your engine???

alnielsen

iTrader: (4)

I've had 3 cats clog up and one burn open.

xun4gvn4everx

iTrader: (2)

^ The only story I have heard so far of a CAT catching on fire, is from another forum member here. He had a Typhoon II intake and the oil from the filter was leaking onto the MAF causing the car to run rich. He was driving down the highway one day and the whole CAT caught on fire.

icedemon690

been seriously broke. hard times. but yeah the misfire seemed to go away everytime we did plugs. but why are my new plugs bad already?

--alan

xun4gvn4everx

iTrader: (2)

Because your coil packs are bad. If the coils go bad, then the plugs will go bad. If you keep driving on bad plugs, then your CAT goes bad.

xun4gvn4everx

iTrader: (2)

The misfires went away when you changed the plugs because they were "good" plugs. But, since your packs are bad, the plugs are going to go from "good" to "bad" very quickly. At which time your misfires will come back.

icedemon690

so there is no other reasons for my clogged cat. no compression problems or blowing engine? def plugs/wires/coils?

now im not terribly techanically inclined but the plugs look easy like puttin on a new vacume line and the coils look like use a 10mill and unplug/re-plug. the sparks are a no for me. but my question is since its at the dealer, u think they will put on plugs from like race roots (they have a deal goin) and than can i limp it home (5 miles away) to do the wires/coils or will that screw the new plugs?

--alan (my girl is from sherwood/easton area. had my car down there alot).

xun4gvn4everx

iTrader: (2)

Where are you located? You mean Easton MD? I can't say it is a definite that that is the issue, but all the symptoms are there and it is most likely the issue. Even if it is not, looking at the mileage and year of your car, they all need to be changed anyway. Still, I am 99.9% sure that is your issue.

xun4gvn4everx

iTrader: (2)

You can ask the dealer if they would do the install for you and how much would it cost. I would not limp it home on the new plugs. Besides, it is easiest to do all three (coils,plugs,wires) at the same time cause they overlap each other in the engine bay

icedemon690

im in PA but my gf is in Easton MD and Sherwood MD/closer to tilman island.
any idea what a dealer charges for a compression test? their labor is $80 an hour. and also with the plugs will they last till i get home to do coils and wires or should i pay a dealer.

--alan

200.mph

iTrader: (9)

easy enough to so your self.
on another note, my little bro lives in easton and im bout 45 min away if you ever need a hand or want to meet up

icedemon690

im in state college, pa but if i could limp my car to MD i would. probally going to pick up my coils/wires/plugs tomm. dealer has my car till friday. think they will install the aftermarket NGK plugs?

--alan

200.mph

iTrader: (9)

ngks are oem i believe. i thought you ment easton pa, but the offer still stands

xun4gvn4everx

iTrader: (2)

I live right smack between you and your gf. I would help you do the install, but I wouldn't trust your car to make the drive to me. I can't say for sure how long your plugs would last on those bad coil packs, but for 5 miles you probably would be fine. You would just need to pull them and check them after getting the car home. IF you want the dealer to do it you would need to ask them how much it would cost and if they would install aftermarket coil packs. Some dealers don't mind, others will refuse to do it. It's all dependent on the dealer.

Hikaru_Torii

hi i figured i'd just post in this thread since it's pretty relevant to my problem. i was recently told by a dealership i had a misfire which led to a bad catalytic converter but don't want to overpay them for the prices they told me ($1400 for cat and $400 for spark plugs install)

what spark plugs/coils/wires pack would you recommend to buy? and also any idea on the cat?

i was thinking to buy an OEM one from someone on these forums or is that a bad idea?

icedemon690

well your cat is under warranty. its 8 yrs/80,000 miles from mazda which covers the cat and the install of the cat. or 10 yrs from the govt. on the cat but ull pay for the install of the cat.....

im buying the coils from Advance Auto Parts = 23.97 a piece which is cheap.
buying the plugs from race roots and maybe wires too which is a combo for 130.00. if not the plugs at 20.00 a piece.

and than the wires from BHR for 60.00. all depending on shipping.

and the dealer still hasnt told me what caused the cat and thats why i put it up online here.

--alan

balmaceda28

hey im curious if the cat ended up being the problem with your car??

icedemon690

well the dealer said it was clogged. they never said from what but that it just was clogged to the point they were suprized it even made it to the dealership. Ended up getting that free under Mazda and USA warranty. After that since my coils, plugs, and wires were shot and i didnt wanna pay the dealership....i had them pull the car out thier bay via pushing it and did the coils and wires in half hour in their parking lot (had to search for a bolt i dropped lol). I did let them do the plugs to save myself hassle. after than it ran like a champ.