silvrrx8

my car has been shutting off lately this is common i have came in this past month and two times right when i got in my driveway it shut off but today i was driving it started to shut off again at a red light i have to hurry and put it in neutral and rev it up to keep from shutting off it seems like this only happens in the summertime i did have problems with this last summer. any help?

DOMINION

Could be:
Bad cat bad plugs or coils. OR bad compression. Thats what mine was doing before she went. RIP 2004 AT WB.

Stacy83

That happened to me at the end of summer 2008. I took it to the dealer and it ended up being something that a recall covered because I didnt pay anything and my warranty has been up for over 2 years.

Stacy83

My car sometimes Shakes when I start it and I cant drive it. I have to turn it off and restart untill it stops shaking... a few months back the dealer replaces 2 of my spark plugs and now they told me that my chamber 2 is backfiring. I since then have changed my spark plug wires. Does anyone have any idea what else I should do, or know what the problem might be. Mazda tested all of my coils and they all tested that they were firing, then they said that they wanted to change them too. Do you think that I should change the coils??? I am stuck and I dont want to take it to the dealer they always charge me triple the amount of money then it acually cost to fix the problem, also they dont always seem to know what they are doing.

Vyndictive

iTrader: (28)

Silver: check your intake to see if you have any oil residue in it. This problem happened to me (I always had to keep my foot on the gas to keep it from stalling). It was because oil residue had built up in my lower intake manifold causing an air control valve to be stuck closed. (the SSV valve). Without any air getting to the engine at idle, it would stall.

So, start by seeing if oil has made it into your intake caused my overfilling your oil at some point.

Stacy: coils and plugs are very common problem items in this car and I think your coils should be changed. The dealer will charge you an arm and a leg for these, so its in your best interest to change them yourself by following the DIY here on the forums. You'll also get the best prices from the vendors here.
--do you ever get a flashing check engine light?

Phil's 8

iTrader: (3)

Solving problem on a forum are tough. We do not know how you take care of your car, how many miles is on it, weather you premix, etc. Now that said there are several reasons this could be happening: Plugs, coils and Vyndicatve's post is another try. You do have an 04 and that engine has been the problem child. If the plugs, coils and intake are OK then get a compression check.

Coils and fouled plugs are a big problem with the 8s. They are not hard to change yourself.

nycgps

iTrader: (1)

2004 ? AT ?

dies during Summer ?

I am willing to bet 10 bux that the engine is bad.

changing coils ... ouch, thats couple hundred bux right there for some 110 dollars part.

You should request a compression test, even if its still good its only about 1 hour of labor, Im sure its MUCH cheaper than replacing 4 coils @ dealership.

if it fails the test, the test would be free(Covered under warranty) and you can get another engine under Engine warranty (which is 100K miles or 8yrs, whichever comes first), and you can probably get a refund of all the work that you paid thats related to this problem.(coils cost, plugs cost, etc)

Phil's 8

iTrader: (3)

No bet - I was trying to be nice and give a few options.

Stacy83

My check engine light was flashing in the past. It stopped doing it for about 2 months now.

nycgps

iTrader: (1)

Flashing CEL USUALLY means your engine misfired. it DOES NOT mean the engine is bad. it could be just bad coils/plugs/wires/all of the above.

Still, run a compression test. MAKE SURE they tell you the numbers. and post them up here.

Stacy83

I havent really been on this site very many times. What is the DIY? I just would like to get the instructions on how to change the coils.

Easy_E1

iTrader: (2)

DIY Do It Yourself.

nycgps

iTrader: (1)

You need a ratchet. extension bar, 10 mm socket. working pair of hands maybe an hour of your time, 4 new coils. some common sense.

Stacy83

They are going to charge me $150 to run a compression test. No way! - They told me that my chamber 2 was backfiring. I have already changed the spark plug wires, and 2 of the spark plugs were changed in Dec. 08.

Vyndictive

iTrader: (28)

well, a compression test will tell you if you get a new engine or not... 150 is high though. I think the dealership around me wanted like 75 for a comp. test, but I don't remember. It was probably 75 and then 75 for the hour of labor.

Coils should run around 100 bucks, and it would have been better to change all the plugs at the same time, but it may be worth it to invest in 4 new ones also. I bet the wires are fine.

Coils+Plugs aren't too hard to replace when following the DIY instructions. The dealer will overcharge you dramatically for this.

I'm not saying that changing this will fix your problem 100%, but its always the place to start with these types of problems.

Stacy83

Thanks...i think i am going to change the coils next and the spark plugs...the dealer here charges $100 just to look at your car no matter whats wrong with it..not including the labor if you have the problem fixed...its rediculas!!

bxb40

Stacy, the dealers usually change only the two lead plugs when they did the recal, so your trail one in chamber 2 might be old and shot. As for coils, you can flip the wires on the coils between the chambers to see if things improve (ie, now you have them 1-2-3-4, so do 3-4-1-2 at the coils)

KWarner04

Hey...I was wondering if you could explain this to me. How would you go about getting a refund for all the work done that led up to having the engine replaced?

I'm researching for a friend who had this EXACT thing happen. She's got an '04 AT and it would stall all the time and take forever to start. Took the car to the dealership and they originally said is was the SSV, but then did that and the engine still failed the compression test, so the replaced the engine.

Now they're trying to charge her $1200 for replacing the SSV. While the SSV might have been bad, I don't see how they can charge her when they had to replace the engine anyways!

Any help would be appreciated!

cfm251

iTrader: (3)

I was in you place not too long ago I cleaned the MAF, new spark plugs, coils, fuel pump, no trouble codes...and it still ran like crap struggled to rev shutoff when I i would take my foot of the gas it would die, it wouldn't hold an idle and blew out smoke like no tomorrow. Heck I even took it to Mazda for a $300 diagnosis and they couldn't even figure out what was wrong they did eventually say I would need a new engine....i dont know if they actually figured it out or gave up. It should have been covered under warranty but they needed proof of maintenance, i gave them several for the above items 2.5 oil change receipts lol and its still not enough last i got word yesterday I sent Mazda a very frustrated message yesterday and we will see what happens but I think its lawyer time!

----moral of the story is there is there is only so much you can do to the car and lots of people here will help, but sometimes the worst happens and the engine craps out. No sense putting any more money into it. If this shop is ripping you off look for another one if available otherwise tell them you've replaced everything check my compression and give me a new FN engine!