BunnyGirl

I hope my mileage goes back up, too. You do know that we switched to that "winter" gas a few weeks ago, right? That may have something to do with it, but I don't think it would have been that significant of a difference or particularly ongoing crappy.

Just a thought, the people complaining about significantly worse mileage after the recall seem to have 06s, which were seeming to get better mileage in general over previous years.

voodooray

thanks for the info, had a quick look at the difference between summer and winter gasoline and epa states that they have seen a 1-3% loss in economy due to reduced energy content of winter fuel.

I'm seeing a 20% reduction, interestingly ambient temp/idle warm up in winter can have as much as a 20% reduction in economy. I understand these are averages across a broad range of car but I'm sure they're all contributing factors.

Here's the link to the site I looked at :- http://www.epa.gov/otaq/rfgecon.htm


I'm not that bothered about paying more, I just want to understand the sudden change, now that the ski season is upon us I'll be driving my 4.0 Land Rover up to Mt.Hood a few times a week so I'm already prepared for gas guzzling. Sorry tree huggers.

Fast mover

I took my spark plugs out checked them ,cleaned them ,reinstalled them took the car for arun and it worked fine for 10 mins went back to the same problem as yours .It actually feels like its running kind of flooded.

RX8rider

Mine too feels like it has less pepp down low. MPG has gone down a bit from 18's to 16's. No wierd noises but the change in power is disappointing.

tiltmode43

iTrader: (15)

I reset the pcm via battery disconnection and it seemed to feel peppier - subsequently I drove it harder

Anyone know the whole idea behind the computer learning your driving style and making adjustments based off of that?

Fast mover

So did anyone got results from the shop or dealer about this.

j67345

I didn't notice any performance differences post-recall, but it did flood for the first time in two years. I'm curious though to know if they actually performed the recall test. That dealer has never really seemed very reliable (I just moved here from California....so I need to find a different Mazda dealership)...and when I got it back, they said my car was fine and didn't need anything. Seems that most people have at least needed some new plugs, so I was a little skeptical that mine needed nothing.

Is there something on the work order that you guys have that shows results of their test on your cars? Just curious....

tmak26b

Same here, I want an other dealer to plug in the computer to verify. Is there anyway to check what version of flash you have.

JeRKy 8 Owner

Now that my car has been running normal for a week, I think it may have been my imagination that the car felt slower down low. The powerband feels the same as before now. The only noticeable change in the car is its fuel efficiency (which is definitely related to this flash) but I never really gave a crap about gas mileage in the first place, so I'm not going to waste my time discussing it here.

FlyLow

I've got another thread going right now about a hesitation form 3 to 5k that didn't start until the recall. Right after the recall I was having the same problems as you and brought it back they did something and it ran better now it just has a hesitation and they (mazda) said it's due to the valves in the intake opening out of seqeunce. They also said that it would effect mpg and idle, but they are working on a fix.

tmak26b

Where in CT are you? Dont go to HARTFORD for sure okay. I am going to try Middletown since I know the parts guy well, he assured me Dave in there is good. I am going to try them tomorrow, but I was pissed after talking to the stupid bitch advisor they have. SHe refused to give me a loaner because ti is not overnight

j67345

I'm in Granby....I drive past one every day on my way to work (in downtown Hartford)....it's on the 91. Is that the one I should avoid? Maybe I should wait to see what service you get.
The dealership I have not liked is the one in Manchester

MX6_2_RX8

How did you find out it was the coils. Since the recall my car starts really hard. It doesn’t catch as fast as it use to and when it does it sputters to a start. It has flooded once since the recall already. I also notice that the power band isn’t as smooth as it use to be. I get jumps in power at about 4K and 6.5K. Gas mileage is down about 2MPG which I’m not thrilled about, now I need to stop for gas even more.

zoned

I had the exaxt same problem with starting and rough idle once i got my car back from recall. Thought it was the pcm but when it didnt clear up a week later i took it back in. they replaced the starter and plugs and now it cranks if you look at it wrong. good times :-)

Stavesacre21

yes, i just quoted myself...

just found out that my car was filled with 87 unleaded when they filled it up...first time in almost 8K (since new) that the car has had anything below 92. I don't know if the onset of freezing weather or the gas is to blame, but after i ran another full tank of 92 through, i'm back to my typical 17MPG in-town numbers.

Apparently, conflicting my initial response, this flash didn't affect me as much as i thought. It may have slightly tipped the scales one way or the other, but for now, all the changing weather makes if very hard to tell.

Razz1

Damn! i thought we were going to get another MPG thread started.

tmak26b

Yes, stay away from that one. I will let you know next week. YOu have been to Manchester? My next one after Middletown is Modern Motors in Thomaston

JeRKy 8 Owner

When I asked my service advisor how they corrected all the problems (I mentioned on the first post of this thread), he said, "All I know is that they had to put on new coils."

If your engine sounds completely different and feels rough all the time when you accelerate like mine did, the coils may be the problem. I'm not sure if your engine start up issues are related to the coils though.

danielk015

iTrader: (1)

i mentioned this right after i got the recall, but my MPG has went down too... which is puzzling why a flash would suck more gas... my car seems to be pretty normal, but sometimes i get symptoms like jerky 8 gets... it doesnt happen to often though

tr186fla

Mine was checked out last week, 2006 Grand Touring model. Dealership said everything checked out OK and all they needed to do was flash. Car is running same as it did when I brought it in,, seen no difference at all... but then again, I did not have any issues with it before I brought it in..

User24

iTrader: (1)

Yes, acceleration was rougher after the recall, but also more powerful. The roughness and sound of the engine was quite like the feeling of needing an oil change. I seriously wondered if they dumped my synthetic oil out and put in their own non-synthetic oil.

I did my own oil change after burning through their crap gasoline, which was the first time the car has had a low octane fuel in 5000 miles.

So, after the oil change and back to my preferred gasoline, the car smoothed out over the next 2 tanks.

The rough behavior should be a temporary thing that subsides over the next month.

Fast mover

I took mine in yesterday and is still at the shop and they did found a spark plug cable or wire that wouldnt snap on the spark plug tight so it was loose all the time ,they are going to put new wires and spark plugs in so hopefully that does it.Im gonna pick it up today and Ill let you guys know if it fixed the problem or not.

BunnyGirl

I had a loose plug, too. But, my car still ran pretty bad after it was fixed, although not as bad. I've almost finished running a tank with Iso-Heet in it for water in the fuel lines. After the first 25 miles or so it started running really close to normal and it is starting up pretty much normal now. My mileage has improved quite a bit. If I can manage to get another 70 miles in before the light comes on I will break 20, which is definitely a big step up from the recent 16ish I started getting, although not quite up to my mid 22 to mid 23 normal range. I settle for 20-21 with our "winter" gas and it looks like I will do it, even considering I spent a good part of my driving yesterday going really slow or just idling because of all our darn snow that showed up!!! Kinda sucks. I waited until later in the day to go where I needed to go, when I could see that up by me all the snow was melted off the roads. I drove about 4 miles from home, went down a steep hill and found all the snow. It was snowing really hard and around 2 inches on the road. It was that way for another 10 miles and then slush to clear the rest of my way and also on the way back to physical therapy. So, dumb me decides to hang out with my boyfriend at his store for awhile before grocery shopping and going home. It was still totally fine where I was, but about 1 mile outside of town it was snowing hard again and snow all over the road. I was able to drive through all this snow with absolutely no problem, up hills, around sharp curves, everything. I'm surprised how good Bella did in it, on stock tires I might add!! No slipping, sliding, tires spinning, or anything.

Now, back on topic. If fixing the plugs and whatever doesn't take care of your problem (like my situation) try running some gas treatment through it to soak up the water that may have gotten in your tank. It's working great for me.

Duke15

BG - do you have the Dumop or Bridgestone stock tires? I have read that the Bridgestones are worse in the snow.

-An update on mine running worse after teh recall. I took it to a better shop, where they replaced the engine mounts, and so far that has solved the problem. The only other change that took place when I had my recall work done was colder weather, so it may have been that.

BunnyGirl

Dunlops. They got me home from work in some freezing rain pretty well the other day, too, not that I ever want to do that again!

My car is running much better still and the tank of gas with the treatment in it got me 20.16, so I'm happy with that and hope it stays up around that range and stays running good.