aggietiff28

Ok, couldn't find anyone else with this exact problem after a quick search so I thought I would ask. Took the car to the dealership with CEL and shuttering/hard time accelerating between shifts when engine is cold. On the way to the dealership the car died. No shudder, no kick, nothing... just dead.

Dealership looked at it and said that the plug wires and ignition coils all need to be replaced which is still covered under warranty (she has 53,000 miles on her). Then they said that they need to remove the carbon from the extension manifold (that was what caused the car to die) and that Mazda will not cover that under warranty since that is considered preventative maintenance. Can anyone tell me what I was supposed to be doing other than running her to redline every now and then to keep this from happening. i.e. what preventative maintenance did they expect me to do?

Jax_RX8

Run a fuel cleaner very often, preferably a lubricious one in every tank, to keep all the carbon cleaned out of the engine (and all the parts of the intake that comes in contact with fuel or combustion blowback).

https://www.rx8club.com/showpost.php...&postcount=968

aggietiff28

Well, problem is that they want to charge me to clean out the carbon, but I want to know how it is "preventative maintenance" when it is causing an engine problem and there is nothing listed that I know of in the Service Manual that I have not done to their specifications. In other words... I have followed their service manual and I still have this problem. I don't think I should have to pay to fix a problem that I could not have "prevented" by reading and following their service manual. Seems like it should be covered under warranty to fix it?

Jax_RX8

Not really - all engines get dirty from the burning of gasoline - no way around it - but the rotary, with it's rich fuel mixture and oil injection is much worse than most.

A dealer would not clean out your dirty intake manifold for free in a Civic either, under warranty or not - which happens, just slower in a piston engine.

I feel your pain, but the old saying is true - an ounce of prevention...

aggietiff28

So my next question is this. Do I have to have it cleaned out at the dealership, or will running the fuel cleaner fix that problem for me with a few trips to redline?

nycgps

iTrader: (1)

You dont have to do it at dealership.

Get 3 bottles of Redline SI-1 Fuel system cleaner. 1 for each tank of gas, run the crap out of ur car every tank. Especially red line.

then u're set

aggietiff28

Thanks... I think I will try this instead of letting dealer clean it out and see if it works. If not, then I guess I will let them do their job

Jax_RX8

You can also do an intake system "fogging" with Seafoam Creep. Seafoam Creep is an arosole version of Seafoam and can be sprayed into your intake system while the motor is running to clean and lubricate you total intake system.

It will also clean out the carbon out of your combustion chambers as well.

The key is to use the hose that comes with it to get the spray past your Mass Airflow Sensor (MAF) as it will screw that up - may be tricky to do depending on you intake setup.

Normally, Seafoam can be sucked in through a vacuum line, but in this case it may bypass some of the areas you need cleaned, so I would spray it in just beyond the MAF if you can - if not, use a vaccum line up as high into the intake as possible.

It would also be better if you have a buddy work the throttle to keep it running while you are spraying - revving it some to get it into all the intake passages, but not too hard.

One more thing - this WILL smoke beyond all belief - so do it in somewhere where you won't **** off the neighborhood.

Hope this helps.

aggietiff28

Thank you, but I do have another question. So I talked to my service rep. and she said that actually none of this is covered under warranty since I am over 50,000 miles, but she talked to MNAO and got them to cover the ignition coils and plug wires if we pay for the carbon cleaning. I realize that I will need to replace the plug wires because once they are shot... they are just shot, but I can do that myself. I don't know engines well enough to know anything about the ignition coils, so I guess I want to know if those will actually "have" to be replaced or if the fuel cleaner or the foam will help clean those up. I am guessing that they are like the plug wires and that if they are misfiring they will automatically need replacement.

Jax_RX8

Engine warranty was extended to 60k, but Plugs, Plug Wires, and Coils are generally considered wear items and not covered (although some have gotten them replaced under warranty).

Thanks said - might not be a bad deal if they will replace the coils and plugs, but you do need to go ahead and get the plug wires changed before you will be able to tell if it was one of the causes of yor issue.

Kane

iTrader: (1)

I agree with Jax; might be a win win for some free coils.

They can be expensive from the dealer.

But to answer your question - yes; once the coils are bad - they are bad and need to be replaced.

teknics

Alright, your dealer is dicking you around. MNAO doesnt make "deals" its not "hey your parts are covered....if you buy this" thats not how it works.

Your engine and its performance is covered 60mth/60k.

Ask them what the code is that they retrieved, considering their planned course of action, decarb, I'm going to go out on a limb and say it is probably a P2070 for the SSV being stuck open, this is a part of your LIM. This is not something you could easily prevent with proper maintenance, even if you maintain your engine superbly this problem could arise, and therefore deserves to be covered under warranty, it is a product defect not a customer caused problem, therefore its a warranty issue.

I would tell them you want the coils, plugs and wires replaced under warranty, and you want the CEL's cause fixed under warranty as it should be (which I'm guessing theyre saying the decarb will fix, the CEL)

Personally, the direction they're following I don't think would lead to the complete stall out you described, but it would cause a loss of power/hesitation/stutter.

Don't be surprised if they do the work theyve told you, and then wind up having to do more work/diagnosis of your stall out.

Whatever dealership is telling you that "coils" are wear items are robbing you blind. In fact as long as your in warranty I don't even think the wires are listed as reccommended maintenance, and therefore if you need them before 60k I;d consider them defective as they didnt live as long as mazda says they should and therefore should be warranty. I swear I am more amazed everyday by what i find out is going on at other dealerships.

kevin.

Ericok

Ask them to show you where in the owner's or service manual it identifies "carbon cleaning" as a required preventative maintenance by the owner.