gettin my car back post Misfire CEL
 

so I've read thru a lot of the threads and this is the first time i've had a single issue with my 04- so just wanted to see what your thoughts are, if I should be looking for anything else, any advice, etc:


Car was running great, 04, 39K miles 6 speed-
2 days ago turned it on, started driving (leaving parking garage), then all of sudden car goes into limp mode. Can't get it above 3K, CEL flashes....I pull over, shut it down for 30 minutes, restart, no CEL, but still in limp.

Roadside assistance tows me to Mazda dealership. Next morning, still in limp mode, stalls, no CEL.

Tech calls me saying I pulled Misfire CEL, he is replacing coils, will do a test on CAT.
Calls today, CAT checks out fine, coils replaced, car running well...

I had no signs of CAT failure (no loss in power at high rpms etc). Seeing that i pulled over pretty much right away, if it was bad coils, could that have damaged my Cat yet still allowing it to have 'passed?'. What should I look for other than making sure the car sounds and drives right?

Another tidbit i noticed was that my parking lights (left clear corner), and front right parking light were acting funny preceding this incident. They wouldn't work, but if i literally just tapped the light (not even hard), it'd turn on.

Im assuming if it was an electrical wiring thing, (which based on reading i understand can initiate limp mode) it would have fired that particular CEL code as opposed to a misfire, but I'm curious if that is something worth exploring.

I'll let you know how the car drives. Picking up today. But any other thoughts on what I should look out for I'd love to hear.

btw Car has had all recalls, regular maintenance, plenty of redlining, no tracking yet, basically tip top shape until this happened.

thanks for reading.

I don't think you hurt the cat. The OEM cat would be replaced under the emissions warranty if you had a problem anyway. A simple miss-fire shouldn't cause the car to go into limp mode. I have a CEL at the moment due to a miss-fire. I had it reset and within a day it came back. I have noticed no change in performance. This isn't the first time this has happened for me and I drought it will be the last.

well, i got the car back and its running very well. My car was definnitely in limp mode (trust me it was a pain to even move it a few feet), and the tech said the CEL was for a misfire...

at any rate, new coils, oil change, new plugs, same cat as before and its running well....still have plenty of oomph in the high rpms, and no ill affects after about 15 miles of hard driving. I'll see how she holds up from here.

just a note for ya .sometimes hitting a speed bump can cause a tail lamp or parklamp-turn signal to go bad.you did not say if that was fixed or not.

glad you mentioned that- they replaced the right front passenger bulb, and its working fine consistently. HOwever my left (drivers side) clear corner marker is dead. Before I could tap it, and it'd light up. So they are ordering me a new socket as they replaced the bulb, and said it did work when they tested it....