Just Got "Recalled" for the N Flash--Good Idea?
 

Today my dealer called my house and told my wife there was a "recall," and I should bring in my 2004 for an N flash. I already have the M flash and I was not aware of any recall, per se, for the N flash. I just made an appointment to bring it in next Monday.

My searches here do not really tell me (1) how the N differs from the M; (2) whether it's a true recall or just a service bulletin; and (3) whether or why I should even want the N over the M. At best, all I found were a few anecdotes.

Oh, well, I'll probably do it regardless, because I love having the latest firmware on all my toys. :D Any thoughts? TIA. (Sorry if I missed some informative thread in my search.)

i havent got a call from mazda but i guess i will check with them
anyone got the N flash ?

I'm gonna call my dealer in the morning

I asked the service manager how it was different, but he had no clue. If you do a search here for "N flash", you may find two references where people said they got the N flash--one of them said his car now seems faster, but he wasn't sure. I wonder how it's different.

I think that was me.

Two weeks later, still seems faster. Idle is lumpier, especially on start up. Throttle seems sharper, and there's more of a surge between 4-6 k -- to the extent that the DSC now comes in ealrier on some of the 2nd gear turns I take hard around here...seems like there's more torque. Milage seems the same.

I got a recall card from the dealer for it, and already had the M.

I feel no difference between M and N. Both seem to get .5 to 1.0 worse mileage than L. I liked L the best.

Thanks, guys. My fantasy is the flash where I suddenly get 247 horsepower. Until then, I'll just keep my car current and exploit any extra power the engineers may find.

Not that my car feels slow to me; it doesn't.

I agree 100%. My 8 had the N-flash last week and I swear it drives much better than M. Faster, sharper, quicker etc. The car does idle a tad rougher, however no issues at all. I had her in again today to replace a part and requested they NOT reflash the car as I like the way it is now.

- Irish :cool:

Excellent. (Rubbing hands together and grinning.)

I got the lastest N flash today at the dealership, and I can confirm that the car is significantly faster at low to midrange punch. I'm glad there are people who also notice this, becase I thought I was dreaming.

Mazda dealer without a rotary clue. Now that's unusual. ;)

247....naw, my fantasy is a hair dryer or super charger and 290 horses. Then without a doubt my 7 would have company in the stable. Imagine those horses and that handling--that would be my NFSU 2 ride!!! Which kicks ass!!
But good luck with the flash. I'm interested in exactly how they adjust the ECU to enhance the performance with the N-flash. But of course I doubt you'll find anyone at a dealer that could explain this.
May have to call Hiroshima for those details. :rolleyes:

I called my SA to confirm that they have the updated flash. Told him that some dealers are even contacting customers about it...silence....says he's never heard of that. Then he tells me that he cant give me the updated flash without some sort of documented problem or dealer recall. So... I then reference running rich, 12 mpg and occasional difficult starts. After a while he seemed a little more understanding.

Anyone else with the N flash get resistance from the SA?

Just got the N flash yesterday - I can vouch that there is more power down low than with the M flash. I did not get the flash expecting anything in the power department.

great, this means it's gonna take mazda of canada 6months to give it to us..


MrJynx

the same N flash?
 

Is this the N flash they tried to give me a while ago, which induced a CEL requiring them to pull my computer and ship it back to Mazda so it could be reverted? I was so pissed about it.

Hopefully all the crap is fixed in this one. I won't be the first in line to get this changed. Gonna wait and see if there are any problems with it.

- hijack - Why does Mazda call it a recall? Recall implies there's a defect of some sort. If the ECU started failing in a majority of 8's, that's a recall. A flash is an update or better version. I've heard quite a few other people complaining about all of the ECU recalls and talking like their car is a POS because of it.

thats the one i have i think. never got a CEL though. gotta check the invoices to see whther i have M or N.

I don't have any information that Mazda does call it a recall. My wife said that the service manager told her over the phone that it was a recall. My theory is that maybe my wife heard it wrong, or the service manager used the wrong word. However, that leads me to wonder why my dealership would have taken the trouble to call me, if in fact it's not a recall.

It doesn't sound as though other dealers are taking this step, so maybe my dealership is just trying to drum up warranty business and other work for its service department--a lot of customers probably get other things done each time they bring in their cars.

Also, I looked up my car on Mymazda.com, and it shows no current recalls on it.

I am pleased to hear this flash may add some power. I seriously doubt it's that lemon flash people were getting months ago; that one was corrupt, I understand, and it's hard to imagine Mazda would still be using it. I suspect they wrote fresh firmware to replace it.

When I take my car in on Monday I will ask them whether it's a formal recall, and how it may differ from the M flash. I will post any such information here, as well as my impression of the flash.

is this it?

http://www.finishlineperformance.com.../01-008-05.pdf

Hmmm. I bet it is. Is that a true "recall," or just a TSB?

oh for crying out loud- where do you live? the entire point of the newly revised msp04 is that people havent been updated or got updated with the bugy flash. he better have heard of it because it specifically tells the service centers to start calling people who's records show they havent been updated to at least M yet and get them in and done. mazda is disappointeted that they only have about 60% compliance with msp04 and they want 100% thats why the push with phone calls. as for better performance some of it may have to do with resetting the pcm.

MSP= Mazda Special Program.
it's essentially a mandatory TSB. it works like a recall in that it shows up in your records as an Item that needs to be done when you go in to service. they are also sending letters and making the dealers make phone calls to try to get every car at least to M. you may not get a flash when you go in- they can just check what flash you are on and if its M close the MSP in your records. however since there is the newer N most places will probably flash to that.

how do you reset the pcm again? tap the brakes 20 times real fast with the key to on?

there is also holding the odo reset button while turnign the key to on and waiting for "test" to appear where the trip odo is. i dont know if it works on the firs t time so i do it 3 times in a row. "seems" to have increased my gas mileage by 2-3 mpg. recently i was geting as low as 14-15 mpg but after doing the odo resets(did this to see if it would work) i have gotten 2 tanks of 16.x and one tank of 17.5 mpg in town