My engine died while driving.......
 

Hello, today after I gased my 8, my car's engine light was flashing flashing.
and the engine sounded like its having hard time.
and all the sudden my engine died.
I tried to restart it, and it did work. However the problem was that my engines dies again if i don't keep my put on the gas.
and restarted my car again, then the engine light went off and the car was running great.
So I was hoping that I can make it home, but all the sudden on the road, my engine stopped. So with help of my buddy, I pushed my car to the side, trying to start the engine. However, I failed.
I left my car there so I can call towing company to tow my car to my dealership.
What could be the problem??
Also I noticed that inside of my cup holder got hot (hotter than ususal) also the silver part (console) beside the shift booth got hot too.

Please help me

Perhaps:

Clogged Cat. Converter
Spark plug wire(s) loose
Coils.
Or, Communication problem with the e-shaft sensor, drive by wire throttle, or MAF sensor.

What year and mileage is on your car? A/T or 6spd?
Are you first owner, or bought it recently?

crazy.
I went to back car to get it towed.
However, when I tried to start my engine when I got there, it started without any problem......
so I brought it back to my place hoping I can fix it myself since the labour is going to cost me alot. I can afford to go into dealer shop. so please help me out guys. I can't seem to find what the problem is. I am going to try to put on new plugs/wires/coils. Maybe I should also get updated starter too while I fix my car since i need to change it anywayzzz
so please help~

If none of the above....also check your fuel pump!

What is wrong with your starter? If the car starts OK....the starter is fine...the new ones just spin faster.....so if you aren't having starting problems save the $300+ dollars and wait till it fails ( it likely won't ever)

you dont mention mileage or anything else, but that is classic rx8 fuel pump..

beers :beer:

sorry, my 8 is 2004 and 64000km on it.
I just want to get new starter because my car takes about 3~4 seconds to start.
Dealer suggested me to get a new starter but I want to get it myself and install it myself for cheaper price.
so if it's the fuel pump problem, do i just get a new fuel pump and install it???

longer cranking times also are a sign of fuel pump. sock is likely dirty. bad gas or something else..

i would do the pump before you do the starter, as the starter sure did not make your car stop running..

as to installing the fuel pump, not really hard if you have worked on cars for a while, have the right tools. and some common sense.

beers :beer:

+1 if you claim that you don't want to spend extra money on taking it to the dealer to find out what's wrong then don't waste your money on a part that is NOT the problem. Common problems are fuel pump and clogged cat. Coils, plugs, wires.

My guess is what everyone else says. Fuel pump if the car starts and drives fine then all the sudden dies. Fuel pump can't keep up the flow for your motor. Specifically it could just be the fuel filter sock instead of the pump itself. I'm not sure though as I've never had any problems with it.

Also you mentioned your cup holder is getting hotter. This is possible clogged cat. That should be under warranty and the dealer should replace it for you. Common problem.

oh~ ic. but my warrenty is over since my 8 is from 2004.
can i fix the clogged cat myself??
do I get burn smell if i get a clogged cat?? because when I was driving, I smell something burning.

just take it to the dealer and get a engine compression test done, and if it fails then they would replace the engine. this will all be covered under warranty. no one knows these cars better the company that built these cars

sometimes you can.

the cat is covered under a emissions warranty. get out the owners manual for that in canada..

in the usa i think it is 8 yrs 80k miles.

beers :beer:

the symptoms do not show bad motor on this one.. bad motors dont just start up and run fine.

beers :beer:

thx, I should go to dealer and get the cat cleaned.
or I read DIY so I might just do it myself when I clean the sock.
I will try my best to find the problem kk
plugs/coils/wire/starter/fuel pump/clean sock/clogged cat.
Not many things to do kkk
but i just want to know if you smell something burned if your cat is clogged

you cant clean the cat. it is good, or bad..

if you have to clean the sock the damage is done.. but you can clean the sock..

the answer to your probem is some very accurate troubleshooting..

beers :beer:

hopely clogged cat is under the emission warranty so i can get it for free.

Make sure they unbolt it and physically look inside for melted globs. They will try to tell you it's fine if there is no CEL but it can still be bad. MAKE SURE THEY PHYSICALLY LOOK INSIDE.

all you have to do is check cat efficiency in mode 6, no need to look inside if its severe enough to stall the motor.

kevin.

I seen multiple instances where the techs don't get a CEL so they don't dig any further even when it's obvious that's the issue. It sounds like you know what you're doing but I don't know if the people looking at his car will be as qualified as you are. ;)

lol, they just dont see any potential diag time since they have no easy clues to send mazda. anyone would know to check efficiency data first, then if still suspicious inspect the unit. hell thats the proper procedure lol. after reading things on this forum i realize not many techs seem to notice "procedure" and I now understand why everyone thinks we're lazy, i assure you its a small, yet noticeable, minority :)

kevin.

Glad to hear it's a small minority. We don't think the tech's are lazy just not too bright. :) -j/k

Good to know there is a way to check the cat. efficiency.

Question: not to get off topic too much, would the efficiency data show a pressure increase in the cat. due to the forward element being melted or clogging the flow? I'm interested to know what data you can collect on the cat. performance and what the min/max spec. is? We can start handing out better advice to people on the forum that way.

the only way to check the data on cat efficiency is using mode 6 data, which im pretty sure you can only do with a dealer's IDS, the data is pretty barebones but gives you a good estimate of whether the cat is going out, still new, already shot etc. depending on the value you can then decide if a visual inspection is needed, its sort of like an extra step before going thru the hassle of lifting the car and pulling the cat.

kevin.