whg690

Hi, i might just be spitting the same sad story everyone else has, but i have 2004 6 speed with around 68k on it. Recently i've had some problems with poor acceleration and poor idling. I took the car to the dealership and they said "they couldn't duplicate the problem". Occasionally, the car's idle will drop below 1k and then lose power all together and stall out. Since i got it back from the dealership, it seems to be doing somewhat better, but i afraid to drive it hard at all for fear it'll stall out. When its driving "rough" in first gear you have to give it a lot more gas to get it to move out of first, but it only does this occasionally, i mean maybe once a month now. Nevertheless, i have that fear that the car will stall out again for no reason. I rarely take the car out of fourth gear, and i rarely go over 55 mph because thats when it usually stalls out. For instance, i drove on the interstate for around 30 minutes one day at around 75 mph and when i got off the exit ramp the car stall at the stop sign. If anyone has any idea what is causing this or what i might could do to fix it, please help.
Thanks,
Hamp

swiftnet

This sounds like what happened to me a few months ago. It turned out to be a bad coil.

whg690

Thanks, does anyone else have any suggestions so i can cover all my bases.

DarkBrew

Plugs, coils and plug wires
www.finishlineperformance.com
www.racingbeat.com
www.sparkplugs.com

All are consumables and can cause issues by 50k miles

Mazurfer

^+1...............although you MIGHT add clogged cat to the list as well?
Others listed would come first though.

If it seems a little better since dealer.....what did they do? Anything at all?

whg690

They claimed to have done their however many point check, but they said their was nothing wrong....some suggested it was in my head, but unless i imagined the car stalling then i'm assuming somethings wrong, but no as far as i know, they didnt do anything...

swoope

iTrader: (5)

loose plug or plug wire
bad coil or coils
fuel pump

beers

prisonerofcs

iTrader: (2)

I know this is a very dead thread, but my car is doing the same thing. Its a 2007 with 74,000 miles. I've replaced the coils/plugs twice, and just switched to the BHR kit. BHR kit made big improvement, but it still stall on interstate exits. Anything I can do to test if its the cat or the fuel pump?

Edit:
I ended up replacing the fuel pump, but it wasn't the problem. Mazda ended up replacing the engine. While the car was apart I inspected the CAT (they let me look over everything), and its good. No obstructions in the mesh. Coil and plugs were good and did not need to be replaced. Aparently these symptoms can be attributed directly to a failing engine.

mlukaszm

Bad Coils ! i changed mine few weeks ago and i was suprised how they change acceleration i didnt have power between 6000-9000 but now is much better Btw u should change them every 30k Cheers !

prisonerofcs

iTrader: (2)

I should have been more specific, I have replaced the oem coils, plugs, and wires twice since 60,000 miles. I'm now at 74,900. I finally switched to the BHR kit, but I'm still getting the low power after exiting the interstate. At this point the only thing I'm certain about is that its not the coils, plugs, or wires

swoope

iTrader: (5)

could be fuel pump.

beers

Easy_E1

iTrader: (2)

Sounds like it might be time for a new engine. I would maybe consider getting a compression test done at the dealership.

prisonerofcs

iTrader: (2)

I'm guessing before I go to the dealer I should remove the bhr kit? Also would a failing fuel pump make an extremely high pitched noise around 5k rpm? I thought it was a ground loop but now I'm not sure. Thanks!

prisonerofcs

iTrader: (2)

Today I had a coolant leak, it turned out both my radiator and coolant resovoir are cracked. So the car is at my mechanic's, I will see if he can do a compression check on the engine and get his opinion on the car. I'm already up to $1k in repairs. He is a good guy so he might cut me a break on the tests. He did say he couldn't really test the cat. He said that would be better left to the dealer.

Stingray

I have a very similar problem. Only mine is intermittent. I don't throw any codes and I go in tomorrow and I really don't want to drive 60 and spend 100 bucks just to find out they don't know whats going on. Anyone have any suggestions? I'm thinking it might be a coil but I have also been reading the 'marbles in a can' threads. Mine does it between 4500 and 7500 with a loss of power.

laythor

issues like this will always become a process of elimination. Coils, wires, plugs, cat, fuel pump, compression.
You can test everything up to compression without any special tools.

Stingray

Do you have the process to check all of the above except for compression? I honestly think the more I read it sounds like its either a coil or poor compression as after it warms up it takes a while to start after shut down on warmer days.

prisonerofcs

iTrader: (2)

I just got mine back from the shop yesterday. It was running terrible at first. They had to remove the battery, and left it off all weekend, so the ecu was reset. I reset the eccentric shaft position sensor (press brake 20 times as fast as possible while on ACC) and everything smoothed out immediately. I ran the car for about 30min in 90+ degree weather, and as soon as I let the car idle, it stalled. Restarted and it had no power.

How do I test the fuel pump? I want to eliminate every possibility before I go to the dealer.

zoom44

how can he not test the cat? unbolt the f-er and look inside.

prisonerofcs

iTrader: (2)

I think it might have been what I requested. I told him I wanted something in writing that I could take to the dealer so they wouldn't make me screw around with a bunch of tests. He said if it was the cat I should be getting a CEL, which its not.

I did get CELs before I put the BHR kit on. The kit really did improve the situation quite a bit. This weekend I'll take it off and see if the CELs come back. The codes were for misfire and post catalys...something...

If I pull it myself, what should I look for, burnt lining or debris?

zoom44

yes. very often the cat can be clogged and/or broken and/or melted and not throw the CEL. I can't count anymore how many times "we" have shown this to techs now. it has to be opened and looked at

prisonerofcs

iTrader: (2)

Thanks, I might try it this weekend!

prisonerofcs

iTrader: (2)

Update:
Haven't pulled the cat yet, I've haven't had the time, but I've started getting consistant CELs. \

P0301 - cylinder 1 misfire detected
P0171-System too lean (bank 1)
P2096- Post Catalyst Fuel Trim Bank 1 System too Lean


P0171 is most common, researching other threads I noticed that P0171 show up alot with bad fuel pumps, also I found a thread where someone was having the low power after interstate drive like I am.

So... I'm going to swap the fuel pump. I can get a rebuilt assembly w/pump for $85. It looks like its a pretty quick job. I'm hopeful that I can do it tuesday after work. If that doesn't fix it then I'll pull the CAT. Either way I'll post updates.

One question about the cat, is the gasket reusable? I noticed its about $30 if I need to replace it. I don't want to skimp, but I want to reuse it if possible.

prisonerofcs

iTrader: (2)

OK, so I was on my way to pick up the fuel pump when the car died. When it died the tank was almost full and the car was running great. After about 10 minutes the car would not run above 6K rpm, and it sounded like something was knocking around in the engine bay, kind of like rocks in a dryer. Then it just died. I had it towed to my house ($170 later), I then removed the BHR ignition kit (knowing the dealership would scream about it. I put a set of coils on it that only had about 5K, mazda wires, and kept the plugs. Then the car started right up, but wouldn't rev over 6K rpm. The car continued to throw the P0171 too lean code.

I took the day off, changed the fuel pump and the mass air flow sensor. The MAF was under warranty from Advanced Auto so I just switched it in case. The car ran great for about 40 minutes. Then it died again! Started making the same noise that it does if I get the CAI wet in a puddle, then it gradually lost RPM, and would not idle. I could crank it, but unless I pounded on the gas it would die again. I had my ODBII scanner with me, and it showed MAF error IAF over flow, and the old P0171 was pending. Its sitting at Mazda now. If its the engine, the car is now mod free other than my audio system and i have maintenance records from my mechanic and reciepts for everything I purchased for self install.

Any ideas what I should expect? Engine, or maybe just a bad MAF sensor? Or some combination of things? My brain hurts

prisonerofcs

iTrader: (2)

Update!
At first the dealer thought it was the MAF sensor. They swapped it and the problem continued. They took the center tube out of the my mazdaspeed intake, and immediately it started working. Aparently I had got some kind of gooey substance on the filter that was causing major airflow problems. They cleaned the filter and the car seems to be running well. I'm skeptical that all the problems are solved. I'll update everyone if anything else crops up.