Repeated stalling - AT
 

I have had my '04 RX-8 (AT) for about three weeks now, and I have had it stall on me 4 times. Yesterday it did it two me twice in a row. Its in the shop now, but I wanted to get everyone's input.

The first time I pulled up to a light, and as soon as I stoped the engine never went to idle, it just died right away. I had the AC on as well as the radio. It started on the 2nd try, after a minute or two of waiting before trying to start it. The second time it stalled as I was pulling into park it. Same thing, it did not idle at all, it just stalled. On the drive to the dealer this morning I noticed the idle was rougher than usual, but otherwise no problems.

Anyway, ideas? Anything I should make sure they take a look at? Thanks.

how many miles? new or used?

Just read a thread about this over on the darkside. It said something about engine failures due to a lot of carbon buildup on the automatic engines because they weren't getting up in to the high rpm's enough. Switch it to paddle mode and redline it a few times a day. Not only is it fun, it's good for your engine

exactly what i was going toward gambit but wanted to get more info first. if he is already getting stalling tho he'll a good cleaning

I bought used (certified from a Mazda dealer). I have switched to paddle mode and ran the rpms up higher every couple of days since I got it, but I have only had it 3 weeks. So what should the dealer do if it is carbon buildup?

clean the intake tract and engine. either clean and reinstall or replace the plugs

I have an 04 6-speed and have been experiencing a similar problem the last couple of days. When I pull up to a light and have been stopped for a few seconds, my 8 will almost die. It happens very randomly. I will be sitting there and the RPMs will drop to about 300 or so for about a second, the car will shake and then it will kick the RPMs back up. A few times I have had to hit the gas to keep the car from dying. I don't think mine is a carbon issue because it gets redlined a few times everyday, any ideas?

Thanks,

Boilermaker

I had this same issue as well, while I was out of town. The dealer where I was in TX installed a new MAF sensor. That did not cure it however, because it died on me again today. Only seems to do it when its HOT out and I have the AC cranked. It goes into my local dealer tomorrow, so we'll see which part they throw at it.

I was out of town and I did not have the time to leave it with them, so they updated my 8 to the 'P' flash, saying that it was supposed to fix any issues related to "wrong A/F ratios". Sounded a little fishy, but they said no problems w/ the sparkplugs or anything else they saw. They also said it passed all of the "control systems checks" (I don't know what that is exactly). I have to go to my dealer this week anyway, so I am going to have them check it all out for me.

Does anyone think updating the flash version will actually help?

OK, a week later its back in the shop with the same problem - so obviously the flash update did not help. They are going to check it out to be sure, but now there is a "known issue" with stalls of this type - Mazda has a fix but it has to be approved by the EPA, so it is going to be a couple of weeks before they can do it for me. They were going to check the engine and make sure that it is not something else, but basically I have to wait.

So here's my question - Has anyone 'in the know' heard about this "known issue"?

i know the issue is now a "known" issue for ATs. i havent heard what the fix is besides cleaning or replacement of the engine

Also, I know this has been covered elsewhere, but I have been using 89 octane and the service manager made a point of stressing using 92 or higher. Could that realistically be a contributing factor? Thanks again.

no lower octane gas is easier to ignite which means it should combust more completely leading to LESS carbon buildup


edit- im going to leave that INCORRECT answer there to show we all can always learn something and that you dont have to be afraid or ashamed to admit mistakes.

the correct answer is - Yes he is correct. lower octane gas 87 or 89 octane the ignition and burn can happen so Quickly and last for such a short time that a good potion of the gas can be left unburned. this can accelerate carbon buildup. Higher octane gas,92 or 94, ignites slower and burns LONGER. this leads to more complete combustion leaving less unburned or no unburned fuel and resulting in LESS carbon build up...


just a thought- if you increase the amount of oil drasticaly at different rpms this could lead to a change in emissions. thus the new programming would have to be certified to stll meet Fed EPA and Cali Carb emissions. this thought occured to me bout a week ago in coversations about owners wanting to know EXACTLY what changes flashes make to the operation of their vehicle. it just dawned on me that this may be why your service people said that the fix tha tis coming needs to be EPA certified.

Fair enough. I'l switch to the 92. Thanks!

Just heard from the dealer - new engine!

He says there is a known issue with the AT's, low compression at idle. It does not appear until the engine has about 25,000 miles on it, so they are giving me a new engine because there is no fix right now. They said there will be a fix coming, but it will take a long time to get it approved by the EPA, so its a brand new engine for me.

question- will they reset the odometer for a new engine?

The odometer will not be reset, as the rest of the car still has the original mileage. Just have them put the mileage at engine replacemnt on the service invoice and keep that.