officialashleyjames

Hey guys,

When i enthusiastically drive the car goes in to like a limp mode.. you can be in second and push the accellerator all way down and its very sluggish! I have engine concerns.. a service was taken out november last year , the sparks were changed but i have concerns it could be the coils? What do you guys think?

Also the Radiator/Coolant light is permanently on , rarely it will flicker off but the thing is the coolant levels are fine and the temperature always stays where it should be..suggestions?

Thanks!

Mazurfer

Coolant light is non-issue as long as everything else is okay.....coolant level sensor is bad. Do some searches and you will see. Here try this...............I set it up for you! Search rx8club via Google
Need to be really cautious here though because if car is really going into limp mode, it could be due to excessive heat. Are you sure your fans are runninig? The water temp gauge in the car is basically useless until it's too late.


Other issue..............do you have a CEL(Check Engine light) on?
How many miles on the car?
How many miles on the coils?
Maintenance history?
It sounds like you might have a clogged CAT, but very hard to diagnose over Internet.

officialashleyjames

Hey thanks for the quick reply!

Well i have heard the fans come on before but the temperature in the car always stays at half way so that can be good right? What i have noticed is that the car runs actually worse when i take traction control off!?

The car has 60k on the clock

I am unaware on how many miles on the coils as i have no history of their replacement but like i said sparks, filter, oil etc was replaced in November.

57495 full service
49793 full service
37277 full service
25328 full service (changed b/f?)
12939 full service


How would i know if i had a clogged cat? Is it something i could get a local auto shop to take a look at for free?

officialashleyjames

Also i think i should add that the car does not want to start straight away when turning ignition. It takes a few seconds / longer than it should.

Mazurfer

If it's an 04, then it could have one of the weak starters, you can search on new vs. old part number and climb under there and look at the number on it. But, this could also be due to other things, it's an easy check though, so why not.

To be honest, this could be anything at this point. I'd like to lean toward coils, but that's jumping on the old coil bandwagon. However, if you can't tell if they have been replaced, then it's likely they need it. Check out www.mazmart.com for options there.

In terms of CAT, well, you can unbolt it at the front, kind of push it to the side and peer in with a flashlight to see if the honeycomb is intact. Also, you can go for a drive at night and when you get home, look underneath and see if it's glowing, if it is, then that's bad.

Let's see what else................well, keep a close eye on that coolant temp until you get this all sorted out. A new bottle would run you about $130.00 at www.finishlineperformance.com

Need to also tell you that this might possibly be a case of loosing compression which is the worst case scenario.


What's your location? Should add it to your profile, maybe someone local would be willing to take a quick looksee????

Not at all sure about why the TCS seems to make a difference.

So you have no CEL light on? Just the coolant level sensor.....right?

officialashleyjames

Update:

Okay so one of the UK's top recovery companys (RAC) hooked up their diagnostics to the car and it did not bring up any faults on the computer however he did say his diagnostic system is not as good as mazda and they would be able to read the exact fault. He did say engine sounds like its running okay so tips have not gone on rotors and it was backfireing / spluttering so head leaned towards sparkplugs/coils.

What do you think ? Mazda will want around £70 just for a diagnostic test , my service history says sparks were replaced november 2010? so i can only think of coils or leads?

Thanks

officialashleyjames

bump

ShinkaEvo

iTrader: (3)

Replace your coil and go from there, which are supposed to replace every 30k miles.
Oem temp gauge will stay at middle from 160F~220F...and by the time it moves, means overheated...

dannobre

iTrader: (3)

Coils wires and plugs...can pick up online for about $350US...plus shipping.....

Mazurfer

^..................$315.00 at Mazmart right now.

http://www.mazmart.com/ItemDetail.aspx?id=1903

monchie

Having the same issues like the op. Been looking for these for sometime now, and i'm glad i found one on sale. I'm about to order from Mazmart, thanks for the posts.

officialashleyjames

Hey so I bought some new coils and installed them yesterday and I noticed that it was pulling a lot better now but its intermittent.. Starting the car up has stayed the same.. I dont know what to do next.. Plugs or Leads? They were only replaced 3000 miles ago but the coils 30k ago? So im guessing the bad coils could of damaged the new spark plugs?

Help? :P

officialashleyjames

So driving home today from work and put foot down in second and hardly any power! Also the car is worse when you take traction off?

jasonrxeight

I would do a compression test. sounds like engine is probably dead.

officialashleyjames

Don't say that Sometimes there is more power than other times.

Bladecutter

Well, you're going to have to have someone go over your car with a fine toothed comb in order to figure out what the issue is.

First off, if you can do as much of the checking as you can, that will save you quite a bit of money in the long run.

Start by looking at the conditions of the spark plugs.
Do they look fowled? Swap out the ones that look fowled with good ones, and see if that improves things.

If that doesn't improve things, do a carbon cleaning procedure on the engine.
You can follow the instructions on our forum, or you can pay a shop or dealer to do it for you.

If that doesn't improve things, you might want to check the various vacuum valves on the intake to see if they are moving freely. Main culprit is usually the SSV.

After that, you might want to have a compression test done.
Not much else you can do at that point if the engine is getting weak.
You can try for a Mazda replacement, or you can shell out the cash and get a good rebuild from one of the vendors on our forum.

BC.

officialashleyjames

Right time for an update on this...

I really don't want to go down the route of selling the car because i've fallen in love with it. Here is where im at:

Changed Coils
Changed Spark Plugs
Changed Ignition Leads

The car began to start up fine for a couple of times and then...it went back to taking up to 5 seconds to start or sometimes just wouldn't start at all.

The car is good when its cold then after some driving or when its hot there is no power even when foot is on the floor.

I took the car for an enthusiastic drive last night and the CAT was not glowing, Should this diagnose blocked CAT?

I really do not know what to do now and my mate keeps winding me up saying its compression and to sell the engine.

Help.. :/

Hesselrode

iTrader: (3)

I had a bad engine, and to be honest couldn't really feel a loss of power, but it wouldn't start and got worse and worse, eventually had to push start it everywhere. At the time I lived in missouri with lots of hills, so it wasn't too big of an issue. I don't think a loss of power would be your engine. When it first started, it was hard to start when warm, then it wouldn't start at all.

RIWWP

iTrader: (2)

I would put my money on a clogged cat first, engine compression 2nd.

A few other free things if you haven't checked them though, clean the MAF, clean the e-shaft sensor, after both of those, do the 20-brake pedal stomp (search for the exact process) to reset the fuel trims and e-shaft profile.

If none of these fix anything, refer to my first 2 points.

officialashleyjames

Thanks for your replies...could a clogged cat affect the starting up of the car? It is strange...Sometimes if you drive it nicely, stop and then start engine up it sometimes fires up straight away..but if you go for a harsh drive it doesnt want to start up...also weather seems to affect it too..

Would it be a good idea to remove the cat and take it for a drive to see if the issue stops?

My MPG is so bad right now... I can only assume this because i get 50 miles to £20 / $31USD (Petrol price at £1.30/litre)

officialashleyjames

Also I would like to add that around 6-9k rpm there is a rasping noise coming from under the car...like somethings breaking up..and there is an odd smell lately from the car..

RIWWP

iTrader: (2)

I'm fairly convinced it's the cat.

Background to think about:
When a cat clogs up, it restricts exhaust flow, making part of the engine power end up having to be used simply to push the exhaust through. The greater the restriction, the more power it will rob from the engine. However, exhaust flow is not constant. Exhaust flow is directly related to air flow into the engine. And air flow is directly tied to power. The more power you ask, the more airflow you are pulling in, the more exhaust flow you are pushing out.


So when you stomp on the gas, lots more exhaust starts getting pushed through, the restriction limits this, and it robs you of lots of power, the engine feels like it's straining. You stop and let the car sit, the exhaust slowly returns to ambient air pressure, and you can start it up and drive for a bit before the exhaust "packs up" behind the resistance and starts robbing your power again. You probably have a generally clogged cat, but possibly with a hole poked through the clog that is letting you get a bit more power than a full clog (and better mileage, a full clog is 9mpg), and the hole is making it a bit raspy, and letting the unfiltered exhaust fumes through.


If you want a quick diagnosis, remove the cat briefly. It's going to be hellaciously loud, but your problems will be gone. You can also look inside the cat while it's off, and I bet it's not a clean intact honeycomb.

officialashleyjames

If its the Cat I will have to come over there and kiss you lol..so this would explain the power loss and poor MPG but how is it affecting a bad start up? o2 sensor?

Could i run the car without the cat? should i DeCat? (I do plan on a remap in the future if the engine is okay)

RIWWP

iTrader: (2)

A bad start with your symptoms COULD be the engine. However, with the cat messing with everything, it's hard to tell. My suggestion is to remove the cat, replace it or put in a midpipe or something, and then see if you still have hard starts.

O2 sensor can fry from a clogged cat, but the O2 sensor isn't used for starting the engine. I'm not going to sugar coat it for you, it's possible that driving around with a clogged cat for an extended period of time has damaged the engine and/or O2 sensors (one or both).

Your cat is definitely a problem from your description, but I can't rule out anything else.

officialashleyjames

Okay i just took the maf off to clean it and the bulb is black and it won't come off..this mean starting problem could be the maf? I have not cleaned the ees sensor yet. Will take the cat off when i have a some time this week.