Very Rough Idle - Video Attached!
 

I first encountered this problem about a month and a half ago, and it's repeated itself a few times since then. Sometimes it will happen when I first start the car in the morning, and somtimes it will happen after over an hour of driving.


The issue reared it's ugly head again on Monday but LUCKILY for all of us, I happened to have my camera handy.

http://i32.photobucket.com/albums/d3...h_MOV01676.jpg


I think I might be asking for a Compression Test when I head into the dealership tomorrow... Thoughts?

your engine is hunting. something causing your idle air control to hunt up and down.

hmm... i think my car idles around 1250 ~ 1500 on a cold start. after it warms up for 5 or 10 minutes i tap the gas to cut the idle, and then it idles just under 1K after that.

is it actually idling at 1550 at stop lights while your driving jorge?

p.s. ah, i see. in the video the idles goes up and down by itself. yah- something looks wrong.

bummer. def worth asking for a look into the cat & compression test. Personally, I never really liked the recall attitude of "only test if there have been reported issues."

Have you had any of the other "pre recall" problems?

I complained to my dealership about some loss of power after prolonged drives. I have an hour long commute in bumper to bumper traffic every day. (during the summer, it's 90 degrees and up on some of those days)

They claimed to have checked the cat during the recall but did not do a compression test.

Time to print out the recall info, just in case you need it. IIRC it said quite clearly that any vehicles w/previous complaints of power loss, stalling, rough idle +/- whatever else was on it REQUIRED the full checkup INCLUDING compression test w/the results going directly to the Mazda tech service.

dang that is pretty rough.

weird that the stops when "GPS signal is acquired" lol

lol - this car is high tech all right

Do you really have power loss or are you just saying that to get some action from dealer ?
My guess is a faulty signal to the ECU from one of the sensors it monitors at idle

I'll have to check the video once I get home...can't see it here at work. I have rough idle all the time. I just atribute it to the rotary engine. Never having owned one before, I just attribute all differences I feel to the rotary.

Well, I know, in your case, that this isn't related to spark plugs, wires or coils..since you already replaced yours. You had your motor mounts replaces as well, right Jorge? How did you know the mounts were going bad....is what your feeling now similar to that?

Keep us updated.

Swoope mentioned the dame thing to me earlier. I still confused about that though...:scratchhe

damn i am confused, i thought i answered that in this thread....jedi, i have a note on the other thread.

beers :beer:

That is not a rough idle, that is an idle surge. Rough idle is low and vibrates the car, could be a vaccum leak or the neutral switch. could also be an issue with the ETC being out of calibration, the ETC itself or the pedal postion sensors. Need to have all the sensors looked at while it is acting up. The video will not help the tech at all. Just shows that it either acted up or you made it surge.

wow that is a rough idol it looks liek you are doing it.

Well, I'll look into the neutral switch since that seems to be the front runner at the moment.

As for not being rough...the car was in fact vibrating when it was doing that. :(

I had this problem not too long ago. EXACT same problem. I always thought it was a vacuum leak but people said clean the maf so I did. I ended up screwing up the maf and had to order a new one. Never did it again. I'm still getting rpm drop from idle (900rpm) to about 700 but it comes back up and idles normal again. Don't know if that helps you or not. =)

ok, finally got to watch the video. My car has done that before, but only when I removed the trans. It has done it both times...when I replaced the clutch, and when I replaced the flywheel. On both occasions, I had trouble driving the car as it would die at stoplights. Generally after about 2 or 3 hours of driving with situation it returned to normal.

I have noticed this exact same thing a couple of times recently. Any update?

This morning, my rpms were surging just like that, but only with the clutch out. When I pushed the clutch in it idled normally. Let the clutch back out and it would start to surge again right away. There was also a lot of vibration. Seems to only happen when the engine is cold.

Also, I only started to notice this after I put my stock intake back on??

Neutral switch? Could it be something else?

i had that problem before too, but i was turboed and the turbo had backfired into the intake/throttle body and misaligned the throttle body "door". Have mazda check the throttle plate positions to make sure they are in the correct parameters.

i had this before. blow engine.

I had some funky idle like that before, but only if I disconnect my battery, and it disappear after maybe 1-2 drive cycle.

Hmm, maybe try to do what swoope and Abbid said check the neutral switch.

oh also maybe try to clean your MAF ? it solved the rough idle for me.

my transmission was replaced and it solved the issue. (transmission replaced for a different issue)

I believe it was the neutral switch

Thanks guys.

Is it possible to check the neutral switch myself? Or should it go to the (dreaded) dealer?

Extra note: I just remembered I had this surging idle right after starting the car up after putting my stock intake back on and disconnecting/reconnecting the battery. I just thought the change in air flow confused the ECU and forced it to relearn. Since then I've seen this a couple of times and only with the engine cold (and decreasing ambient temps b/c of the season).

What's strange to me is that pushing the clutch in (in neutral) fixed the idle?? Clutch back out=surging idle again.

And my MAF should be clean, I inspected it when I put the stock intake (w/ paper filter) back on about 3 weeks ago.

How do you *inspect* the wires inside ?

Well, It could be the clutch neutral switch. and you can change it out yourself. but I gotta say maybe you should try to clean your MAF, MAF cleaner cost like 4 bux a can. Why not? better than jacking your car up and stuff.

see pic.

Wow I never seen this before. I clean my MAF every 2 months in the summer due to all the dust and stuff. Winter is ok.

My car does this as well. Just thought i'd share.