I installed the AEM cold air intake yesterday. Last night all I got a chance to do was start the car when everything was installed (prior to putting it back together) to make sure everything was cool. Everything was cool. Now it's today and I've had a chance to drive it. After ~30 seconds of driving the check engine light begins flashing. That doesn't make me happy.

I checked all the electrical bits that I touched yesterday and everything appears to be fine. The light only starts flashing when I'm actually driving. If the car is sitting still idling the light doesn't flash. I tried unplugging the battery and resetting the system again and that did nothing to help.

The dealer I called basically said, "You're screwed. Don't drive the car because that flashing light could mean <all sorts of bad things>" Uh huh. Thanks for all the help.

I thought I saw something on this forum previously where someone had this same problem and they just had to go into the dealer and have the compy reset. I can't seem to find that thread anymore. Perhaps the 'search' feature doesn't like my mojo today.

Thoughts?

Thank you in advance.

 

Since I'm a jackass and I like to push my luck I drove it a bit more. The light will go off if I sit idle for long enough - or it did immediately after starting it. The light will go on constantly after about 5 minutes of driving - usually when stopped idle at a light - and then starts flashing again when moving.

 

I thought people had issues like this if the MAF sensor wasn't mounted properly. Something along those lines. Hopefully, it's something simple for you.

 

That was actually the first thing I thought to double check. Make sure it was mounted flush and no issues. I removed/reinstalled it and it looks all good. Very frustrating.

 

Someone actually recieved an intake from AEM or MS that had the MAF bracket welded to the pipe wrong and the MAF was pointing to the left. The MAF should be facing to the right. I can't think of any other reason that intake would cause those problems you mentioned.

 

I went to a local Mazda dealer this afternoon after not finding anything promising online. They hooked Mr. Computer up to it and found out that it's a misfire warning. My response: "WTF?". The car is driving wonderfully right now; and has been since I bought it. I've got my butt dyno telling me that there is at least a little bit of extra "let's go fast" after installing the underdrive pulley and the cold air intake. Aside from that the thing feels normal. The dealer thinks that it's probably something funky that the cold air intake is telling the computer and it's just manifesting as a misfire warning. Whatever. Strange stuff. I'm going to leave it with them tomorrow for a full diagnostic and hopefully a fix - also hoping to get out of there without spending stupid amounts of money.

 

did you clear the computer memory so that it could relearn itself with the new intake?

 

Yep. I did it twice actually. I disconnected the battery whilst I was working on the car and then did it again thinking for some reason it didn't really clear itself.

I might unplug the battery and leave it sitting that way all night tonight just to try again before taking it to the dealer tomorrow morning. This whole thing is just weird. It doesn't make sense.

 

you have to press the brake peddle a few times too with the batt disconnected.


and once you get the batt reconnected, do the nvram and kam resets.


I get misfire CELs when the coils are on the way out.

 

So when the battery is disconnected is that when you turn the key to "on" and pump the pedal 20 times? That seems like it would do nothing since there is no power hitting any of the electical components that would/should care. I thought that was a way to reset it after the battery was reconnected?

Also, I should add that the dealer cleared the CEL error from the car when we were looking at it with the computer. I drove away from the lot and 60 seconds later it came back on. Argh. Hence the appointment to have them take a longer look-see at it tomorrow.

I'd really like to be able to figure this out myself instead of spending a bunch of money at a dealer.

 

you have no warranty?

 

I believe that would be so any capacitors that might be carrying a charge would be discharged (in theory).

 

You never mentioned you installed a Pulley with the intake. The pulley is what's causing the Misfire CEL. What you must do is disconect the battery for 10 min. and after you reconnect it you turn the key to the 'on' position and press the brake pedal 20 times within 8 seconds. The oil pressure gauge will sweep to the middle and back and you'll be set.

 

I had a similar problem when I first started fooling around with a custom intake. Is the screen installed in the intake pipe before the MAF? Make sure all the plumbing after the MAF is seated properly and fully tightened. Make sure the MAF wiring plug is seated fully. Make sure the vacuum line for the VFAD is plugged and not leaking. The slightest leak post-MAF will cause a CEL.

Oh, and make sure the belt for the alternator is tightened properly and not slipping.

 

First: Thanks everyone for chiming in on this topic.

Second: Hi everyone, I'm a damned idiot. When I started this thread I did something that I absolutely HATE people for when I'm solving their problems in my line of work: I *thought* I knew what the problem was so I didn't bother giving the whole story. Stupid stupid stupid. I should know better. Actually I DO know better. So here I am laying it out because a.) I feel like an idiot for being so stupid and b.) I wanted to put some closure on this thread topic.

RESOLUTION:

It was the computer. I installed an Agency Power under drive pulley during the same installation session as the AEM cold air intake. I also installed an Escort SR7 + shifters. It was a long day of operating on the car. I started getting the engine warning light when I actually drove the car. It wouldn't come on when it was idling. I tried unplugging the battery and I tried manually resetting the components (holding down odometer button, brake pumping). None of it fixed the problem. I had to bring the car into the dealer and they reset the computer for me. So no more blinky light on the dash and everything is cool.

These are the only two performance mods I have on my car thus far. I have been driving it for 3 days like this now and there is a pretty big difference in low RPM acceleration (1st and 2nd gear especially) and in overall power. If you do the work yourself this combination only costs about $500. Well worth it in my opinion. I might get it on a dyno before I do anything else to it just to get a baseline at this point. I've seen so many conflicting stories and claims here (and in other places) regarding these two modifications. It would be nice to have a dyno sheet to see the numbers.

 

Don't feel bad man. I did something very similar a little while ago. Installed AEM intake, a few months later got my first CEL. Took it to dealer, they promptly gave me completely incorrect information (called the VFAD controller the "air temp sensor") and said that it's not covered under warranty so they charged me for the visit. Solution? Forgot to plug a vacuum hose during installation and it finally started bothering the computer.

I guess sometimes it's a good idea to step back from the problem and ask the community here first. As sad as it is, the dealer should always be a last resort.

 

Precisely why I asked here. There are a lot of very knowledgable people on this forum who if given the entire picture can answer questions a lot better/more accurately than the dealer can.

I'm just mad at myself for not saying I did this, this and this up front. Cardinal sin #1 of troubleshooting any problem with someone who is not yourself: not telling them everything that changed since before you had (or noticed) the problem.

Anyway. I'm glad I did these two mods. Cheap and I notice a difference. Yea. The dealer didn't give me a hard time about either of them. Which I also thought was nice.