Revolver

Crazy busy with a big trial atm, so no time for the full story.

Yesterday driving over the Harbour Bridge (of course) I noticed a loss of power, the car didn't want to rev and it sounded horrible. Flashing yellow engine light. Limped over to where I could safely stop, turned off, turned on again and car sounded fine, no light. Ten mins later, same thing. Again, stopped where I could, turned off, turned on again but this time the engine light stayed on. Car didn't like idling and at one stage just cut out on its own.

Carefully drove to Artarmon Mazda, which was closest (thanks Timbo!) and they are going to look at it today and call me.

Any ideas team? Cat? Coils? (Timbo's guesses).

The car has seemed like it was producing a little more vapour from the pipes on start up recently but nothing like big clouds of smoke or anything.

Gotta go. All advice gratefully received. I'll check back later in the day...

Edit - Just saw LJ's thread before logging out. Sounds like the same thing. I'm on just a tick under 40K!!!

LittleJohn

yeah.. my guess would be the coils Rev..

If it does turn out to be coils, they'll want about $150 for each coil..
They are quite easy to replace yourself especially at $150 to your door, but i'm guessing you're rather time poor atm plus you might still be under warranty..

erx8s

Sounds like ignition coil failure which intern can cause cat failure and other problems .

So much for the rotary being a reliable car , cars are dropping like flies with problems , if only there was a lemon law and Mazda would be held accountable


Cheers
Michael

Cromax

Yeah, that does sound like coils. I'd try to get Mazda to pay for it even if it wasn't under warranty still ... this is unacceptable!

LittleJohn

yeah.. I was thinking about the same thing myself... but for the amount of money you'd save.. prolly about $150 max (Mazda AU would prolly warranty the coils but the dealership would charge you for labour and a min of 2hrs at that). it's not worth the time and energy.

I'm going thru a similar thing with my water bottle.

ANIBALRX8

IT COULD BE NEW ENGINE, WHEN MY LIGHT CAME ON, I DID NOT LOOSE POWER AT ALL, AND AFTER THE DEALER TEST THE ENGINE, THEY REPLACE IT, IN ONE WEEK. I DID DRIVE MY CAR THAT WEEK AND I DID LOOSE POWER TWICE!!!
NEW ENGINE ANG 3,000 MILES LATER ITS RUNNING STRONG!!!

LittleJohn

TBH... and I'm not saying all dealers are the same...
But I have my resevations about the diagnostic abilities of Mazda dealerships when it comes to rotaries..

You got a CEL, no power loss and they replaced your engine?? hmm sounds a lil sus..
Did they give you any reasons why the replaced it? like any other tests they performed??

takahashi

I love when little American give their 2 cents... all in capital letters. haha.

Sorry to hear that Revolver and good luck with the trail. Think of the same thing when I read it first, it is very unlikely you have engine failure when you have that many months and km in it.

lennon

Most Mazda dealers are just not confident enuff on Renesis know-how...... A blinking check light/loss of power can be resolved with coil change, instead of that they give you a new engine..... This makes everyone think Renesis does have a problem....

ELITE-RX8

Same thing happen on my car Dec last year, not sure why it is doing it. they replace the engine. and it happen again. promaz did put mircotech piggy back on. and still the same. till now the engine lights still on sometime. but after the piggy back the car won't stall no more but still loss power. and idal doesn't stay between 1000rpm to 2000rpm.

let me know what they say.

thisllub

I think that one might be Western Australia.

They have to shout because it is a long way away.

timbo

Timbo's remote auto care line, at your service. Diagnosis by mobile phone a specialty!

Hope they identify it and fix it, Dave -- even if it is bloody expensive genuine Mazda in Australia replacement coils....it beats an engine change

If they do say an engine change....well, young man, I recommend a bit of VeeDub goodness for you. There's an Eos with your name on it, I reckon


Beware becoming parochial....WA is also Washington State in good ol' USofA. They have to shout to be heard on this new-fangled interweb

ANIBALRX8

I was making my story short, but yes they change coil, cables spark plug and after 1 day of testing they toll me, that I need a new engine. I toke the car home and I did get power lose twice, in that week and then the engine light come on twice too!!! New engine problem fix!!!

Revolver

Thanks for the responses guys.

I called them twice today, to tell them to check the coils first, so they don't charge me hours of diagnostic time, and then later this arvo to see if they had got to it yet. Luckily, they confirmed they had received the first instruction, so if it does turn out to be coils, they've got buckleys of ripping me off for diagnostic time. Bad news was they hadn't got to it and in fairness they did say they were booked out for over a week and would do it asap.

I have to find my purchase paperwork to check the date but get this - because I purchased it as a demo, I got Crookie to extend the usual warranty to three years from my date of purchase (rather than the usual three years from date of first registration). I think my extended warranty expired earlier this month!!!!

Whether it be coils or a new engine, I think this kind of fault should not be occurring in a 3.5 year old car with under 40K on the clock. It's apparently not an isolated case either judging by the responses in my thread and LJ's thread.

As for an Eos - my eyes glaze over just looking at them I'm afraid Timbo. Nah, if the Revolvermobile needs a heart transplant, I'll just have to do it and then consider whether I sell it and get a runaround while saving for the next rung up the ladder.

I'll keep you all posted anyways...

auzoom

Dave,

Fingers crossed its no a transplant, but if it does end up being one, ensure they give you an exact reason and cause. If they cant then call BS on them. I cannot believe the amount of people complaining about coils at the moment. I was just about to go and check mine after DRMH's pictures and because my car is driving like *****.

Good luck and may the force be with you!

Cheers

Andrew

Revolver

Thanks Andrew.

I've taken a punt and placed an order for ignition coils with Online Mazda Parts. Something tells me I'll find a ready buyer for them if it turns out to be something else, lol.

I read recently that the 16X won't be ready until 2013. Maybe Mazda has realised they've got some serious homework to do!

Revolver

Our mate Jason at Online Mazda Parts responded within 5 mins to my request for speedy delivery to tell me that he could get them to me within 3-5 working days for US$40.

As usual, his service is second to none (well, Graham Ware isn't far behind him, lol). I don't know why people still buy parts from Mazda Australia.

erx8s

I have allways bought my parts from Jason , i have saved over $2300.00 on the cost of parts .

So far i have purchased Front and rear 02 sensor , Front wheel bearing , ignition coils , spark plugs 4 purchased items all at huge savings

Dont get me wrong id like to support my country but not if it means i get lousy service and allways get shafted on price Mazda your prices and service ..........SUCK BIG TIME .

Sohaib

Hey guys, this is my first post to this site so im a newbie..
There are alot of topics relating to CEL, but i couldnt find the problem which im facing at the moment.
The CEL light turned on while driving at high speed. I contacted Mazda dealers and they had a check on it. But they explained me that there is something wrong with the Catalysator or "Converter" as they said so i had to buy a new one (which is damn expensive!!) They also said that i should change sparks/plugs (dont know if this is the right word for it).
But when i turned on the engine right afterwards the CEL was gone. Until now its still gone, but im afraid it will show up again.
Is getting a new catalysator really the first thing to do? as its sooo expensive.
PLZZZ helpppp

LittleJohn

Firstly welcome.
Secondly have you read this thread? https://www.rx8club.com/australia-new-zealand-forum-37/burnt-ignition-coils-130927/

Thirdly? how old is your car? I would question the diagnostic talents of some of the Mazda dealerships around Sydney.

hoep this helps

lennon

Any idea what's the price of the cat?? You can clean it out, if it's just a small blockage.....

auzoom

As per Little John...welcome, I would get a 2nd opinion from any dealer and do you have warranty.

Also, to explain the "catalyst" is a device that sits before the mufflers which removes some of the nasty content in the exhaust gasses.

As I keep saying, keep the dealers honest and ask for the old cat' so you can see what the fault was.

Cheers

Andrew

Revolver

Well, the short answer is that the car has now been fixed by Artarmon for stealership prices.

They diagnosed replacement coils, trailing plugs and new leads. You don't want to know the eye-watering parts cost.

Essentially, they refused to store the car for a few days while I waited for the US coils to arrive, which meant I had to either approve the work or get it towed elsewhere and find someone else to do the work, yada yada yada. I just don't have time to muck around with that stuff atm, so after much protesting I agreed to let them do the work.

To be fair, they were sympathetic about both pricing and the nature of the fault and have agreed to take up the cause with Mazda direct to see if they can negotiate a partial refund for me. I'll keep you posted.

I suggest everyone who has this problem immediately lets Mazda Australia know that the word is out on this 'fault' and they had better sort it out the same way they did with batteries, starter motors and plugs previously (i.e. a de facto 'recall' in that if you whinge about it, they will cover the cost of replacement).

I hope they are re-visiting the whole ignition system on this engine, which seems to be the source of many problems in the earlier cars. My car has only done 40K and it has now had the battery, starter motor, plugs (two twice), coils, and leads replaced. You cannot tell me that isn't a design issue.

The postscript is that I've got a set of coils on their way that will need to find a home. I don't want to make any profit and am happy to sell them for what I paid provided the purchaser also covers mailing costs to them (or picks them up). Let me know if anyone's interested.

takahashi

Glad that it is fixed anyway. So did we diagnosed them.... or they are smart enough to know as well?

I will take those coils as spares. Let me know when they arrive and I will place the cost in your account.

auzoom

bastard...you beat me! Oh well I will just order them myself.