KiwiNinja

Hi there, I have been lurking these here forums for a few years now, soaking up a lot of the valuable information within. However, I now have an issue I feel I need some help with, or at least a opinion.

I have a 2006 Shinka with roughly 38k miles (6 speed manual transmission btw). I bought it maybe 3 or 4 years ago.

I recently took it to a Mazda dealership for some regular maintenance (plugs/wires and transmission and rear differential fluid). All the plugs and wires removed were OEM parts (and pretty well shot) and were replace with brand new OEM parts.

Now before I brought it in for the maintenance, it was running beautifully, no issues at all. When I left the dealership with it, it was running like garbage. Had no power under 4k rpms. At 4k it would start to pick up a bit, and at 6k it felt almost normal. Its also starting a bit harder than it used to, smells bad for a minute after a cold start up, and the exhaust doesn't sound right (I don't know how else to describe that than it just doesn't sound right). My S10 pickup feels like its putting out more power than my 8, and my S10 is misfiring on all cylinders and has a half plugged cat converter (but that's a totally different story and idgaf about my S10).

I immediately took it back to the dealership and they used all them fancy computers and stuff and took it out for a test drive and said everything is perfectly normal and that its running better than most other 8's they get in there. To which I say BS, I've been driving the car for 3 or 4 years now, I know what it feels like when I step on that throttle, and it's simply not acting right. They said that they reset the computer, I don't know which (ECU, KAM, NVRAM), and that the car is probably in a "re-learning phase" and to drive it 300 or 400 miles for it to re-learn everything. Is that actually a thing?

I am rather perplexed here. How can replacing old worn out OEM plugs and wires with brand spankin' new OEM plugs and wires cause me to actually lose that much power?

So I guess my question (or questions I suppose) would be: what could be causing this? Is resetting the ECU/KAM/NVRAM something I should try? Could it possibly be bad coils (or coils on their way out)? Could changing the plugs and wire have caused 1 or more coils to give up on life? I mean, it doesn't feel like its misfiring and the CEL hasn't come on at all and the dealership didn't find any codes.

Thanks in advance, I greatly appreciate any help/advice/opinions.

P.S. I have searched the forums (with the Google site search thing) and have found some similar cases, but none with the same circumstances/symptoms.

Loki

iTrader: (1)

Check that the coils are connected to the right spark plugs. You can have all kinds of problems if the, let's say, front leading coil is firing the rear trailing plug. That would be my first guess.

But since this was done at the dealer, I'd bring it back to them and ask them to figure out what they broke.

RIWWP

iTrader: (2)

Yeah, I'm betting that some jackamole at the dealership crossed the plug wires somewhere

You will need to trace wires from the coils to the plugs, to make sure that they are (or in this case aren't) linked correctly. Access the coils from the engine bay standing next to the front left wheel, access the plugs from behind the front left wheel through the wheel well. You should be able to do it without removing the wheel itself, just turn the steering wheel all the way right.




Also, check to make sure that the plug wires are firmly seated on the coils and firmly seated on the plugs.

robrecht

While you're at it, you may as well change the coils anyway. If they've never been changed, they should be. Consider the BHR coils as an upgrade over the Mazda OEM coils.

KiwiNinja

Thanks for the help guys. I am currently at work. I will check the wires when I get home and see about getting some coils. I will report back later this afternoon!

Loki

iTrader: (1)

The dealer will quote you something silly expensive for the coils, so take a look online for replacement coils. They're easy enough to replace yourself. But they really must be changed if they haven't been.

KiwiNinja

So, all the wires are going to the proper plugs. I'll have to grab a set of coils and see if that does anything.

gwilliams6

I second getting the BHR coils and wires. The BHR are built to last the life of your RX8. If plug wires weren't mixed up it could be the worn coils. Get back to us with your findings on that, and yes the dealership is responsible to return your car in the same GOOD working order as you left it, if as they claim ,everything is "perfectly normal" . All Mazda dealer services have some time period warranty for repairs and parts.

KiwiNinja

Ok, so I changed the coils and she's back to her old self now. It revved up to about 3k rpms for about a half a second when I first started it up then went back down to normal. I assume that was just the computer adjusting to the new coils? Anyways, she's back to normal!

Thanks for all the help everyone!

04Green

iTrader: (1)

Great!!

I would suggest an ECU rest with the 20 brake stomps, then start it (cold engine) and let it idle until the idle comes all the way down.