The Tuesday after the RPNW dyno day, I was crusing to work and had the CEL light come on in my 8. So I get to work, give the closest Mazda dealer a call. It happend to be Power Mazda in Salem. They did'nt have any immediate openings, but said they could slide me in on Thursday. Wensday evening the CEL goes off. But I decide I'm going to take it in their anyways. They run all their test, and pull the codes. Turns out I had a P0420 stored. Lean condition. After the service manager leaves, the tech askes me how I drive the car. I'm like all....uhhhh, well normaly I shift it around 3.5k, and when I get after it, I shift it at 9k+. He's like, no...no...do you do alot of auto crossing? I'm like, No, but I'd like to try it out. He's all, well, did you do alot of driving when we had that ice? I'm like, Yeah, I had one heck of a time getting into my garage. He then says, well that explains it. You had a ABS code. The front tires where 8% off of what the rear tires where. I was'nt shure exactly what this meant...but from what I was gathering, it meant alot of wheel spin. I then told him, I had also did a dyno day, wich he did'nt seem to mind at all. What I realy liked, is that the tech guy had taken me aside to tell me this. He was'nt trying to get me in trouble, or make me look like I was abusing my car. (Wich I never have.) Anyways, I also talked with a guy who worked their. He had a picture up on the wall of his office of him in his Nova(?) doing a burnout at Woodburn drag strip. I asked him if it would void my warentee if I whent out and drag raced my 8 from time to time. He said, No, and that he would realy like to find out what they will realy turned. We BS'd for quite awhile. Overall, I was happy with the service. They said it would take 1 hr, and I was out of their in one hour. The only thing I could complain about was the coffee. :D So, If you guys down south of Portland are looking for a nice place for service, I'd would'nt hesitate to take my 8 their. Sorry for all my ramblings, CJ

 

Great News. I love it when you can find a dealer that is willing to work with you and your car. The dealer I bought my car from is willing to slap a turbo on and warranty the engine. Of course that means that I have to go to their shop everytime but hey we talkin' turbo power here. Woo Hoo!

 

Hey, that was my office! You spoke with Ryan Grimes, he's my partner there, really big into hot rods- that 64 Ford fairlane now has a 550hp Stetson race motor in it and oh yeah, the coffee is like battery acid but thats what keeps us awake all day!

 

I just had my 8's airbag recall done at Power Mazda. They did'nt even break my glove box! Wich I was realy happy about. Seems like alot of dealers do this.

Ryan seemed like a very cool guy. Next time I'm down their, I'll stop in and say hi again. Coffe was better this time too. :D CJ