I want to start by saying I have only had my 8 for a couple of days and this forum has already helped. I have read most of the coil discussions but I might be in a different position.

I got a misfire code P0302 after redlining the engine. At first it was blinking and shut off, then solid after a couple of redlines. The car only has 5400 miles and is an 05. Supposedly, it was sitting while the owner was in Iraq, but whoever was driving it was a curb/ front rear bumper----Bumper so there are some signs of quick body repairs. Had the car on the lift and no signs of anything more than cosmetic damage.

I did notice that the car did not come with an engine cover so I am a bit suspicious that repairs (or careless maintenance) were done at one point.

I have been told that sitting is the worst thing for any car. Do you guys think that the coils, plugs, wires, fuel filter could go bad from just sitting? Or should I be a bit more suspicious about the mileage?

 

That is probably one of the lowest mileage 05s around!

The rotary + sitting = horrible. You don't want the engine to seize/ gum up.
In the winter months I start mine at least once a month and give it some nice Revs to 4-5k to "clear out it's throat".
A lot of other guys pour ATF into the housings + crank over the engine by hand to keep everything nice and fresh.

If you haven't gone through a few tanks of fresh gas either that could be the reason. The fuel filter is mated to the pump so perhaps it did gum up sitting for so long.

Anyway I'd pull the plugs and take a look at them. If they look like **** replace them.
Shift at 8.5k ish your not making anymore power shifting at 9 or above. (Manual, 6-port anyway)
Get ready to eat some dough, plugs aren't cheap any neither are coils.
If the plugs look ok, I would suspect a coil.

Hell if your car is still under warranty take it to mazda and complain for lack of power.

 

Replace coils with BHR's, check plugs, seafoam your car

 

Before blaming the ignition coils for the misfire. I would check your spark plug wire connections and see if one became lose or even dry rotted. Might as well pull out the spark plugs and see what they look like. The fuel would go bad for sitting that long. Stored fuel can go bad in as little as 30-60 days causing gum, varnish and corrosion to build up in the fuel lines and engine. I would buy some BG44K fuel system cleaner and a fresh tank of gas.

 

+1 invasion08 ... it almost has to be the wires or fuel.

while the stock coil setup is weak, 5000 miles is just wrong. Unless it spent a TON of time at idle in a garage... perhaps then there could've been some heat damage to the coils.

I just bought a bunch of moa and bk44 from finishline. OP might want to do the same.

 

Thanks all for the advice,

I checked the plugs and wires the plugs look okay, but the rubber (or whatever the wire are covered with) on the wires looks dry, some hairline cracks in the surface. I am going to replace them with wires from Racing Beat at the advice of this forum, unless you guys have more recent recommendations on the wires. I have this problem on my 03 V-Rod as it sits in the garage most of the year rubber pieces dry out and crack. Also, I am going to change the fuel filter for good measure.

 

BHR MSD 8.5mm Plug Wires