I went to go pick up my little sister from school and the wierest thing happened. The engnie just started sputterening as I came to a stop and I could feel that it was on the verge of shut down(don't know why). after a couple seconds really struggling to move the engine just stalled.

I turned it back on after a few seconds, but I could feel that it was running extremely poor and I could feel the onset of the sputterening again. I decided to drive extremly conservative and keep a few miles under the speed limit At each light, or stop, when i slowed down I could feel it was on te brink of shutting down s I threw it in neutral and it seemed to calm down, but once I put it back in drive it went to **** if I didn't accelarate enough. A few traffic lights later, as I was coming to a stop, the sputterning came back and the engine stalled again once I completely stopped. I turned the key a few times... nothing.... then finally it started just barely. then stopped. Turned the key again->barely started->shut down...Finally it started(i hit the gas as i turned key, didn't wait to drive off like before)

I pulled into a 711 to call for help. I barely made it into the parking spot. In fact the 711 is in a depressed piece of land, so there is a little hill. I stalled midway through the tiny hill and used momentum to pull into the space

I called for Mazda Roadside, but then cancelled because I figured the dealership would blame the problem on the RB intake and charge me up the *** to fix the problem. Here's the strange part.... While parked I turned the car on to get some cool A/C(i live in So. Fla., so after 5 minutes I was sweating like a prostitute in church) and the car turned on like normal..... I kept it running for a good 20 minutes before my dad showed up. We decided to risk it and drive home so I could fix it myself(hopefully with you guys' help) On the way home the engine ran pretty good, increasingly better as I drove.

So anyways, now I'm kinda stumped.... The engine was running perfect all day long. I have a half a tank of regular gas. Oil was ok. Heat readings at normal. I was driving at a conservative rate today. But then this whole mess... And now it SEEMS to be running fine. I even went around the block friskly(high rpms). Still runs good.

ANYONE KNOW WTF JUST HAPPENED TO MY CAR?

My crack pot theories:
I kinda blamed it on the RB intake. I thought maybe it was stuffed up or something was restricting airflow(maybe a piece of paper surrounded itself around the filter???) I'm gonna check it later. Seems like whatever was clogging the airflow got unjammed, because it's running fine....

Or I figured it was a problem with the MAF sensor. Becuase I heard it could malfunction when you get the RB intake

Then I thought it could have to do with the recalled parts(which I am going in for tomorrow)

Sorry for such a long and drawn out post, but I need help!!!

 

Water in the fuel?

A failing sensor...?

Did you notice the check engine light? The best thing would be to have the dealer check for any codes stored in the computer.

 

I vote for bad gas.

 

i vote for a stuck neutral switch (the one on the tranny that tells the pcm you are in neutral) and then partial flooding from the restarts.

 

bad gas?

could be....

any other opinions

 

not in my 8, but my air intake got glogged and the same thing happened...almost exactly. i called ford and they said it would take a day or so to find the problem. i looked myself and found the problem in the intake. i cleaned out the problem and it was perfect after that

 

glogged? what do you mean? You mean some goo got on the sensor?

how did you clean it out?

 

Here is your problem!!!
It's not bad fuel (although they will ask what kind of fuel you put in your car). However, anything less then Premium will make the car run bad. make sure you put the good stuff in. My 04 (auto) has had this probelm twice. The first time they didn't believe me exactly. They asked about the gas and then they said it was the spark plugs. It was due for them to be changed and they charged me out of the *** as you would put it. It cost me $317 ( and you cannot get the plugs from your local Auto Zone)!!! After that, I start to really pay attention to the who, what, when, where, how, and the why. I came to the conclusion that: the weather had to be hot and the AC running (most of the time, but not all the time), and the Car had to be at operating temperature. It usually won't do this in the morning. Well, the bottom line is: it's the PCM unit. They have to put in some new codes or reprogram it, or even replace it. NOTE: that after market intake will void the factory 'air censor unit', so make sure you put the stock one on before you take it in. There are also two factory recall on the car. One is something to do with the fuel tank and the other one is the lower controll arm (ball joint).
I learned about the problem being related to the PCM off of this forum. The Mazda Tech's don't like this forums, they we (as operators) read about other problems and "all of a sudden, we have the same problems". But, low-and-behold, it did turn out to be the PCM (ECU). I think they replaced it (like I stated was the problem and the fix), but they put on my paperwork that they put in some new codes or something. Hope this help!!!