Actually... the SSV opens at 3250 rpm

 

$2700 for an intake change? That Tech is a lazy idiot.

 

I got a little lazy in checking the valve after I thought the problem was gone.....well, it came back again after a month and half of daily driving......This time around, I specifically asked the Autozone guy to reset the light to which he said that he is not allowed to reset. The light got reset after reading anyways. I still feel no change in driving. I am hoping that this is just gets stuck every now and then triggering the CEL and then starts operating properly and I am also hoping to check the valve this time around :D

 

my performance is down quite a bit. 180 miles to a tank of gas.

 

I have a 2004 RX8 GT with about 75,000 miles and it has the P2070 code. The car has the 100,000 mile Certified Pre-Owned Limited PowertrainWarranty does anyone know if this is something that would be covered under that?

 

you'll just have to read the details of the warranty.

 

what was your mileage before the CEL? Are you basing it on a single tank of gas? If so, it could just be bad gas.

I do a mix of city and highway and usually get between 16 and 18 miles/gallon...This hasn't changed after I got the P2070 code.

 

about 240 to 260mi per tank before the P2070 CEL. and yes i am basing it on a single tank of gas, because i have only driven one tank since i threw the CEL.

my performance is down quite a bit. engine cuts out under heavy load sometimes...and even when floored, it is sluggish....i can feel it hesitating. aka, feels like a civic hahahaa...i'm gonna see if i can move it by hand or not today...

 

You know, it's funny how I'm going through the same thing this month.

I got my oil change done yesterday (10w30) and failed the emissions. What a coincidence huh? I didn't have a CEL prior to oil change. So I checked with the local Mazda dealership and it'll cost over $800 for parts & labor.

I noticed when I started the car after oil change, the rpm kept dipping, losing power, etc, but after driving for awhile, the CEL disappeared and engine was running fine again. (maybe it took some driving to clear up that carbon buildup, but why after the damn oil change.. I'm curious)

Here's a million dollar question, do you think the car will fail or pass the emissions?

 

As long as the CEL isn't on (and you have the cat installed) you should pass e-check.
Not sure if they count pending codes as a failure or not.

 

The only plastic I noticed, were the gears to the APV. There is no plastic to damage in performing the TSB. Lazy dealer for sure.

 

The CEL doesn't come on even with pending codes?

As for lazy or poor dealerships they all want money these days, blame recession.
I heard someone got their 8's carbon buildup cleaned out for $120? Sounds like a sweet deal compared to >$800 my local dealership is charging.

Well, I'm getting my free retest for emissions done tomorrow. Hopefully I'll pass now that the CEL is gone. Wish me luck.

 

Correct.
When a non-critical incident occurs the PCM will store the code as pending and no CEL illuminates.
If the incident occurs a 2nd time it'll illuminate a CEL.
If it doesn't occur a 2nd time, the PCM will ignore the previous pending code and simply delete it.

UPDATE: Found this in the service manual to help explain better:

 

How long does it take to go to another drive cycle?

 

Not exactly sure
I'm sure just starting the car for a few minutes and turning it off does not constitute as a drive cycle.
I'll look through the service manual and try to find a definite answer.

 

Couldn't find a definite answer, but a Google search found this:
Not sure if this is even for the RX8 our another model, but I think this shows that you need to take the car out for a good drive to be considered a drive cycle.
So I guess that can be the answer, go out for a nice long drive

 

Well, I've hit the jack pot!!! Yesterday while I was getting on the freeway, of course giving it the beans, the CEL came on. Took a trip up to Autozone and read off a P2070. I'm at 120900~ miles on an 04 and I just changed the plugs and the oil. Cleaned out the throttle body too. There hasn't been a loss in power, but my CEL is still on.

I'm thinking with my mileage I need to open her up. But Jon316G, do you think I can try the decarb method first?

 

Sure... can't hurt.

And the CEL will stay on for a couple drive cycles or until you clear the PCM.

 

Thanks. No need for unneeded surgery, right.

 

Hopefully not
But I thought that last year when I fixed a friend's stuck SSV.
It lasted all summer and when the outside temps dropped, the valve started sticking again.
That's when I had to remove the valve and really clean it and the housing.

You have to consider that any form of "decarbing" or cleaning without removing the valve is only cleaning a small percentage of the valve.
So depending on how bad it is, it *could* come back later on.
But you might as well try "decarbing" the valve now and if it returns in the future, you know what needs to be done.

 

The decarb should be covered under warranty until the 80K/8 yr limit. When I went to the dealer this past summer because my car had stalled several times, they proposed that I needed new spark plugs and decarb done for about 600 bucks and insisted that it was not covered under warranty because my car was 5 yrs old and had 50K miles on it. So, I had them do it and paid the $600. I don't know much about the cars, otherwise I would have changed the stock spark plugs long ago Anyways, I went back with the print out of TSB for engine stall, and they refunded me for the whole 600 bucks.

BTW, they did try to threaten/intimidate me by saying that it was illegal for me to print the TSB.

 

I had to change my spark plugs and coils last year = over $700..
It was misfiring last year so I got that done, but this year I'm getting the p2070.

balkhu, I didn't know decarb was covered under warranty. I'm going to call my local dealership and see if I can get decarb done.

 

I'm a new member to this P2070 club, too.

It happened after I did an oil change. I used a long-neck funnel (bought @ Autozone) to pour in the oil. I inserted it all the way down inside the oil filler tube. But since I got a 5-quart jug, my left hand got a little shaky and I poured it in a little too fast. It didn't spill over the top of the funnel, but it came pretty close to the top. That's when I had to stop pouring to let the oil inside the funnel go down. Now, could that have caused the oil to leak into the SSV, which in turn threw the P2070?

Here's how it goes on my car. The CEL has come on and off by itself a few times. When I try to hit the throttle a little past 5K rpm (not redline) after 5-10 minutes of driving, it will be a little jerky/hesitant right around 5K rpm. But if I try to do it again 5-10 minutes later, there's no problem. If I try to redline it once the car is fully warmed up, it goes all the way up with no issues. Other than that, I can't detect any power loss or anything like a clogged cat would do. (I just had my cat converter replaced under warranty, btw). So, I'm wondering--and hoping--if the SSV is just slightly stuck and I may be able to free it if I try to drive my car hard in order to help it free itself. But then, I also read in some post where Jon316G (the SSV/P2070 guru) said that it wouldn't really do anything...

The dealership wanted over $900 to replace the SSV. I paid a $99 diagnostic fee, said, "no thanks," and ran. I saw the video clip in which Jon316G showed how to get to the SSV to clean it. But I don't think I'm quite capable of tackling something like that by myself. I was thinking if I could just snake a long tubing through the black plastic piece (UIM?) and pour some carb cleaner in...I'm basically trying to find the easiest, least painful, way to free this pain-in-the-*** SSV.

Jon316G, I need your advice, buddy. Thanks!

 

bassy- First thing you should do is inspect the intake for oil residue since you may have overfilled your oil too much.
Take off the intake's flexible tube and look for oil. Then open the throttle body valve with one hand and stick a finger through there and feel around the bottom of the UIM.
If you have oil on your finger, you'll need to remove the UIM and clean it.

Earlier in this thread I talked about checking the valve to see if its really sticking and posted a link to another video showing how to test it.
Once you find out if there is oil in the intake or past the throttle body, and manually open the valve, we'll go from there.
But I need to know your current situation before I can suggest the next plan-of-attack.

 

Jon,

Since I have an AEM intake, does that mean that I have to disconnect the alum piping closest to the UIM? Is that where the throttle body is? Sorry, I'm a clueless newbie.

I'll try to do once it gets a little warmer. It's been pretty cold this whole week here in Mass.

Thanks!