Hi all,

I have a 2005 Automatic with about 49k miles on the original engine.

The car has been stalling all summer long - any temp over 85 seems to do it. Mazda dealer replaced the coils, wires and spark plugs about a month ago for the second time in two years. I have had the thing towed to Mazda after it died on the road but they claim they can't reproduce the issue. It has died a dozen times on me since they declared everything was okay. I brought it in two more times and they claim the compression is fine and the car is fine.

Over the past 3-5 days I have noticed the ar hesitating as well.

Any ideas? Do you think a different dealer might be worth trying?


Thanks!

 

Any mention of the catalytic converter being checked? Air filter element? Fuel pump? MAF/IAT and eccentric shaft sensors?

 

Air filter - yes. All others on the list I am not sure. They kept it for a couple days and even had someone drive it home but couldn't (so they say) reproduce the problem "never even acted like it was going to stall" which is complete garbage. My car drops down to 500 and rough idle pretty much all the time.

I know the cat can cause the car to drag but would that make it stall...and only when it is hot?

 

I have the same issue. Mine is a 2005 auto and it runs horrible when it gets hot. Have you found the solution/problem?

 

On an 05, run through the stuff in the $100 thread below, at a minimum the MAF clean and grounding. For grounds, I suggest just getting the star washers and tighten them. Cleaning the ES sensor like ^^ is a good one as well. I just have not added it to the $100 thread yet. The idea is to clean up the data the computer gets, as well as the commands it sends out. The computer will adjust a lot of stuff and keep the engine running right up to the edge. Remember to reset the ECU (20 stomps) when done. Please let us know if this helps.

 

I went to a different Mazda dealership and they found the compression to be bad in both rotors. Luckily I have 5 months of my 8yr/100k warranty left so it was covered 100% including loaner car. The car has a lot more power and it hasn't stalled out since the replacement. I am very disappointed in the first dealership which had the car three times (including a two day stretch where they supposedly drove it home) and also ran a compression test and claimed there was nothing wrong with it.

So...new coils, wires, plugs, engine, oil filter and fluids for around $1,000 and now everything is essentially brand new. Sell or drive for a few more years? They told me I don't drive it hard enough to keep it in good shape.

 

I have had the same problem with my '04 automatic with 83,400 miles. It is already oin it's second engine and it is stalling on me sometimes when at a stoplight. The after-market warrenty that I transfered over when I bought the car won't pay for a new engine becasue they say that carbon buildup is NOT a mechanical failure... The dealer warrenty expired last January, so the dealer say s to just drive it hard and it will burn the carbon out. BTW this only started stalling after the dealer cleaned the throttle body injectors..Do you think driving it hard will burn up some of the carbon or is this engine just going through a slow death?

 

unlucky8 - I would take the receipt from the other dealer back to the original and talk with the service manager. It's not going to help you at all, but might make it a little better for other 8 owners that may go there in the future. Also post a review in the dealer section and try and help out any other forum member that might try and go there.

ChaplainMac - While driving the car hard and seafoaming might help some...your engine is going to die a slow death. I would push the after-market warranty company that engine failure is a mechanical failure, and while carbon build-up might be the reason for the failure it was Mazda's design that caused the failure. You're going to have a hard time with them because nobody really understands the rotary engine at those places...but in the end you can probably get through it.

 

Good points - my conversation did not go well with the warrenty company as their contract is written in general terms. The warrenty compnay quoted the service bulletin on the car as if to say that confirms that carbon buildup is not a mechanical breakdown. They basically said if I wanted to pay $1,000.- to have the engine disassembled to prove a mechanical failure, then they would cover it, only if the delaer could prove mechanical failure. The car has not stalled on me since last Friday, but my confidence is slipping in the car. I love the car and will probably drive it till it dies, but this problem is annoying.

 

Chaplain Mac, do you have the text of the warranty in digital format? If so, can you send it to me in a PM to review? I'm sure you have leverage to work with and I"m sure the company is just trying to wiggle out from under it...

 

Can you give me an e-mail address I can send it to? I would rather not post the contract on this public site. Thanks