dying in D or R

silveroak · Post by **silveroak** » February 28th, 2007, 1:55 pm

Here is the story so far:

mx-3 died on a stoplight, rpms up and down and then stall, would start up fine, as soon as D or R were engaged rps would go down, pick up, down and then stall.

when it is cold it could actually be driven. Normal temp reached - hesitation, worse at stoplights, then stall.

no check engine light

mechanic worked with it for a day, advised going to the dealership as he does not have proper diagnostic equipment, suspects either airflow meter or ECU. Did not charge me though.

dealership said they fixed it, changed spark plugs for $200. Wrote they were fuel fouled. OK, I thought maybe my mech did not loook at plugs for some reason, that's OK.

Drove it for 3 days, symptoms came back. Dealership did not say anything about a persistent rich condition, but I am guessing this is what is going on, and plugs are fouling again real bad. Not taking it to Mazda ever again.

Earlier ordered ECU and airflow meter off ebay. Pretty cheap. Swapped ECU - no improvement. Air flow meter came today, put it right in. Seems much better, RPMs steady idling in D or R. Occasional stumble, but the sparks are fouled already. Hoping this is it. Will change plugs today and see how it goes.

From reading the posts I understand this also can be

- water thermosensor(s?)
- oxygen sensor
- distributor

I so hope airflow meter was the cause. Man, how do you guys change those sensors with hand tools.... oxygen sensor almost impossible to reach on the downpipe and has this huge rusty nut around it I am even afraid to look at. The thermosensor next to injectors seems impossible to reach too (I found about that one here, my manual seems to only mention the one on the right side of the engine). I will keep you all postedl,

Thanks

Tunes67 · Post by **Tunes67** » February 28th, 2007, 3:29 pm

Sounds like a vacuum leak to me.. I'd start by checking the flexible ribbed intake hose from the Airbox to the throttle body. Make sure there are no cracks. If there are cracks.. you can wrap it with duct tape till you can get around to getting a new flex hose. Oh and if that is indeed the problem as I suspect it is.. you will need to slap your mechanic and the mazda dealerships mechanic as well. At least its something that doesnt cost cash to check out. Cheers

Tunes67

silveroak · Post by **silveroak** » February 28th, 2007, 7:17 pm

Seems like known good air flow meter did not help, although it did run good for a while... very confusing..., was able to drive it to a few places today. Eventually the hesitation got bad again and it stalled right on the turn into my driveway, but its on a hill so I just rolled in into parking in N

.

While it was still running I stopped by Advance for sensors, plugs and new battery (it was time anyway).

Intake hose has no cracks at all, took it off, cleaned and reclamped.

Advance gave me three thermosensors, started with the one on the engine right - one wire. The closest from Advance is two wires, the other two look nothing like it. Stopped there, as it got dark.

At work found out about a place highly recommended by a few folks with older imports, hopefully new plugs will get me there tomorrow. This is the only daily driver and has to be fixed, otherwise I'd play with it more... also will have my shop manual for them subtly sitting on the passenger side, hopefully taking some of the guesswork out.

If it is fixed, I'll be glad to contribute the cause and solution to the library here,

thanks!

OROutdoors · Post by **OROutdoors** » March 2nd, 2007, 12:44 pm

Just some thoughts...
Okay, so I take it you have verified the air flow meter with a multimeter? Have you checked the leads to the air flow meter?

Interesting that the car runs cold, but not warm. I wonder if that reflects a heat issue -- like a vaccum hose that is stiff enough when cold to perform correctly, but once it warms up, becomes pliable for the leaks to open further...? If I were there, I put a vaccum meter on on of the hoses and take some readings.

Here is Oregon it is rather chilly. Are you in a cold area too, or are you in So. Cal or Florida or such? I just wonder, if you are in a warm locale, and the car gets hot, perhaps the ECU is getting too hot to operate correctly. I've seen this on Sentras, but haven't heard of it on the mx-3, though I suppose it could happen.

Another thought, have you checked the spark, is it strong?

papa roached · Post by **papa roached** » March 3rd, 2007, 1:39 am

the one wire just goes to the gauge, the 2 wire is on the intake manifold ont he passenger side between the runners

monty73741 · Post by **monty73741** » March 3rd, 2007, 2:25 pm

I went through the same thing about 4 years ago, new cap, rotor, spark plus, maf etc etc

it turned out to be the disty

jason

lycanthrope · Post by **lycanthrope** » March 4th, 2007, 5:17 am

check your spark plug wires or replace them, these are often overlooked and can cause many suggestive symptoms, including fouled plugs...

check/clean or replace your PCV valve...

worn cap and rotor will definately give you a weak spark...

oxygen sensor almost impossible to reach on the downpipe and has this huge rusty nut around it I am even afraid to look at

they make a tool for these sensors, you can get it at the parts house, allows you to remove and install an o2 sensor without damaging the lead/wire/sensor...

an old o2 sensor can cause the ECU to give incorrect air/fuel mixture and could possibly foul your plugs over time, however, most bad or faulty o2 sensors will give you a CEL though...

monty73741 wrote:I went through the same thing about 4 years ago, new cap, rotor, spark plus, maf etc etc

it turned out to be the disty

jason

by all means suspect the maf and dist lastly, these jokers are high$

and to reiterate what Tunes67 suggested, please, please slap those mechanics, geeze...

good luck

silveroak · Post by **silveroak** » March 27th, 2007, 10:01 pm

all, sorry for not having updated in a while, but the situation has not moved. I have relayed all of your suggestions to the shop, i know they tried new distributor, wires, not sure what else - we agreed they will work on it in their spare time so that they don't charge me by the hour... was getting rides with friends, gf and cabs so far. Like I said, the shop is reliable and recommended and they keep asking for more time. Their comments are sparse though, these are three guys of few words, last thing from them is they are looking for a electrical condition causing weak spark, like a short, possibly an intermittent condition. I will give it to the end of this week, almost ready for another car, but really would hate to part with the mx.

Tunes67 · Post by **Tunes67** » March 27th, 2007, 11:02 pm

Have you checked the thermosensor that you suspected earlier? There are procedures for checking it in the online shop manual. If you have no vacuum leaks that would be the next thing I would check. Keep in mind you can connect a vacuum gauge to the engine.. by doing this you could see (literally) what is going on with the engine.

I dont know if these ATX cars have torque converter lockout solenoids or not.. but I once saw similar symptoms in a 95 Chev cavalier that turned out to have that problem.. car would start up normally.. but the moment you put it in drive (or reverse) it would buck wildly and die. The torque converter lockout solenoid had seized and long story short.. car thought it was in 4th gear.. the effect was pretty much the same as dumping the clutch from a dead stop in 4th or 5th gear.

If you have an ATX.. is the hold light on? Does the hold light flash at startup or any other time? (Dunno if you have a ATX but by using D and R It makes me think you do) You could try pulling tranny codes and see if the TCM has any codes stored.

Anyway.. just popping up a few more ideas to check out.. This problem isnt that serious.. You may be a bit frustrated at the moment.. but getting rid of the car rather than finding the issue would be kinda like buying a pair of boots and then shooting your foot because you have athletes foot

Your best bet would be to read.. both here in these forums and the online shop manual. Best of luck

Tunes67

silveroak · Post by **silveroak** » April 7th, 2007, 12:19 am

Those guys gave up. Again, did not want to charge me for trying, although I paid them a bit for the effort. The verdict is that there is no signal from the distributor, if I understood it right... it might be sensors after all. I had to have a car so I bought a 2003 celica gt, drove it home today. Taking mx-3 back and making it a project car, it will run again some day,
Thank you all for your help.

silveroak · Post by **silveroak** » June 10th, 2007, 6:23 pm

Guys, trying to undo some of the things left hanging by the mechanics working on the mx-3,
first, looks like a sensor, no clue where it goes:

please help!
Second, broken thermosensor:

Advance Auto does not have the right one even though they think they do. Anyone can help with a link to purchase one?
Thanks!

joetoken · Post by **joetoken** » June 11th, 2007, 4:19 pm

Autozone has the thermosensor, I just got one the other day, don't know what the first line is though,

silveroak · Post by **silveroak** » June 12th, 2007, 9:39 pm

Thanks a lot, I will check with them on Sat.,
no thoughts on the first pic, mxers? Could this be something sohc atx-specific?

MX-3.com

dying in D or R

dying in D or R

Re: dying in D or R