Trouble starting

[bacarl]

^Exactly. You'll need to be there with them to hold their hand. They'll come up with all kinds of wacky ideas or lack thereof on their own.

I had the problem with a powered aux device (sat radio) making the buzzing noise at speed (I'm sure many of us have heard this problem). I took it in hoping they would fix the grounds or buy me a ground loop isolator so I wouldn't have to. When I left it with them, first they told me they didn't hear anything, then they told me it was because my sat antenna was installed on my dashboard instead of on my roof (he claimed that he put the antenna outside and it magically got better, despite the fact that they'd "heard nothing" the day before). Then when I showed up they're like, oh look what we found magically, a TSB that addresses this very issue and states that the owner must buy their own GLI out-of-pocket. Thanks for wasting three days with my car, assholes.

 

[derspi]

I've had this stumbling issue on startup as well but wherein it used to happen about 80 - 90% of the time, it now does it less often. Maybe 50% of the time in the morning and barely at all when I cold start it after work.

 

[Antonio DiMarco]

His name is Omar

I brought it to Wellesley Mazda where I bought the car. They give free loaner cars which is useful because I don't have reliable access to another car on my own.

My update for it is they didnt find anything wrong. They checked for codes, checked fuel pressure, checked everything they could think of that could cause a problem. Dan (the guy at the shop) told me it started fine. I even left it there overnight again last night so they could try cold starting it again this morning and got nothing. Im wondering if it is happening for them and they just think its normal or if im really that unlucky and its not happening for them.

I might try sentry west again. I know there is someone over there who knows the speeds, I gotta look up his name and call him.

-Pete

I was going to do the same and bring it to Omar for a look-see. I had actually mentioned the stumbling to him when I had my wife's Mz5 in for service. He asked if was throwiing codes and I said no. He said to ring it by and he would look at it. He drives an 07speed but he said he has not experienced anything like I was describing. I think it's one of those things that may have to wait until the part or behavior gets repeatable.

I may leave it off at night and go back in the mornign when I bring it in for it's service in a couple of weeks. Who knows maybe I'll get lucky. FYI it hasn't happened to me lately last time it did it was pretty severe after sitting in the parking lot after work. But then nothing since then (close to a week now). WHo knows it maybe bad gas.

 

[Peter B]

I went there last night a picked it up. Dan (the service manager) got in with me and I started it to see if anything happened. Good clean start, only the slightest hesitation which he did hear. But after everything they were unable to find anything.

Both my father and Dan recommended picking a gas station/brand and sticking with it if possible to see if that helps. I usually go to shell/mobile/hess or there are two no name stations I use. The no-name guys seemed to have good gas, I usually got decent millage off it. I think I will try using the shell V-power for a while.

I was thinking I have a can of sea foam lying around. I have never used it before but maybe i will give it a shot.

-Pete

 

[bacarl]

Also pull out the MAF sensor and give it a squirt with some cleaner. I think I'll try this on mine to see if it cleans up the start. I'll post a pic tonight to show where the maf is how to clean it.

 

[Peter B]

Also pull out the MAF sensor and give it a squirt with some cleaner. I think I'll try this on mine to see if it cleans up the start. I'll post a pic tonight to show where the maf is how to clean it.

Ever take those pictures?

 

[oaklandopen]

it's really easy to take the maf off. it's right after the air box, and has 2 philips head screws. unscrew and slide out.

 

[Peter B]

Not to be a total noob but i don't even know what im looking for

 

[oaklandopen]

Not to be a total noob but i don't even know what im looking for

just unhook the neg battery cable, then disconnect the cable to the sensor (inside the smallest red circle), then 2 philips screws on the MAF and pull out

 

[bacarl]

Ever take those pictures?

Sorry Peter, I only got as far as buying a can of MAF cleaner (notcool)

I had planned to pull it out tonight for cleaning/pics. Don't ask me why it takes so long to do stuff!

 

[Peter B]

Don't ask me why it takes so long to do stuff!

Whom ever discovers the answer to this question in life should get at least 3.... no wait 7 Nobel Prizes.

 

[oaklandopen]

^^^you can click on the picture i put up 2 posts before yours so you can see it a little easier

 

[bacarl]

^Not to mention Oakland's engine is infinitely cleaner than mine...

Along with the stumbling start issue, I'll occasionally get a little stumble on the freeway in sixth gear under part throttle boost. This is the kind of thing that's often fixed by cleaning the MAF, so I pulled my sensor out for cleaning last night. Here are several pics of the process:

Here's a pic for some context. You can see the MAF just behind my Cobb filter with wires running to it

Here's what the MAF looks like up close

Yours will be located here on the stock airbox. Compare this pic to Oakland's

Pull the connector off like so. It's an easy one with a big tab on top - no need for tiny screwdrivers or snapping off any tabs or fingernails

You can see Cobb's silver colored allen screws on my sensor. The stock fasteners are black phillips head screws. Remove the screws, give the sensor a gentle wiggle and it will come up out of the tube.
Here's the sensor itself. You can see the element that protrudes down into the airstream

Mine actually looked quite dirty. Here's the upstream side of the element, it's all black

And here's the downstream side

I bought some MAF cleaner from Murray's auto (can looked like this):

And after spraying it on, here's my upstream side again

So, I did this last night. The can of cleaner warned not to energize the sensor with the cleaner anywhere near it, so I reinstalled the sensor but left it unplugged overnight to dry (although the cleaner evaporates very quickly). This morning I plugged in the connector and started the car, and had a CEL all the way to work. This is probably because I never disconnected the battery, since I was feeling too lazy to reset the clock and all my presets. If the CEL is still on this afternoon I'll pull the neg terminal and it should reset itself and be fine.

I let the car wake up slowly this morning to energize the sensor and see if anything weird happened. Hence I didn't notice any stumbling when it started. Then due to the CEL being on I didn't do any ripping around in sixth gear, so I didn't notice any part throttle stumbling either. I'll have a better idea if the cleaning worked tomorrow.


*edit: my internet had a little hiccup right after I clicked the post button - let me know if the pics don't show up right

 

[Peter B]

^Not to mention Oakland's engine is infinitely cleaner than mine...

Yeah cleaner then mine too. It looks like you could perform surgery in there its so clean.

^^^you can click on the picture i put up 2 posts before yours so you can see it a little easier

I saw and clicked. I have have to go look at my car now.

Thank guys for the good info, I will give this a try.

The funny thing is its been happening less. Or I should say the stumbling has been less severe. A few times it almost stalled. Now it still stumbles but not as bad.

Did the cel ever clear btw?

One more thing I wanted to try was to run some sea foam through it. I have about 21K on the car now. I have heard seafoam every 30k-36k. I might be a bit early but it cant hurt. As I recall you can pour it into your gas, your oil, and the vacuum line? Anywhere else? Also I wouldnt know which line is the vacuum line. Is it marked? My car needs a bath and I need get the wax of the plastic where I went over a bit. So I will probably try the seafoam and MAF cleaning this weekend.

-Pete

 

[oaklandopen]

One more thing I wanted to try was to run some sea foam through it. I have about 21K on the car now. I have heard seafoam every 30k-36k. I might be a bit early but it cant hurt. As I recall you can pour it into your gas, your oil, and the vacuum line? Anywhere else? Also I wouldnt know which line is the vacuum line. Is it marked? My car needs a bath and I need get the wax of the plastic where I went over a bit. So I will probably try the seafoam and MAF cleaning this weekend.

-Pete

there is a seafoam thread hovering around here somewhere, try a search. i just hit 20k and put a pint and a fillup in my tank only. at first i was skeptical about using a vacuum line because of the direct injection of this car (don't feel like explaining myself right now) but if ppl are really getting catch-cans filled up with gunk than it might be a good idea to throw some in the a vacuum somehwere.

the easiest and biggest (usually) vac line is for the brake booster, just pull it off from the master cylinder. you'll have to have someone hold the throttle down to a few thousand rpms usually so you don't stall while pouring it in. there are other specific fuel injector cleaning kits out there as well so i'd look into them too. the most important thing to think about is how much life you might be taking out of your catalytic converters by doing this type of cleaning. sure the carbon buildup gets removed from the engine, but it gets thrown into the cats before exitting the exhaust too. i did a complete cleaning on my tacoma at 50k but probably won't do it again till like 100k

and to be honest the picture i provided was taken from someone else's post in the "official engine bay pic" thread.

 

[Peter B]

and to be honest the picture i provided was taken from someone else's post in the "official engine bay pic" thread.

I am now just noticing the car in your sig looks to be metro grey or black and the one in the engine pic is white...

As for the catalytic converter I would think keeping then engine running well would be worth shaving time of the cat's life span. But that's just me. So you didn't put any in your crank case?

 

[oaklandopen]

As for the catalytic converter I would think keeping then engine running well would be worth shaving time of the cat's life span. But that's just me. So you didn't put any in your crank case?

the place i worked at (private auto repair shop) would not recommend the complete fuel system treatment until like 60k miles on any vehicle. this includes fuel sytem cleaning (wish special 2 or 3 step processes with different cleaners and additives, unlike the 1 type of seafoam), replacement of spark plugs, and the obvious oil change. doing this frees up a lot of gunk, but at the same time might the process harm something if it's done too often or when it's unneeded? i think of it like a vacuum cleaner; you don't put a new bag in it everyday, but you don't keep trying to run it if the bag is bloated and full.

so i didn't put any in the crankcase or pour any through a vacuum cuz i think it's still too early to do so. if i were to do it i might wait until 50k. i change my oil every 3-4k with penzoil platinum so it's never really dirty. and not to start another oil change argument but the reason i don't wait till 5k miles like lots of ppl would say about full synthetic is because of oil filters. the oil might last long, but the filter is still the same basic design it's always been and i've seen ones with not much more than 5k miles that just crumble to the touch. maybe if this car had a top mounted filter (like my tacoma does) i would leave the oil in for longer and just change the filter out every 2.5-3k miles.

 

[oaklandopen]

but the idle was improved right after i cleaned my MAF. unfortunately it's beginning to stumble a little bit again, so the problem might be elsewhere. i might try to run that spark plug cleaning thing that's in the repair manual to see if that helps it.

i would just check the spark plugs but i usually don't have the time to do that with a cold engine. im up and out in the mornings and i usually end up running out again after i get home. you don't want to remove and reinstall spark plugs with a hot engine, it's not good practice

 

[bacarl]

Did the cel ever clear btw?

Yes, I took the car to lunch and the CEL was gone.

 

[Peter B]

I see what your saying about over doing it with the seafoam. I don't plan on doing it often, but im wondering if it might help easy my rough starts.
When you put it in the fuel did you notice any difference?

-Pete