Okay..my turn

[FunkyBuddha]

1. CEL flashing

2. Smell of fuel and black smoke from exhaust

3. Car wants to stall at stop light. Idle is dipping then back up to 750 then down again. Happens intermittently.

4. Can't boost past 3psi. I step on gas and the boost gauge reads 3. Car bucks, then I let off gas. Vacuum sometimes reads -13 to -22. ON good days it's at -20.

5. Car losses power and takes a LONG time to reach 3000rpm. Erratic..and not happening all the time..BUT..most of the time. I wait it out then it disappears. Then happens again.

6. Car died at a sudden stop.


What I've tried doing:

1. reset ECU - works for about 200km then all of the above happens again.

2. replaced plugs with OEM. 2 plugs were black, 2 plugs were white. What does that mean?

3. Cleaned all contacts in the plug wires. - no change

4. Found one battery terminal loose - no more dying at sudden stops. Car doesn't want to die as much but idle is still dipping due to some other problem.

5. Unplugged MAF - car ran bad, but when I plugged it in, I have power but cannot boost past 3 psi. Idle is rough, but RPM needle is staying at 750rpm. Car feels like it's chugging or drowning.

 

[icespeed]

possibilities....

bad EGR
vac leak
bad Throttle body

edit: did you take out the VTCS?

 

[FunkyBuddha]

No the VTCS is in.

Ok I will try to check those..but it's -26 here and it's ****** cold.

Any other suggestions?

 

[NCZ13]

misfire?

which plugs were which?

black plugs indicate that the fuel is being ignited fully. i had a misfire problem in my car, and you have almost the exact same systems.

if c1 and c4 plugs are black, your coil pack might be bad. same if your 2 and 3 plugs are the black ones.

 

[FunkyBuddha]

Okay here are the plugs arranged accordingly. The rear most plug is closest to oil cap.

 

[ItsSlow]

For 3-6, Vaccuum leak.. Also known as a boost leak..

For the CEL, take it somewhere near by that has an obd2 scan tool and hook it up to your car and find out whats causing the CEL..

 

[Maxx Mazda]

Well the car WILL not run without the MAF plugged in, so that's not it...

Wierd, if 2+3 were both the same color I'd say coil for sure a they share one, but they're not... Why don't you come by tonight and we'll do a comp. check and make sure everything's cool... You had the code read and it was a misfire (pretty much the only thing on the Pro that triggers a flashing CEL) but now we need to figure out why...

 

[NCZ13]

it def looks like 1 is running really rich... did you pull the injectors to see if any of them bog the engine less than the others?

 

[FunkyBuddha]

Aight..I'll give you a call Nick.

If it's a leak..I can't find it now..it's pretty cold outside and it's pretty much dark when I get home from work. No garage.

The code was P0171 - random misfire.

 

[hoindawall]

looks like you're not getting a good spark or you're getting too much fuel in the cylinders with the black plugs.

if you can, use a spark tester to test for spark

 

[FunkyBuddha]

Check your wastegate also while your at it.
See this pdf posted by the Captain
http://www.mazdas247.com/forum/showthread.php?t=123670954

Not the wastegate. I blew into that vac line and there was no air going through.

I suspect it's bad coils. It can't be the MAF because when I unplug the maf, the car runs super bad. So that tells me the MAF is working.

Coils or O2 sensors. I'm going to replace the coils first.

 

[Maxx Mazda]

Not the wastegate. I blew into that vac line and there was no air going through.

I suspect it's bad coils. It can't be the MAF because when I unplug the maf, the car runs super bad. So that tells me the MAF is working.

Coils or O2 sensors. I'm going to replace the coils first.

I agree with your diagnosis. Only, does it misfire under WOT or also while tooling around? Under WOT the O2 sensors are ignored, as the car goes into open loop and reads from it's map.

 

[FunkyBuddha]

When you initially start the car, what is your vacuum reading?

17-22Hg

Sometimes driving the car in partial throttle, it'll come up to 10-13 which is when I know the car will run like crap. That's when I don't try not to gas it too much.

 

[Maxx Mazda]

17-22Hg

Sometimes driving the car in partial throttle, it'll come up to 10-13 which is when I know the car will run like crap. That's when I don't try not to gas it too much.

Wierd... Timing can make your vac drop like that. Make sure the A/C is off though. (like, totally off, fan speed 0)

 

[FunkyBuddha]

Ignition timing or cam timing? And yes I've heard that too. And yes the car vibrates weird as well. Like timing is off. I've got the coils coming so if that doesn't fix it...I might have to get the motor checked regarding the timing belt.

 

[Maxx Mazda]

Lets check ign. timing too, I have a SWEET timing light!

 

[FunkyBuddha]

I'll keep everyone posted. Maxx and I put different sets of coil packs on.
We'll see what happens.

 

[FunkyBuddha]

CEL came on again today.
But..none of the above mentioned symptoms in the first post.

CEL is solid

We found a boost leak at the top IC pipe where the bpv goes into. It's loud LOL..

 

[Maxx Mazda]

CEL came on again today.
But..none of the above mentioned symptoms in the first post.

CEL is solid

We found a boost leak at the top IC pipe where the bpv goes into. It's loud LOL..

Ya man, come by my work tomorrow, we'll hook up the diag. tool and go for a drive and see what's going on in real time.

 

[FunkyBuddha]

Ya man, come by my work tomorrow, we'll hook up the diag. tool and go for a drive and see what's going on in real time.

Time? I got someone coming by my house at 7. How long will this take approx?