CEL but I dont know why

[Rennoc]

I got a cel tonight after i down shifted. I don't understand what my car is doing though. Every time i shift into a gear the car almost dies out but then when i give it a little more gas it is fine. It has an AEM intake and a draxas exhuast so I have no idea as to why the CEL is popping up and my car sounds like its about to choke out everytime Im shift gears. help me please!!!

 

[three]

Ive herd about peoples wires on the MAF getting pulled loose during installation of the intakes. Sounds like thats what happened with yours. Whenever you shift your engine moves therefore could be messing with the connection of your MAF wires. I would guess that an easy way to test it to see if thats your problem is while your car is running pop the hood and lightly wiggle the MAF wires if it stutter or bogs down like you explained then theres your problem. Hope this helps.

 

[Rennoc]

the intake has been on there for almost six months... my bad I should have meanchened stuff like that. The exhuast is newer. It has springs and other stuff too but nothing that would affect the engine like this. Could this be an electrical system problem?

 

[goldwing2000]

Did you pull the MAF wire away from the battery box when you did the installation?

 

[mazda3zoom]

yeah dude i had my intake on there for like 8-9 months and all the sudden it started running like s***. The guy at the dealer said that the wires going to my MAF had pulled apart inside the insulation. Its just a little tug every time your motor shifts but over time it'll do it. Alls you gotta do is try what three said and wiggle the wires while its running. And then what goldwing said and unclip the wires from the battery box.

 

[Rennoc]

i unsucessfully tried this today i dont know what else to do short of taking it to a stealership. They will claim something BS like they did with my other 3 and tell me I owe them a bunch of money. They replaced all 4 springs on my other 3 after it had an accident where the supension on the driver side got messed up (my son was driving it). How did the other two get messed up though? i mean the airbags didnt even go off this was not a hard collision

 

[Rennoc]

Now today there is a nasty rattling that comes from the rear and the middle under like the center console so im gonna look at all the exhuast hangers make sure none of them are touching. Im also going to make sure the downpipe isnt under any sideways stress from a crooked exhuast but like I said I'm running out of options

 

[bacon]

i had my CEL light come up on me a couple days ago. it left after a couple days though, i also have the aem intake.

 

[Rennoc]

yeah dude i had my intake on there for like 8-9 months and all the sudden it started running like s***. The guy at the dealer said that the wires going to my MAF had pulled apart inside the insulation. Its just a little tug every time your motor shifts but over time it'll do it. Alls you gotta do is try what three said and wiggle the wires while its running. And then what goldwing said and unclip the wires from the battery box.

How much did it cost you to get that fixed? I have the wires pulled off of the battery box so i don't think that that is the issue. I'm just curious incase it boils down to that being the problem.

 

[three]

yeah i had to buy a new intake 2 weeks after i bought the aem kuz where you mount the intake to the car ripped a quarter size hole in the intake and caused it to run like crap so inspect your intake and make sure there are no holes in it.

 

[mazda3zoom]

How much did it cost you to get that fixed? I have the wires pulled off of the battery box so i don't think that that is the issue. I'm just curious incase it boils down to that being the problem.

Actually, for the first time in recorded history the dealership was pretty kool about it. The tech said he knew i had an intake (put the stock on back on b4 i took it up there) and he fixed it anyways. Alls he did was re-solder the wires.

 

[bacon]

yeah i had to buy a new intake 2 weeks after i bought the aem kuz where you mount the intake to the car ripped a quarter size hole in the intake and caused it to run like crap so inspect your intake and make sure there are no holes in it.

cheked my intake for holes, none yet but iam worried bout where its sitting

 

[three]

Whats wrong with where its sitting paint us a picture.

 

[Rennoc]

I found my problem. The reason it didnt make the enging choke when i jiggled the wires around is because one of them is completely disconnected. The first picture is of the setup in general. The second is of the detached wire. Anyone know if a dealership would be able to sodder this back together or is this to the point where i need a new MAF.

 

[three]

DANG that sux thats the first time ive herd of them comming completly loose. I guess you could get it soldered or sumthing. Good job on finding that and good luck with the fix.

 

[mazda3zoom]

i MIGHT have the plug that plugs into the MAF sensor, if so ill send it to you with like 5-6" of wire and that way you can just solder them back together. You might be able to find the little pins that go into the plug too.

 

[goldwing2000]

Yeah, a new MAF won'r get you a new wire harness. It will have to be repaired.

 

[Shiney_McShine]

I've seen this problem reported on other boards as well. It happened to me. Seems the wires are not very secure and after about 6 - 8 months after instalation of an aftermarket intake(I have the Simota), they work themselves loose.