Good news/bad news - Look inside.

[Hachiman]

Ok, everyone. First the good news: I talked my manager into giving me a promotion, so I'm getting more hours and a pay raise. That means I can keep my MSP! Yay for me!

Now, the bad news: I've got a service appointment scheduled for tomorrow morning, and there's more than a few things I need to get looked at. I'm not a car nut, so I was looking for some help in describing the problem and/or suggesting things to check. Any help/comments would be great. (Especially if you've had the same/similar problem, and it's been fixed!)

1. Hesitation issue.
- I think I've got this one covered. I've got a real good description that someone posted in another thread, and I'm going to give them the print-out of it.

2. Smell from the engine after turning the car off.
- It doesn't happen all the time, but when it does, it is very noticeable. A friend suggested it might be a radiator fluid leak?

3. Rubbing sound when moving the shift knob.
- This started a few days ago, and is getting VERY annoying. It's noticeable when I'm not playing music, but I can hear it when I am playing music. (I have very good hearing.) It originally started when I was just shifting, but has now expanded to when I wiggle the shift knob slightly, without actually shifting.

4. Difficulty shifting.
- It's become more and more difficult to change gears, especially (but not limited to) 2nd and 3rd gears. I don't have to really force it into gear, but there is more resistance there than ever before.

5. Loss of power in all gears.
- I'm not talking turbo lag here... This is before the turbo even spools up. When I floor it, there's very little power. For example, when I'm getting on the highway, but I'm behind someone going "normal" speeds (people still do that?? ), I'll change over to the next lane and give it gas (not necessarily flooring it). The RPMs increase, but speed doesn't go up as much as it should. And then when the turbo finally does spool and kick in, it will usually hesitate a bit and then kick in to "normal".

6. Turbo doesn't boost constantly.
- This may be a continuation of #5. It doesn't seem like the turbo boosts regularly when I go to WOT.

7. AC doesn't really blow cold.
- Not much explaining here. I've gotten colder quicker from drinking a large glass of cold water full of ice, and eating the ice as I go. The AC doesn't blow very cold, even when at setting 4. It blows semi-hard, but not really cold.

Can anyone help me out here?

Thanks!

- John

 

[funnylittlman]

#2 Check for the coolant leak issue

#3 Check to see if the bushings need greased

#5 Could be caused by #1

#6 Maybe your IC Pipe has cracked

#7 Have you tried to put it on RECIRC? If not, then get it checked

 

[unwrittenLaw]

I noticed that when i go into wot, my boost reads differently in different gears. Like it will top out at a higher level in 5th than it does in 4th. I don't think there's a leak, just how the turbo spools..but I'm not sure..

 

[KyRaceFan]

I noticed that when i go into wot, my boost reads differently in different gears. Like it will top out at a higher level in 5th than it does in 4th. I don't think there's a leak, just how the turbo spools..but I'm not sure..

its the different load on the engine.....

 

[Hachiman]

All right, guys. Thanks for your advice/suggestions. I took the car in this morning, with a typed-up list of the above problems, descriptions and some of your advice.

They are going to have it all day today, and possibly into tomorrow. We'll see what happens, and I'll be sure to let you all know.

- John

 

[z00mer]

I`ve had the same issues. I just recently got my coolant leaks fixed....cheap clamps! And as far as the A/C not being cold enough...i`ve got that problem as well. It seems to take a couple of minutes to start cooling down my car. I also thought that this was due to the hot ass wheather we`ve been having....but lately it has`nt been that hot out here and it still does it.

As for the shifting issue, you might just want to change the bushings. I changed mine to cartboy`s...and no problems yet.

 

[20ESGUY]

the a/c is a normal R134 thing, it really doesn't cool until the compressor gets spining good at higher rpms. if you dont drive the car above 2500 constantly it's not going to cool really well. more than likely they'll tell you its fine cause it will be around 36-38 degress at the vents. R134 is horrible so.....

 

[Hachiman]

Ok, guys. I just heard back from my Mazda service rep.

The AC issue *is* normal. It takes a while to work its way up, but does blow cold... after a while.

They couldn't confirm difficulty shifting or the smell from the engine bay. They also said the rubbing sound from the shift knob was normal. (When I took it in this morning, it wasn't making the same noise I'm hearing, so I'll have to wait till it happens again and take it back.)

However, now for the good news: This is all a direct quote from my rep... "All of the other problems relating to the engine and turbo are intertwined. The hesitation, loss of power and turbo not boosting are all known issues. We called Mazda, and they are aware of the problem and are working on the solution. They plan on having a re-programed PPCM out later this year, and we'll contact you for a service appointment when it's ready."

Even though nothing else got fixed, at least it was worth it. They were able to confirm the most major issue and my car is "on the record" as having it. And we got an update on the status of the fix for it.

- John

 

[Hachiman]

Correction: When I picked up my car today, I read the paperwork. It is the PTCM they're fixing, not the PPCM.

- John

 

[MikeyG_U2]

Yeah, my car does the AC thing too. If I'm at idle when I turn it on, it hardly cools down at all. Once i start driving though it cools off fast and blows nice and cold. Remember the compressor is belt driven, so the faster the engine spins, the faster the compressor spins....