Mazdaspeed 3 Stutter
- Thread starter Speedy3
- Start date
Disconnect the cable from the negative battery terminal and then press the brake pedal for 30 seconds. Some people suggest letting the car sit for 5-10 minutes as well, but I would just reconnect the cable after stepping on the brake pedal.
This should do the trick. The car might run akwardly initially until it relearns the appropriate mapping.
R
This should do the trick. The car might run akwardly initially until it relearns the appropriate mapping.
R
Rainman said:
I tried this and it seemed to fix it at first. It still had a little stutter, but it was the just like the brand new MS3 that the dealer let me drive for comparison purposes; very minimal. But,,,,,, on the second run, the stutter came back to full force. When I got home popped open the hood and let the car idle . I was looking around the engine compartment listening for any strange noises and sounds. I can hear a faint knocking sound coming from the engine. does anyone else here this sound ? It's not the clicking sound that's always there it's another sound that sounds like a quiet knocking . I am probably just getting really paranoid . Oh well , my second test drive with the Mazda technician is tomorrow morning . Hopefully we'll find something tomorrow .
I took it in today for a test drive and diagnosis. The drive to the dealer was about 35 miles. I warmed up the car to normal operating temp before leaving. The car stuttered on accelerations for about 15-20 minutes, but after that it cleared up and ran very good and strong without stuttering or hicups. Got to the dealer and told the senior tech that it was running real good and the test drive might not re-produce the problem, but we went anyways. Test drive produced a couple of stutters/hicups, and ran real strong the rest of the time. It's funny taking a tech on a test drive, they don't even flinch when the car hits 95 MPH! The tech decided that the stutters he felt were justification enough to run a full diagnosis. He checked just about every sensor: MAF, Fuel pump 1 pressure, DISI pressure, boost pressure, engine temp, splark plug #1, O2 #2, No codes, Nothing found. Interestingly, I ran the tank almost to empty on the way in to the dealer today, so I put in a half tank of fresh Chevron 92 after leaving the dealer and man, I haven't felt my car run this good since I drove it home the day I bought it. It's running excellent and pulling very hard; put a big smile on my face. I don't know if it was something they bumped/disconnected&re-connected, the new gas or the master reset I did 2 days ago.
I'm getting my Auterra Dyno Scan SW in a few days, so I'm gonna log as much data as I can if/when the problem happens again.
I'm getting my Auterra Dyno Scan SW in a few days, so I'm gonna log as much data as I can if/when the problem happens again.
StephanieT
Member
Glad the car misbehaved at the dealership. 
Are they going to report it to Mazda Engineers?
You can also unplug the ECU to re-set it. Let it sit for 5-10 minutes too.
Stephanie
Are they going to report it to Mazda Engineers?You can also unplug the ECU to re-set it. Let it sit for 5-10 minutes too.
Stephanie
StephanieT said:
I reset it yesterday and it drove very good for about 5 minutes, then started stuttering again.
StephanieT said:Glad the car misbehaved at the dealership.
Ever since the dealer visit, it has been running like new, pulling very hard especially in 3rd gear. They claimed that they didn't do anything but a daignosis, but something has happened. It could have been the gas. Anyways, I am very happy and can't wait to get the Auterra. They said they haven't gotten enough complaints on my issue, so Mazda can't make a formal PCM fix, but they did talk to the Mazda Engineers. I told him about the Auterra and he said that Mazda would like to see any data plots of my sensors when the anomaly occurs.
StephanieT
Member
Car still behaving?
StephanieT said:
Hard to say. I put in a half tank of gas from a local Chevron, then the stutter came back on a little bit. Not a lot, just 1 or 2 stutters per gear. I ran the tank empty then filled up at the Chevron that I believe has good, clean gas (35 miles from home). I'll let you know if it helps.
Also, my auterra comes Thursday, so I plan on doing tons of data logging.
Thanks for checking in!
StephanieT
Member
Call me if you need help with the Auterra.
Stephanie
Stephanie
i took the air filter that i tried to adapt in place of the air box, i was getting sutters at idle because it was idling at lower rpm than normal. not sure my car doesnt do that now, only because i had a leak or not enough air pressure for the sensor. what happens when u go fast in it? u should do some fast accelerations and see if it stil does it.....Speedy3 said:
Another thought is to check the MAF. A MS6 user on another forum posted similar stuttering on his MS6 after he had installed a CAI. He had had a run of some wet weather around the time that he first noticed the stuttering. He noticed one day that his filter was wet so he checked the MAF. It was wet too with water wetting the element and pooling inside the unit. After he dried out the MAF and reinstalled it, all of his stuttering was completely eliminated.
I realize that there are differences between your situation and his, but it is worth a check. If the dealership has tried checking other things and not yet been able to find something it can't hurt to consider this also even if you don't have a CAI.
R
I realize that there are differences between your situation and his, but it is worth a check. If the dealership has tried checking other things and not yet been able to find something it can't hurt to consider this also even if you don't have a CAI.
R
Rainman said:
Thanks for the info! I'll check that, but I was in the airbox last week and didn't see any water. It's down to anything now. I still haven'y checked all the plugs. The dealer checked the plug to the left of the intercooler, but didn't want ot take off the intercooler to check the others. My next goal, though, is to log all the sensor/engine data on a drive then duplicate the log on a brand new MS3 from the dealer lot. This will make it easier to pinpoint the problem. The dealer already agreed to allow me to do this, so I will soon...
While I think Chevron is a top tier gas it could be your local bozos arent properly storing the gas... wont hurt to try Shell just to see if its the gas... it may need a few tankfulls to clear things up IF its the gas... could be the fuel filter got clogged too (not sure if its inside the tank or inline)
Good luck with it... I think a lot of us are eager to see how dealer handles this...
Btw skip the Octane boosters... the engine is tuned to use 91 Octane... using 93 or 104 Octane isnt going to give you more power with a stock engine and stock ECU program. I think the additives will prob. end up causing more harm to your engine in the long run.
Im not sure if Maza ECU works this way but on some cars it will compensate for lower octane fuel but with an end result of less power (The LS2 engine on the corvettes for example will run just fine on 91 albeit peak performance is at 93) - This doesnt go the other way: you wont get more power by running 104 (or 93 in the case of the Mazda)
Good luck with it... I think a lot of us are eager to see how dealer handles this...
Btw skip the Octane boosters... the engine is tuned to use 91 Octane... using 93 or 104 Octane isnt going to give you more power with a stock engine and stock ECU program. I think the additives will prob. end up causing more harm to your engine in the long run.
Im not sure if Maza ECU works this way but on some cars it will compensate for lower octane fuel but with an end result of less power (The LS2 engine on the corvettes for example will run just fine on 91 albeit peak performance is at 93) - This doesnt go the other way: you wont get more power by running 104 (or 93 in the case of the Mazda)
Mocoso said:
I have been logging data from the car with stutters and without stutters. Seems to be inconsistent and not associated to gas. The only consistency is that it will do it within the first hour since engine start. I have a data log I'm looking at right now. I will post results (if any) soon.
Speedy3 said:
Guys,
I'm lookin into buying one of these. I am begining to scan forums to see if the car has any major drawbacks.
So, can I assume that this car doesn't agree with weather that is very cold?
Also, what have your experiences been like with the car? All positive? Let me know.
An thanks in advance,
Dpeat
dpeat said:
Obviously Speedy's experience hasnt been wonderful.. you will find that most forum posts will tend to be towards the negative given by nature most of us will be quick to ask for help and share in the misery while we tend to skimp on the kudos posts... this is true of every car forum Ive seen... what you should look out for is how many different posts for the same issue and how petty or severe the issues tend to be (stutter is a more real issue over say "the leather isnt as plush as in my Aston Martin")
Having said that I suggest ya post your questions in a separate thread so we dont hijack Speedy's thread....
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