MSP2003.5 - Blinking CEL - No boost. On a road trip need help please

[Syonix]

(attn)
I need to know how fu'ked i am.
On a road trip, a hundered+ miles from home..
On the freeway a few minutes ago the boost went away and the CEL came on and startedd blinking. I have a car load of camping s*** with the kids you know so its gotta be fun ;->
Im luckily in a town with a dealership and am going to take it in if i can tomorrow..without any of my tools, gear,books..

does anyone know just how-fed i am .. ?
it seems to idle ok, but there is no boost and im afraid of killing it if i try to drive it home from here..

peeps .. help a bro out..
(band2)(attn)

 

[TheMAN]

either the EGR valve went bad or the coil packs died

worst case scenario is a bad wastegate actuator

either way, you're going to need to pay someone to fix it


DO NOT drive the car, you will only melt the catalytic converter and it'll cost you thousands more to fix this!

 

[Syonix]

So im about 10 miles from the shop. should i have it towed there in the morning? I drove it 10 miles or so down i5 babying it to the first exit, hit the first motel and stoped her right there..

hey, thanks for the quick reply.. wicked...

so you think this is a crazy expensive multi-day fix?(uhm)

 

[fishdonotbounce]

It really could be anything. If at all possible, take it to an autozone and have the code scanned. If you get P0300, it is most likely the spark plugs, EGR valve, or coil packs. You can buy new spark plugs right there and ask if they can let you use some tools to swap them right there. Same with the coil packs if they have them in stock. If that doesn't help, you could buy some brake cleaner and clean the egr valve using the how-to on here. This might be tricky since you've got now tools but if I recall correctly, it doesn't require too many tools so you may be able to borrow them once again.

 

[mazdaspeedp]

i bet you its coils and wires my msp did the same thing with the engine light flashing and it lost its boost but since i replaced the spark plugs coils and wires i have not had any problems since other than my exhaust system rusting through but i agree you should not drive it tell it is fixed you wont make it home

 

[TheMAN]

It really could be anything. If at all possible, take it to an autozone and have the code scanned. If you get P0300, it is most likely the spark plugs, EGR valve, or coil packs. You can buy new spark plugs right there and ask if they can let you use some tools to swap them right there. Same with the coil packs if they have them in stock. If that doesn't help, you could buy some brake cleaner and clean the egr valve using the how-to on here. This might be tricky since you've got now tools but if I recall correctly, it doesn't require too many tools so you may be able to borrow them once again.

you're making this sound so simple... you have a P5, not an MSP... the MSP is 3 times harder to work on than a P5

 

[bradboyd80]

+1 on reading the code first. That'll at least give you an idea of what it could be. Plus if you do take it to the dealership, you'll have knowledge of the code so they can't bs you.

But if its the EGR or coils, it should be easy to do. Cleaning the EGR only took me about 30 min. If that's what you end up doing, all you're gonna need is a 12mm socket if I remember correctly; and I think its a 17mm to take the strut bar off; and a screwdriver obviously to get the intercooler pipes out of the way. All of that is easily borrowed from autozone. Of course if its the coils, then its even easier.

 

[fishdonotbounce]

Umm I know some things are obviously harder but coilpacks and the EGR valve???? How is that any more difficult on an MSP?

you're making this sound so simple... you have a P5, not an MSP... the MSP is 3 times harder to work on than a P5

 

[bradboyd80]

Umm I know some things are obviously harder but coilpacks and the EGR valve???? How is that any more difficult on an MSP?

Its not. Only thing I think that would be harder is fuel management and turbo components. Otherwise, its the same engine.

 

[fishdonotbounce]

Thought so. Thanks for confirming that I'm not crazy lol.

 

[MS3_KIDD]

he is goin to have some sort of misfire code, which is why he had the blinking MIL

why does everyone say coils and plugs will fix a p0300 (random misfire)
these will almost always cause a specific cylinder code or pair of cylinders in our case due to the waste spark ignition system

random misfires are caused by a problem not specific to a certain cylinder

(drunk)

 

[fishdonotbounce]

Because 9 times out of 10 it is the coils or plugs. The reason people say it will most likely fix it is because it is the simplest and cheapest possible solution to the problem.

 

[MS3_KIDD]

almost every thread iv ready people replaced plugs and coils and still had problems but if you perfer to replace good parts, fine by me

 

[fishdonotbounce]

Almost every thread I've read has people replying and saying that coils, plugs or EGR cleaning fixed the problem. I had the same exact thing happen to me about 3 weeks ago and changing the spark plugs and coils solved the problem.

 

[Syonix]

Thanks

I took it in to the dealership the next morning and was able to get them to diagnose it as the coils and some fried wires..

4 hours and about 400 bucks later i was on my way..
made it through my trip, got home and low and behold i think my alternator just went poop on me.

this 105 heat in portland is nuts..

 

[fishdonotbounce]

Glad to hear you got the original problem fixed. Sorry to hear about your alternator. You might wanna check out car-part.com for a used alternator if you're in a pinch. Best of luck man.

 

[TheMAN]

Umm I know some things are obviously harder but coilpacks and the EGR valve???? How is that any more difficult on an MSP?

because you have to take off the cold pipe and suction pipe... it's NOT easy when you don't have much tools... they're all in the way unlike the rubber intake hose that the P5 has

 

[mazdaspeedp]

how much did the alternator cost? i think i might need one soon

 

[Outlawstar98]

because you have to take off the cold pipe and suction pipe... it's NOT easy when you don't have much tools... they're all in the way unlike the rubber intake hose that the P5 has

Guys stop your fighting on which one is harder to work on, the egr on both are easy to do, and yes the msp has it's fair share of issues but they arnt hard to fix, and if you don't have tools fix them ohwell, next Time bring a tool set with you, not hardto pick a set up for like 60$ just to put in your trunk.

 

[bradboyd80]

how much did the alternator cost? i think i might need one soon

Mine cost $140 I think, at autozone.