Hey folks!
I'm kinda new at the DIY thing, so I am hoping someone can shed some light on my situation.
I have a 2004 Mazda 3 (74k), and had driven to the store from home (~15 miles). While I was waiting for my passenger to finish shopping, I was parked outside, with the accessories going (fan, cigarette lighter, etc.) for about 5-10 minutes. When I was ready to drive off, the car would not stay started. It would turn over, run for about a second, then die.
We tried bump-starting it to no avail. I didn't have my scanner with me, so I tried diagnosing the problem as best I could. I knew it was getting spark, so I started to chase the "fuel" avenue. I didn't think it was a fuel filter as there hadn't been any performance issues prior (and I figured there would). I could hear the fuel pump whine when I turned the key to the "on" position, and I confirmed this by pulling the fuse momentarily (after one brief start, it only turned over and wouldn't start again).
Anyways, I had it towed to my house so I could "roll up my sleeves" a bit.
The scanner yielded the following "pending" codes (no MIL):
P2112 Throttle actuator control system - stuck close ON 1 CCM
P2101 Throttle actuator control motor circuit range/performance ON 1 CCM
P0638 Throttle actuator control range/performance ON 1 CCM
I tried poking around in my workshop manual, got a bit overwhelmed, and decided to erase the codes and start from scratch in the garage to see if I could learn a bit more.
Well, wouldn't you know it - as soon as I cleared the codes, the car started right up and seems to be running fine.
My question is...what could have caused this condition, and what might I do to prevent it from happening again?
Thanks in advance for the collective wisdom on these forums as I try and educate myself a bit more about these increasingly technical modern-day vehicles!
Wes
I'm kinda new at the DIY thing, so I am hoping someone can shed some light on my situation.
I have a 2004 Mazda 3 (74k), and had driven to the store from home (~15 miles). While I was waiting for my passenger to finish shopping, I was parked outside, with the accessories going (fan, cigarette lighter, etc.) for about 5-10 minutes. When I was ready to drive off, the car would not stay started. It would turn over, run for about a second, then die.
We tried bump-starting it to no avail. I didn't have my scanner with me, so I tried diagnosing the problem as best I could. I knew it was getting spark, so I started to chase the "fuel" avenue. I didn't think it was a fuel filter as there hadn't been any performance issues prior (and I figured there would). I could hear the fuel pump whine when I turned the key to the "on" position, and I confirmed this by pulling the fuse momentarily (after one brief start, it only turned over and wouldn't start again).
Anyways, I had it towed to my house so I could "roll up my sleeves" a bit.
The scanner yielded the following "pending" codes (no MIL):
P2112 Throttle actuator control system - stuck close ON 1 CCM
P2101 Throttle actuator control motor circuit range/performance ON 1 CCM
P0638 Throttle actuator control range/performance ON 1 CCM
I tried poking around in my workshop manual, got a bit overwhelmed, and decided to erase the codes and start from scratch in the garage to see if I could learn a bit more.
Well, wouldn't you know it - as soon as I cleared the codes, the car started right up and seems to be running fine.
My question is...what could have caused this condition, and what might I do to prevent it from happening again?
Thanks in advance for the collective wisdom on these forums as I try and educate myself a bit more about these increasingly technical modern-day vehicles!
Wes
