Stuttering and check engine light
I was driving my 2001 MX-5 (26K, Red) around with my wife looking at the
Fall colors. The car had been stuck in the garage for close to a month as I had a pallet of building supplies blocking it's egress. Anyhow, got it out an went for a nice drive. About 1/2 hour into our drive the car started acting like it was out of fuel. Almost like the ignition was being turned on an off. I got to a side street and noted that the car could not rev over 1,500 rpm without intermittently losing power. The check engine light came on about that time. The car would idle but revving it above 1,500 rpm again caused it to cut power on and off. After about 5 minutes of this, the whole ting resolved and the car again drove as it always has. However, the check engine light remains on now. Again, there are no current drivability issues but the check engine light is on. Any ideas of what happened?? I hate to go to the dealer but I guess I will need to have them look at it. No problems ever before with the car. I assumed it was an electronic glitch. There was no backfiring, but the on-off power thing was almost like turning the ignition switch on and off. Does one have to go to a Mazda dealer to see what happened or can any competent independent shop help me?? Weird! Thanks for any suggestions!! Rick |
Stuttering and check engine light
In article >,
Rick Morris > wrote: > Does one have to go to a Mazda dealer to see what happened or can any > competent independent shop help me?? Anyone with an OBD-II scanner can retrieve and interpret the error code that prompted the CEL. I think AutoZone will do it for free. Once you have an idea what caused the problem, you can decide what to do next. --- Lanny Chambers '94C, St. Louis http://www.hummingbirds.net/alignment.html |
Stuttering and check engine light
Just for good measu you might want to get a new set of spark plug wires
while you are renting the scanner. Ken "Lanny Chambers" > wrote in message ... > In article >, > Rick Morris > wrote: > > > Does one have to go to a Mazda dealer to see what happened or can any > > competent independent shop help me?? > > Anyone with an OBD-II scanner can retrieve and interpret the error code > that prompted the CEL. I think AutoZone will do it for free. Once you > have an idea what caused the problem, you can decide what to do next. > > --- > Lanny Chambers > '94C, St. Louis > http://www.hummingbirds.net/alignment.html |
Stuttering and check engine light
KWS wrote:
> Just for good measu you might want to get a new set of spark plug wires > while you are renting the scanner. I just replaced the wires in my '02 SE; be aware that the wires changed in in '01+ when Mazda went to a coil-on-plug design. There are only two wires, one is short and one is long, and NGK does not offer a Blue replacement. I ended up with NAPA Belden wires, which were $50 for the set of two (!), but made a substantial difference in performance. Dana |
Stuttering and check engine light
i was thinking the same thing... but also the fuel filter and the plugs are
suspect. yet that doesn't explain why the check engine light has stayed on. it represents so many possible things that only the reader could point you in the right direction... something is not right. if i had to hazard a guess i might say it is a faulty coil pack. but if you didn't want to spend the time and money on dealer diagnostics the i suggest the removal of the spark plugs to see if they are fouled. plugs are cheap and they might be all that you need. "KWS" > wrote in message ... > Just for good measu you might want to get a new set of spark plug > wires > while you are renting the scanner. > > Ken > > > "Lanny Chambers" > wrote in message > ... >> In article >, >> Rick Morris > wrote: >> >> > Does one have to go to a Mazda dealer to see what happened or can any >> > competent independent shop help me?? >> >> Anyone with an OBD-II scanner can retrieve and interpret the error code >> that prompted the CEL. I think AutoZone will do it for free. Once you >> have an idea what caused the problem, you can decide what to do next. >> >> --- >> Lanny Chambers >> '94C, St. Louis >> http://www.hummingbirds.net/alignment.html > > |
Stuttering and check engine light
ps. regarding the coil pack, this may be interesting reading for you as well
as another way to self diagnose the problem... http://www.miataforum.com/cgi-bin/ul...c;f=6;t=013929 "Christopher Muto" > wrote in message news:5%Q4f.11191$f02.10453@trndny02... >i was thinking the same thing... but also the fuel filter and the plugs >are suspect. yet that doesn't explain why the check engine light has >stayed on. it represents so many possible things that only the reader could >point you in the right direction... something is not right. if i had to >hazard a guess i might say it is a faulty coil pack. but if you didn't >want to spend the time and money on dealer diagnostics the i suggest the >removal of the spark plugs to see if they are fouled. plugs are cheap and >they might be all that you need. > > "KWS" > wrote in message > ... >> Just for good measu you might want to get a new set of spark plug >> wires >> while you are renting the scanner. >> >> Ken >> >> >> "Lanny Chambers" > wrote in message >> ... >>> In article >, >>> Rick Morris > wrote: >>> >>> > Does one have to go to a Mazda dealer to see what happened or can any >>> > competent independent shop help me?? >>> >>> Anyone with an OBD-II scanner can retrieve and interpret the error code >>> that prompted the CEL. I think AutoZone will do it for free. Once you >>> have an idea what caused the problem, you can decide what to do next. >>> >>> --- >>> Lanny Chambers >>> '94C, St. Louis >>> http://www.hummingbirds.net/alignment.html >> >> > > |
Stuttering and check engine light
Christopher Muto wrote:
> i was thinking the same thing... but also the fuel filter and the plugs are > suspect. yet that doesn't explain why the check engine light has stayed on. > it represents so many possible things that only the reader could point you > in the right direction... something is not right. if i had to hazard a > guess i might say it is a faulty coil pack. but if you didn't want to spend > the time and money on dealer diagnostics the i suggest the removal of the > spark plugs to see if they are fouled. plugs are cheap and they might be > all that you need. The original poster has an '01, which doesn't feature the coil packs of the '00 and earlier models. Instead, the '01 and later have two coils which each plug directly down onto a spark plug; the tail of the coil is fed to another plug with a single wire. I do not know if the the coil-on-plug coils are more reliable than the previous coil-pack coils, but my experience so far with an '02 is that the stock plug wires die pretty quickly. Dana |
Stuttering and check engine light
ugh. sorry for the confusion. and thanks for pointing out my error.
"Dana H. Myers" > wrote in message ... > Christopher Muto wrote: >> i was thinking the same thing... but also the fuel filter and the plugs >> are >> suspect. yet that doesn't explain why the check engine light has stayed >> on. >> it represents so many possible things that only the reader could point >> you >> in the right direction... something is not right. if i had to hazard a >> guess i might say it is a faulty coil pack. but if you didn't want to >> spend >> the time and money on dealer diagnostics the i suggest the removal of the >> spark plugs to see if they are fouled. plugs are cheap and they might be >> all that you need. > > The original poster has an '01, which doesn't feature the coil packs > of the '00 and earlier models. Instead, the '01 and later have two > coils which each plug directly down onto a spark plug; the tail of the > coil is fed to another plug with a single wire. I do not know if the > the coil-on-plug coils are more reliable than the previous coil-pack > coils, but my experience so far with an '02 is that the stock plug wires > die pretty quickly. > > Dana |
Stuttering and check engine light
Christopher Muto wrote:
> ugh. sorry for the confusion. and thanks for pointing out my error. It could still be a bad coil, of course - I just don't know how the 'new' coil-on-plug coils do compared to the 'old' coils. > > "Dana H. Myers" > wrote in message > ... > >>Christopher Muto wrote: >> >>>i was thinking the same thing... but also the fuel filter and the plugs >>>are >>>suspect. yet that doesn't explain why the check engine light has stayed >>>on. >>>it represents so many possible things that only the reader could point >>>you >>>in the right direction... something is not right. if i had to hazard a >>>guess i might say it is a faulty coil pack. but if you didn't want to >>>spend >>>the time and money on dealer diagnostics the i suggest the removal of the >>>spark plugs to see if they are fouled. plugs are cheap and they might be >>>all that you need. >> >>The original poster has an '01, which doesn't feature the coil packs >>of the '00 and earlier models. Instead, the '01 and later have two >>coils which each plug directly down onto a spark plug; the tail of the >>coil is fed to another plug with a single wire. I do not know if the >>the coil-on-plug coils are more reliable than the previous coil-pack >>coils, but my experience so far with an '02 is that the stock plug wires >>die pretty quickly. >> >>Dana > > > |
Stuttering and check engine light
Rick Morris > wrote:
>I was driving my 2001 MX-5 (26K, Red) around with my wife looking at the >Fall colors. The car had been stuck in the garage for close to a month as I >had a pallet of building supplies blocking it's egress. Anyhow, got it out >an went for a nice drive. About 1/2 hour into our drive the car started >acting like it was out of fuel. Almost like the ignition was being turned on >an off. I got to a side street and noted that the car could not rev over >1,500 rpm without intermittently losing power. The check engine light came >on about that time. The car would idle but revving it above 1,500 rpm again >caused it to cut power on and off. After about 5 minutes of this, the whole >ting resolved and the car again drove as it always has. However, the check >engine light remains on now. Again, there are no current drivability issues >but the check engine light is on. Any ideas of what happened?? I hate to go >to the dealer but I guess I will need to have them look at it. No problems >ever before with the car. I assumed it was an electronic glitch. There was >no backfiring, but the on-off power thing was almost like turning the >ignition switch on and off. It cannot have been water in the fuel that collected at the bottom of the tank while standing? Leon >Does one have to go to a Mazda dealer to see what happened or can any >competent independent shop help me?? > >Weird! > >Thanks for any suggestions!! > >Rick -- Leon van Dommelen :) Bozo, the White 96 Sebring Miata .) http://www.dommelen.net/miata EXIT THE INTERSTATES (Jamie Jensen) |
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