Printable View
The last few days my cars been acting funny on startup. It usually starts fine, but then it will start 4 cycling (hitting on every other compression stroke), but then clears up.
Today, on my way into work, on I-20 the car shut down, as if I had turned it off. I went from 70 to 50 mph, then it came back to life, and I drove on into work.
Does that sound like a coil going bad?
TD
What about fuel filter? That is a complete guess but it sounds like it could be it also. Its probably cheaper to fix than the coil.
I guess it's not throwing any codes or CEL? If it's the coil it could kill your :cat: as well.
He is running a LINK ECU, so no codes, but you might be able to get an idea what is happening with a datalog.Quote:
Originally Posted by sammm
Well, assuming the two issues I've experianced are related, I'm leaning towards ignition. When The mis-firing is happening, I can smell un-burnt fuel.Quote:
Originally Posted by Majik
How about the Ignition Switch, they have been know to fail??
These symptoms sound familiar! About three months ago, My car started stuttering on startup (or not long after). The problem was always intermittent, and confusing. I, too thought it was the coil. Then, one time, I was driving down the highway, and the car shut off momentarily. Another time, it shut off long enough to strand me for a couple hours. The problem was the CAS. I also discovered that 1.6 and 1.8 NA cars have different Cam Angle Sensors, but they happen to be interchangeable. I currently run a CAS from a '92 1.6 on my '94 1.8, and the car runs predictably and reliably again.
I had pretty much the exact same problem. Issues at startup, etc. When mine really started cutting out, it was all I could do to keep the car running and make it the two blocks back to the house. Snagged a CAS from Gary and have been trouble free since.Quote:
Originally Posted by boisking
Of course, it helped that I had the CEL code (and the forum, too!). :D
Thanks for all the input guys.
It's very interesting. I was real certain it was the coil. But ya'lls problems sound just like mine...hmmm
Maybe I've been having symptoms that I've been ignoring. For several weeks, I've been getting some backfires possible mis-fires, when accelerating hard, and/or reving hard. My plugs haven't been changed in a couple of years (I know :oops: I know), so I was thinking the plugs were just gaping out, thus the spark may have been blowing out. I've also noticed some power surges at about 3000 rpm that I hadn't felt in the past, or the car is being sluggish till 3000 rpm then kicking in, and running right.
I'm thinking that could be related to a bad CAS as well, don't you think.
TD
WTF, Hiley wants $648.00 for a CAS.
Someone has to have a spare...if not go to Mazda Heaven.Quote:
Originally Posted by TurboDuane
Yeah... the guys forgot to mention that Mazda is really proud of their CAS.Quote:
Originally Posted by TurboDuane
Yeah :confused:. Did I mention that I got mine from one of Gary's parts cars...Quote:
Originally Posted by TurboDuane
Yes you did, I called Gary and he said he doesn't have one. I'm about to call Mazda Heaven. He did say he thought Jason may have a spare, but I don't know Jason, or have a number on him.\Quote:
Originally Posted by Monkey of Death
Tonight, I'll undo all my connections and re-do them, and look for any possible shorts in the wires, to see if that helps, as a temporary fix, while I search for a CAS that doesn't cost what a used motor cost.
Mazda Heaven $85.00 :D I'll pick it up Saturday.
I'd like to get your dead one... I have another dead one here and would like to take 'em apart to see what failed and if it is possible to rebuild 'em.
RJ
Sure, once I've replaced and verify the issue is fixed, it's yours. However, if the issue isn't fixed, then I may hold on to it for a while.Quote:
Originally Posted by channelmaniac
OK, since I've installed my new-2-me CAS, I've had the same issue. So now I'm thinking Coil(s). It's done it once at idle, and again sounded like it was hitting on 2 cylinders, along with a very rich smell. It's also acted up twice on the hwy, by shutting down for a few moments, then springing back to life.
I've found no loose connections, and I'm unable to reproduce this problem on demand, although I've tried by moving wires and shaking things up un-hood while idling.
BTW, there's nothing to the CAS, I see no reason they charge over $600 at the Stealership.
TD
::Censor:: I replaced the coil/igniter and it went a couple of days. I thought I had it fixed, but NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO, it's back to doing it again. ::Rant::
So, CAS replaced, Igniter/coils replaced, new plugs, new wires, whats next? What is the ignition switch deal you guys mentioned? There never seems to be anything that happens prior to the spark failure. What else could it be? :banghead:
Hmmm...
CAS, Injector harness, ECU, Coil, Ground points on the motor & firewall, bad plugs, or bad wires could all cause the issue.
I don't recall the ignition switch causing problems with just two cylinders.
Check the wiring harness going to the coil pack and the injectors. Maybe it got pinched the last time you had the valve cover off.
RJ
I'm certain it's not the injector harness, as when this happens, fuel seems to still be flowing. When it happens at idle, there is a strong smell of fuel. On occasion when it happens it will load the exhaust with raw fuel, that will give one hell of a backfire when the spark returns.
I am a little worried about the ECU (Link) but am really hoping that isn't where the problem is. I'm certain the ECU is grounded, but need to check the engine grounds. But if I had Engine ground problems, wouldn't I have some other signs? Like RPM guage being sparatic and such?
For archival purposes only, I thought I'd add the below information:
Well, Sunday I ran down all the wires and un-connected and re-connected every connection including the Link, I also changed out the wrecking yard CAS for my old one; just to see if my original problem was the coil. I got to thinking I might have replaced a good CAS with a bad one. I also got to wondering if my Keypad may have been having intermitten connection issues with the serial cable, so I unplugged the keypad.
5 days now and the car hasn't acted up. So today I plugged back in the Keypad and still no issues. I'll give it a few more days, if it doesn't act up further then I'll call it good. If this is the case then I'm going to say my original problem was probably the Coil, but I replace the CAS with a wrecking yard CAS, that was bad, making my problems actually worse. I then replaced the Coils & igniter, but still had some intermitten issues. When I went back with my original CAS and a new igniter, then the car was well.
Problem is, It could have been a bad connection that I stumbled accross but didn't see it.
After another week I'll report back.
Final report, my car has run over two weeks now without an issue. That is until I plugged in the head unit for the Link. within a day the car shut down on me, then came back to life. I'm certain my intermitten power loss is related to a short in the serial cable between the head unit and the Link. For reference below is a list of my steps:
- Car would run on 2 cylinders from time to time, reporting 200 rpm, or at least half what it should have been
- Car would occasionally loose all spark, killing the car, most of the time spark would come back before car came to a stop
- Replace CAS with Salvage yard CAS
- Problem got worse, so went back to original CAS
- Replaced Coil/Igniter, thinking it was the source of the shutdowns. Gas mileage increased, but problem persisted
- In despiration, I unplugged the Link's head unit
- drove a week with no shutdowns, but had some occurance of running on 2 cyl.
- Exchanged Salvage CAS for another Salvage CAS at Mazda Heaven, and installed it.
- Reset base timing.
FIXED
- 2 weeks and not one mis-fire, no shutdowns, no running on 2-cylinders.
For grins,
- I plugged the Link head unit back in
- within a day, the car shut down twice
Hope this helps the next guy.
- Next, replace the serial (ribbon) cable to the head unit
TD
OK, the problem wasn't fixed as previously reported. The problem has been coming and going so much I thought it must be related to my teenager.
However, the problem has been getting worse, so I took the computer apart, again this weekend and solder'd some more on the computer, even though I couldn't identify any problems. I also re-did some wire connections to ensure a good connection. Saturday and Sunday car ran fine, then Monday came. The car wouldn't start on most attempts, then when it did it barely ran.
Finally, its acting up consistantly enough to troubleshoot it. Since the problem was with one of the coils, and the CAS send the message to the computer, I figured it had to be a problem within the computer concerning these. So I broke out the schmatics, and figured out which pins on the link concerning both CAS signals, and both igniters. I re-soldered those pins to the Link, then followed the circut boards lines and re-soldered each connection on each associated line.
I'm apparently better at soldering than I thought, because I was worried that I would ruin the Link, but WHOLA, the problem is completely gone!::Banana:: At least for the last two days, more time will tell, but it's looking good. :mrgreen: