2008 Mazda3 with Rough Idle

[Maitlsa]

I have a 2008 Mazda 3 automatic that has a rough idle when waiting at lights, or stop signs. It is getting pretty bad and I only have 6200 miles on it. I took it to the dealership to have them check it out and they told me there was nothing they could do because the check engine light was not on. Does anyone have any ideas or have had the same problems?

[vladjan]

i had a similiar problem. it could be the engine mount. Mazda 3 is known to have the engine mount problem, but my car is an 04, yours is 08 maybe they upgraded the engine mount, who knows. Find out at the dealership. Another possiblity could b is that your fuel pump is malfunctioning.
let me know what you find out

[Maitlsa]

Well, I will keep you posted, but the dealership is giving me issues and say there is nothing they can do because there is no check engine light on. Very irritating.

[my3needsaname]

My 3 is an 08.5 with 5700 miles and the moment it rolled over 5000 the engine felt like it was going to fall out. the roughest idle ever, it's such shit it's not even funny. Go try and get the oil changed at a different dealer and ask them about it. An oil change should be the very first thing they offer you even f you have to pay for it.

[vladjan]

yea the engine check light would not light up if the engine mount is broken.

[GoFast]

if you have a brand new car and your dealership won't do anything because "there isn't a check engine light" then you need to find a new dealer.

[MazdaMark3]

I am also experiencing a rough idle while at a full stop. The RPM's are usually between 5 & 10. Sometimes it surges slightly. Its never stalled..at least yet.

I have an 08 M3 GT. Next time I am taking my car in to get the oil change, I am going to have them look at it. As well as fixing(or replacing) my stock radio for the volume cutting out problem. My car was produced between Jan and Mar 08 which is the range in which they have problems with it.

[my3needsaname]

if you have a brand new car and your dealership won't do anything because "there isn't a check engine light" then you need to find a new dealer.
YES. x4520983756139485712389590346587580942386

I am also experiencing a rough idle while at a full stop. The RPM's are usually between 5 & 10. Sometimes it surges slightly. Its never stalled..at least yet.

I have an 08 M3 GT. Next time I am taking my car in to get the oil change, I am going to have them look at it. As well as fixing(or replacing) my stock radio for the volume cutting out problem. My car was produced between Jan and Mar 08 which is the range in which they have problems with it.
Make sure the A/C isn't on when you feel the surging. The A/C compressor put a massive load on the engine and it accommodates it by shifting between 500 and 750 to make sure the engine doesn't stall out.
It surges a bit to adjust for other things too but not as much as with the A/C on.

[flash75]

{if you have a brand new car and your dealership won't do anything because "there isn't a check engine light" then you need to find a new dealer.}

I agree.

Clifton

[Maitlsa]

I am taking it in next week for an oil change so we will see what they say. Just makes me upset that it has to come down to this.

This whole thing started around 5000 miles as well.

[my3needsaname]

I am taking it in next week for an oil change so we will see what they say. Just makes me upset that it has to come down to this.

This whole thing started around 5000 miles as well.
Interesting...it's like these things have a self-destruct clock in them set for 5000 miles. Way to go Mazda! (protest)

[Maitlsa]

No kidding, very irritating, seriously thinking about trading it in since they say nothings wrong with it....

[my3needsaname]

No kidding, very irritating, seriously thinking about trading it in since they say nothings wrong with it....
Check your lemon law, you may qualify if you feel like going that route. I know my car is bad enough to go that route. Third dealer(other two didn't do anything), brought in a list of 16 items they said they could fix 80% of those things...we'll see. I might LL it anyways because I don't want to go through this again in a month.

[MazdaMark3]

YES. x4520983756139485712389590346587580942386

Make sure the A/C isn't on when you feel the surging. The A/C compressor put a massive load on the engine and it accommodates it by shifting between 500 and 750 to make sure the engine doesn't stall out.
It surges a bit to adjust for other things too but not as much as with the A/C on.


I know the A/C puts "strain" on the engine while its on but this isnt the case with mine. I make sure that when its idling the A/C isnt on. In fact nothing is on when it does it. My rough idle doesnt sound as bad as some others that are posting on here, but still its a new $21K vehicle. Like I said I will take it in to have them take a look at it when I get my oil changed next time. Hopefully my dealer wont be as bad as some others Ive read about on here.

[my3needsaname]

Well that was one way it kinda fluctuates. My car does it both times, just worse when the A/C is on.
Hopefully your dealer will be more helpful than the 3 I've been to. Good luck!

[chrissor]

sounds to me like early signs of a faulty purge solenoid, which is very very common on these cars, if your dealership won't do anything because the MIL isn't on then remove the pre solenoid line and run the car at operating temperature so that it completes a drive cycle. this will set the MIL. bring the car to the dealership with the light on. it will set a code can't think of the actaul code right now, but it will be system to lean at idle bank 1. which is an evap code. under mazda warrenty they will determine it as a bad purge solenoid if they do proper diag. then they will put a new one in.

[my3needsaname]

Cool! Ways to screw up my car part 1:... :p

[vladjan]

yea dude its ur motor mount i bet u. at idle its rought when u ad AC it gets rougher. i had the same exact problems. mazda 3's are known for havin engin mount problems

[Maitlsa]

Can the dealership fix the engine mount? Or what do they have to do?

[NCZ13]

they replace it with another one.

[Maitlsa]

Well, the dealership had it for 3 days and told me they could find nothing wrong with it. The engine light came on finally and the code read that it was a bad fuel cap so they replaced that, but still having issues with the rough idle. They even drove it around with the computer on it but I guess now I just have to wait and see what happens.

[my3needsaname]

Well, the dealership had it for 3 days and told me they could find nothing wrong with it. The engine light came on finally and the code read that it was a bad fuel cap so they replaced that, but still having issues with the rough idle. They even drove it around with the computer on it but I guess now I just have to wait and see what happens.
Fun times! From personal experience, I would not trust the dealer when they say they drove it around. They probably just ran the engine at idle on the lift or in a bay with the computer hooked up...if they even did that.

[chrislitz]

I am getting the same thing as pretty much everyone else on here. My car will be idling fine at stop signs/red lights and then all of a sudden a rough bump or even a series of bumps. The AC makes it even scarier to the point where I turn off my AC when idling now because of it. (unamused)

[archie101]

i have a 08 mazda 3 2.0 and that happened to me to. i start my car up when its cold and it idel's rough... almost like studdering. anyways it was so bad that my check engine light turned on and they had to recalibrate my intake manifold threw a computer. after that it was ok. have them do that to yours and it should be good!

[davens]

There are a couple of TSBs for rough idle...
http://www.protegefaq.net/tsb/

[RENE063]

http://www.msprotege.com/forum/showthread.php?t=123747279

Not sure if this is the same exact thing or not, but worth the look and see. Turns out to be a broken wire on the MAF plug.

[angrym3driver]

I have an 08 m3 2.3 and less than a month ago i began having issues with the car starting. one morning it would not start at all. i had roadside assistance come and take the car to the dealer- he could also not get the car started. when they took it to the dealer they called me and said "car starts fine, you can come get it" i told him i wasnt coming to get it- there was clearly an issue. he agreed and said they would "check everything". i didnt hear back all day- the issue began at 7am and it was now 4pm. when i called back he said they wanted to let it sit overnight to see if they could duplicate the problem. i asked for a rental and they told me no because since they didnt know what was wrong- i dont qualify for a rental. only once i fought back did they decide to give me one and said they would call me the next morning- which was a saturday. all day, no call and they didnt return any of my calls. they were closed sunday, so i called monday. they stated that they had no ide what was wrong and that they still could not duplicate the problem, but hopefully "this week". Then i got a rude email from the service manager stating they had gone above and beyond and couldnt find anything wrong and they had one of the "top 10 mazda techs in the country look at it". he told me to come get my car and bring theirs back. i went and got my car and then had my 20 yr old brother, who isnt even a mechanice (he does autobody though) look at it. He popped the hood and removed the engine cover and there was a huge nest right under the cover. now i was really angry because the told me they checked everything, including the coil packs, which are under the engine cover. so basically they checked NOTHING. i brought the car back again, they cleaned the engine and did all of that. 2 weeks later (this past monday) i started the car and it immediately stalled. i thought i must have taken my foot off the clutch, started it up and it ran fine. then i came to a stop light on my way to work and it stalled. i started the car again, went to the next light and again it stalled. i brought the car back to the dealer yet again and left it for them to look at in the morning. they then called me back the next day and told me they did get the car to duplicate the issue and it stalled at 3 of 6 stop lights. they stated that the throttle body was getting stuck closed or not opening all the way. they stated that this is not something that is replaced, but serviced. they stated that they cleaned it and it is working fine now, but they wanted to keep it for another day. now i did my own research and everything that i find says they DO replace them and people who have been told this is the issue started having the problem again about a month later. i told the guy that i found this and he said that i must be wrong... i am coming up on my 1 year and i dont want to get screwed over here... any suggestions? the dealership treats me like i am some stupid naive girl... im fed up!

[my3needsaname]

I am getting the same thing as pretty much everyone else on here. My car will be idling fine at stop signs/red lights and then all of a sudden a rough bump or even a series of bumps. The AC makes it even scarier to the point where I turn off my AC when idling now because of it. (unamused)
Sadly, that's the way the idiots that built the car designed it.