Misfiring... Again!

[iredremix]

So a couple of weeks ago, I was driving about 25 MPH in 2nd gear. As soon as I go up to about 45, I shifted to 3rd and the car kinda stuttered. I had this problem before. The car would actually jerk at times while driving. I got a CEL, checked out at autozone and they said it was P0300... RANDOM MISFIRE. the guy said it was probably my coil packs, but can also be my spark plugs, which is easier to fix and cheaper.. anyway.. i changed the spark plugs and the problem went away.. i was a happy camper cuz i fixed my car without having to take it to my mechanic.. 2 days later, problem came back and the car started jerking or stuttering randomly... sometimes even in reverse..

anyone know or having this problem? it happened to me before and according to my dealer, they changed my O2 sensor.. if it is the coil packs, it's gonna be a PITA because they're so damn expensive and hard to replace. any ideas? anything is appreciated.. my car has about 48000 and is a daily driver. no major mods

[8.5MS3]

sounds like the coilpacks. since your unmodded I would bring it to the dealer. your still within the 5yr/60k powertrain warranty. Do you have the stock plugs or colder ones? I have the ITV22s and they are a bit shorter than the stock ones. Some people stretch the spring inside the pack to make a better connection

also check the gapping on the plugs. 0.030" is what you want. any more and you will misfire

[iredremix]

hmm. changed them to bosch spark plugs.. and i kept them on. the guy told me i didn't have to gap them.. is this true? if i bring it to the dealer, will they charge me to find out what the problem is? i have a CPE CAI. that's about it.

[8.5MS3]

NEVER trust the "pregapped" guarentee. I ordered my Denzos and they were all over the place. You need to bring it to the dealer with the CEL lit. I wouldnt drive around waiting for that to happen tho. can cause a lot of damage. Also the misfire code only shows up after 3 events have been detected....thats a lot of potential damage

[iredremix]

damn. u think i should put the stock plugs back? do u know if they charge you to take a look at it and tell you the problem?

[8.5MS3]

no they shouldnt charge you since it would be covered under warranty. how do the stock plugs look? compare them to this:

http://www.spark-plugs.co.uk/pages/technical/diagnosis.htm

http://www.gnttype.org/techarea/engine/plugs.html

[iredremix]

hmmm, if i remember correctly it looks dry and dark. right now, im getting about 15 MPG only. are u positive it will be under the 60K warranty? you know those stealerships...

[8.5MS3]

your engine is misfiring.....powertrain warranty includes engine tranny & drivetrain, excluding wearing items(clutch). the engine is broke...they gotta fix it. if you had 60,001 miles then they could charge you.

put the stock plugs back in, take off the intake (they can bs you and claim the intake leaned out the afrs and fucked up whatevers wrong) dont give them any room to pass the blame to you

[iredremix]

alright cool im gonna take off the CAI then. also the BPV has this tube that connects to it.. when u take off the tube, theres a little stub that goes into the tube.. it broke, but i know that's not causing the misfire cuz it broke after the CEL. maybe i should buy a used one and just wait until i install the new one so that they don't give me problems. I guess i'll take some time tomorrow and put the plugs back on.

[8.5MS3]

i would show them that. tell them i got this code and the tech showed me my bpv broke. make them fix it.

Also why dont you hang out at the weekly Mazdaspeed meets on thursdays at Douglaston Plaza?

[iredremix]

yea i broke the BPV stub by accident.. it was my fault.. im gonna see what i could do. do u know any tech guys in any of the mazda stealerships?

yeaaa ive been tryin to go to the damn meets for the past few weeks but i had to work and the last 2 weeks, couldn't drive my car =/

[8.5MS3]

nah not really. If you came to one of our meets you could probably buy a stock valve off of one of the guys for real cheap...

[iredremix]

got a guy who will sell me for 30 bucks.. think its fair? just don't wanna have problems with the dealer.. they're assholes.. the mazda in hempstead are pretty ok..

oh shit BTW last december, my engine mount broke and engine dropped. forgot to tell you that they red flagged my car after fixing it cuz of the intake.. according to my friend, CAI would never cause a misfire, and if for some reason they think it's that, they would have to prove it. i should just bring it in with the CAI right?

[8.5MS3]

ive gone to my dealership with all my mods, never gave me a problem...but the issues ive gone thru have nothing to do with the engine so i dunno.

Everyone knows an intake wont cause a misfire, but 95% of the techs dont know their ass from their elbow so i would take it off anyways. 15 min could save you X amount + labor if they wanna be dicks

30 bucks sounds fair

[iredremix]

alright so i'll just take it off i guess. if they ask, ill just take them i took it off right away when they gave me my car back. i might bring this in sometime next week or the weekend. i gotta fix my 97 camry which needs a water pump and timing belt replacement.. another PITA

[drzcrazychulo4u]

hey wassup guys just noticed you guys live in queens and i had the same prob then i thought it was ok and guyss what i blew a rod or piston so get it checked. also i read you guys chill on thursday?? let me know about that i need some help fixing my car so it would be nice if someone who knows about our ms3 to help me fix this. my car is flagged so i will buy upgraded pistons and rods. if you guys know anyone i will fix in my garage.

[8.5MS3]

where in queens are you from? your profile thing says florida.

a misfire is just another word for detonation so im not suprised you blew. i would park the thing the instant it happened n tow it to the dealer.

what do you want to do in your garage exactly? build the motor? have you sent it out for machining yet? got all the required tools? lift etc?

[drzcrazychulo4u]

i live in college point. my car is in my garage parked . i want to open it up and see really wats wrong. take off the head. i havent sent it out to a machine shop yet cuz i wanna see what is really wrong and tools i can get. just 1 thing i dont gatta lift.

[8.5MS3]

do you have tools? the MS3 shop Manual? is there a hole in the block? how did you blow?

[drzcrazychulo4u]

i have most tools let me know what you need my boy goes to Lincoln tech and we could get tools from there. i dont have the ms3 shop manual but i could get it and no hole in the block. the car turns on it just sounds like it has cams. there is a misfire in cylinder 3 so i took it to lincoln tech and they put a camera in cylinder 3 and saw that there were metal shaving in it.

here is a video of the sound
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q5BgcnzVEVk

[8.5MS3]

the fact that the engine is even running says your rods/pistons are intact. from the sound, it could be a valve, cam, or fueling issue. have you had a compression and leak test done? that will point you in the right direction.

smoke from the dipstick - leak thru the piston - rings are shot
smoke from the intake - intake valves/springs are shot or cam is done
smoke from the exhaust - exhaust valves are toast

mod list?

how did the top of the piston look? any scuffing on the cylinder walls?

[drzcrazychulo4u]

i got the compression test and there is no compression in cylinder 3 and there is a vacuum leak. no smoke from anywhere mayb just lil from the exhaust but thats cuz of the weather

mod list- cobb sri
cobb turbo inlet
cobb sts
greddy exhaust
cat delete
greddy bov recirculated
cobb accessport
rear motor mount
and thats about it

dont remember how it looked but half of the rod was gone like the circle looked like a C

[8.5MS3]

DONT START THE CAR!

from what you describe the rod has separated from the crank and the piston is lodged in the cylinder. starting the car can blow the piston down, send the rod thru the block, or destroy the crank.

[drzcrazychulo4u]

ok i wont start the car no more

[drzcrazychulo4u]

so will you guys be out on thursday?? cuz i go to skoo at nyit and i could deff pass by

[8.5MS3]

join this forum and post in this thread now:

http://www.mazda3 forums.com/index.php?topic=115948.0

[ZoomSpeed3]

Hey guys I'm having the same type of issue's I own a 07 Speed 3 mods are Injen Cai Cobb Turbo inlet,Cobb shifter weight and short throw shifter hks SSQV in Recric. Ive stretched the Coil springs have upgraded the spark plugs to Denzo colder step.

Ive had several misfire codes

right now Ive got cel lights on have to go get them read again

But whats happening is when I go to accelerate past 3500 RPM the car comes onto to boost like it should but it starts jerking and hesitating Ive had my car dynod with my currnet mods and it was running rich and Hesitating on the Dyno Im on the fence of buying an Access Port to tune and lean it out or upgrading my fuel pump

I well get my codes checked and post them.

[iredremix]

yea man that's what happens w my car..this shit happened twice already and it sucks ass.. i haven't driven my car in 3 weeks already.my car starts jerking, especially when you're cruising at a certain RPM

[ZoomSpeed3]

Well I bought a new set of plugs have had them in since Thursday of last week so far so good Hoping that fixed it

[03.5MSP]

The whole misfiring thing makes think of this LOL...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kZTtuHLcZDE

[Mid_Life_Crisis]

P0300. Car cranks for several seconds before running when starting it. Idle feels a little rough. It comes and goes though. Could this be an intermittent problem with a coil pack?

[8.5MS3]

P0300. Car cranks for several seconds before running when starting it. Idle feels a little rough. It comes and goes though. Could this be an intermittent problem with a coil pack?

yes, or if your running densos, a poor connection between the spring and top of the plug. if you do get a specific cylinder code, switch the coil pack to a different cylinder and see if the misfire follows it. i would check gaps first and for signs of fouling. 0.028-0.030 should be fine, my stockers were all over the place 0.019 - 0.040.

mods on car?

[Mid_Life_Crisis]

MS-CAI, Inlet tube, prototype Forge BPV and colder plugs. I actually hadn`t intended to get colder plugs, but I had my wife call to order a set of replacements and ended up with the colder range.
I stretched the springs when I installed the plugs (months ago). I had the code read at the parts store. It didn`t show a particular cylinder as the problem.

[8.5MS3]

MS-CAI, Inlet tube, prototype Forge BPV and colder plugs. I actually hadn`t intended to get colder plugs, but I had my wife call to order a set of replacements and ended up with the colder range.
I stretched the springs when I installed the plugs (months ago). I had the code read at the parts store. It didn`t show a particular cylinder as the problem.

what plugs? that could be your problem

[Mid_Life_Crisis]

what plugs? that could be your problem

Pretty sure they are the Densos from PG. I`ll need to find the boxes. The originals turned out to still be in pretty good shape, so I saved them in the boxes the replacements came in. I`m just not sure where right now.

[iredremix]

hey mid_life i have the same problem dude. comes and goes. i thought i fixed it by replacing the plugs but still a no go. i think its the coil pack.. still haven't gotten around to fixing my car.. shit's still sitting in the driveway

[khoney]

i got the compression test and there is no compression in cylinder 3 and there is a vacuum leak. no smoke from anywhere mayb just lil from the exhaust but thats cuz of the weather

mod list- cobb sri
cobb turbo inlet
cobb sts
greddy exhaust
cat delete
greddy bov recirculated
cobb accessport
rear motor mount
and thats about it

dont remember how it looked but half of the rod was gone like the circle looked like a C

I had my engine replaced at 29K because of low compression in cylinder 3. IIRC, I've read of at least one other instance of this on this forum.

[iredremix]

after 4 months, i'm still having problems with this fuckin car. i replaced the spark plugs with OEM ones and replaced coil pack #3. already spent about $300 and nothing is working at all. need help plz.

car works fine when you first start it after resetting the battery.. i can drive the car with no problems, no stuttering, no hesitating ~30 miles. once i try to park and go on reverse, audible misfire happens.. car starts shaking, RPM drops to about the first line after 0.. any ideas why reversing would cause a misfire? reversing is what's triggering this problem.. i got the code P0303

[8.5MS3]

after 4 months, i'm still having problems with this fuckin car. i replaced the spark plugs with OEM ones and replaced coil pack #3. already spent about $300 and nothing is working at all. need help plz.

car works fine when you first start it after resetting the battery.. i can drive the car with no problems, no stuttering, no hesitating ~30 miles. once i try to park and go on reverse, audible misfire happens.. car starts shaking, RPM drops to about the first line after 0.. any ideas why reversing would cause a misfire? reversing is what's triggering this problem.. i got the code P0303

time to take off the intake and go to the dealership

[iredremix]

took off the intake already.. out of warranty.. i have 47000

[Remspeed3]

took off the intake already.. out of warranty.. i have 47000

The powertrain warranty is 60k, so take it to the dealer and get the car fixed right!!! the problem is not going to just go away thats for sure.

[iredremix]

yeaaa do u think they would cover a misfire tho??

[8.5MS3]

yeaaa do u think they would cover a misfire tho??

yes, your engine isnt running properly. they have to fix it. the only parts of the engine/drivetrain they are not responsible for are the brake pads and clutch. everything else is on them. go raise hell

[iredremix]

well just give u guys an update.. i didnt take my car to the dealer cuz i rly dont trust them w my car.. i brought it to my mechanic and he said he fixed it. he went through the whole process of diagnosing it.. he looked through my vacuums and pipes..he noticed that my turbo inlet pipe was loose.. he said he doesnt know why it would cause a misfire on a certain cylinder, but he said its possible. he checked out the pipe, put it back on, and i got my car back. he said that a loose turbo pipe could cause an egr insufficiency, which could cause a cylinder to misfire. can anyone verify this?

well my car is running well.. no stuttering, no rpm drops, no misfiring *crossing fingers*

im going to put my intake back on cuz i miss that swoosh. also gonna slap on a cpe inlet pipe and bov