Engine shudder followed by check engine light

[Jwassall]

We were driving our 2015 CX-5 with 35k miles in Wyoming last week and cruising at 75 on the interstate with the cruise control on when all of a sudden there was a violent shudder in the car and as we tried to steer off the road it did it again shaking the whole car. It felt like the engine was locking up. After we stopped we started the engine again and the check engine light was on and a message saying to have the engine checked. We called the closest dealer which was in Fort Collins Colorado and asked them what we should do and they said to call our dealer in Denver or take it to AutoZone to have the code read. We called our dealer in Denver and they said we would have to bring it in for an appointment which would be in another week. We drove the car home with the check engine light on and parked it for a week. This morning I took it into the dealer and the check engine light was off. The dealer said there were no codes. I am afraid to drive this car, if we had been in traffic we would've had an accident last week. Something seriously happened to our car and I cannot believe it cannot be diagnosed. Anybody else ever have something like this happen and if so, what was the problem?

 

[erhayes]

Double check there are no codes by having an Auto Parts store recheck for codes. Maybe a slug of water in the gas? Do short drives that get longer and longer over the next few months and see if the issue comes back or was a one time anomaly. Ed

 

[ceric]

Sounds like one of the sensors (O2, cam, etc) or coil is going.
It might happen again.
Try to stay on the right lane...

 

[Jwassall]

I can't believe the code went away and no record of the problem exists.

 

[ddtigger1]

Invest in a bluedriver odbII TOOL As you can drive with it in, and live monitor it vie Bluetooth on your phone.. if it happens again, you'll have the code...

 

[phunky.buddha]

Code reader can help you pull pending codes that aren't confirmed hard faults yet. One of the pending codes will probably tell you what went wrong. Grab a $10-15 bluetooth OBD2 reader off Amazon and use your phone to pull the code with an app like Torque.

 

[Jwassall]

The dealer said there are no codes. Can the codes go away on their own after a check engine light comes on?

 

[paris1]

The dealer said there are no codes. Can the codes go away on their own after a check engine light comes on?

The ECU will only store a code for a certain amount of time. Not sure what that is, but if you didn't get it in for them to check for a week or more, my guess is it went bye-bye in the interim.

 

[CX-5um]

+1 on the Bluetooth code reader and torque app. Ours was maybe $11 and app was a few bucks.

 

[craigo]

Weird if it disappeared. Transient condition like that could be bad gas. More common than you'd think... station tanks are not always well maintained.

 

[phunky.buddha]

+1 on the Bluetooth code reader and torque app. Ours was maybe $11 and app was a few bucks.

Free version of the app works for code diagnosis

 

[Jwassall]

The dealer could not look at it for a week so it sat in my garage until they could. I guess the code went away. I would think the dealer would want to get it in right away so they could read the code and then schedule the repair. Unfortunately my dealer did not.

 

[yrwei52]

The dealer could not look at it for a week so it sat in my garage until they could. I guess the code went away. I would think the dealer would want to get it in right away so they could read the code and then schedule the repair. Unfortunately my dealer did not.

At this stage not much you can do about the situation. But if I were you I'd invest a cheap OBDII BT reader and try to read the error code if any by myself. Or at least take the CX-5 to Auto Zone and ask them to read the code. This's seeking a second opinion confirming your CX-5 really has no code saved. You should then contact Customer Experience Center, Mazda North American Operations and tell the rep the same story and ask them to create a case to investigate. This's for your protection as your new car warranty is about to expire. If anything major happens later you can have a case that you did report the problem earlier but the Mazda dealer failed to diagnose the problem at the time and your problem should be covered under warranty.

 

[gova]

Even cleared codes are still readable by certain software. Get a reader dongle and phone app, it is a good combo to have.