Cold start engine shudder and stall

P

Prosymnus

Member
:
2004 Mazda3
Hey all,
I'm new here. Alex is the name.

I'm having a persistent problem with my '04 Mazda3 where after a cold start (car left off for 6-8 hours or so) it cranks a lot before starting then the engine will shudder badly and sometimes cut out. After that it's fine and the car works with no problem. No CEL or anything.

Have any of you encountered that problem? If so how did you get it resolved?
Thanks in advance guys and gals.
 
You may want to try the regular mazda 3 forum. This is the speed3 forum and we have a lot of different problems than standard 3's.
 
How many miles? To start, I'd guess plugs or the battery. Even if it's turning over, sometimes a thin battery will display this symptom. More likely plugs or coils (if it has coils). How long has it been doing this? May just be a tank of bad gas or water in the gas.
 
Thanks for the response.
The car has 55,000 miles on it.
I would agree that it was bad gas since I also had to replace a bad o2 sensor. However, that would have resolved itself by now. No?
 
well i have a speed and my engine is hot shuttering but after it sits for a few hours when i first go to start it up it just dies than the second time i crank it over it stays on . i just replaced the exhaust and have never encountered this problem before no CEL's either i also while in fourth gear and on the highway or not in traffic and i get on the car i dont feel like its making any power and like the car is back firing <--- (for lack of a better word) any help would be great ? im thinking a tune maybe?
 
iknospd3 said:
well i have a speed and my engine is hot shuttering but after it sits for a few hours when i first go to start it up it just dies than the second time i crank it over it stays on . i just replaced the exhaust and have never encountered this problem before no CEL's either i also while in fourth gear and on the highway or not in traffic and i get on the car i dont feel like its making any power and like the car is back firing <--- (for lack of a better word) any help would be great ? im thinking a tune maybe?
Click to expand...

If you just replaced the exhaust with that Corksport TBE, then you would have messed with the wideband 02 sensor (the first one up high), which controls a lot of engine functions. I hope you did not damage it, because it's expensive to replace - I think about $200. That's the only exhaust related issue I can think of that could be causing your issues. Check the harness and connections to that sensor too.

Otherwise, there could be a lot of totally unrelated reasons for your cold start issue. How many miles do you have on the car and do you have any other mods not in your signature? What plugs are you running and how many miles on them. Might need to pull and check them.
 
thanks for the info i'll check that . theres only 14,500 miles on the car and plugs(stock) i dont think thats the issue
 
I've got an 07 Speed3 that had a similar problem this year. It turned out that ethanol in the gas caused my egr valve to get carbon build up in it. This caused the egr to stick open. Tell me if this sounds like you. Sometimes hard start & rough idol. Sometimes the idol would surge at a red light. If so, take it to the dealer and have them check the duty cycle of the egr valve. If it is expect to pay $1000.00 for a new egr valve.
 
I've been doing some research on engine oil. It seems that 5w-20 (recommended for the 04 Mazda3) gets around the engine faster.
On my last service the mechanic suggested 10w-30 so I suspect that the thicker grade may be responsible for the problem (it did start soon after the service). I'm trying to buy some of the 5w-20 to see if that solves the problem. Will post results.
 
Changed to some 5w-30 oil almost a week ago and the problem persists. I've resorted to an online mazda expert to see what he'll suggest. He's recommended checking the plugs but I doubt that's it since the problem only happens on cold starts.
Also, there's no rough idle so not sure it'll be related to the EGR valve.
 
well i checked my plugs and the O2 sensors and there fine but the prob is getting worse now now it 's like the turbo isnt even working til i hit 5th gear and there is a sudden burst of power im going to have to wait til my friends lift opens up to check the exhaust as its snowing but i'll try to keep you up dated
 
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