Hi guys,
As the title suggests, that is essentially what happened last night. I filled up my car with premium fuel, bought a mid-grade car wash that included the under-carriage wash, and then upon leaving the wash, the car was struggling to get any power. Luckily I was down the street from my parent's house and was able to hobble home.
In the driveway, the car had a hard time idling...struggling to keep it going, almost to the point of dying. Bouncing up and down from 100-600 rpms. My dad and I thought it may be bad fuel...checked the receipt - definitely premium fuel.
Next we made sure it wasn't any water on the connections so we popped the hood and it was dry, battery connections were good, bypass valve was on nice and snug. (it was the same kind of symptoms as if there was no vacuum pressure - i experienced this power loss before when the bypass valve came loose a couple of years ago). I also have the factory plastic guard underneath the engine bay to protect from water.
It's not the battery, as the lights turn on just fine. So last night, it was an issue of starting and idling properly. We let the car dry off for a bit, in case it was a sensor that had gotten wet from the car wash. After a bit, the idle became steady and I thought 'great - that's it' - Not the case - drove the car 50 feet and it was having the same problems. Since it was dark and i had to be somewhere, we decided to revisit the issue in the morning.
In the morning, the car won't start. If it does turn on, it dies immediately, no matter how much throttle i give (without flooding the engine). It's not the battery as we tried jumper cables.
We're heading down to get a check engine unit that my dad has at his office - the car doesn't stay on long enough to determine if there is a CEL so we're not sure if there could be one.
The car has basic bolt-ons; TIP, CAI, TMIC, spark plugs, mid-pipe, hypertech tune.
And to preface this all, I took the car out driving yesterday afternoon for a good 30 minute cruise and it ran just fine - it also ran fine on the way last night to get gas and a car wash.
It must be a bad sensor somewhere - we need to jack it up and take a look, but I thought I'd throw this out there to see if anyone has any ideas.
Thanks for any input/suggestions guys!
Paul
Car wash killed my car
Car wash killed my car
"Littering, and?..."
Wish I had some specific tips to try and help you out. My experience though, is that you don't actually want the car on (read: running) to check for a CEL, you just need the key in the the forward-most "on" position. Maybe check it again, and see. (?)
~Brandon~
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This is Bunny. Bunny has the following mods: BNR Supercars GT28RS TC - Mazdaspeed CAI - ACT Streetlite CK - Vibrant TIP - Extreme Turbo Systems TMIC - SLS Performance TP - Magnaflow CBE - James Barone Racing SSP & HSK - Cobb AP - Xcarlink iPod integrator - VG Sharkfin - RX-8 Wheels - Fiber Images CF Hood w/BCM accents
- chickenwafer
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- AuroraAxela
- Posts: 397
- Joined: Wed Dec 14, 2011 9:14
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Cold air intake, probably sucked up some water.
[SIGPIC][/SIGPIC]
[color="Blue"][SIZE="3"]2009 Mazdaspeed 3 GT[/SIZE][/color]
[SIZE="1"][color="Blue"][color="Blue"]POWERTRAIN: GTX3067R . Cobb AP . Cobb 3-port . Autotech internals . HTP 3" intake . cp-e FMIC . Forge v1 BPV . TWM STS . CNT Turboback
NGK 1-step colder . Bosch 3-bar . cp-e xFlex™ RMM/TMM/PMM . CorkSport recirc tube . Kosmic EGR delete
SUSPENSION: K-Sport coilovers . Whiteline RSB . custom MS6 wheels
EXTERIOR: cp-e TowPlate . DDM Tuning 5000K HID low/fog
INTERIOR: Defi boost gauge/cp-e defroster mount . NRG shift knob . CorkSport LEDs[/color][/color][/SIZE]
NGK 1-step colder . Bosch 3-bar . cp-e xFlex™ RMM/TMM/PMM . CorkSport recirc tube . Kosmic EGR delete
SUSPENSION: K-Sport coilovers . Whiteline RSB . custom MS6 wheels
EXTERIOR: cp-e TowPlate . DDM Tuning 5000K HID low/fog
INTERIOR: Defi boost gauge/cp-e defroster mount . NRG shift knob . CorkSport LEDs[/color][/color][/SIZE]
- I`m Batman
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- Location: Castle Rock
Mortose wrote:side note: where in MN are you?
I think Paul is actually in Illinois now.
I'd go with what everyone else has said. But then again, I know nothing lol.
[color="Blue"]2008 Subaru Legacy 2.5i PZEV - Current Ride, 100% stock[/color]
[color="Gray"]2005 Mazda 6i Pebble Ash Metallic - Dead[/color]
Sorry for not posting a follow up yesterday.
Bad MAF sensor. Saw remnants of water so I took the cold air intake off which is shaped like a 'U' at the bottom...and had a nice pool of dirty water just sitting there.
Time to clean the MAF sensor, the filter, and the charge pipe this morning.
+10 points for each of you guessing the MAF sensor!
Bad MAF sensor. Saw remnants of water so I took the cold air intake off which is shaped like a 'U' at the bottom...and had a nice pool of dirty water just sitting there.
Time to clean the MAF sensor, the filter, and the charge pipe this morning.
+10 points for each of you guessing the MAF sensor!
"Littering, and?..."
I've been doing some travelling this past year. I spent a few months in Minneapolis, then in February, I started working in Illinois and travelled to Florida for the last month. I start in Virginia for a month on Monday but should return to Illinois, upon which time I'll have my car shipped out there.
I miss driving the Mazda, as always driving mid-size rentals like Altimas or Impalas = boring
I miss driving the Mazda, as always driving mid-size rentals like Altimas or Impalas = boring
"Littering, and?..."
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