'07 mazda5. threw p03031 and died. now won't start at all

All engines, transmission, and drivetrain discussion.
Scott Y
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'07 mazda5. threw p03031 and died. now won't start at all

Postby Scott Y » Sun Mar 15, 2015 9:14

'07 5, 5speed, 60K.
Car ran perfectly, until yesterday while sitting at light, started to run rough, CEL came on then engine died. Restarted once, ran rough for a few seconds, then could not restart. Pushed car off street into parking lot where it still sits. Trying to figure out how to fix it, or best garage to AAA tow it to. It's in Lakewood. Need to get it somewhere today. Online searching hasn't revealed any close indie Mazda shops, default option is Lakewood Mazda on Colfax.

Torque ODBII scan shows P0301, cyl1 misfire.
It's like there's no fuel/spark. I attempted to ground the plug to an accessory mounting bracket and take video; it looks like there's no spark. There was no apparent chuffing of fuel out of the empty spark plug hole while cranking.

Engine bay fuses are visually ok, all accessories work. Gas tank nearly full.

I pulled plug 1, and it's super clean and still gapped perfectly between .049-.053, it looks perfect.

If it was bad gas, wouldn't it run rough but still run?

Thanks for any advice.

-Scott Y

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Huzer
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Postby Huzer » Wed Mar 18, 2015 9:14

Yorga?

I just saw this post now. No idea on your issues (coil?), but welcome aboard.

- Tim
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Dwduc
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Postby Dwduc » Wed Mar 18, 2015 9:14

A bad coil will cause that misfire problem but it should still run. I would lean toward CAS. If it starts back up and runs try swapping coils and see if the problem follows.

Scott Y
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Postby Scott Y » Thu Mar 19, 2015 9:14

Hughes? Holy cow. Beers must happen.

Sitrep:
I had the car taken to Mazda of Lakewood, and they couldn't find what was wrong. They did do a compression check, and it was 170-90ish-90ish-170. Looks like head gasket. That makes some kind of sense, because the overflow has been dry for some time, and it doesn't leak anything, doesn't burn oil, so maybe... They couldn't explain why it wouldn't start, and suggested I replace the engine. I politely declined and towed the car back home.
I drained the contents of the gas tank, put in some known good fuel and leaned on the starter for a bit and I got it running. It runs like crap, but it runs. It keeps throwing the same code.
I swapped the plugs between cylinders, it's not plugs. I swapped the coils between cylinders, it's not coils. I swapped the injectors between cylinders, it's not injectors. I remove either fuel or spark from individual cylinders and it runs worse, so by taking cylinders out individually via both fuel and/or spark I can affect the way it runs. With everything plugged in it sounds like it's missing, and it feels like its missing, but there is spark and fuel in every cylinder. Occassionally it smooths out, but it doesn't last more than 30 sec or so. Looks like it's time for a HG.

The car's never been overheated, and it's run great until -right now-. perhaps the HG has been failing for a while and it finally let go. I suspect that with a good cleaning of the head and block a new gasket could go on without machining due to the low mileage and no overheat.

Unfortunately, work commitments override home time at the moment so I have to farm it out. If you know of an indie shop in Lakewood that will do a HG and not dork me around, please let me know.

FDEEZ
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Postby FDEEZ » Fri Mar 20, 2015 9:14

Scott Y wrote:They couldn't explain why it wouldn't start, and suggested I replace the engine.


I can't believe the dealer suggested you replace the motor. That's a little excessive for a piston car and a tad lazy...but a common response given to those customers that have rotaries.

Do your spark plugs smell like coolant? If so, then it's definitely the head gasket...and the car most likely overheated. If it did overheat, don't let the car's mileage deceive you into thinking your head is not warped...so if you do replace the gasket, try to do it the right way and get the head resurfaced & replace all the serviceable items. The cheap way may end up costing you more money & time in the future.

But before you attempt replacing the gasket...find out what caused the problem in the first place (if the problem is truely related to the HG). Otherwise, you risk overheating the car again & repeating this pain.

A cylinder misfire code can literally be the result of anything. When I got that error in my turbo Eclipse, a myriad of things would trigger that code (e.g. loose charge pipe coupler, bad MAF, bad spark plugs/ignition wires, etc.). If your car overheated...I suspect the problem is in your cooling system. Most likely your thermostat crapped out on you (which I had happen to me on a low mileage vehicle). However, your water pump could have failed as well. Last, you could also have a pinhole leak somewhere in your cooling system.

First, pressurize/test your cooling system to eliminate that variable. Second...check your timing. Just my 2 cents & good luck!

Scott Y
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Joined: Sun Mar 15, 2015 9:14
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Really bad Gas. Root cause.

Postby Scott Y » Thu Mar 26, 2015 9:14

There was so much water in the gas that the car would barely run. Then for a few seconds would smooth out, then run like crap again. When I drained the tank, I got most of the bad gas out, but I wasn't able to drive the car around enough to slosh mix the water/gas combo up a bit. A fuel sample taken by the garage in mason jar showed at least 1:3 water:gas. It was pretty gross.

I did not know that cranking an engine enough and flooding it enough would produce low compression results. When I did the test, the engine hadn't fired in dozens of long cranking attempts. Before C.A.R. did their compression test, I had managed to get the car running, albeit roughly and barely. I'll do another compression test later on to satisfy my own curiosity. Right now, the car's running great.

When I drained most of the gas after towing the car home from Mazda, I didn't want to run the fuel pump for too long without it being submerged and cooled, so I left some gas in the tank. I put a few gallons of new gas in, but I should have put more gas in, to dilute the water.

Max cred to Complete Auto Care in Lakewood. They were honest, and priced fairly. I will without hesitation use them again when automotive services are required. And my daughter loved Jack the shop dog.

FDEEZ
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Postby FDEEZ » Thu Mar 26, 2015 9:14

Glad to hear the car's running great. Hydrolock is no joke. Be thankful you didn't bend any pistons or valves.

Scott Y
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Location: Lakewood

Postby Scott Y » Mon Mar 30, 2015 9:14

Hydrolock was never a possibility. Only problem was the gasoline quality was insufficient to allow the engine to run properly.
It is nice to have the back.

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Postby RX-7 Chris » Mon Mar 30, 2015 9:14

We went to NM a few years ago and got gas for the wife's car. We drove the car for about two weeks and the car just sputtered and died. It turned out that the fuel filter was filled with rust. About 6 months after that the fuel pump went out. I assume it was weakened. All because of some bad gas.
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