Another starting issue...

[My5ABaby]

Yeah, it's great. I've put on about 10,500 miles in 8 months. I've had a few small hiccups, but nothing major.

[Herblenny]

I been driving it for 36 hours now.. LOL! Its not bad. But it does make me miss my 8, when it was running great! I'm hoping they will get it fix soon

[Whizbang]

ill be curious if the dealership guesses correctly.

[Phoenix7]

lol, i hope they're not guessing. THey should have the most up-to-date diagnostics tools to help them pinpoint issues fairly fast, right?

[Whizbang]

its the "might" be bad thing that gets me.

Plus my friend worked at the local Vw / Mazda dealership. They used to call me about Rx7s, like "where is the EGR"

[Herblenny]

They guy at Trussville Mazda who's working on my car seem to know his stuff.

I explained what he did and we talked about it couple of times. Unlike some other mechanics, he and I actually talked about it and he made sense.

I initially thought it was ignition issues and hence changed everything!! I never thought that it would be fuel related as when I'm on the road, no issues at all. Even at High load such as HIGH RPM, High speed (on the way to the dealership, I hit 110 on 5th gear). So, for that reason, I didn't think it would be fuel system.

What the mechanic did was he tested all the common stuff I already checked.. like MAF, etc.. When He check the fuel pressure at idle, it was almost 1/3 lower than recommended... and it wasn't holding pressure. Apparently, which I didn't know, the fuel pump is like the FD pump, dual stage pump. First stage, the pump will supply during startup/idle and both state will turn on at higher load. I guess the first stage to build pressure for idle wasn't happening.. hence horrible start or longer start.

Anyhow, tech's reasoning makes sense to me as I've seen and experienced FD's with bad fuel pressure. I feel kind of stupid, I didn't think to check the fuel pressure.. but Of course, I don't even know how to check that on the 8... If it was FD, NO problem In some ways, FD is easier.

[SPICcnmFD]

Originally Posted by My5ABaby

Auto's suck. My brother has the 4cyl but auto and mines manual... mine rocks his all over the road. The MS6 looks great, but I already have a sports car so I figured I'd get something I could haul a couple things in and get great gas mileage.

I wasn't impressed with the auto at all. It wouldn't stay in gear when I'd used the bump shift crap, it would either shift up or down so it seemed pretty worthless to me.

That's the main reason I got the MS6, cheaper(cause they never brought sticker price), 4-door, has good power for a sedan, 6-speed, loaded, gets 25-27mpg to/from work depending on how I drive it. I didn't get it for performance, I just figured if I need to get a 4-door I might as well get one thats kinda peppy. I'd much rather have a BMW 3-series but for the price of a MS6 it's hard to find a car that offers as much as it does.

[SPICcnmFD]

So did they get it fixed?? Or did you get back and plan on doing it yourself??

[Herblenny]

The part didn't come in and they didn't install it. I could do the fuel pump but I figure since they gave me a loaner and all, I was just going to let them do it... and also if that doesn't fix it then its their problem still

[Phoenix7]

Originally Posted by Herblenny

They guy at Trussville Mazda who's working on my car seem to know his stuff.

I explained what he did and we talked about it couple of times. Unlike some other mechanics, he and I actually talked about it and he made sense.

I initially thought it was ignition issues and hence changed everything!! I never thought that it would be fuel related as when I'm on the road, no issues at all. Even at High load such as HIGH RPM, High speed (on the way to the dealership, I hit 110 on 5th gear). So, for that reason, I didn't think it would be fuel system.

What the mechanic did was he tested all the common stuff I already checked.. like MAF, etc.. When He check the fuel pressure at idle, it was almost 1/3 lower than recommended... and it wasn't holding pressure. Apparently, which I didn't know, the fuel pump is like the FD pump, dual stage pump. First stage, the pump will supply during startup/idle and both state will turn on at higher load. I guess the first stage to build pressure for idle wasn't happening.. hence horrible start or longer start.

Anyhow, tech's reasoning makes sense to me as I've seen and experienced FD's with bad fuel pressure. I feel kind of stupid, I didn't think to check the fuel pressure.. but Of course, I don't even know how to check that on the 8... If it was FD, NO problem In some ways, FD is easier.

SOUNDS GOOD.

[Herblenny]

Just got a call that the car's ready to be picked up!

[fikren]

what exactly did they do?? I know you said the fp was messed up but what was the fix, new pump/filter or was it something else like a relay or something?

[Herblenny]

Fix was the new fuel pump assembly.. which includes the filter..

This is my guess.... I put premium but I've been trying to save few bucks and put some cheap premium gas (10% EtOH) from Raceway etc..

On my way back from Florida few weeks ago, my car died bucked on the interstate. At first I thought the tank design.. but now I see that it was in fact the fuel pump. I've also heard that the 10% EtOH is causing some issues for cars as its cleaning the gas station sludge in their tank and filling up your car tank and causing blockage and restricting the fuel pumps flow and some say could damage the pump (not 100% on this). I know state of AL is going to start inspecting gas stations about this stuff..

Anyhow, car seems to be doing well.. I'm going to wait til tomorrow morning to see how it start.. I've always had cold start issue so that's my final testing

[fikren]

Originally Posted by Herblenny

Fix was the new fuel pump assembly.. which includes the filter..

This is my guess.... I put premium but I've been trying to save few bucks and put some cheap premium gas (10% EtOH) from Raceway etc..

On my way back from Florida few weeks ago, my car died bucked on the interstate. At first I thought the tank design.. but now I see that it was in fact the fuel pump. I've also heard that the 10% EtOH is causing some issues for cars as its cleaning the gas station sludge in their tank and filling up your car tank and causing blockage and restricting the fuel pumps flow and some say could damage the pump (not 100% on this). I know state of AL is going to start inspecting gas stations about this stuff..

Anyhow, car seems to be doing well.. I'm going to wait til tomorrow morning to see how it start.. I've always had cold start issue so that's my final testing

I've been curious myself about the 10% etoh mix and if it potentially could cause any problems in cars like the 8 that need premium. I have not seen any gas station around here, though, that doesn't have it mixed in. Hopefully that will solve your problem. If you were having pressure issues especially at cold start where its supposed to be pushing more I could see where that would have been the problem.

I'll keep my fingers crossed.

[Phoenix7]

it wasn't clogged though, right?