[MikeFreas]

Yesterday I changed the plugs, oil, belts and front breaks on my 05 6. Thought the plugs were a pain to change and I broke the stupid coolant T fitting all went well.

Car started up and drove around the neighborhood fine while I was making a few stops to beed the breaks in. Wife took the car to and from the store no issues.

Today while driving about a mile from my house it starts to studder and buck with no power. I would hardly idle and just had enough power to get back home. I popped the hood to see the front cat glowing red...

I checked everything I did yesterday looking for a missed hose or something loose. Nothing.

I removed the PCV/hose, both look good and the PCV rattles like I assume it should?

I started the car and squirted some WD40 around the connections I had loose the day before looking for a vacuum leak. Nothing.

Took the car out again and it ran fine for about 10 min then started to stumble and threw a CEL light.

Car has 51k on it and didn't have any sort of problem before the service.

At this point I'm worried about the pre-cat failure. Looking to have the care towed to the dealer tomorrow on the other side of the island (300 bucks). Any input would be great.

 

[djbrun]

The warranty for a cat is 70K, so if it is going bad let the dealer replace it. Do you have a code reader?

DJ

 

[MikeFreas]

No code reader. Found one of the intake manifold bolts loose so I thigned it up and took it around the neighborhood again. Ran fine for about 10 min including some uphill loads then started to loose power again. When I got back home the front cat was not red hot but you could smell it was hotter then normal, if you know what I mean.

Decided to look and see inside the cat's to make sure they were ok. Took me about two hours and I was only able to look at the back one. I started to pull the manifold bolts on the front back and one didn't feel right. At this point I don't need a striped stud in the head also.

I hate taking my car to the dealer but I don't think I have the option to mess with it anymore. Going to tow it by some means tomorrow over to the other side of the island and see what they say. If the fwd cat is bad I'll press the replacement issue. Didn't even know they were still under warranty. I guess I need to read the owners manual.

This is the first time I'm conceding defeat in a very long time. This sucks. At least I still have my 18 year old GSX that runs.

Thanks for the help and any more would be great.

 

[rockdevourer]

Perhaps it's the ignition coils going bad? I had replaced my spark plugs and the ignition coils went right after, but you said you only have 51k on it...

Also, what spark plugs did you put on it by any chance?

 

[MikeFreas]

Perhaps it's the ignition coils going bad? I had replaced my spark plugs and the ignition coils went right after, but you said you only have 51k on it...

Also, what spark plugs did you put on it by any chance?

The plugs were NGK's, nothing special.

I'm leaning toward an ignition coil or problem also. The only reason a cat should glow or get hotter then it should is raw fuel or running really rich.

I'm having a hard time sacking up to taking this to the dealer. I always do my own work on every car I own but all the reports of cat failure has got me worried. I'm 6 weeks out from a deployment so I don't have time to change the engine (though I would). I doubt it's gotten to that, the bottom of the back cat was perfect with no signs of being melted. The front is the only one I'm worried about.

Really appreciate the input guys. I'll keep everyone updated. Going to get a Uhaul dolly tomorrow morning to save about 250 bucks on the tow charge. Living in Hawaii isn't all that great when it comes to things like this.

 

[ButtonPuncher]

Did you have any problems with the car before doing all of the maintenance? If not, then either a coil pack broke during the plug swap or the gasket between the UIM and LIM is bad. Did you double check the torque on the UIM bolts and on the EGR valve? Pull the plugs to see if one is either fouled with gas (plug not firing) or really light brown or white (running extremely lean). That will point you to either the coil pack or UIM gasket/EGR.

If the car idles fine, my guess would be the UIM gasket or loose EGR.

HTH,
BP

 

[MikeFreas]

Did you have any problems with the car before doing all of the maintenance? If not, then either a coil pack broke during the plug swap or the gasket between the UIM and LIM is bad. Did you double check the torque on the UIM bolts and on the EGR valve? Pull the plugs to see if one is either fouled with gas (plug not firing) or really light brown or white (running extremely lean). That will point you to either the coil pack or UIM gasket/EGR.

If the car idles fine, my guess would be the UIM gasket or loose EGR.

HTH,
BP

No problems with the car before the maintenance. Appreciate the help and if nothing else I'll post what the dealer finds so others can learn from my mistakes. If I had another family car I'd do more troubleshooting but I don't. It's got to get fixed.

I did find out it's a real pain in the ass to get the exhaust out and you need the car like 2 feet off the ground to do it. If I ever go headers I'm getting the sawzall out!

 

[rockdevourer]

If it is your ignition coils, they're relatively easy to replace yourself. They can be found on Amazon for

shipped or so

 

[MikeFreas]

Dealer called....They say the fuel pump has or is failing. The CEL codes were for lean fuel trim and O2 sensor which is consistant with not enough fuel but I find it really hard to beleive the pump went out one day after I did the maintenance. I guess it helps explain why the car ran fine the day I finished the maintenance but didn't the next. Anyway, total cost of the pump, new intake tube I needed and labor was just under 1k. That includes the extra 25 bucks I spent to get the part in two days vice a week.

I pressed him about what will happen if this doesn't fix the problem and he danced around that answer. I understand sometimes problems are hard to find and fix but I don't have unlimited time or money to spend on the thing. Hopefully this fixes it. Should have the car back on Fri evening if the parts come in.

What a rip though. Suits me right for taking it to them I guess. Anyway, I recorded the conversation with him just in case not that it will do anything.

 

[monkeyboydrew]

Who'd ya take it to?

 

[MikeFreas]

Who'd ya take it to?

Cutter Mazda has it. Why?

 

[MikeFreas]

Well guys....sounds to me like I'm being taken for a ride by the dealer.

So they changed the fuel pump stating that it only had 13 psi of pressure before the change. Fair enough, EFI doesn't work on that little of pressure.

I just got a call and he said that the pump is changed but the MAS air senor is bad. Seriously?! How do two parts go bad at the same time on the same day?

I'm raising the BS flag on this and told him that. I'm not some stupid person that doesn't have a clue about cars. 200 more bucks for a MAS installation?

So I have two choices.

1. Have them change it and if the car has any issue that I took it in for in the first place it's their job to fix it

2. Take the car and change it myself.

Need some input.

 

[MikeFreas]

New sensor from Checkers is 117 plus 50 dollar core. I don't want to spend the extra 100 bucks but I haven't had the best luck with their electronic parts so the dealer is going to do it.

If the car doesn't run right when I get it back I'm going to try my best to have them figure what the F is wrong and not pay for the time but we know how that will work out. Have to have a reliable car for the family while I'm gone, period.

 

[MikeFreas]

Just to put closure on this thread, got the car back and it's running fine again. They changed the fuel pump, MAS and intake tube to the tune of 1,300. I hate spending that kind of money but at lest I know it runs well again and should while I'm gone. I think when I come off deployment I'm going with headers to get rid of the pre-cats because I'm worried about those now also. Thanks for the help everyone.