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Comments
Meade
If it does it all the time I'm not sure it's the plug wires. Have the codes read like everyone else says...
Regards,
Pete
And BTW, a Firestone shop charged me $75 to pull the codes on my wife's 1995 Cavalier after the dealership's service department quoted me a price of $95.
Meade
P0300 = random/multiple cylinder misfire detected
P0301 through 304 = cylinder 1 through 4 misfire detected
With a few rare exceptions, either they work or they don't.
dennisjhs in SF
A couple months ago we brought my wife's 1999 Protege LX in to the dealer for it's 30K service. They did it quickly and without hassle, which was nice.
But a few weeks ago, her car was sputtering and she was experiencing power losses. I popped the hood and told her to rev the engine. One of the spark plugs popped out. I took a look at it, and the threads were discolored halfway up--looks like someone forgot to tighten the plug all the way. Probably the dealer's fault, but not a huge problem so I just put it back in and tightened it myself. Everything seemed fine so I forgot about it.
Thursday morning my wife was driving to work and the car started sputtering again and the "check engine" light came on. She pulled into the nearest service place (a Goodyear) and had them look at it.
The Goodyear guys said that a bunch of stuff was wrong. First, the car had the WRONG spark plugs in it. It had the spark plugs rated for the 1.8 (that would be the ES), not the 1.6. Second, three of the four spark plugs were loose, apparently only hand tightened. Third, and this is the kicker, one of the plug had literally come apart, and the electrode was now rattling around in the cylinder, damaging the piston!
Needless to say I immediately called the dealer. They were willing to send a truck to tow the car to the dealer so they could look at it, but they would not send out a loaner. My wife had meetings she had to get to, so she rented a car. The dealer picked up the car and also the plugs. Needless to say, at this point I was pretty miffed.
The dealer is now claiming that the correct plugs were installed, and installed correctly. This is BS. However, they are calling this a part failure under warranty, so they are paying for all the work, including (ulp) a new engine block--the electrode that had been rattling around damaged the cylinder. They say they're going to pay for the rental car as well, though I still haven't nailed them down on who's supposed to be paying the Goodyear bill.
So, my question to you guys is, if they really do pay for everything, should I just be glad it all got paid for and let the obvious labor error on their part slide, or what? I'm sure they want it to read as a part failure so they can charge Mazda for it, which is their concern and not mine, but since I don't have the plugs anymore, I'm not sure how much leverage I have if they give me any trouble over this. Any suggestions?
Really sorry you had such a horrible experience.
I'd get them to give you an extended warranty on the powertrain (engine, transmission etc.), at their expense.
Too bad you let go of the spark plugs. 20/20 hindsight. Service providers used to present you with the used parts (supposedly from your vehicle), giving you the option of either holding onto them or tossing them out. Nowadays, they don't even bother saving them to give you the option unless you demand up-front to be shown them after the service. Just CYA behavior, if you ask me.
Get the paperwork. Make sure the repairs are documented. If you're still PO'd and won't go back to that dealership, then I'd complain to HQ.
Do you really think they would do that? I don't think they are sitting around ready to hand out free insurance plans for a 2 year old car. After all, he's already getting an engine out of the deal.
For the labor rates dealer service departments charge, they should really be properly trained and QA should be enforced by the service managers to make sure work is properly done. That's why we go there instead of to independent of non-dealer chains. They're supposed to be "a step above."
Sorry for being so blunt, but I've had my share of bad service, mostly due to carelessness (such as when they forgot to put the grease seals back on my hubs after replacing the bearings...geez!).
Of course, they'd probably be more willing if he'd retained the spark plugs. I guess the mechanics at the Goodyear might be willing to be witnesses should it come to litigation. Speaking of which, where's twistinlemon (pardon me if I spelled that wrong)?
'duh'
Nobody is in business to lose money: not Mazda, not the dealer and not Mazdafun.
Steve
I wouldn't spray them with anything oily.
You might try removing them and having them chemically cleaned or sand-blasted. You could then have them plated with something to resist oxidation (such as nickel or chrome) and then machining the plating off the brake surfaces....or you could look around for after-market ones that already have rust-resistant coatings on the non-braking surfaces...or accept it like I do (I'm cheap).
Seriously, the rust shouldn't be a problem. It wears off the braking surfaces right after you first apply the brakes. Rust on the rest of the disc shouldn't affect the performance (unless you live downwind of the ocean...you lucky guy, you).
If you don't like the appearance, you can remove the more visible portions with pipe cleaners and soft metal brushes (such as those with brass bristles, not steel), such as those used to clean BBQ grilles. Don't use metal brushes on a power tool. You can do damage before you know it.
I'm actually kinda bummed to have this happen with this particular dealer, because I had a great sales experience this year when I bought my Pro5 there. Grr.
corrosion causes pulsation? must be some serious rust!
I'm of the belief that high temps cause the rotors to warp and therefore result in pulsation. Many times they can be resurfaced depending on how bad they warp.
Maybe living in a low humidity place like Arizona has hidden benefits, although cooling system service would be a killer. LOL
That is the law in the land of USA.
Believe me.
Beentheredonethat.
Where, chikoo, is some documentation of this law so I can be as informed as possible when talking to the dealer? I'd love to see that...
The very fact that you had such a big problem in the first weeks of your car should pressurize the dealer enough. Represent your thoughts to MNAO too. Give a fair indication on how YOU feel about mazda and reliability.......since YOU(sunbryne) is already scorched once, how can you trust the car?....and blah blah long those lines.
This will certainly help you.
I too was wondering about these "laws".
Thanks
Does it idle roughly if you give it a little gas (i.e., run it at a slightly higher speed)? Hard to put numbers on it w/o a tachometer. If it runs smoothly, then I'd ask they raise the idle speed a little. This will consume a bit more gas when you idle, but you'll be happier.
In a friends Buick (don't know if this would be the case for the Protege), his belts were so bad at one stage, that cranking the engine using the key to statr it, wouldn't work because of overload due to the bad belts! And with a brand new battery and fine starting system/solenoids etc.
Meade
Saw this message, and posted a reply without checking the date!
Hmm, we're (again) posting non-problem-related messages here, and increasing the message count :-)
Never happened before until this week. Every morning when I exit the apartment complex to go to work I have to drive over the bump. Before the suspension would just make a solid THUD sound when driving over the bump, but now when it goes over, it makes this nasty SQEEEEEK sound, first the front wheels, then the back wheels as the car goes over the bump.
This only happens when exiting the complex in the morning, when I come back from work I also have to go over the bump from the other side, and everything is fine.
Any idea as to why it's making this sound all of a sudden?
Car still drives the same as before, except when crossing this particular bump...
Me thinks it has to do with temperature.
my car makes more noise when I start it up first time in winter. Takes about 7-10 miles to warm up nicely. Till then it shifts funny, makes lot of engine noise, et al.
But once it is warmed up....man O man. It's a joy to see the tach go up 4000+