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Coupes & Convertibles Mazda Miata Mazda MX-5 Miata Starting and Stalling Problems
58 messages, Last post on Nov 09, 2009 at 3:43 AM
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| intermittent starting problem, cold or warm engine, rough idle, engine out of balance, smell of unburned fuel in exhaust, car is drivable, does not have acceleration or power, usually clears itself in 4-5 minutes by driving or idling. When cleared car runs like a champ. Occurs about one out of every 10 starts. | |
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Replying to: kahutek (Jun 05, 2007 9:06 am)
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Hey Everyone, My sister has been driving my Miata for some time now and yesterday the car stalled (she is not sure why) but it got towed home. Today I came to check it out and at first, when I started it up the check engine light was on. The problem I noticed is that the car starts up fine and it idles fine, the problem was that when I step on the gas it feels like it starts dying (like choking) so I have to let go of the gas for it to idle again. I started checking spark plugs, oil, etc but everything seemed fine. I kept trying to give it gas and eventually I was able to get it going to where the engine would not die when I stepped on the gas. Took it out for a ride and it seemed like it was running as if nothing had happened. I thought it was fixed, but the problem came again when I shut it off and started it up again. This time the check engine light was gone, but now the problem is that when I press the gas pedal the engine will "purr" (rpms go up) but then it will stop and pause and then it will "purr" again. So even if my foot is fully pressing the gas pedal (and staying pressed) the car will do "purr" pause "purr" pause "purr" pause "purr" etc. So it feels like it will not hold the throttle. I tried taking it out for a quick ride to see if bringing the rpms higher would help, but the car ends up sort of stalling. As I step the gas it does the "purr" pause "purr" thing in first then as I shift it to second it sort of hesitates; so it starts to accelerate then stop then accelerate again as if it was about to stall. When I stop and let go of the gas it idles good. I tried replacing the plugs, cleaning battery, checking throttle cable, etc but do not know what is wrong or how I could fix/diagnose what is happening. Anyone have any ideas????? p.s. SHe noticed that it started getting bad as she was driving in the rain, I also noticed that the exhaust as it was warming up kept throwing whiteish smoke and water drops from it. Not sure if the rain has something to do with it (i.e. water in the engine)
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Replying to: virjose (Jan 28, 2008 2:34 pm) My educated guess is it's the spark plug wires. Those only last ~30k miles on the Miata. I'm already on my 3rd set. Spark or fuel, as they say. If the fuel filter is not clogged up and the fuel pump is OK, it's probably the spark, so I'd look there first. |
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Replying to: caledelaney (Mar 19, 2007 5:51 am)  I had the same problem. I had bought the car used and the folks at mazda said it was most likely caused by the sparkplugs. Possibly the previous owner had gotten their plugs changed (where-ever) and apparently it is a good idea to use mazda plugs otherwise you can damage the coil-pack and in my case also a converter which fortunately was still under the manufacturers warranty at the time. I still get my tune-ups done at other places but I stop by mazda first and buy the plugs. After replacing the coil-pack, sparkplug cables, and the converter it was fine. Hopefully in your case it's just the coil-pack.
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O.K.. I get up this morning for work. The Miata starts perfectly, I drive to work, no problems. I come out at the end of the day and it won't turn over. It has electrical power, it has gas, but out of the blue it just won't turn. Any advice?  
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I have a 2000 miata standard and have been having some trouble with the car running only on 2 cylinders. It starts fine cold, but hot starts running on 2 cylinders only. If you pull the second plug wire off and put it back on it corrects the problem. The engine light came on and I have taken it in to the dealership to have a diagnostic done. It shows an error code of low efficiency for the catalytic converter but am taking it in next week to do more tests. All maintenance has been done. Could it be the coil??? This morning I was out and this problem appeared while I was driving which was a first. I was in third gear and all of a sudden it lost 2 cylinders. I pulled over and pulled the plug wire for a second and this fixed the problem.
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Replying to: uselman (Mar 18, 2008 8:21 pm) |
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| My stalling issue is fixed after a heafty bill. Don't mind spending the money as long as it is going to fix the problem. Replaced the ignition wires, pair of coils, and a new gasket. Runs like new. | |
My Miata (41,000 miles) has intermittant starting issues. It simply won't start. There doesn't seem to be a consistancy to it's non-starting issue. It will crank/ turn over -but it just won't start. I have new spark plugs now, but it is still being onary. Any ideas? The crank sensor has been adjusted as well. 
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