Hey all,
I'm going to be completely honest first of all and say I have no knowledge regarding vehicle mechanics. I recently bought a 2002 Mazda Tribute. This was the end of October. A few days later my engine light came on, eventually it started blinking. I had my mechanic test it and I forget the code he gave me, but he said it needed a new catalytic converter. I actually ended up taking it to a different mechanic that said it just had a bad coil pack. (it had recently been missing pretty bad while driving). Anyway, that seemed to fix the problem until a few days later, the engine light came on and it started acting up again the same way. We called him back and he told us it was probably another coil pack and to bring it back and he would replace that as well. I'm just curious if this is normal. Since I know nothing about this kind of thing, I would hate to think that my mechanic isn't correctly fixing the problem. Does anyone have experience with this? Does this sound normal, or do you think it really could be the catalytic converter? Thanks for all advice!

 

To be able to judge correctly, you should write down the codes.
Then, if the codes are different than what your mechanic is telling you, you might have an answer.
The coils on these cars go bad. Try to pick them up online, you might get a break and get them cheaper then what the dealer is charging. Also, if it's the front coils, these are easy to change. The rear ones might pose a problem, especially if you never wrenched before. If you have somebody who is good with tools, even the rear ones are not too bad.
Pending on mileage, I would also change the sparkplugs while I'm at it. You are there anyways - especially if it's one of the rear coils.

 

thanks so much for the reply! since I posted that, we had a coil pack changed out. It seemed to fix the problem for a week and then started up again... we took it back and they changed out spark plugs, and then it sounds like they just switched 2 coil packs around? I don't understand all of this, but it seemed to do the trick. Now it has been about 3 weeks and the light came back on. I plan to take it to a different mechanic and get the codes but I was wondering, would it be possible that I need a new catalytic converter instead? I know that bad coils can ruin the converter, but can it work the other way around too? Thanks again!

 

Hi All, just a quick note to let you know we had the same problem with our 2001 Tribute last year. After replacing a number of coil packs, our mechanic found out that there was a fault in the computer. It had to be sent off to be repaired (along with the ignition system and key). Ended up costing around $400 AUS. Has been great ever since.

 

guys check my post although im not mention it my engine light was flashing last week and yesterday i had a major catalyst breakdown . If you ceck this forum you wil find more info . there was a post by carfixer
here is the post

With the mil flashing you most likely have a missfire concern. coils, sparkplugs, are the most common problems. The one with the melted EGR valve you most likely have a damaged cat converter.[Plugged exhaust] To repair scan and test for codes. Check engine compression.fuel pump pressure. If you have missfire codes replace plugs,coils as nessasary. Missfires will damage the converters causing them to break apart causing the plugged up exhaust. With out codes and other information. I have listed the most common causes. I hope this helps Kevin
Last edited by carfixer2; 03-08-2009 at 10:54 AM.


by the way the coils .... i saw them on amazon for 119 $