I have a 2003 Mazda Protege Mazdaspeed 2.0 liter Turbo. I had Plus put in my tank instead of Super. my car throws codes like crazy. it says bank one is running too lean. i cleared the codes and it came back. it has a cold air intake and i thought because it being winter time that is why it was lean. Mechanic agreed. but now today the CEL started flashing so i called my mechanic. he said limp it by to check the codes. so i did. my car was boosting the whole time and i was driving 60mph. with no power, and a rough sounding engine. the ODB2 said it was miss firing in 3. checked the spark plug. it was not white. so i ordered 4 new as well as spark plug wires. they will be here thursday and installed. im worried about my car. the coil pack had spark to 3. so it maybe the wire because the plug looked good. i need help. any advice. what could it be. i hope just new wires and plugs will do the trick. also i drained the plus and put non ethanol Super in it. and i have 110 octane booster ready to put in it as soon as the plugs and wires are installed. the octane booster is the not street legal one from Lucas Oil, and concerns with that. is that a good kind. im open to suggestions. Thank you in Advance!!!!!

 

A few comments:

• I rather doubt the fuel was the cause of your problems. Why? While not optimal, mid-grade fuel should easily have enough detonation resistance to allow your engine to run relatively normal without the timing being too heavily retarded or the boost limit being reduced by very much.
• I'm not a fan of CAIs (most folks around here can attest to that), but even I don't think the CAI in and of itself is the cause of your issues.
• Non-street legal octane booster (depending upon its formulation) can seriously hose your catalytic converters, and bad cats can in turn cause a whole host of issues, not the least of which is ruining your engine. Said another way, don't use it.
• New plugs, wires, coils, and other sundry parts sound like "throwing parts at a problem" in the hope of something fixing it. The thing is, this type of approach rarely works, and usually costs more money than finding the root cause and correcting it.

So, with the above said, how would I proceed if I was in your shoes? To me at least, your problem sounds electrical in nature. Either one or more wires have been stretched to the breaking point (maybe due to the CAI), or one or more sensors have failed, or the OBC itself is having issues.

 

First, since its a 4 cyl engine, it only has one bank which could possibly mean all the cylinders are firing lean.
When you say the plug did not come out white, what color did it show?
You car has spark plug-on coils. How can you replace just the wires? It doesn't have spark plug wires in the conventional sense.
As Dale suggests, this may be throwing parts at it, but I would be concerned about the O2 sensors also. The last time I drove a car @ 60 (55 really,) it had a bad O2 and the cat melted internally. Also the temp gauge climbed a bit higher than usual.
Do any of those sound like symptoms you are experiencing?

 

Driving around in Winter time with a CAI is not a real good idea. You may get away with it if you have one of those extra waterproof filters that slide over top of your existing one (it's like a waterproof sock): http://www.knfilters.com/search/wrap.aspx (Dry Charger). Snow and water get on filter causing your MAF to do funny things. One time when I had a low to the ground CAI, I thought the engine was going to die when I was accelerating after I came out of the car wash. Going through puddles will splash up wet & yukky stuff on your filter. Lots of snow with wind is not good either.

 

a lot of times, it is the coil packs and wires if you have already replaced plugs. Honestly, if coil packs and wires fixes the problem. I would just drive the gas out and just put premium in it. Im guessing plus for you is 89 and super is 91 or 93? Either way, just don't boost too much or you could risk detonating.

 

tomorrow is when it goes to the shop. the things we are doing to it are the wires that come off the plugs to coil and new plugs. if it was a O2 sensor wouldnt it throw up a code stating that instead of misfiring and telling me it is to lean. the plug looked normal. not white or dark. the usual colour. after i read yours guys info. im thinking about the coil packs. where do i go to get coil packs.

 

According to Flipper, the following can cause misfires:

Missfires can be caused by a million and one things,

Vac leaks
wiring issues
spark plugs(even fresh spark plugs that are crappy quality.... E3 and such)
alternators(search EMI)
ignition coils
MAFS
injectors
injector o-rings
intake gaskets
TB gaskets
PCV hoses
PCVs
malfunctioning EGRs
Malfunctioning CAS
O2 Sensors
aftermarket intakes
intake hoses
vac lines
Timing chains
timing chain tensioner
Broken cam gears
Malfunctioning cam sensors
Incorrect Crank gears(the I4 has like 40 different configurations for whatever reason)
incorrect PCM flash
issues within the PCM
PCM wiring
bad diaphram within the FPR
issues within the fuel pump
dirty fuel filter
dirty fuel lines
Pre-Cats (I had to prove this one to him)

If you have over 100,000 miles I would change the O2 sensors and the ignition coils.

 

My car is fixed. the problem was the spark plug wires. thanks for everybodies thoughts and solutions. is there a performance chip out there that i could get. any suggestions?

 

WHEW!! Well good for you. Congrats on the repair.

As for a chip... a local here tried a piggyback chip on his MSP but had all kinds of problems from it. Unless you are planning a lot of other performance mods, I'm not sure I would want to go there.

But, I will let other, more personally experienced folks answer that for you. Spiced??

 

Thanx for feedback. Glad it was an easy fix found quickly.
Can't help you for chip or tuner.