Hey everyone,

I just went to the Mobil station with me 3 week old Mazda3 s Touring 5door manual.

I filled up the gas and my wife had her SLR camera with her and wanted to go take some pics of my car near the lake, so she wanted me to get a car wash.

I started out of the station and I noticed that I didn't have much power... but I thought it was just me.

So I get on to the highway and I am pushing the pedal to the floor and I'm barely accelerating at all.

I get into fifth gear finally and am at 70mph... I floor it as hard as I can and I'm BARELY making it to 75mph after about 10 seocnds of flooring it... I can't really get past 75mph.

I took it off the highway and again, I feel like I've lost all the power in my engine. First and second seem okay but I'm revving up to 4 and 5k RPMs and I'm barely accelerating at all.

My 0-60 is probably like 20 seconds now.


What could this be and what do I do??


Thanks for any help...

 

it is a definite possibility that the water could have gotten into the enging and messed something inside. i took a 1990 Beretta thru a car wash, the next day it was dead, the mechanic said the actual computer got wet from the was and needed to be replaced. What state was this Mobil station, I will have to avoid it. i would call Mazda Roadside service and have it towed to your nearest dealership to have looked at, as soon as you can. That is some bad luck right there.

 

You may have not driven far enough or had the engine running long enough before you went through the car wash to notice the problem to occur. But first, check and make sure the gas cap is on correctly - clicks 2 times! The gas tank's vapor recovery system (DOT required by the on all cars sold in the US) is pressurized and will not work if the gas cap is missing or not screwed on correctly. Haven't this problem with my 3 wagon but have had the same problem with my Mini Cooper. The Cooper's engine performance was limited and a warning indicator was lit after driving about 3 minutes from the gas station. I called Mini and explained the problem and the Mini rep laughed and said to take gas cap off then put on and twist until 2 clicks. I did and my Mini started and drove away without any problems. Hope this corrects the problem.

 

So, today is day 2 and the car is still having the problem.

The first few gears seem okay... not perfect, but they aren't bad.

4th and 5th gear as slow as hell though... like molasses. I can barely accelerate in 5th gear.

I was hoping it would go away... but even if it is water related it's been pouring all day here and its supposed to snow and rain all week... probably not a good way to dry something out.

Do you think there's a chance it was bad gas or something? I got my gas tank filled right before the car wash.


I tried taking off hte gas cap and putting it on.. I made it click about 10 times to make sure it was on. Same problem. (I did this while the car was running, though, that right?)

Any other help would be great...


Thanks

 

I just remembered something...

I got the gas filled up and drove for about 45 minutes before I got the car wash... and it was fine.

So I doubt it's the gas...