on my way back from the converge\mastadon show at toad's place in new haven, ct (converge was incredible), my car started acting up big time. i spent a half hour getting out of the parking lot due to traffic, then got to the first red light. my check engine light clicked on and my engine began to shudder a lot. at idle, the rpms would fluctate a lot going from 700 up to about 1100 back and forth. it doesnt seem to want me to give it gas, but occasionally ill be able to drive normally for about 10-20 seconds. the car would also just die out, not stall roughly, but just shut down allowing me to continue coasting. at one point at a stop light i got a whiff of eggs. i checked out the engine when i got back on campus, and nothing was noticably different -- nothing visually different and no strange smells. however, i whafted the exhaust and it smelled sort of like eggs. any ideas on what could cause something like this to happen? catalytic converter? fuel injectors? spark plugs? any help would be very much appreciated. Thanks!

 

Sounds like from the description and odor the engine was running a bit rich Lupae3s. Evap purge valve sticking open would be the most suspect as is a common ailment on the 3 especially if the car was sitting for a while before all this happened. Sucking full fuel vapors into the intake does not make for a happy engine at idle.

 

thank you so much for your reply babyhuey! so what needs to be done to fix something like this? am i looking at permanent engine damage or a costly repair bill? thanks again.

 

Get someone to read the code(s). That will give you some idea of what the problem is. It could be electrical or mechanical.

 

Actually, I've had a similar problem. No weird smell with mine, but there was a CEL and the idle bounced up and down just like you described. It turned out all it was was a broken wire in the MAF sensor. Whew!

 

level_up, i was also considering that the problem might be cause by the MAF sensor, but that would not explain the eggy smell. so, ive scheduled an appointment at a Mazda service center nearby me here at school in CT for Thursday morning. hopefully my car has enough life in it to make it there ... ill update once i figure out what went wrong. Thanks everyone for your replies!

 

so wednesday night i made it about 3.5 miles from campus before i pulled over onto the shoulder to let traffic behind me pass (since i couldnt drive much faster than 20/25mph. when i did that, a tow truck also pulled over...i told him what was up and he offered to tow. the tow didnt fit under my car though. so i decided to call a flatbed from AAA because driving the 3s was a pain.

turns out the problem was the wiring to the MAF sensor afterall. the wiring harness was replaced and given the neccessary slack to prevent future damage from tugging and stretching.

the car is now in tip-top shape once again and it treated me nicely on my trip to hudson and albany, ny and back here to the u of nh in CT.

 

So I guess we need to check the harness to make sure it has some slack in it?

Good to know it wasn't something more serious.