Hi Everyone! My best mate & I collected a 2006 Mazda 6 MPS yesterday and had to drive 500 miles to get home. The first 300 odd miles were absolutely fine but something has gone wrong with the car and was wondering if anybody could help shed some light on possible causes... I shall explain what happened exactly.

We were cruising on the motorway for about 120 miles when we came across a superb flat piece of road so we decided to open up the throttle and give the car a good blast. I must stress that we had already given the car a good blast on other straights and she went like a bat out of hell! However, this time when we opened up the throttle, the car reached about 4.5K revs and started spluttering and the Check Engine dashboard indicator came on and stayed on. We immediately slowed down and pulled into the next service station. I reset the ECU (Engine LED off) and we continued on our journey. We tried again, same thing... I have to mention that it was VERY wet on the roads at the time too.
This car also has the Mazdaspeed Induction kit installed also... The guy we bought it off did say that in very wet conditions the engine can do this sort of thing but even so,a car of this calibre should not suffer from this. I wouldn't be happy with a powerful car if this sort of thing always happens when it's wet!

I'm waiting forsome dry weather tosee if this problem goes away as after we got home, left the car overnight then tried again today, same thing... Not a happy bunny!

Can anyone give anyadvice or even any ideas/suggestions please?!?

Thanks!

 

Welcome to the forum, toonzer, and Congrats on the new ride!! I"m sure in the end it"ll all work out for the best.

You"re right!! The car should not be acting that way, even w/the CAI installed. Only the deepest water should foul the engine (hyrolock) using a CAI.
While I have a naturally aspirated 3 series car (2.3L petrol) not a 6 series MPS (Mazdaspeed6 here in the US) I had a similar problem that developed some time after I installedmy Mazdaspeed CAI. When the car finally started acting wrong (and I was still under the factory warranty,) I took it in to the dealer for service who then reflashed the PCM/ECU programming and installed a new MAF sensor. +/-5000 miles and no problems yet.
When I had tried a new MAF sensor on my own before taking it in, there was no difference in the bad performance.
That"s my best suggestion to you, especially if you are still covered under warranty.

 

Thanks Virgin1 for your response...

Unfortunately it's not my car! I went with my best mate to check the car over and give some advice. I drove it the majority of the way back home and I have to say I felt gutted when this problem occured as my best mate couldn't get the full feel of it - What a bloody hassle...

The Greatthing is - It has been much drier today with no rain and after carefull coaxing, the problem has cleared! Took a good 20 to 30 miles though but that has shown that the wet weather was the culprit...

So out of curiousity, would it be still worth replacing the MAF sensor and flashing the ECU? If that could prevent this problem in the wet - I'm all for it! However, is there anything else that could be done with the present kit? Also, am I correct that the MAF sensor is the wired component on the intake pipe? I want to make absolutely sure that I don't mess with any unnecessary parts... This is only the 3rd Mazda I've played with and the first 6 MPS!

Cheers mate!

 

It couldn"t hurt to ask your local dealer if they"ve run into this before, could it? If they"re honest about it (surprisingly, mine was,) they will tell you truly.
If the CAI were sucking up water, the car would likely hydro-lock breaking pistons and bending connecting rods. A little water should not cause any problem like this that I am aware of.
A second thing that I am not all that familiar with but have read aboutis called an Air Straightener, put in line w/the CAI to avoid CEL"s. I do not know if it would help your problem or not. I only know that my 04 3S was much better after the re-flash, and the new MAF, though it took 2 of them to get it right. Sensitive little buggers they are.

 

Part of the problem with the intake on the 6 (I am assuming that it is in the same place as it is on the 3.0L V6) is the location of the MAF on the intake tubing. Since it is so far down the pipe, it is easy for some moisture to get on it thus throwing that fun little code you encountered. This is a code that is in place to help the engine avoid hydro-lock, but with the MAF being as sensative as it is it is a code that can get thrown quite easily. I'd recomend getting one of the water-resistant socks that are available and it should help your situaion so long as it's only an occasional occurance. If it's something that happens on a regular basis (ie. any and every time it rains) then i'd go ahead and follow Virgin's advice with the reflash and MAF replacement.

:EDIT:
Sorry, I forgot to include where you could find the product i was talking about http://www.therpmstore.com/product_i...roducts_id=367
Here you go!

 

Thanks so much for your input on this problem.!.!.!

Just to add, the Car is NOT under warranty. 60K miles or 3 years... It's on 72K miles. Warranty long gone...

Virgin1 - Awesome input! I was wanting to put the original Air Intake back in this morning but decided against it due to the work involved - Hence here I am!
[&:]CEL's?[&:] I'm gonna give it some time (Our weather hasreally been atrocious)- I'll get called when something's up...

CKeffer - Even I thought straight off the MAF sensor was a bit 'isolated' - also a non-insulating or 'warm' area..... Good to know that someone else has seen the same! I had heard about the 'sock' for this model but wasn't sure if it would help... Let's see what happens... Shall be in touch ASAP...

 

The injection pumps on the DISI motors have been known to run out of capacity at higher RPMs & have known to put the car into a lean mode causing motor damage. This is especially true if you are cruising on the highway & start getting into it. Hopefully this is not the issue you are having. I am hoping that maybe the CAI just sucked up a little water. Keep us updated on what you find out.

 

Hi there again - Time for an update...

It certainly appears to be water as once everything had cleared up the engine has singing sweet and we havn't had as bad weather since.Myself and my matemust expressour gratitude for all your advice and comments. We shall certainly keep you's posted on anything else... Thank You!!

Just some icing on the cake - We were about the replace the rear brakepads and guess what? I broke the Wheel Nut key!!! Bollocks!

 

I was about to congratulate you, but it doesn"t sound like anything was really solved?
You should not be having a water problem w/any CAI, let alone one that was approved for useby Mazda,unless you are driving through rivers. There is another issue that you are not finding. Perhaps it"s a faulty MAF sensor that has been compromised (a hairline crack in it"s body perhaps?) and is allowing moisture to affect it internally, but it"s got to be something.
My sister"s Porsche (a 914 back in the "70"s) was like that.A small crack developed in the body of the EMU mounting in the engine bay near the engine. Every time it rained she had problems w/it starting and sputtering, until she had the fuelmanagement computer/controller replaced. No more problem.

As far as the rear brakes are concerned, I have yet to tackle that problem myself, but I hope you know you will need a brake caliper piston tool in order to replace the pads.
The pistons have to be simultaneously compressed and "screwed" back into the caliper or you will not be able to get the caliper back over the rotor.

Keep searching, toonzer, you"ll find it out sooner or later. My hope for you is sooner....

 

Hi, firstly thanks to my mate toonzer for posting this on my behalf. As th owner of said MPS I have finally registered.
Yes you were right, the problem has not gone away, it has in fact become much worse.
Jan 31/09:-
Once again i experienced the same fault as before, the next day i took the car for a dyno run, this did not happen because every time the car reached 4500 (on the road there) it was like hitting a wall. The whole car jerked forward as the engine choked or something. The guy at the test centre thought it highly likely the MAF is bust.
My question is: Is the MAF sensor on a MAZDASPEED induction kit stock or not?