Recommendations for car shops to fix my car with CEL?
 

So my Mazda3 is making this faint thumping noise on idle, and sometimes it even sounds like the engine is about to stall itself and die out. It's an automatic btw.

It actually happened once already at a red light. Engine just shut itself off.

CEL light is on.

This is my DD, so I need this fixed ASAP. Should I take it to a Mazda dealer or is there better/cheaper private shops that I should consider?

any competent shop should be able to take care of you. most shops will even check your cel for free and let you know what it is.

Do you know of any good shops?
I usually just take my car to the dealer, but I think some of them charge just to diagnose and scan.

All dealerships charge to scan and diag.....it takes time to do and time = money.

Cant go wrong taking it to the dealer, however any good shop should be able to deal with the issue. IMO I would just take it to the dealer and be done with it. The cost is often higher but you get warranty coverage.

If you can get your hands on an OBD2 scanner, just pull codes and Google some common problems for your specific car.
Might be something simple...

I actually prefer a reputable shop over dealer, just cause I'm trying to keep the cost lower.
Do private shops not have any warranty on their services?

ahh, I kind of did the stupid thing and ignored the CEL for a few months. Cause the CEL was intermittent and most of the time, the CEL wasn't there.
CEL would appear for maybe 1-2 times a month and go away on it's own. And the car itself was running perfectly fine. So I was like :fuckthatshit:

My current issue (mentioned in my first post) suddenly started 2 days ago, so it could be unrelated or maybe not..

The last time I scanned my car, it gave me:
"Evaporative Emission Control system leak detected (gross leak)"
"System Too Lean at Idle - Bank 1"

I'm really trying to avoid dealership cause this looks like it could be a costly repair.
My car is over 10 years old, btw.

Most shops will only cover the parts warranty side of things. So if the part fails its covered by the parts company warranty, but you would be paying for labour to re and re it again.

One of the reasons why I would rather deal with a dealer on most things than a random shop, but some shops are better than others with things like this. So I would ask them what there warranty policy is like just for piece of mind.

i honestly wouldnt bother taking a 10 yr old mazda 3 to the dealer, not wort it.. just look for reviews of shops closest to you.

Pull the codes yourself for $10: Super Mini ELM327 Bluetooth OBD2 V1.5 Car Diagnostic Interface Tool - Blue - Free Shipping - DealExtreme

Thats if he wants to put it off for another month

Evap Code - Check your gas cap to make sure the seal isnt damaged and also the filler neck clean, most likely a broken hose somewhere your evap system

Lean Code could be due to a vacuum leak

I don't need to self diagnose the problem. I just need the car fixed ASAP.

A friend referred me to a Minit-Tune cause they know the supervisor there, and more importantly, they were able to slot me in on a one day's notice.

Wish me luck. :)

any updates on the CEL light?

I have a scanner at the shop I work at, if the managers not here just bring it by next time and I'll scan it for free so you at least have an idea of what to expect for labour costs. If the manager's here, it's like $15 for a scan

They cleared the codes and cleaned up the engine a bit.
They didn't charge me and told me to come back if there's issues again.
So I just made another appointment later this week cause the CEL is back, and the car still has the same problem.

I cleaned my engine with some seafoam on the weekend and tried to do some testing.
Car is still having low idling issues. RPM idles at 800~, and sometimes dip down to 600-500 and you can hear the engine almost stall itself out.

RPM dip seems to be more apparent when I turn on the fan or A/C.

Did they clear the code, or did they actually tell you what the code was. Just clearing a code doesn't make the problem go away

Have you checked how clean/dirty your throttle body is? Common thing on 2.3's to have to clean them. Also, after cleaning, any codes must be cleared and the proper re-learn procedure must be followed.

Disconnect batt., step on brake for 10 seconds, wait 5-10 minutes, reattach batt., ign. ON for 1min, OFF for 1min, START and IDLE for 5mins.

O2 sensor?

Come back and let us know what the problem was after u have it fix.

They didn't tell me what the code was, but I did scan the car before already, so I was pretty sure what codes would be shown.

I added a Corksport SRI about a year ago. Should still be clean?
I also put on a Corksport exhaust in May. Shouldn't affect O2 cause I still have the first oem cat, where the O2 sensor is.

TBH, I don't think the guy did much last time... He mentioned he cleaned something (MAF sensor I think?), and cleared the code. The car didn't have the idling issues when I was leaving, so I didn't really think much more of it. He didn't charge me, so I guess that made me less cautious.

Anyway, I'll explain the issue more clearly next time I take it in.


I'll reset the battery later today and see if that helps.
During the weekend, I got my buddy to bring over his OBD2 and clear the code.
CEL went back on within 2 mins... lol

Is idle issue when warm or cold? The throttle body might need a wipe down..

Not specific to your case, but what he was asking is did you check to see if your O2 sensor is still good.
Can't remember exactly how old your car is, but over time O2 sensors will fail and when they fail, it may affect how the car runs.
I know on my old Honda's, a dead O2 sensor means my car would go from 500 km per tank to 300 km's and run really rich.

I'm not that mechanically inclined, so I'm not exactly sure how to check all of this stuff.

I went out earlier to reset my battery. Now the car sounds even worse... or maybe it's just re-calibrating itself.
It's ok when it's in Park, but once I put it on Drive, with the foot on brake, it starts going crazy.

Engine actually stalled out, but it happened before I had a chance to start recording.
I turned the car back on and started recording:


With my left foot on the brake, I blipped it a bit around 0:18 mark.
After that, you can see the tach bouncing, and this is with me just on the brake again. (I'm not tapping the gas).

Why don't you stop letting shops just clear the code and/or resetting the battery and/or trying to check things yourself and instead just take it to a shop to diagnose and fix once and for all. You even admitted the light's been on and off now for a few months. It's there for a reason-- to let you know there's a problem that needs fixing. There are so many options that have been mentioned in different threads many times in the past: Garage5, Speed Syndicate, etc...

Also a quick google search brings up possible causes/solutions.

https://www.google.ca/search?q=mazda...sm=91&ie=UTF-8

Then once resolved, let us know what the issue was.

Do that and clean the MAF again (?) while you're at it. It's cheap to do and can make a significant difference. I'm sure you can find step-by-step instructions on the Mazda boards. Either that or round up another RS service posse :)

Also consider swapping back the stock airbox. Aftermarket intakes take in more air which will muck up things quicker (ie: throttle body).