Mazda 3 1.6 tdi - At a loss as to what to do now! | Technical matters | Back Room Forum

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Sun 12 Mar 2017 16:37

Mazda 3 1.6 tdi - At a loss as to what to do now! - Heather Mckee

I have a 1.6d Mazda 3 2007 it has an intermittent problem where it will cut out (revs drop and nothing I do will stop the car from stalling) and then the car sometimes will not want to restart, other times it will restart on first turn of the key, it could be when I am idling, driving, changing gear, accelerating, breaking, there is no correlation that I can find. The car will run fine for days, weeks or maybe just hours before this problem happens. I have had diagnostics run on the car with an independent garage using Mazda software which showed nothing, no current faults and no pending faults, the guy said the only fault he could see anywhere was an old fault on the system for the throttle positioning sensor but that it was in the history and not showing as active(he also cleared it just incase it was causing some random problem by being stored there). There is nothing obvious (such as leaking pipes, faulty wires or broken hoses in the engine) no lights ever illuminate on the dashboard when the problem happens or afterwards. I have changed the fuel filter, oil filter, air filter, MAF sensor, all 4 injectors had new seals, o-rings and seating rings, and ran some redex thru the system. The car previously had a split in the turbo intake pipe but the section was replaced and problem remained and has been getting gradually worse.. I am at a loss any help would be greatly appreciated

P.s the car is never filled with supermarket fuel, usually BP or BP ultimate. Thanks for your time guys!

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Sun 12 Mar 2017 17:11

Mazda 3 1.6 tdi - At a loss as to what to do now! - madf

I would suggest you may have an intermittent earth problem/wiring problem.

First thing to do is remake all (ALL) earth connections..

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Sun 12 Mar 2017 17:22

Mazda 3 1.6 tdi - At a loss as to what to do now! - Robin the Technician

Hi,

This is my suggestion as to something it could be that will cost you no money to test. I think your problem is fuel starvation. When the problem next occurs, try removing the fuel cap and see if the problem goes away. There maybe a vent in the cap thats not working or it may even have the wrong fuel cap fitted.

Hope this helps

Robin the Technician - I fix, therefore I am

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Sun 12 Mar 2017 17:51

Mazda 3 1.6 tdi - At a loss as to what to do now! - gordonbennet

Yes and along the lines where Robin the Tech is going, assuming your fuel system has a primer plunger or bellows, once you've checked on excess tank vacuum, give the plunger/bellows a press to see if you have a full fuel filter...literally it should be a solid primer in one or two strokes, if you get to half a dozen or more before you fully re-prime the system you have fuel starvation.

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Sun 12 Mar 2017 20:42

Mazda 3 1.6 tdi - At a loss as to what to do now! - elekie&a/c doctor

I assume this has the Ford/Psa diesel engine.The fuel filters on these are super critical and can cause engine cut out if at fault/partially blocked.What make fuel filter was fitted?

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Wed 6 Mar 2019 12:18

Mazda 3 1.6 tdi - At a loss as to what to do now! - 3uga

This engine is known to have fiel filters that chlog up easily. I dugest changing fuel filter at first

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Mon 13 Mar 2017 12:12

Mazda 3 1.6 tdi - At a loss as to what to do now! - Cyd

A failing crankshaft sensor exhibits the symptoms you describe.

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Tue 14 Mar 2017 19:21

Mazda 3 1.6 tdi - At a loss as to what to do now! - pd

Is this based on the Ford Focus (along with Volvo S40/V50 etc.)?

If so, check the central electrical module (or body control module as it might be called) which is the white box with fuses under the passenger side dashboard (below the glovebox).

I don't know about the Mazda but the connections on this frequently cause problems on the Volvos and Fords. Take all the connectors off and take the unit out and spray all the connections and plugs with electric contact switch cleaner. Put it back in making sure all the connectors are in tight.

What happens is the connections play up and the CAN bus fails causing the car to cut out. Nothing to do with the engine. The connectors corrode (nothing visible) or passengers knock them with the feet.

Wouldn't cost anything and worth a try.

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Tue 14 Mar 2017 22:32

Mazda 3 1.6 tdi - At a loss as to what to do now! - mcjiggs

Hi Heather

I owned the same model mazda 2006 and experienced the exact same problems last summer. After a couple of months of frustration and mechanics trying different things it was finally realised it was a intermittent failing fuel pump. Gordon Bennet is correct about checking the fuel filter but this engine doesn't have a priming ball for some reason which the peugeot and citroen engines do,i'm not sure if yours will be the same. I would certainly be looking at fuel supply to the engine, corroded fuel pipes can also be an issue on this model which may cause stalling or non start.

Regards

Shane

Edited by mcjiggs on 14/03/2017 at 22:33

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Tue 14 Mar 2017 22:53

Mazda 3 1.6 tdi - At a loss as to what to do now! - gordonbennet

t this engine doesn't have a priming ball for some reason which the peugeot and citroen engines do,i'm not sure if yours will be the same.

grrr, that is a poor show on a Diesel, unless the fuel filter is able to be pre filled with clean fuel before fitting it means you end up cranking the engine over for up to two minutes to prime the system, not good for the starter or the battery, i wouldn't mind but they call this cheapskate method self priming as if that were a good thing.

My W124 Mercedes Diesel was the same which was odd considering they call it the last overengineered Merc, no primer, poor show, fortunately a very accessible screw on filter that could be completely brimmed before offering it up into place so an instant restart.

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Sat 21 Oct 2017 23:40

Mazda 3 1.6 tdi - At a loss as to what to do now! - Ruairi Mc Ananey

Hi I'm having the same issue as Heather did anyone ever fix the problem?

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Sat 21 Oct 2017 23:48

Mazda 3 1.6 tdi - At a loss as to what to do now! - gordonbennet

Hi I'm having the same issue as Heather did anyone ever fix the problem?

Sadly Heather appears to be yet another poster who asked a question, received nothing but help and then vanished without a word.

We used to have more highly knowledgeable posters here at one time, brilliant chaps just like elekie doc, must have got cheesed off answering questions only to be ignored for their trouble and stopped posting.

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Wed 25 Oct 2017 15:13

Mazda 3 1.6 tdi - At a loss as to what to do now! - JONATHAN_11_80

Change the fuel filter and see How it goes your symptoms are typical of a blocked fuel filter. This engine needs regular fuel filter changes otherwise fuel starvation will result.

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Thu 26 Oct 2017 08:52

Mazda 3 1.6 tdi - At a loss as to what to do now! - Ruairi Mc Ananey

I've already done the fuel filter

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Thu 26 Oct 2017 21:07

Mazda 3 1.6 tdi - At a loss as to what to do now! - HensTeeth

Had something similar on a Focus 1.6 TDCI. Changed the fuel filter and got nowhere. Turned out to be the fuel rail sensor, which unfortunately, because they're expensive, meant a new fuel rail.

Ford won't warrant the changing of the sensor alone, due to the pressures involved, but a bit of googling suggests that some have managed to buy the sensor by itself and swap it with success.

Some seem to have had some success just by cleaning up the connections to the sensor.

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Thu 21 Feb 2019 19:53

Mazda 3 1.6 tdi - At a loss as to what to do now! - Sonia38

I’m assuming you got to the bottom of the issue but if anyone else is in the same boat, like I was, my issue was the main earth cable was disconnected!
This was found after a different garage tried numerous things including a new dpf. Changed garage and hey presto. Fixed!

Or not as was the case.

I put it into mazda and they have now fixed it.

The issue was the FUEL PRESSURE SENSOR, which can only be replace with a whole new fuel rail.

Edited by Sonia38 on 11/05/2019 at 10:06

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Tue 22 Oct 2019 20:52

Mazda 3 1.6 tdi - At a loss as to what to do now! - Millst3r

You can buy a pre owned fuel rail pressure sensor from E-bay for about £20
That’s the easy bit, fitting it is a bandit (feel free to fit in alternative word), I found the sensor at the back of the engine below the fuel filter housing, heater housing and radiator pipe. I disconnected front fuel pipe on the filter and disconnected the electrical connector. You also have to remove the housing and pull the filter out and then take out the lower housing with an 8mm and 10mm socket. Below that there is radiator pipe that is a push clip release, water will come out but do it on a cold engine and you won’t lose much. There is also a metal heating housing with 2 long 8mm bolts at the back and a circular metal clip holding it onto the heater pipe. When you get this off you have to ensure you get the gasket on the engine side where the bolts went in.
You can now disconnect the sensor and unscrews it with a 27mm spanner. Then repeat the process in reverse and it’s done.
If it’s a bit much at least you can tell your mechanic the best way in.

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