New Guy Here!

Mtnbker3531

Mtnbker3531

Greenie N00B Member
Hey everyone figured I'd say Hi! Long time MSF forum lurker and since that's gone I'm here. 13 Speed 3 Mostly stock at 124k I'd like to drive it to at least 200k
I do have some questions for anyone here as far as a diagnostic scan tool solution. I stumbled upon Forscan software for Ford/Mazda.

Is anyone familiar with it? My car isn't running correctly and I'm in the process of figuring out my issue. It would be nice to plug the car into some diagnostic software similar to what the dealer has so I can see exactly what sensors/modules aren't happy. Thanks!
 
Db09ms3 said:
Welcome! Nudes?
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Remeber to only post them in the NSFW section

Edit: as for Scan tools I've had success with obdii Bluetooth ones and torque app pro for the last few years had this guy for 6 years it's slow and does the job but starting to die
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I'll be replacing it with this one as it has better support for European and more smart models (I have a Merc that the veepeak doesn't fully interface with)
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Hey Raider, thanks I remember seeing your name over on MazdaspeedForums quite a bit. Thanks for starting this up! Travman, are you stock/modded? What kinds of parts have seen wear out fail in that time?

I'm having some starting issues and I'm down to thinking it's the crankshaft postion sensor. I have a whole list of things I've tried/done, diagnosed. I was going to post my question in the appropriate place regarding that.
 
She’s mostly stock. I’m no where near an expert, but here are the issues I’ve had/things I’ve had to work on:
-Clutch and throw out bearing; replaced with fidanza flywheel and luk clutch
-CEL due to insufficient EGR flow; pulled everything connecting to the EGR pipe and valve including the intake manifold and cleaned it all out -and- cleaned the valves now no more CEL (pretty sure[mention]Raider [/mention]had the comprehensive how-to I used for research; thank you sir!)
-During my egregious work pulling parts to work on it I broke the EBCS nipple; replaced with a JBR EBCS
-Classic stuff like cracked hoses and serpentine belt were replaced
-RMM and Passenger mount and transmission mount (is that what it’s called?); replaced with a variety including COBB RMM
-Pretty sure my Turbo is on its last leg - not as much power and burning through oil like a champ

A couple other things I modded- JBR short shift plate and rigid shifter bushings, some wheels, and I’ll be putting on wheel spacers when it’s more dry out.


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Well I've been dealing with my car not being drivable for over a week, finally pulled some DTCs that made me realize I don't have the time to fix this on my own. I'm seeing a loss of communication with a few different modules.
One being the ICM. Which makes sense why the car runs great for a few miles and then stumbles and occasionally mis fires and eventually dies with no restart. There is an electrical issue probably something dumb like a bad wire or loose connection but since this is my only car I decided to take it in. First time having someone else fix my car but as I've gotten older I've realized what my time is worth.
That being said once I find out what went wrong I'll post up details in case anyone else has a similar issue in the future and can learn from my experience.

Also I did download Forscan if anyone needs a way to look at DTCs or log any data it will show you everything and it's free. There's versions for Windows, Android and iOS.
 
Welcome! Good luck with figuring out the gremlin, hopefully nothing too serious.

You can also run Torque with an obdii dongle (lol that word) to live monitor parameters and check DTCs. There's a specific Mazdaspeed PID add-on package for each of first and second gen ms3 to give you a few more key parameters to monitor (like KR, for example).
 
So I ended up having the car towed to the dealer. Luckily a friend of mine is the Service and Parts director there so I got a break on labor. I have never paid for an auto repair in my life and boy was that an eye opener.

They were a bit stumped as to what the issue was. Put their Master Tech on it and all they could come up with was ECU software was not the latest version and I had Gen 1 spark plugs in my Gen 2.

So I had them reflash the ECU and change the plugs......Don't get my started on what dealers charge to put plugs in a Speed3. You might as well get gang raped by a pack of Gorillas.

So they get the car running again the way it should be and the only other thing noted was that the bracket on the valve cover that has the coil pack ground wire attached to it was not quite as tight as it should have been.

The week before all this I pulled my intake manifold and cleaned my valves. I'm guessing when I put everything back together I didn't tighten that bracket enough which caused all my problems. I ran Gen 1 plugs for 60 k no problems I never realized I made that mistake. The ECU software out of date shouldn't have made a difference either.

It just got to a point where I couldn't deal with it any longer since this is my daily so I took it in. Car runs great now and I learned a few things so it's not a complete loss.

The fact the master tech and two other techs took a day and a half and were border line stumped makes me feel a little better about the whole thing.

Oh and I do have Torque but I found FORSCAN which you can run on a Windows PC, Android, or IOS. It's Ford/Mazda specific software and it will even let you edit if you want.

Part of what made me take it in was the DTCs I was seeing on FORSCAN. It looked like I had some CANBUS issues because there was a bunch of loss of communication with various modules.
 
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Gen specific spark plugs. Now I really have heard it all.

Glad you got it working again, though. Sucks to have to bite the bullet and eat a disproportionately large repair/diagnostic fee but sometimes you just need to get a fresh set of eyes or hands on it. Been there, as well.
 
Glad it’s working! What a strange “fix.” I cleaned my valves about 6months ago.... I hope I tightened that bracket myself [emoji854]


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Yeah well it makes sense. The way the car was behaving made me feel like it was an electrical issue. If the coil packs where intermittently getting a bad ground connection it would cause all my sporadic issues.

I have my doubts the PCM software and the Gen 1 plugs had anything to do with it but those where the only 2 varibles they could come up with. So at that point I wanted them eliminated just to make sure. I just needed the car back and running properly.
 
Glad she's running, gen1 spark plugs lol. Probably I'd a different number part recommendation but really considering we all run the same plugs no issues.

Those pesky grounds! Will get you Everytime especially on the speeds.
 
Awafrican, yeah they are different part numbers and if I recall the gap is slightly different. Like I said before though I ran those "Gen1" plugs for 60k no issues. Oh well lesson learned.
 
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