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WHO
03-14-2014, 10:22 AM
Car is a 15 month old 2012 GX with 20k.

This AM, in cold, but not extreme (-15) weather, I started the car up, which went just as usual. My car was stuck in a snow bank, and I forgot to disable the traction control. As usual, the freakin' electronics cut off all the fuel when it encountered a slight resistance (pity!) and I pressed the clutch to avoid stalling. Well, after about an extra second or 2, even though the clutch had been fully engaged, the engine ended up stalling anyway instead of idling. I guess the electronics reacted too slowly to allow enough fuel to idle.

The odd part is, after that, the engine wouldn't start at all! It would just crank and crank... I cranked for about 4-5 seconds, let it rest 10-15 seconds, even turned the ignition completely to OFF and On again, waited for all the sensors to load up, and then crancked another 4-5 seconds and the motor would turn and even kind of start faintly but as soon as I stopped cranking it, it would stall again. It's like no fuel was reaching the combustion chambers :WTF:

Finally, as a last resort, and because it was not possible that the engine was flooded, I cranked it again and gave it gas myself, and it started. But that whole scenario was just too odd. Was this phenomenon normal? First time I ever seen this on any car but that's also the first car I own that has direct injection.

The whole time, no "check engine" or any other warning lights came on.

Did I mention how bad of a job the traction control does in snow banks? :bang

Hyperion
03-14-2014, 02:27 PM
Sounds similar to me when I flooded my engine when the car shuts down after it's just been started. Just let it rest and then give it a bit of gas when you're trying to crank it.

Dynames
03-14-2014, 03:14 PM
Same thing happened to me last 2 weeks ago so its while its not 'normal' per se, in this situation it is. I started my car cold a few weeks back and had to shut it off due to having to leave the car for a brief min. When I tried starting it again it would not start same as what Hyperion described.

WHO
03-14-2014, 05:24 PM
OK, thanks for sharing your experiences. Odd indeed. I understand the car runs rich when it's cold, but if it was really "flooded" (which I don't think is really even "technically" applicable), I would assume the problem would only be worsened by giving it even more gas. Oh, well...

slam525i
03-14-2014, 06:06 PM
Giving it "gas" opens up the throttle body which allows a flooded engine to evaporate the excess fuel.

That said, I don't think it's flooded. After a stall, especially one where the computer almost saves it but not quite, I have trouble starting again too, but it'll usually start after a long (3-5 second) crank. Keep in mind, the cranking time is probably shorter than it seems. It's just a quirk in electronically controlled engines and doesn't seem to harm anything.

Wes08M3
03-14-2014, 08:13 PM
Finally, as a last resort, and because it was not possible that the engine was flooded, I cranked it again and gave it gas myself, and it started. But that whole scenario was just too odd. Was this phenomenon normal? First time I ever seen this on any car but that's also the first car I own that has direct injection.

2012 GX is not a direct injection engine. Only the GS is.

WHO
03-14-2014, 11:00 PM
I'm pretty sure Mazda lists the MZR 2.0L engine with DI from 2012 on...
Either way, I still don't think it was possible for it to be flooded (even though the accelerated warmup system would've been running rich at the time) and it's also not a normal occurence.

For sure, I cranked it for a good 3 seconds, then turn the ignition completely off, then "ON" but without cranking just waiting for all the sensors to load, then another 2-3 second crank. Then 1 second crank, and gave it gas. It's only when I gave gas that it started up just as if nothing had happened...

Anyway, my mistake for forgetting to shut off the terrible traction control and let it effectively stall the engine only about a minute after a -15 degree cold start...

sarujo
03-15-2014, 01:16 AM
The standard N/A MZR motors are not direct injection - other than the 2.3L DISI in the Speed3. Only the new SkyActiv motors are.

WHO
03-15-2014, 11:31 AM
The standard N/A MZR motors are not direct injection - other than the 2.3L DISI in the Speed3. Only the new SkyActiv motors are.

Oh, well. I was wrong. I thought for sure I read in the manual, and saw on some TV car review that it was DI. Still wasn't worth the 2,000$ extra to go to the SKY engine, which saved only about 1L/100km. Would break even after about 200k driven.

Thanks for everyone's input. Car's been fine since the hiccup incident.