Car running weirdly

[philz]

Okay,

I turn on my car, the car starts misfiring, I rev it a bit and it's back to normal, I suspect its the low fuel.

I drive my car out of the drive way to park it outside. turn it off.

About 30mins later, I start it again to go get some fuel.

The car is misfiring, rev it up, nothing happens its all the same.

So anyway I suspect the fuel is low, I crawl to the station.

Full tank of BP 98.

Car still runs like sh*t, I gotta go home.... but now the exhaust is getting louder, and their are smells of exhaust.

The car feels like its stalling, so i need to rev high, max speed is probably 50km/h.

Car splurts to home, I leave it outside my house, turn it off.

Again I go check on the car, turn it on, it works?

I drive it back into the driveway.

So wtf just happened, and now I believe I killed my cat, because it's smelling bad of fumes.

I don't believe the fuel pump has been replaced.

[wun911]

Sorry but is this the same car that had the new cam angle sensor and new coil over plug assembly?

[philz]

nope, haven't had a problem with this car yet.

First mechanical problem.

Other notes:

Car is 1999 NB8A, manual, 78000km.

And also the car is doing it again, turn it on, works good about 10secs later... misfiring and smelling.

I just did it AGAIN, the car misfires, then about 3secs later works fine, about 15-20secs later it start to misfire.

[JBT]

Plugs and leads?

[philz]

Thanks,

I'm guessing its plugs and leads as well, because I bought the car at 76,000km, but I'm not exactly sure when they were replaced.

Could their be any other problem?

[Craig]

Didn't the 99-2000 have ignitor issues?

[JBT]

Could their be any other problem?

There could, but that sounds like your problem and it's the cheapest fix. If it isn't the problem, you'll have a known good spare set. Try it first and let us all know how it went.

[Russellb]

nope, haven't had a problem with this car yet.

First mechanical problem.

Other notes:

Car is 1999 NB8A, manual, 78000km.

And also the car is doing it again, turn it on, works good about 10secs later... misfiring and smelling.

I just did it AGAIN, the car misfires, then about 3secs later works fine, about 15-20secs later it start to misfire.

Next time it does it try pouring a small amount of water over the coil packs
If it runs fine then you need new coils

[philz]

Thanks guys.

But what leads and spark plugs are good, or anything decently priced that does the job?

[JBT]

NGK spark plugs - BKR5E-11 Website.
Plug leads - Genuine Mazda or Repco/Autobarn/Supercheap/etc.

[philz]

Cheers JBT.

I just thought that there may be a difference with say thicker Magnecore or Standard Mazda items.

Also an update:

I have not done anything since yesterday, when it would idle normally, then suddenly misfire, then work again.

Woke up this morning, got in the car, turned it on, and it WORKS fine?
No misfiring, car is running perfectly, and there doesn't seem to be any smell?

SO I'm just waiting for it to misfire again, but it's not, I take it around the block a few times, it's running stronger than ever with the new fuel.

So WTF?

The only cool thing that came from this, was that it made one of the ends of my exhaust a nice burnt purple colour, which must have happened yesterday when it was misfiring badly.

[bruce]

Leads.

[wun911]

fuel filter and dirty batch of fuel?

[philz]

Leads.

Can leads be a temporary on and off thing?
I thought they were, if it either works or it doesn't work.

fuel filter and dirty batch of fuel?

I'm thinking it could be the fuel as well, because I have only been pouring half for the last couple of months, and the fuel in the car was about a month old, and I have also heard about long periods of time, with half empty tanks can cause condensation?

[sliq]

check out www.miata.net

they might have a few fixes on there.