What does it mean?

[Artemis]

Was driving locally yesterday and the strangest thing happened.

Accelerating from lights just casually and in 3rd gear, engine made a strange sound like a rattling sound, I lost power for a split second and a huge puff of smoke came out.

Has been fine since so have absolutely no idea what happened.

Any ideas.

[SarcasticOne]

mmm, backfire... not 100% sure what it means, those with more knowledge of such things than myself will be able to help you out with possibly causes

[Reedy]

How sudden was the loss of power? I had this happen to me once and it was throw me through the windscreen kind of deceleration, then it picked up again. I THINK that's a fuel cut-out which is apparently fairly common with the MPS.

A backfire alone won't cause a loss of power.

The rattling sound could be knocking, what rpm was the engine running at? Was it less than 2000?

See if it happens again or if it was a once off, my fuel cut has so far just been a one off event.

[Artemis]

Not sure what the revs were but yeah it was kinda like that sound it makes when it's going to stall.

The loss of power wasn't enough to throw me through the windscreen but it was definitely noticeable.

Hopefully it's just a once off.

[Artemis]

It scares me when stuff like that happens because with the 4 Mazda 3's I have owned, I have never ever had any problems no matter how minor.

[MPS2NV]

Prob just the wrong place and wrong time

[luke 3mps]

Means a new Garrett turbo nice new rebuilt engine... So the only smoke u see is from ur tyres ..

Im sure its nothing major 9/10 out of ten it wont happen again

[Artemis]

Means a new Garrett turbo nice new rebuilt engine... So the only smoke u see is from ur tyres ..

Yes this did cross my mind lol.

[Grajy]

Sounds like a contaminant in the fuel line for a split second. That rattle is 'pinging', and the loss of power is the ECU bringing the engine back under control to avoid damage. The puff of smoke is common to happen during this too.
I'd occasionally run a fuel additive to help break down any contaminants that have joined to make a larger contaminant. (hard to explain). Water, sludge, etc could of been the cause. A fuel additive will break this stuff down in your fuel tank so it wont happen again.
Yes I agree. This was a one off, and very rarely happens.

jg

[boost]

What fuel are you using?