Loss of boost?

[pHiLix]

Hi guys. I brought my car into Mazda for a warranty job yesterday and now the car feels like it's running less boost or something? Boost doesn't kick in as vicious as it used to I think..

I noticed all my electronic settings such as trip meter, stereo settings, etc were reset so they probably did a flash on the car?

[AD07]

Ahhh. the dreaded PCM update strikes again..... Just give it a few WOT runs & things should feel a bit better.

[pHiLix]

Ahhh. the dreaded PCM update strikes again..... Just give it a few WOT runs & things should feel a bit better.

Can you please explain a bit more about the PCM update? Why do they do it?

Are you certain that the car will re-learn after it's been given a few thrashes? It's not a permanent power loss that I'm experiencing at the moment is it?

[YOU LOSE]

Did the warranty include replacing the turbo or was it another matter ?
Col

[pHiLix]

Did the warranty include replacing the turbo or was it another matter ?
Col

No another matter. It was in regards to clunky gear shifts which they didn't end up solving anyway. Not sure why they did the update!

[AD07]

They basically upload new parameters into your PCM.....its a bit of an enigma though because Mazda cant even tell you what has been changed (they wont flash it back to the previous setting). Im guessing they get the parameters from japan & install them at different service intervals.
The car will probably never be the same as what it was before the update, but frequent WOT runs will help the PCM learn a more aggressive mapping......i think
Hope this helps.....

[Jmac]

OR go for aftermarket flash

[pHiLix]

False alarm guys, rang Mazda before and they said they never updated any software on my car. Stupid me, I just assumed they did because all my electronic settings were reset but that was because they had to take out the battery to check the engine mounts.

So I'm guessing my ECU was reset because of this then? Maybe the ECU needs time to re-learn again hence why my car feels a little slow (or maybe it's all in my head!).

[240MPS]

[YOU LOSE]

Ok as for your gearshift bushes for a small price buy a set of silicone nylon bushes of of 2XS they make a big difference to the gearshift action
Col

[2XS]

Mazda reflash the ECU because of the engine mount issues they were having. The flash reduces the torque curve to stop the violent impact on the mount. I was told it was a necessity if I wanted to keep my warranty.

This is what started the dreaded mod process for me. I compensated for the reduced torque curve by buying an exhaust.

[Doug_MPS6]

There are a lot of myths, usually perpetuated on sites like this, about the ECU "learning" all sorts of accommodations to (usually owner-induced) newly-evident or introduced changes over what existed previously.

This ECU's self-adjustment capacity is basic and only deals with such things as injector flow rates, timing parameters, altitude, O2 content, and various other electronically sensed parameters.

But if you have done a crook mod (say, not fully tightened a clip on an intake hose) or have a severe mechanical issue, no amount of caning or kilometres will cause the ECU to magically figure out what is wrong and correct it, and if the problem is serious you need to stop driving and sort it. Don't keep driving in the hope the ECU will apply a band-aid to a stuff-up or problem. And thrashing the car, say, in the event that timing is way off, could potentially be disastrous. If you are detonating or blowing smoke or sucking or blowing induction air, or repeatedly stalling, or throwing CEL's, then stop driving and investigate what is wrong.

When the battery has been disconnected and then reconnected after service, usually the ECU has figured out all it is ever going to after about 15km of running.

[DISIMS3]

I still don't understand the concept of the "ECU learning" but I did notice my car has felt a tad bit more responsive this week after some hard driving on last weekends cruise?

[Nexus]

I can't think of an example and I don't know if anyone has experienced this but there are apparently some rare one-off issues that mazda resolve by adjusting the ECU programming...one-off

The ECU does learn stuff over the course of 20K or so and I have found that 20K of agressive driving is necessary to get it responding agressively.

I think there is a certain amount of auto-tuning above and beyond the obvious adjustments such as barometric pressure air temp etc.

Having said that, if there's a physical fault such as boost leak the ECU can't fix that, as Doug_MPS6 said. The ECU can only adjust within a defined range of set parameters.

We've had a heatwave, perhaps it is possible you are observing envioronmental influences?

There are a lot of myths, usually perpetuated on sites like this, about the ECU "learning" all sorts of accommodations to (usually owner-induced) newly-evident or introduced changes over what existed previously.

This ECU's self-adjustment capacity is basic and only deals with such things as injector flow rates, timing parameters, altitude, O2 content, and various other electronically sensed parameters.

But if you have done a crook mod (say, not fully tightened a clip on an intake hose) or have a severe mechanical issue, no amount of caning or kilometres will cause the ECU to magically figure out what is wrong and correct it, and if the problem is serious you need to stop driving and sort it. Don't keep driving in the hope the ECU will apply a band-aid to a stuff-up or problem. And thrashing the car, say, in the event that timing is way off, could potentially be disastrous. If you are detonating or blowing smoke or sucking or blowing induction air, or repeatedly stalling, or throwing CEL's, then stop driving and investigate what is wrong.

When the battery has been disconnected and then reconnected after service, usually the ECU has figured out all it is ever going to after about 15km of running.

[pHiLix]

So it's been 2 weeks since I had the car with Mazda. I still believe that I've lost some 3rd gear boost and I don't think it has anything to do with the ECU being reset either. Boost in all the other gears feels the same but boost in 3rd gear feels like it doesn't kick in as hard as it used to. If only I had a boost gauge then I'd know for sure.

Any ideas guys? Maybe they were messing with the engine and forgot something =/