I already did, Joe. It will be here tomorrow morning. Just now worth goofing around with. A new one in, and bypassing the alarm system, eliminates two likely culprits very easily.

And keeps me from climbing the walls - which is well worth the $80 - LOL!

Some absolutely GREAT advice here. I've printed every single one of them out plus the diagrams I found on line, etc. Thanks guys! I'll report back to let you know what cured the little car's ills.

angela

Most domestics use a 5volt reference so the TPS sweep is usually .5 volt up to 5.0 volts. Unplugging the TPS should give 0 volts but the system may require some sort of voltage to work. Easy check is to back probe the terminals and look for a low voltage. Some cars will need to see under 3.5 volts for clear flood to not enable.

I went into the shop this morning to bring the info you guys suggested and the new crank position sensor. I think most mechanics would have shot me, but this guy is my husband's best friend so he puts up with me. :D

TPS sweep is normal. Voltage to the injectors, injectors can be triggered to fire, just won't fire on their own. He says it is plausible that the crank position sensor works, but doesn't work properly. That it is a square wave and the "length" of the wave determines how long the injector is open. If the square wave looked more like a spike, it could still signal ignition but possibly not have enough length on top of the spike to fire the injectors. He does not have an oscilloscope to let him see the shape/length etc., of the square wave.

He also added "I'll @$##$ try anything at this point!" LOL!

Fingers crossed guys.

angela

I know some of the older GM's use the ignition coil to trigger the ECM to fire the injectors. Not sure if that is the same case with the mazda but it could be a possible cause especially if it uses an ign module with multiple coils assembled to it.
Does it use a cam sensor also?

Good luck!!

Well, you guys were spot-on.

The Crank Position Sensor fired it right up.

Now about that knocking noise on the rear bank... :eek: Today was not a good day when our mechanic buddy called and told me this. We've made the decision to not diagnose that problem. It's not a stuck lifter (yes, they are hydraulic) it's that expensive wallet-draining sound that might be a broken cam but it is probably a dropped valve. He is almost sure it is a dropped valve due to the blow-back.

Done. Absolutely flat done with this. Car goes to charitable donation.

angela

Those lifters always make noise, I worked for a VW Mazda dealer in 90-91 and remember new 626's ticking right off the truck with no miles on them. I think the factory recomended fix at the time was an ounce or two of auto trans fluid right into the oil filler. I remember this quieting up some before I had time to close the hood, others would just clack away. Good times, glad to hear it is running.

I actually did not read your whole post before blabbering my big mouth, Not a lifter noise I see.