i was driving on one of my 12 hour trips when the rev counter flicked down from to 3500rpm to 3000 and back in a second. This kept happening every 15-20 minutes.

After driving another 4 hours, in rural areas with no auto electricians, it gradually got worse dipping down to 2000 rpm. finally afeter a backfire it died 30 km from the nearest small town at 8 at night!

Having got a tow to the one mechanic garage I left it there and a friend drove the 250 km out to get me while the problem was fixed.

Obviously it was an intermitient ignition problem, I had a coil and dizzy sent down by the dailybus service- that took three days because of New Year, then it was weekend! Mazda wanted $600 for the module in the dizzy!

Nothing seemed to fix the problem. Finally after numerous calls to experts who could not come up with a solution, the problem was traced back down the primary ignition circuit. It was a short in the car immobiliser system at the coil junction, an after market system fitted at great expense to prevent theft! As the immobiliser system was turned off when you drive nobody thought of it

So if you do have such a system fitted, it is one thing to check when there is a ignition problem!

The breakdown was an event but what happened that night was a nightmare which I will detail on the next thread.

 

Glad it all worked out ok. I've had my set of experiences with cars fitted with aftermarket anti theft systems. Seems they like to mess up alot and cause cars to not wanna start.