Ok so I took my car to get some maintenance done on it. The guy said the car feels like there is an imbalance in the engine. Has anyone ever had a problem with an imbalance? The car drives fine but doesn’t have the power that it once did. He also said that he found a gas leak under the plenum. Does anyone have any ideas of what the problem might be? Do you think the gas leak may have damaged the engine at all?

 

Do you feel the imbalance when sitting still and revving the engine, or only when the car is moving?

It seems unlikely that the engine would all of a sudden go out of balance. But it could be a bad driveshaft. Or a disintegrating clutch disc. Or a loose/bent engine pulley. Or...

The lack of power suggests that you might just have a blown engine. Do you have a boost gauge that also reads vacuum? Has your vacuum reading at idle changed from what it used to be? Is the gauge needle jumpy or stable at idle?

Whatever the case, be careful -- imbalances can end badly if your flywheel explodes, driveshaft vaults your car into a flip, etc.

-Max

 

He seems to think the imbalance is in the motor somewhere. the boost seems to be fine and I havent really felt any vibrations. The car was running a little rough before but that could be due to the gas leak. I have a 3 year warranty through Mazda. do you think I should just go back to Mazda and tell them to look at it? I think the guy did a pinout on the car and thats when he noticed something was right about it. let me know if any of this makes sense.

 

That doesn't make any sense. If there is a mechanical imbalance, you will feel vibrations.

Get the fuel leak fixed, but unless you noticed something wrong or you really trust the mechanic, I wouldn't have him spend any more time/money searching for a symptomless mystery ailment.

Cars always feel less powerful after a while. You get used to the power.

-Max

 

The leak is probably your fuel pulsation dampener, which is attached to the primary fuel rail. they tend to go bad and start leaking at around 100,000 miles. its' located underneath all the seq turbo crap, right on top of the motor (the primary injs insert into the intermediate housing). If you can get that fixed under warranty, I recommend it as soon as possible. Many FDs have burnt to the ground from a leaking fpd......