Crazy! I've never of this so called "limp mode!"

 

Limp mode kicks in when there's a critical issue going on with the car and it prevents itself from hurting / killing itself any more.

 

limp mode is u can get ur turbo spool at all.....it happened to me when i have the bad fuel pump....not enough fuel passing tho.... ecu sense the issue....put the car in limp mode so i wont damage the turbo....

 

what limp mode actually is - its a safe gaurd to help the car from breaking. when something goes a wry or the ecu senses something off it pulls timing (alot) to reduce the power the car makes. on a dyno with my car (not speed3 but turbo'd none the less) i went from 388whp to 235whp from the amount of timing it pulled.

 

I read somewhere on here that a normal CEL doesn't indicate limp mode but a blinking CEL does. Can anyone confirm that?

 

 

that is correct. blinking is an ignition malfunction most of the time. for example misfires and such.

 

[quote author=Sanch link=topic=104427.msg2117229#msg2117229 date=1204533459]
What does it mean to be in limp mode. WHen i got my car back it was running okay. When i reset the ecu it was like DAMN! Probably just my head but what does it to be running in limp mode. I heard in wrxs the only run 8psi. Or some shit. NEED SOME SERIOUS HELP UNDERSTANDING THIS!!
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The reason you felt such a power difference after resetting the ecu is... IMHO, the car has to relearn how to run with the parts it has. As the car runs, it learns how you drive, and thus 'tunes' the car to how you drive. I have no proof other than a butt dyno but I swear the car makes more power right after an ECU reset than it does after say 500 miles of 'normal' driving.

 

yes, blinking cell is 'stop the car and have it towed mode'

 

[quote author=jhershorin link=topic=104427.msg2117332#msg2117332 date=1204549506]
what limp mode actually is - its a safe gaurd to help the car from breaking. when something goes a wry or the ecu senses something off it pulls timing (alot) to reduce the power the car makes. on a dyno with my car (not speed3 but turbo'd none the less) i went from 388whp to 235whp from the amount of timing it pulled.
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yep, we have this on the 1.8T in the audi world as well. Although, on audi's it also kills boost. This usually happens on audi's when the boost requested is more than what the ecu thinks is safe.

 

ya. i dont have a factory turbo so my car can only pull massive amounts of timing. for any of you that have ever tuned before u know that it kills power. if im at full throttle at 16psi making 404 whp and i pull 10 degrees of timing from 5000-8000rpms i will lose anywhere from 30-60whp just from those 10 degrees and possibly alot more. timing is everything. to much = boom...to little = no power and horrible mileage

 

do you have some type of EMS? Stand alone? how are are you controlling boost/timing? I'm guessing the reg. 3 ecu isn't as much of a pita as the MS3 ecu.

 

its just as much a pain in the ass. im running a full stand alone from haltech to control timing and fuel. i have a haltech boost controller so my wastegate map is controlled through halwin 1.26 on my laptop just as the fuel and timing are. i almost have a perfect tune. one or two more hours on the dyno and i'll be set.

 

I just took my car in to tracy mazda to get those douchers to fix it hopefully it won't take them another three months to fix that. haha. So yeah only if the light is blinking do you want to take it in immediatly. I wonder what kind of cel i have well hopefully i will find out today.

 

[quote author=Unoriginalusername link=topic=104427.msg2117581#msg2117581 date=1204558649]

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Damn, I hate not having internet access at work right now...that's the first thing I thought of when I read the header, lol.

 

SO LIMP MODE ANYONE! HAHAA

 

I hope I don't face limp mode until I'm like 80 yrs old.

 

[quote author=Sanch link=topic=104427.msg2121038#msg2121038 date=1204657802]
SO LIMP MODE ANYONE! HAHAA
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Only when its really cold lol.

 

hahahahaha! Me either!

 

Blinking CEL means that the engine is misfiring often/badly enough that it will overheat the catalytic convertor badly enough to destroy it, which can raise your EGTs enough to damage the turbo/engine if you continue driving. So, for most instances, blinking CEL means you pull over as soon as you safely can and have the car towed. Cat convertors for newer cars are NOT cheap, and if Mazda sees that you drove a long ways with the CEL blinking (which you are specifically told NOT to do) they may or may not honor the warranty on the cat convertor. That would be like expecting Mazda to warranty your engine if you drove it 30k with no oil change.

"Limp mode" is not one specific mode. I think the term comes from electronically controlled transmissions, which will go into "limp mode" if it detects a problem with the pressure/shift solenoids or excessive clutch slippage. It will shut off all the solenoids and usually default to 1 gear (usually 2nd or 3rd) and the highest setting for line pressure. Something that one might describe as "limp mode" would be caused by any fault on our car that could reduce the engine output by quite a bit or cause the engine to run really poorly. Some examples might be the knock sensor, MAF sensor, accel pedal position or throttle position sensors...the car will probably not produce any boost at all without the knock or MAF sensors, and the accel pedal or throttle position sensors will either cause reduced power or nothing above idle depending on how many of the redundant sensors have failed. Basically, "limp mode" is designed to allow you to drive your car safely to the shop for repair if possible without allowing the engine to run into a situation where it may be damaged (i.e. running full boost without a function knock sensor is very dangerous )

 

GREAT WAY TO PUT IT.. THANKS FOR THE INFO.