Dang man, I've never had a car throw a CEL so early in it's life!!! All I did was start the car to put her in the garage and boom, CEL!

Anyone tried disconnecting the battery to reset the ECM?

And as a side note, to top it all off. When I washed my baby yesterday I found that someone hit my car and scratched the paint right off my passenger side rear quarter panel where the appearence package attaches behind the rear wheel. I thought it was just road grime until I washed her. There's like 5 spots and a long scratch of missing paint. Man, don't people have respect for other people's cars!!?!? I'm so pissed!! Had my car for a little over a month and she's already been damaged. Argh...sorry just had to vent!!!

:( I'm not a happy RX-8 owner today... :(

this is normal with the 8
I have reset mine twice

have the dealer fix it

What is a CEL?

Originally posted by RodsterinFL
What is a CEL?
Check Engine Light

Always warm the car up to operating temperature...

But get the dealer to pull the code anyways to see what tripped it.

Actually, the car had sat for less than a half hour. It was still warm.

stangmatt66 - do you have pix w/the appearance pkg? Considering it and haven't seen it on a vehicle yet.

dang if i could have gotten to u earlier....dont take it to the dealership. at least try unplugging ur battery for a while. and when ur done w/ that plug it back together and reset ur dsc and what not.

dont send it to the dealership unless u tried resetting it urself. cause they will just take up much of ur time to do the same thing i just mentioned above. give that a shot first, trust me :P

I have the CEL problem too!!!

Got the car last Thurs.

CEL lights up on the SECOND startup away from the dealership.

Took the car in today.

CEL lights up on the SECOND startup away from the dealership... again!

Here I am less than one week into rotory world, can someone tell me what maybe wrong?

They cleaned the sparkplugs and took a test drive when I took it in.

I don't want my car ownership to be like this, HELP! Can this be fixed? Thanks.

I'm very sorry about the damage. What a bummer! Jerks!

Originally posted by WayneOsWorld
stangmatt66 - do you have pix w/the appearance pkg? Considering it and haven't seen it on a vehicle yet.

No I'm sorry I don't have any pics of it....it looks HOT though! Try running a search in the RX-8 Multimedia/Photo Gallery (http://www.rx8club.com/forumdisplay.php?s=&forumid=6) forum or in the RX-8 Appearance/Body Kits (http://www.rx8club.com/forumdisplay.php?s=&forumid=27) forum. You can also see it in the Mazda RX-8 Parts Catelog (http://accessories.mazdausa.com/accessories/images/brochures/2004_RX8_AccessoryBrochure.pdf).

--Matt

Originally posted by AcuraEL
I have the CEL problem too!!!

Got the car last Thurs.

CEL lights up on the SECOND startup away from the dealership.

Took the car in today.

CEL lights up on the SECOND startup away from the dealership... again!

Here I am less than one week into rotory world, can someone tell me what maybe wrong?

They cleaned the sparkplugs and took a test drive when I took it in.

I don't want my car ownership to be like this, HELP! Can this be fixed? Thanks.

it's a longshot but make sure the gas cap is on tight 3-4 clicks.

You know, everyone keeps talking about the gas cap thing. I know we all know how to put on a gas cap. I can't beleive the car has just a problem with such a stupid little part...incredible...

Originally posted by stangmatt66
You know, everyone keeps talking about the gas cap thing. I know we all know how to put on a gas cap. I can't beleive the car has just a problem with such a stupid little part...incredible...

hey sorry i thought it might help. of course everybody knows how to put the gas cap on but 1 click may not be enough and what if it's a full service gas station and the attendant puts the cap on and doesn't know about the 3-4 clicks thing. i've had to redo it several times after the attendant did it.

RX-GR8, I wasn't speaking poorly of you or your response....I was just expressing a general feeling... :)

ok. no harm no foul. i haven't tried it but if i start the car without the gas cap on will the CEL light go on?

In theory and from what I know about the OBDII emissions system, if the fuel system senses that it's not pressurized (ie, gas cap is off) it should throw the CEL. But I've never tried it...

There are a thousand things that can trigger a CEL, but if you are not interested in why it came on or just want it out, no need to disconnect the battery, ten cycles of the ignition on/off will do it.

S

no kidding, i tried telling people to unplug the battery

Originally posted by StealthTL
There are a thousand things that can trigger a CEL, but if you are not interested in why it came on or just want it out, no need to disconnect the battery, ten cycles of the ignition on/off will do it.

S

StealthTL,

This morning I cycled the ignition 10 times as you suggested. The CEL remains. Have you had this work successfully?

At 1950 miles, from a stop sign, I accelerated hard right and within a few seconds the CEL came on. I pulled over, checked the gas cap (okay), checked the oil level (okay), restarted three times and it's still on. I've had no other problems to date.

I'm thinking it may be that oil pan baffle problem. I guess I'll have to take it in to the dealer.

Question: I had a pro install XM Satellite radio, do you think they may blame it on that (causing electrical problems) and might that be legit or BS?

A good dealer wont blame your CEL on a sat radio. If they do, demand the CEL code and its definition. They need to show how the sat radio DIRECTLY caused the specific CEL code to be stored. This wont happen because the Sat radio draws a minimal amount of power and thats it......its not invasive to the car at all.\

Get the CEL code anyway. I dont see how the oil pan would do it. It seems like the low oil level light has always been the flag on that issue.

It's these annoyances, albeit little, that really piss me off! It's a new car. New cars should not have these problems. And screwing around with it whenever it comes on is a pain.

Now I am not sure if I really want to buy one until I know for sure that Mazda fixes the problems. Granted it's not on every car but there are more than just a few with problems ranging from CEL's to blown seals. Not a good start for what I was hoping to be a great car.

Mazda, please restore my faith. I really want this car but not if there is a possibility of a problem that can occur within the first year or less of ownership.

The same thing happened to my Integra when I swapped engines. Turned out to be the ECM. I wonder if the factory reprogram had anything to do with some of these problems?

Sorry for my b!tchin.

Just remember.....the problems that have been discussed on these forums dont reflect the reliabilty of the RX8 as a whole. Before online forums, there would be no way of knowing that some guy in Dexter Maine had a CEL, or a bad rotor casting was found in a car in Australia.

All maufacturing has quality problems, but its not always directly connected to the world wide web. Even with all that you read, it wouldnt surprise me to find that Mazda has considered the RX8 roll out a huge success in terms of quality control.

The vast Majority of members here on this forum who have had no mechanicla problems are less inclined to write post about the absence of lets say.....a CEL. On the flip side....if a member experiences an issue.....it will get posted, almost for certain.

Ok
Ive had a bit of experience with this myself and after repeated trips to the dealer, heres what finally apears to have done the trick on mine. They replaced the upper intake manifold. Seems there was a minute vacuum leak that took a fair bit of testing to find.
If you are getting a CEL there is something amiss in your system and resetting it yourself by disconnecting the battery is foolish (IMHO) because if there is a serious problem, it is not being addressed and you run the risk of warranty void.
I believe that the only way to protect ourselves as owners is through documentation of every problem that occurs.
Besides, Its under warranty for 50,000 mi and Mazda gives you a loaner each time so give them the chance to make a terrific car perfect. If they fail you'll have all the ammo you need to make them take it back! :D
Its a bit aggrevating I must admit but, perserverance is a virtue for this great car!
BTW, I now seem to be getting 20 mpg combined!!! :D :D :D
Regards!:cool:

Had my 8 to the dealer yesterday. They say the CEL was because the car thought my thermostat was stuck open. They cleared it and all appears well for now.