Hi Everyone!

I am a newbie to the club and a fairly newbie with my 8 and I have a couple of questions. My name is Karen and I live in Twinsburg, OH (about 30 miles outside of Cleveland). I got my 8 the Saturday before Thanksgiving.

As you might guess, it gets rather cold in these parts. About a week ago it was very cold here...around 12 or so degrees and on my way to the office, my check engine light came on. Hubby took it to the dealer who could find nothing wrong. Finally, the service tech called Mazda. They said that the sensors are reading temps wrong and thinking the car is too hot or too cold. It's a software issue and there is supposed to be a fix coming out around the end of the month. When we got cold temps again this weekend, the check engine light came on again. Has anyone else experienced this issue? If so, have you heard the same thing about the software update?

Also, I'm curious as to how long each of you let that engine warm up and cool down. I've been religiously warming and cooling for a full minute (based on what the dealer told me). Are you all doing the same thing?

Thanks for the help and I'm happy to be here




__________________
2004 Velocity Red - 6 Speed
2003 FXDL - Anniversary Two Tone

From your description........

It may be what a few members experienced in the first few weeks of ownership.

A CEL was triggered with a code for the thermostat. In some cases the thermostat was replaced, however the problem was a software glitch.

Typically when you get a code for the thermostat it because its stuck open or closed, causing temps to read abnormally. This was not the cause in the RX8.

A tech told a forum member that a software "reflash" would fix the problem. The reflash would reprogram the hi and low temp parameters that would trigger a CEL.

... again, what you posted only resembles what was reported, but it looks awfully familiar.

here (http://www.finishlineperformance.com/rx8/docs/index.html) is a list of current service bulletins for the RX8.

welcom to the forum.

Gyro,

Thanks so much for the help. I got a hold of Mazda and, sure enough, that's the problem. For some reason, my dealer didn't have the software update, but Mazda contacted them to straighten things out. Cudos to Mazda Corporate...they responded quickly to my email and are working with the dealer on my behalf!

Karen

A minute ought be fine for warmup. The main thing is, you don't want to stall while the engine is still cold. You are the best judge of that. Many people erroneously think you have to warm up for 5 minutes before driving. I think the true story is, you need to warm up for 5 minutes before shutting down. This can be at idle for a minute, plus driving for several minutes and you'll be fine. Here in the land of eternal summer my rule is warm up at least 10 seconds before putting into gear. I start the car, fasten my seatbelt, put on my cool Italian shades, then ready to back out.

Regarding your question about warm-up time; I have noticed what I believe to be the rotors rattling during cold weather start ups. I let the engine run for about five minutes(longer if I have made the time to do so) or until I no longer hear the rattling sound. If you rev the engine up a little bit when it is cold, you may hear the same thing. Whether it is my lawn mower, snow blower, dirt bike, or RX, I let all my engines warm up before I put a load on them. Being from Detroit, I share the same climate as you.

C.R.

Why do we have to cool down our 8's? I have been warming mine up, but not cooling it down.