I was driving my car on the highway at high rpms. My oil light was already on earlier in the day and I added some oil and the light went off. I was hitting around 7 to 8 thousand rpms when my oil light started flashing. I immediately let off the gas to pull over and then the light went from flashing to steady. Now the engine light is on all the time and I am having some very hard start-ups every now and then. The car still runs like a champ so i am very confused and almost nervous to bring it in to the dealership. Does this sound familiar to anyone?

Did you get the code read?

No not yet. Im actually looking for someone that has a reader .

If you have less the 100K make sure your fluid levels are toped off and take it to the dealer. I had hard start problem but ran fine once it warmed up. Coolant was leaking into the housing and oil was leaking in the coolant causing worlds of problems. getting a new engine installed right now. thanks to the manufacture warranty...

Autozone will read your code(s) for free

Cool thanks for the advise. And maybe i'll shoot over to auto zone and have them read it. Would bad plugs cause an engine light to come on?

You started off by talking about your oil light then switched to your CEL (Check Engine Light). Which lights did what exactly? It looks like you said the oil light was flashing then went from flashing to the oil light permanently being on. Then you said you threw a CEL. So both lights are now on?

Well, plugs will cause the CEL to come on but doesnt explain the loss of oil. The car does naturally use some oil but if you monitor it ever few fill ups it should never be a problem. If the plugs are really fouled that light may even flash.... Get the code read for starters!

And if it is plugs still take it to the dealer. I was having hard start ups and CEL lights for misfires so I replaced my plugs, seemed to have fixed the problem. Then about 2 months later it started getting bad again. My plugs were fouling up already!!!! I took it to the dealership and they replaced my plugs... Said it was covered under warranty... My car has 70K miles on it I had no idea plugs would be covered but they were. That temporaly fixed the problem. Now currently my car is back at the dealership getting a new motor... Coolant leaking into the engine does foul plugs quickly I guess haha! Thank god for mazda extending the engine warranty to 100K! Guess I get a fresh start.

Simple troubleshooting:

Step 1: Visual inspection of components and fluid levels.

Step 2: Pull CEL codes.

Step 3: Use RX8Club.com search function for CEL codes.

That's what works for me. :)

60% of the time it works every time.