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Check Engine Light came up

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Old Oct 28, 2005 | 05:44 AM
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Check Engine Light came up

Well, Yesterday Morning I just drove my 8 to work like usual, around 13 miles or so.

Parked at the Parking lot.

Came back from work at 6, start my car. holy crap, the Check Engine Light came on !!!!

I was like "wtf man ?"

I drove it around slowly and I didnt find anything unusual.

So I spoke to my co-worker (he was with me that time) and he said sometimes it might have error, from time to time it affects everycar, try to unplug the battery, let it sit for a few mins, see if it goes away.

So I did and ....

The check engine light came off !

Well, Anybody has this problem and , what you think might cause this ?

Im going to have my next service in around 2 weeks. just wondering.
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Old Oct 28, 2005 | 06:12 AM
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Clearing the error from the ECU is not a particularly good thing to do unless you know for certain that it is a false error. The light illuminates for a reason and should not be ignored. If it happens again, have the dealer read the error code. It could be something as simple as your gas cap not on tight, but it could be something more serious.
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Old Oct 28, 2005 | 09:00 AM
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I understand. I kind of believe that its a false alarm, when the light was on, I drove around for 2 miles and still havent notice anything unusual.

So I pull the battery to reset it, if its something serious it should light up again dont you think so ?

Maybe I can bring my car to my friend's garage and see if he can find anything with his tools.

of course if it triggers again I will bring it to the dealer.
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Old Oct 28, 2005 | 09:08 AM
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Light

My local AutoZone will read error codes for no charge, perhaps your favorite store will do the same.. The light will come back on, except it will be the worst possible time and in the worst possible place.
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Old Oct 28, 2005 | 11:52 AM
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Originally Posted by nycgps
So I pull the battery to reset it, if its something serious it should light up again dont you think so ?
Probably. Kind of like: Last week I had serious chest pains, dizziness, nausea. Took an aspirin and felt OK a few hours later. Today I had a heart attack and died. Get my drift?
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Old Oct 28, 2005 | 11:57 AM
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If the light suddenly popped on, it might be as simple as a LOOSE gas cap!

Happened to me 2 weeks after I got mine. (Though I swear I tightened the cap...)

BUT, it might be something more serious. You really shouldn't be clearing these codes like that unless you know for a fact that "it's nothing".
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Old Oct 28, 2005 | 12:51 PM
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the evap system test is run after a drive cycle when the car has been turned off. If the sytem fails the test (a leak is detected) the next tiem the car is started the CEL will be illuminated. Generally the cause of this is a loose gas cap, however some people have had a gas cap with a bad seal which needed replaced. there have been reports of one or 2 cars having the whole system replaced because they simply couldnt find the leak.

The L flash actually was partially for fixing a problem which caused false evap test failures. if you operated the key fob at the same time the test was starting it would cause the test to fail. the L flash fixed that.
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Old Oct 29, 2005 | 09:28 PM
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Well, I have no idea, might be bad gas cap.

This is the rundown (of what happened)

4 days ago, night time, I fill up my tank, got home, everything seems fine.
3 days ago, morning, drove to work like usual, nothing, parked at parking lot like usual.
got off from work, got my car and the light came up right away.
reset it that night, and it was fine for the whole night, got home, nothing.
2 days ago, morning, drove to work like usual, nothing, parked at parking lot like usual.
got off from work, got my car and the light came back.
something might be wrong, so I tried to read codes but been to 2 places they said my car is too new and they cant read it with their stuff.
This morning I fill up my tank again, but didnt try to reset it since Im not really sure if its the gas cap.

Should I try again ?

I will make an appointment with one of the closest dealer on monday, since none of them open on sunday. and its probably gonna take another 2-3 weeks before I can "service" my car. Mazda really need to invest more money into their service department. My brother's Nissan Atlima SE-R, service, no problem, call in the morning, same day appointment at 3pm, drove there, wait for an hour, got the car back.

Last edited by nycgps; Oct 29, 2005 at 09:30 PM.
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Old Oct 29, 2005 | 09:44 PM
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and forgot to mention, I think theres something wrong with my Clutch too, because it seems that it "slips" when its around 4K+ Rpm, at least I got the "slippy" feeling from the accleration.

So either way, I have to service my car, but Im just going to try to drop by the Autozone (its not close, but I can make it) and use their free tool, at least I want to know whats going on. do they have 05 data ?
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Old Oct 30, 2005 | 04:47 AM
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Originally Posted by nycgps
So either way, I have to service my car, but Im just going to try to drop by the Autozone (its not close, but I can make it) and use their free tool, at least I want to know whats going on. do they have 05 data ?
They may be able to pull any generic OBDII error codes. Not the Mazda proprietary codes, however, so the year of the car is not a factor. As far as I know, the dealers are the only ones who can pull the proprietary codes. Right now, that is.
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Old Oct 30, 2005 | 08:39 AM
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Well then, I guess Im not gonna bother to even go, since I think they just use what everybody else is using (Those tools, one shop I've been to just updated their data like April, but still dont have Mazda's 8 code)
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Old Oct 30, 2005 | 06:08 PM
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i can pull all the Mazda codes with the hymee scanalyser
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Old Oct 31, 2005 | 12:23 PM
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What is Hymee Scanalyser ?

How much it cost to get one ?
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Old Oct 31, 2005 | 12:34 PM
  #14  
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From: Land of Peaches, Pecans, and Peanuts
Originally Posted by nycgps
What is Hymee Scanalyser ?

How much it cost to get one ?
http://www.performancedesign.com.au/?content=scanalyser
$250usd
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Old Oct 31, 2005 | 12:52 PM
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AYe .... ok, I'll get it later.
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