Ok, this morning my CEL just lit up when I drove back from a friend's house. Checked my oil level (OK there) and all fluid levels are good. No obvious engine problems - still drives like a beauty. No power loss... yada yada yada. Basically my car drives and sounds okay but my CEL is still on. It's a 2006 with 55k miles on it. First time CEL came up. Been using Royal Purple 5W-30 for about 9 months now and the only mods I have are an oil catch can, K&N Typhoon v2 intake, Buddy Club grounding kit, and dual exhaust Mazdaspeed catback. Anyway, I'm thinking of bringing the car to the dealer to see why the CEL lit up but I'm pretty sure they'll bitch to me about some of the mods I have (particularly the oil catch can and grounding kit - maybe even the intake system). They may even put blame on those mods for my CEL coming up. Who knows.

Is there anyone out there locally who can help out and see why my CEL is up? I'd rather drive to where you're at or meet you somewhere, rather than dealing with the car dealership.

Thanks.

 

They won't be open tomorrow, but any Schuck's will read the code for you for free and then you can write down the code and check what it is online. Alternatively, I'll be back from Bremerton by around 8pm tomorrow. You can shoot me a PM and I'll meet you in Woodinville or something and we can use my AP to check it.

The AP knows what some of the codes are but chances are you're going to want to look around for what a given code means.

 

If Schucks's can read the code then they should be able to look it up and tell you what it is. Write it down like Anijo said and then come back here and do a search to confirm the CEL code. Knowing what the code is before bringing it to the dealership could help prevent any unnecessary work.

 

If you go to the dealership they will charge you $99.99-129.99 diagnostic fee.

Just get the code read at any AutoZone for free.

 

autozone doesnt do it anymore....im thinkin its the gas cap

 

autozone near me still does it....

 

well according to "california law" its illegal, to many people goin in and getting their catless CELs removed

 

Autozone still checks CEL codes around here.

 

Thanks, guys. I'll check my local Autozone/Schucks first thing tomorrow and see if they can read my CEL's code.

Anijo, I'll definitely take you up on that if the store can't read the code.

Thank you.

 

I had a CEL come twice. Once for my gas cap and the stealership charged my like $75 just to tell me that. Then i got the COBB AP and for the second CEL i was able to read the code and it is me O2 sensor. Go to autozone or us the AP to read the code and then just look it up. it will save u time and money

 

I had my cell come on twice, fisrt time it was the gas cap and the dealer did not charger me anything, the second time I did have power loss and the dealer replace my engine, also free. the timing was good, sence I was about to change oil, oil filter and sprake plugs, wich a got all free with the new engine!!!

 

Haha, awesome... Yah, I should've mentioned in my post, if the gas cap isn't all the way twisted on (til it clicks) the code will throw and then it won't shut off right away either, it'll take a day or so.

 

When I was at the Autozone by my house a couple weeks ago, someone asked to get their code/s read. They told him they're not allowed to do that anymore. I think it was some kind of legal issue, due to them not being mechanics, and Autozone not wanting to be responsible for what they diagnose.

 

^^ Correct.
AutoZone's in California will no longer loan you the OBD scanner. I've heard that some employees will still pull the code for you but not sure what the official protocol is.

 

i say gas cap....that was the only cel i ever got and is the easiest thing to fix=)

 

Headed down to my local Schucks and they used their OBD on my RX8. The code came up as P0455: Emmision Leak detected. He told me this usually means either my gas cap isn't all the way in or something is wrong with my O2 sensor in the cat. Most likely it'll be the gas cap though so we made sure the gas cap clicked all the way in. I'll probably wait a few days and see if my CEL goes away. If not, I'll probably head down to my Mazda dealer and grab me a new gas cap.

Any thoughts?

Thanks for the replies.

 

Chances are he's right and it's the gas cap. It's such an annoying problem Did he reset the code?

 

Put your gas cap back in until it clicks (which it sounds like you did), then reset your ECU.

 

You can unplug the battery and put it back on to reset the code and see if it goes off -- which is should.

Also Cali is the only place where autozone wont read a code for you (some stores in cali will but its a long shot) but everywhere else they will.

 

You can do it that way, or you can do it with the dash and not loose all your radio settings. Your call.

 

Okay. I unplugged the negative terminal in the battery and will wait a bit just to be sure. Gas cap is securely clicked and we'll see if the CEL comes up again after I reconnect the battery.

 

^It will take a couple drive cycles before you are positive it won't come back up. SO don't be pleased that when you plug your battery back in that all is well. Give it a couple days to be fully sure.

 

How do you reset the code through the dash? I never heard of that.

 

^I see if I can find the procedure, give me a few mins.

 

Everything you need to know about resetting the PCM can be found here:
https://www.rx8club.com/series-i-trouble-shooting-95/real-way-clear-memory-169443/