cel blinks without starting engine
 

hi all,

does anyone notice cel blinks with key turn to on position without starting engine?
i scanned it with no code shown.
is there something going on? or it is just self checking.

just wondering is it just my car or it is with all 8's owners.

05 stick with 20k mi

thanks

edit: it blinks 8 times then stops.

actually I found when its blinking without starting means theres some pending codes.

Let me double check it again.
Cuz it showed nothing last time I scanned

Thanks

I had that start happening to me about 2 weeks ago. it would blink about 6 times after having the key in and turned to accessories.
Friday when i got in my car i tried it again and it didn't blink at all.

I heard someone on here before saying it was doing a "lamp check" or something.
Definitely interested in hearing if you got some codes from it or if someone else knows what's going on

this...it usually means you have more than one code going off

Then why does it only come on when key was turned to accessories? When i started my car the CEL didn't come on at all.
And now it doesn't flash at all.

this is an older post about the flashing CEL
https://www.rx8club.com/showthread.p...light+blinking

i have the scanner and i just checked, nothing.
like you said unionville, when engine starts, no cel at all.
cel blinks when i sit in the seat and turn on accessories to admire how beautiful that 9 is.

at least yours went away unionville. i am thinking of scheduling an appointment with dealer for checking.

so basically, with key on, cel is not supposed to blink at all when the engine is not running. is that right?

i think i'll schedule with it anyway, see what dealer says

the car runs great, by the way. don't really know what's it going on.

I know mines not blinking anymore, but please tell me how that goes so I can see about addressing my problem if it's anything serious

wait, so is there a CEL when you turn the car on? if not, i wouldnt worry about anything.

dozer~ cel does not show during the car is running. only engine off with key in on position.
could be like unionville mention "lamp check."
i'll search more on that too.

and again, mine is 05

You are fine dude :)

thank you for making a peace of mind here.
would be crazy and sad seeing something wrong with it.
love it so much.......

but may i ask, people see this thread, do their 8s cel blinks with key in on position without starting the engine??
it takes about 5 second to trigger the cel blinks then solid, that's it. it will not blink again.
that's why, i thought was it self checking for things.
thank you

Yep... It will present itself if you turn the key to ON the second or third time without starting the car. I wouldn't worry too much. It happened to me a few times specially after I changed my battery; occured after I turned ON to calibrate the TSC and Power Steering sensor prior to doing the NVRAM reset. I used to have the P2259 a few months ago that some how resolved but this time didn't present itself.

i see.....
thank you

blinking cel before starting the car
 

I noticed today that my cel was blinking before starting the car then found this thread. After reading all your posts I did some troubleshooting and found that my cel starts blinking after 18 seconds and blinks 8 times. I did this over a dozen times and it does it every time. Can someone else try this and see if yours does the same thing.

I think its the emission thing. I notice it only happens when I disconnect the battery.

Blinking CEL is always missfire. It can happen during startup because of a weak ignition system, reset fuel trims, or even internal engine problems such as low compression or a bad coolant seal.

Miss the mark on this one Harlan.... not related at all.

Blinking CEL is normal with KOEO. Any serious pending or present CELs will kick the light while running, otherwise don't throw a fuss.

Well darn, thought the question was about cranking. Teaches me to try to answer something before I've had my coffee.

I have the same issue. Blinks 7 long and one short. I knew it is not serious but stoll curious about it and who knows the codes.... seems like an old obd i thing

It blinks because it not smog ready. Found out before doing my smog. Evaporate and cat stuff like that. After drive cycle completed, it will just go away

Just thought I'd revive this old thread to share some of my own experience with this. Recently, I had my RX-8's power steering go out. It's a common issue that was solved by cleaning the EPS connectors, using the guide found on this forum somewhere.

Before those EPS connectors got cleaned, though, I noticed the same pre-ignition blinking CEL mentioned here. It wasn't a misfiring ignition coil issue, because my car's motor wasn't running and hadn't even been started yet. And I just had the ignition coils replaced anyway, so I knew that couldn't be the issue.

But it was the same thing. Turn the key to "on", without starting the motor, and after 15 seconds or so, the CEL light blinks like 8-10 times or so.

Well, I got those EPS connectors cleaned, power steering is working again, and the CEL doesn't blink anymore at "on" prior to ignition. Not sure if those are related events, but I suppose it's possible. Was there an electrical system check that was showing poor connections in the EPS (or elsewhere), and that's what the blinking meant? And after I got the EPS connectors cleaned, that electrical connection was fine, so no more blinking? If you're power steering is working, and you have a pre-ignition blinking CEL, does it mean your power steering might go out?

These are obviously just guesses, but it might be helpful information to someone.

this guy really just said it!! I never thought I’d see the day on here!! Appropriate, and accurate. Stay cool friend!!