Check Engine Light After Starting Up
 

i bought a 2004 RX8 6 spped back in december and its given me no problems thus far, then today i went out into the driveway to warm it up.

It normally takes about 2-3 seconds to crank and turnover, however this time it took about 5-6 seconds and once it turned over the check engine came on and stayed on. I havent driven the car really hard or anything, and was just starting it to let it warm up..

Anyone have any ideas?

Thanks

I get a strange light occasionally at startup. No hard starting or any problem, and the light only remains on for less than 2 minutes. I looked in the manual but cannot find this light.

Looks like a box with lines in it. Yeah thats vague, but thats what it looks like. Its under the oil pressure guage in '05 MT LH

Did you fill up recently? If so, check your gas cap to make sure it's on tight. This is a fairly common cause of a CEL. If that seems to be the problem, and you tighten the cap, the light will self-cancel after a few drive cycles. If that does not seem to be the problem, take the car to a dealer and have them read the error code(s).

Dro, the box with lines on it sounds like your coolant level low indicator. Check your coolant level.

Sounds like the coolant level warning light. Check the coolant level. If you have a warning light illuminated, you will find the identification of the light in the owners manual. Maybe look again.

Could also be the TPMS warning light, so check your tires when they're cold and make sure they're at 32 psi.

coolant light= Lincoln Memorial :)

LOL thats definitely the one then. Strange, I have had the car less than 2 weeks ... you would the "stealership" would have checked all my fluid levels ?? Maybe they stole it :Eyecrazy:

"It normally takes about 2-3 seconds to crank and turnover, however this time it took about 5-6 seconds and once it turned over the check engine came on and stayed on. I havent driven the car really hard or anything, and was just starting it to let it warm up.."

hard starting is addressed with a reflash and inspection of plugs, starter, and battery. take it to the dealer u bought it from (if it wasnt a mazda dealer, take it to a mazda one) have them check to see if the PCM has the most up to date calibration and if the battery starter and plugs have been updated as well. also, little trick to do yourself....when the car is not running, turn the key to the on position (position II) and pump the brake pedal 20 times within 8 seconds.{edit....you will kno the NV RAM was cleared when the oil pressure needle moves to the slightly right of the middle mark and then goes back to zero... this little movement was implicated early on in production and most 2004s do it, all 05s all 06s and so on as well....end edit} that clears the non volatile ram, which stores the eccentric tooth profile. after engine replacement this needs to get cleared or else the old tooth profile is used to run the car and it wont start properly (or at all). just for no reason at all, it helps to clear that once ina while.

but the PCM, starter, battery, and plug updates will be the obvious choice for most helpful

I had the same problem with mine when I first got it. It could possibly be the gas cap. I took mine to the dealership and they ran a diagnostic on it and found no problems. They got the check engine light to go off, but it came back on two hours after I left. This happened twice before they finally took it into the shop and found out that it was a bad Selinoid. This sounds like it may be the problem on yours since it is taking a little longer to crank over. Just take it to the dealer and they should fix you up.

Thanks guys, taking it to the dealer this morning...hopefully its something simple like a solenoid

having same problem with the engine light. filled up today and made sure cap was tight. heard the clicks and all. but when i touched the gas cap it seemed loose.. trying to get into mazda direct to check it out. also the radiator light came on. i put about a 1/2 cup distilled water and that light went out.. read that on a thread on here..

yup so i brought it in and they replaced the emissions purge selenoid...

last night the check engine light came on again...anyone else have to replace multiple selenoids and know why?

My guess is that they replaced the wrong item. Take it back and this time ask them what the DTC (error code) is for your check engine light. Someone on the forum can probably tell you what's really going on with the car.