Me thinks my Check Engine Light bulb is blown or disabled
 

New to RX8Club but not rotaries...

I could not find this particular issue via search, if it's out there please skip the roast, we can get along :cuddle:

I suspect the dealer that I bought my used '04 from disabled the Check Engine Light OR it has coincidentally blown while I have two OBDII codes thrown (downstream cat and air injection). My mileage was sucking worse than normal so I checked for codes and Voila! :wallbash:

So my questions are:

1) When you turn your key over to start 2004 RX8s, does your CEL glow like all the other lights? Mine does not come on BTW.

2) Does anyone have the bulb part number and/or a very detailed process for replacing it? Throw it right across the plate for me I need pics, vids or braille!


Tanx!

fish

fish:
I'm not sure I've ever heard of the CEL bulb actually going out, what you might have discovered were pending codes meaning they had failed a parameter check but not frequently enough in a given amount of time to trigger a CEL.

Here's an easy test: open your gas cap, drive around.
if the CEL comes on at some point (it could take it a drive cycle or more) then the light works.

If not: the bulb could have gone out (though unlikely) or there's another issue. (CEL's are being masked via some kind of aftermarket tuning, fuse / wire issue, etc)

Just turn the key to the "on" position (engine off), it should light up.

Crap! That is what I thought...

Light is out or disabled...

It's burnt out from being on all the time.

The gas cap thing could take a couple of days though to pop an evap code no?

Well, the important thing (for the OP) is that something is wrong with his light. It should come on when the car is in the "on" position but not running, yet it's not.

It could be something the previous owner did. It wouldn't surprise me if the dealer just didn't notice. If it was something intentional, it's going to be hard to figure out who did it.

I'm with Digger, take a closer look and see if someone covered up the light by some means.
Does your car actually have a CAT on it? If not, then I sure that's what they(previous owner) probably did.

It has the cat still (maybe it has been gutted though) I have not actually unbolted it and verified.

Is it a huge pain in the rump to open the dash up?

Is it a huge pain in the rump to open the dash up?
Been years since, but I remember it being pretty easy - two screws from directly below the 'corners' of the pod, and it lifts right off.

Fairly sure they were non-replaceable LED's, but maybe not (been years!)

S

The difficult part is the removal of the gauge needles. You what to pull them off rather than pry them off.
Then carefully separate the gauge face away from white housing, it is glued to that surface.
PS.. zoom in on the attached picture, and you can see the black silicone around the LED. (Just right of the speed display about a half inch)
--

You could also do a search as I seem to remember that there were some after market complete dash/gauge assemblies that weren't too bad in price. That might actually be the easier way??????

Update
 

So my 8 has been down for few days... Apparently whoever replaced the clutch last time neglected to replace the pilot bearing and seal and of course it fragged out at the worse possible moment, 70 miles from civilization.

There was a practically brand new Exedy clutch disc and PP, the pilot bearing however, literally disintegrated. I have only put 3k miles on the car so I don't think it was my lack of driving skills...

So I have been working on this CEL issue in the meantime. What I found was the cat has been punched out AND there was a piece of aluminum foil painted black over the CEL (which is an LED not a bulb like I thought). Glad I did not spring for that downstream 02 sensor prematurely. Tanx for the help and suggestions.


fish

Curious as to what the dealer where you bought it from will have to say about your findings...

That's not the first tampered-with dash cluster I've seen a thread on recently...

The other one was an odometer fraud (swapped clusters with a much lower mileage 8)


I really hope this is not the beginning of a disturbing trend...

@mkmike - The dealer of course said "my guys didn't do that." Thats the same crew that claims they did not forget to replace the pilot bearing and seal on a brand new clutch install too...

@RIWWP - That is a scary thought. An Odometer and PCM swap could knock off a lotta miles. I think the PCM would have to be swapped too... I have heard that the mileage information resides in the PCM while the trip ODO maintains itself via the car battery.

I don't think swapping the PCM is necessary, It's not on most GM cars at least. Even though the PCM holds the mileage too.

Typically at a dealership (not all of them I suppose) pre-used cars go through some sort of checklist before being sold. I figured function of check engine light would be on there somewhere. In which case, they clearly missed it. But every dealership is different, and there are different laws per state (inspections wise, where check engine light being on would fail inspection)

I guess it depends on where you live and whether or not you have state inspections. I would be pretty pissed though.