so, the wind chill here is -35. I'm hoping its just the extream cold making it act up. But the CEL is on and it is showing no symptoms of anything wrong. Common?

oil level is fine, TC is working fine. coolant level is fine. just wondering if something froze?

 

could be your gas cap...get your cel read

 

does it come loose? Ive gone 100 miles on this tank before the light came on

 

^agreed on the gas cap....go to any local autozone or the like to get the code read for free......if it's a gas cap will read "EVAP leak" or "EVAP leak very small"...forget the code number

 

its not loose enough to come off, but i guess its loose enough to throw a cel...has to do with vacuum and what not BS...youll be fine, nothing BIG youll just have a CEL for no real reason

it is covered by the warranty, walk in and theyll read it and give you a new gas cap if necessary

 

could have a slight crack in it. Keep in mind, sometimes it has to go through a certain amount of drive cycles before the light comes on.

Best bet is to get the code pulled, I would edit your profile to show a location. Maybe there's someone local who could do it for you?
Heck, if I charged $1 for every time I pulled a code for a local member, I'd be rich.
If not, find a local auto parts store who will pull the code for you

 

They won't replace ur gas cap everytime i was at mazda liek 10 times and they never would (remember i go to a scholl for automotive repair and High performance applications I know what i'm talkin about) I told themthe code and they read it i told them i pressure tested the cap and still would not ended up buying my own and have not had a CEL for that since.....damn mazda..

end rant

 

lets say one is out of warranty...where can one get a gas cap?

 

http://www.trademotion.com/partlocat...layCatalogid=0

 

does the check engine light come right off? or would you still have to delete with the scanner?

 

I also have this CEL and had it checked out at the dealer. He did get the "evap leak very small" and I was told it is the gas cap. Having trouble getting the dealer to act though. Kind of a jerk. Any suggestions on a way to make him o=honor the warranty?

 

Aside from the CEL, I have fumes and whitish smoke from the muffler. Seems excessive to me. Almost intolerable when sitting at idle for any length of time (fumes) Smells like it may be running too rich. Haven't made any adjustments there. Is this common and is there a fix?

 

^aftermarket exhaust?

 

White smoke is an indication of a water leak into the engine.

Get it checked out.

 

It will go off after a few drive cycles. Don't know if the code stays stored or not.

BTW - the correct initial answer to the original poster would have been "Get the code read." A CEL can be a lot of things, and many of them have no immediate symptoms.

The gas cap code is pretty common, so it's not a bad first guess. If that's really the cause, just checking the cap won't give you immediate feedback - it will take some drive cycles. A distinguishing thing about the gas cap code is that the CEL first comes on as soon as you start the car. I think that's the only one that works that way. The others will first come on after you're running.

I've had the code (P0455) twice. Once with the original cap, and once with the recall replacement cap. Read and cleared it with a scanner both times. Ever since the second one I've been careful to pay attention when I put the cap on, and the code has not come back.

Ken

 

no after market parts yet. Waiting on the warranty to expire. Could be bluish not real sure but not having any cooling or coolant level issues

 

I understand that rotarys normally burn some oil but this seems excessive. I did have an issue where she wouldn't start once. Dealer said plugs were fouled. Any connection there?

 

^u understand??? I think u need to search around the boards and learn about this car! yes they burn oil to lubricate....it wouildn't start prob because of flooding! read some of the stickies in the rx8 discussion and u will learn about this car....

dozer a gas cap can b had anywhere i got mine at sears(worked there) but prob autozone,advance auto, pep boys, napa, carquest etc should have it

 

thanks for that. That was very helpful. Anything useful to say though

 

I am aware of the more obvious reasons for these issues. I am seasrching for possibly a more technical explanation or one particular to this car if there is one.

 

Buy a Cobb Accessport!

 

Autozones in CA don't give you the ODB readers anymore. One guy had his own personal one that he let customers use, but he just happened to leave it at home.

I have a constant CEL from a gas cap. Had it cleared twice and keeps coming back. How does a gas cap fail? It's ridiculous.

 

Have you replaced the cap? If not, then the code should keep coming back.

A bunch of gas caps were defective from the start, and were the subject of a recall: MSP-13. The gasket on a good cap can wear out. It just needs to wear enough to spoil the seal. I had the caps on two Hondas fail, but just after about 100k miles.

FWIW, there are TSBs on a couple of other RX-8 evap system leaks, involving stuff more serious than the gas cap.

Ken

 

one time i was gettin the car sideways, and got it to far and accidentally stalled it. when i turned it on the check engine light was on, but after a few days it went back off with no problems the whole time it was on.