Check Engine Light Flashes?!
 

***MOD EDIT*** After about 3-4 miles of holding 4th gear at 7-9K RPM my check engine light started flashing. It scared the crap out of me even though all guages (oil press. and temp) were fine. So what gives? Did i just trip out the ECU by pushing it so hard? After i calmed her (my car) down it stoped flashing.

Does anyone know why this happened? Should I worry?

Any help would be appreciated.

Are you sure it was the orange MIL lamp that was flashing? It wasn't the oil lamp was it? And by flashing, do you mean flashing at a steady rate, or flickering, like a loose connection or something.

The only engine faults that could cause a flashing MIL are serious missfire or knocking. If you are using low grade/quality fuel you may have experienced knocking. Whatever the cause, if the MIL flashed there will be a trouble code stored in the PCM that the dealer can check. Take it to the dealer.

it was a steady flash. I was running on 91 octane from my local Mobil station. No problems before with it. i better get it checked out. thanks for the help.

My appologies to the Moderator.

same problem here my firend, my cel continually flashes at very high speeds like 100+ and if i drive fast enough it stays on

Yes, Flashing CELs are Bad Things(R).

In fact, if you follow what the Owner's Manual says, you should pull off the road and call Roadside Assistance immediately to have your car towed to the nearest dealership.

Depending on the scenario I dunno if I'd go that far, but it'd definitely be going to the dealer within 24 hours and no more than as few miles as uterly possible.

EDIT: Just realized this is one hell of a thread ressurection. Oh well.

probably a miss-fire

Anything different afterwards ??

nope, the dealer is getting tired of me going there every month with the same problem, the last time i went which was last week, they didn't even wanna work on my car. They just said wait it out, theres nothing wrong with it now.

Do you have any mods mines does that too.it started after i put my high flow cat. and pullies

A steady blinking CEL is sign of a misfire. If there was knocking you would hear it and the engine would retard the timing and you would notice a large decrease in engine performance. Switch gas stations if this keeps happening. This also could be a sign of bad compression or running very lean, do you have a CZ unit?

it's picking up a random misfire, my experience is this happens when holing high rpm for extended periods, if it picks it up enough you'll get a fully lit CEL light

you'll then hae to use a scan tool or make a trip to the dealer to clear it.

This is true too. But what is actually happening when you hold those high RPMs is a lean AFR condition. This usually happens when there is a poor replacement intake or with use of an eManage or CZ unit and the person has leaned out the mixture too much up high.

If you are using the stock intake, check the filter to see if it needs cleaned/replaced. Also check the filter for oil spots. If you see any, take a q-tip and clean your MAFS.

Interesting ,like i said mines started after i put my intake and high flow cat .i also have pullies .i will be hooking up my hymee scanaylizer today and see what pops up i have no canzoomer .

Mine does exactly the same thing. I can also get the light to come on going up hill in 3rd pushing it to over 7500 rpm... Any type of hard load on the engine makes it flash for me too.... They even voided my warranty.. Fun stuff!!!

voided wow that sucks

IMO it has nothing to do with going lean, it occurs during pig rich conditions, some of us have experienced it with all OE parts, it's questionable whether it is actually misfiring or the PCM just "thinks" it is

it will likely be one of these three:

P0300 Random misfire detected Flash/ON 1 or 2 Misfire ´ (See DTC
P0300 )
P0301 Front rotor misfire detected Flash/ON 1 or 2 Misfire ´
(See DTC P0301, P0302 )
P0302 Rear rotor misfire detected Flash/ON 1 or 2 Misfire ´

yeah too rich causing the sensors to detect too much oxygen so the pcm interperets that as misfire- thinking "that much o2 must mean the plugs didnt fire correctly"

What the hell did they do that for?

BTW I have had this same problem since I bought my car. I now have over 30k miles and the dealer is clueless. It seems to occur on my car while at part throttle at high RPM.

They voided my warranty because I kept on bringing my car back to them insisting that they fix it. Well.. as time went on I gather that they got tired of it and blamed my aftermarket parts on the issue and voided my warranty. I am almost back to stock now except for my flywheel, and I still have the problem...

My next course of action is to explain my situation to the dealership owner. If that goes nowhere, I will be forced to get a lawyer...

You need to get a lawyer. Or call Mazda. What they are doing is not only wrong, it's illegal. If they are basing it off of aftermarket parts you should contact SEMA for assistance. Good luck!

add me to the list
I hope dealer can figure it out but I have a idea what it can be or numerous things
but I will mention it to dealer manana.

random misfire for me, every time

had blinking cel one time. top speed run. 138 before i ran out of room.

ok it happened 3 times all in the same session. was running less than a 1/4 tank of gas. filled it up, no more blinking cel and finished the top speed runs.

beers

Depends
 

I have been modifying my car, and forced the CEL on. ;)

Took out the cat and replaced it with a B&B racing pipe. The post cat o2 sensor has been disconnected and replaced with a o2 simulator. :rolleyes: I have not had the ecu reset yet so the computer still thinks I have the CAT installed and my o2 is off.

My CEL started flashing the other day, but stopped within about 2 minutes after dropping the RPMs down a bit.

Called the shop, they said a flashing CEL means emanate CAT failure. Since mine is stored in my shop, I think my ECU is a tad confused. :) The shop agree with me since they know I took out the CAT for performance racing.

However if you still have a CAT installed, could mean that the high RPMs are pushing the exhaust temps up which is hard on CATs. Anyway, according to my Mazda guy that is what the flashing CEL means.

Well I had the same peoblem with mine today. I was driving at about 85-95 in 6th gear just passing traffic them my CEL started to blink also. I also had about a 1/4 of a tank. According to the owner's manual it says that it is cause by low fuel, gas cap not secured or speeding. I think it is just like the FD had a Exhaust heat light. Well I think this is the same thing. Mine went away as soon as I got off the freeway and slowed down.

fully lit CEL
 

Twice in one month the yellow light came on and stayed on. No blinking. Today was second instance. Now in research mode trying to learn if the warning light indicates a serious problem.

First time the CEL on, I removed and reattached gas cap. Cap seemed secure.
Dealership ran tests and concluded problem was incorrectly positioned gas cap. The computer just didn't reset itself after I played with the cap.

Yesterday, car parked in level lot where ambient temperature 45 degrees F. Gas tank 1/2 full. Started engine and backed out of parking place. Two warning lights came on: solid yellow check engine and flashing red which was either charging system or coolant. From picture in owner's manual, the light was most likely the coolant. Red light went out within a few seconds but solid CEL still on. Have taken gas cap off and reattached same.

Could the above occur because car moved before it was warmed up? I'll need layman's terminology. Thanks for your help.
H