Engine Light - 2096 Code
 

2004 Yellow RX-8 .. love my car. Lease tho and lease is over end of December 2008 .. boo hoo .. been in the shop alot but never enough to ever feel it was a mistake .. car has been great !! Alot of engine light crap tho .. last Sept. 02 Sensor on Code 2096 replaced. 1 month no light .. Now light again and 2096 comes up again. Not a flashing light .. just on. Dealer says hours of diagnostic work to figure it out .. No more warranty. Going to turn the car in within 2 weeks .. don't want to spend alot of money but afraid if I drive it the engine light will come on again (he cleared it for me for the lease-end inspection) .. what is the deal with that code? I hate to think my last ride in my car was back from the dealer .. also found out the car has no resale value .. I have 58K miles on it but would be afraid to buy it even for $10K ... what does that code really mean? Thanks .. and thanks for this board .. it's been a godsend since I got the car 4 years ago...Debbie

P2096 Target A/F feedback system too lean ON 2 Fuel system ´
(See DTC P2096 )

bad o2 sensor- probably. or MAF sensor

hiya and thanks for that..like I said I had the rear O2 sensor replaced in Sept...I'm going to just turn it in tho since I didn't have any work done to diagnose it .. didn't want to spend the money since it's going back in 2 weeks anyway .. and since the engine light is is out now I don't want it going on again. They said there were about 20 different possibilities with that code. I'm going to really miss my RX-8 ..

I'm with Zoom... clean the MAF and the IAT.
Out of the number of possibilities for that code, cleaning these are the easiest.
Always start simple and work towards complicated/time consuming.

Is there a posting here for how to clean the MAF and the IAT? I don't know what an IAT is yet, but I'm fixin' to learn.

I had the same thig the other day...just cleaned the MAF and its gone

The IAT (Intake Air Temp) is part of the same housing as the MAF.
Generally, you just clean them both with contact cleaner or MAF cleaner that you can pick up at your local Autozone.
I'll grab a couple pics for you...

Cleaning the MAF/IAT is very simple:

First disconnect the wire harness from the MAF/IAT housing and remove the two screws.
You can then lift the housing right up.
Attachment 135629

The IAT is the brown "tear-drop".
Attachment 135630

Look inside the housing and you'll see two resistor wires.
That is the MAF sensor.
Attachment 135631

Simply spray contact cleaner onto the MAF and IAT.
Give them both a generous spray and let air dry... DO NOT physically touch the wires.
Once air dry, simply reinstall.

Nice pics....and good write up.

Check for intake leaks first.

also a coil misfire or weak spark may lead to the lean condition.

So you may have to replace the coils.

Cleaning the MAF is good, but I don't see how a dirty MAF signal will say its running lean.

Yeah man, follow Zooms advice, clean your MAF, maybe even SeaFoam or buy the Loss Power Mazda Cleaning Kit all should cost you no more than $20, at least that's a good economical start since you don't have any warranty

after cleaning the MAF and IAT, should the CEL go out on its own or is there something that needs to be done to reset it?

<i'm about to try this>

It won't go away for a couple drive cycles.
If you want it gone right away, you can clear the NVRAM and KAM using the following methods:
https://www.rx8club.com/showpost.php...45&postcount=1

hi all,

so I cleaned the MAF and IAT and the CEL went out about a day and a half later... it was out for almost a week (maybe 5 days) and it came back on today... I have not taken it back to Auto Zone to get the code checked, but I want to get my list of things to do/check in order..

1. clean MAF/IAT -- done
2. replace plugs, wires, coil (the plugs have been replaced previously, but someone on here said 35k miles and I'm pretty sure that's close; the wires have never been replaced, the coil has never been replaced... someone recommended the BHR coil that someone else here on the forum is selling...
3. O2 sensor?

anything else?

i checked pricing at adv auto for plugs/wires/coil and it was going to be around 600 for the parts...

thanks for the all the help so far..

:wtf: Rape! Check out OEM parts at Finish Line / Rosenthal Mazda (coils are on page 1) ~ $260 w/free shipping.

ok so I may have misquoted due to the way adv auto had the parts listed.. they had a coil unit and then individual coils... now that I see the link you posted maybe the 'unit' is all four in one?

Hot Start Plugs (RE6C-L)
Are they any good?
Is there actually a difference?

Very Helpful!
 

Thanks for the info! This has been very helpful!
Cheers!

Sorry to revive an old thread. I had a question regarding Razz's statement about a weak spark leading to a lean condition. I would think that would cause a rich condition due to excess unburnt fuel dumping to the cat. Anyone able to explain this?

please help:)
I have a 54 plate (2004) 231bhp rx8. The engine management light came on and the car stalled. After sticking the probe in it gave me a reading of P2096 Post catalyst fuel trim system too lean bank 1.
I have read countless things and people have suggested coils, plugs, etc etc.
Is the car safe to drive with this fault? Will i damage it more if I drive it?
Any help will be greatly recieved.
Many thanks x x x x

I'm working on an 04 RX-8 with this code as well and given the number of responses and views I thought it best to rehash this thread.

History:

2-9-10 at 50,549 miles
-First appearance of P2096 "Post Catalytic fuel trim Bank 1 system too lean"
-No driveability complaints, code only
-MAF was cleaned by another tech

5-31-10 at 52,808
-P2096
-No driveability complaints, code only
-Cleaned MAF again myself

2-15-11 at 57,704
-P2096
-No driveability complaints, code only
-4 new coils installed myself

5-23-11 at 59,669
-P2096
-No driveability complaints
-Additional diagnostic work finally done, Downstream o2 reading 0.01 volts or less (indicating true lean condition), Upstream Fuel trims indicate a Positive 5-10% correction at idle indicating computer is compensating for a lean fuel trim issue.
-Compression on front rotor: 100 Leading, 100 trailing
-Compression on Rear Rotor: 100 Leading, 100 Trailing.
-Spec is 96-130 psi. Within spec, a tad low.
-Found Front rotor to have two leading plugs, rear rotor had one of each,
properly positioned. Replaced all four plugs, verified orientation, no change
in Downstream o2, fuel trims still adding 5-10% at Idle and most other areas
of engine operation.
-Oil in air boot, MAF covered in oil film, droplet forming on bottom. Air filter
has oil saturation in center portion.
- Replaced Air Filter, Cleaned MAF again. Test drove, still has lean down o2, fuel trims adding 5-10% fuel.

The oil in the intake boot concerns me as I've run across one or two articles indicating worn out engine but compression is in spec so I have not been able to condemn the motor yet.

In my searches on here I saw a few things I felt compelled to respond to. First, the ECU sees a "Lean" condition on a misfire because the oxygen sensor measures oxygen, not fuel. So while there are higher concentrations of fuel in the exhaust now, it's the air that the sensor reads, not the fuel. Second was that the sensors don't read actual temperature like you'd expect from an EGT or coolant temp sensor. It measures switching from a rich to lean condition in the case of an o2 and with a wideband it's a bit more involved. What it can do is take a reading of the sensors, manipulate the fuel trims to change the sensor readings and then based on those changes it will CALCULATE a temperature. It's a theoretical temperature based on inputs and modifications, not actual temperature.

Just thought I would throw this information out there and see if anyone else had any thoughts regarding the code at hand. I've yet to get it figured out.

Thanks for reading,
Doug

I wanted to update anyone still reading this on the car. It came back in last week with the same P2096 and no driveability complaints. Without access to additional diagnostic info and tools I referred them to the dealership in hopes they can get the car fixed or at least a verified diagnosis.

To follow up my last response, an oxygen sensor only measures oxygen while an air fuel ration sensor (which we're starting to see on every make out there) can accurately measure air/fuel ration. With a wideband/lambda/a-f sensor the exhaust content can be more accurately measured and corrected for.

Also, while many manufacturers are implementing the use of a Lambda/Wide-Band sensor in the upstream position, many post-cat sensors are still simply Oxygen sensors. I don't have a lot of tech info in front of me so feel free to research and confirm that on your own.

Still haven't gotten any results for you but thought the extra bit of info may be of some use.
Doug

Any results came back about issue? I'm having same code reading since earlier this afternoon and at one point the car idled too low and shut off on me at a stoplight.

I suspect the bad gas I got from 7 Elven last night. Lol. Only because my god-pop had same issue with his truck and had idling issues and the same code reading (not exact number though).

I"m checking my plugs and coils in the morning and checking for cracks in the intake and the MAF sensor.

No progress on my end. I think it's come back in once since my last post for the same code but with no more info to work on I could not help them further.

I can't remember if the same rx-8 that keeps flooding on me is the one with the fault code but I did find out something with it. The engine would flood due to an incomplete warm-up process. I.e. we let it run for a few minutes only. The computer supposedly goes in to a "hot start" fuel logic and provides too much fuel. I pulled the fuel relay under the hood and cleared the cylinders by cranking it over making the problem much easier to get passed. May be completely unrelated but I don't post much so I figured i'd add it here

Good luck with it!