khoney

Mine came on today too - the low fuel light had been on for a while. I'm assuming it's emissions-related. If there is a reflash to take care of it, I'll definitely take it in. I've also been having what sounds like a creaking suspension noise towards the left-front wheel.

family_man

CEL turned out to be engine misfire. They gave me new plugs and started to instruct me on how to avoid flooding my engine. I told the guy I new about the potential for flooding and am very cautious about this. Asked him what else could be causing this and he couldn't give me an answer. Didn't get the flash update, because "Mazda won't let us flash unless a service bulletin instructs or recall necessitates." quite different from the "... we flash whenever you bring your car in and it isn't up to the latest firmware" I got the first time I took it in. Delearship is under new management and despite the weird CEL issue, I still have faith in the service guys although the sales staff could use an overhaul.

Sorry for the ramble.

F_m

khoney

My CEL turned back off yesterday. I was going to disconnect the battery when I got home, so it spared me the effort

mdmaclean

I have a CEL on now too. The dealer told me there was a firmware upgrade for the ECU, but will have to check what codes are stored.

It goes in Tuesday, so I will know that night.

family_man

CEL came on again right at startup I am very irritated with this. I didn't flood my car and the only code it seems to set is misfire. I am running 93 and can not figure it out.

rxtreme

iTrader: (1)

What's the difference? My CEL came on (flashing) once for 15-20 sec under hard acceleration--between 6-7k RPM. The car seemed to be in "limp mode" for that brief time, but once it turned off, the car was fine. I want to know what circumstances warrant "turn the car off and have it towed."

khoney

My CEL came on again at about 1/4 tank. I wasn't doing anything in particular to cause it. SInce this was the 2nd time in less than 200 miles, I took it in. They pulled a P0420 code, which they told me was related to the catalytic converter. They also told me there was no ECU reflash available. So they basically did what I would've done - disconnect the battery to clear the KAM.

Is there or is there not an ECU reflash available? And is the 'misfire' code a P0420 code?

mdmaclean

The dealer did the re-flash, so I suppose it was the thermostat code. I was driving on a very cold day (-29C), and had the car parked outside all day. The car was very cold.

Pillman

I have said this on other sections of the forum but my engine light came on and it turns out the cat has gone...mazda guy asked me if I hadn't noticed the rattling noice of 'pieces of cat' in the exhaust..need a new one of those too...(3,500 miles, picked up in Dec 03)

JimW

I guess Mazdas detuning of the car due to emissions was for not, they created more problems than they originally had. They need to give us our 250 H.P. back as well as restoring the advertised MPG and replace the cat under warranty as needed!

Rotarian_SC

Just wondering if u had the CZ mod, 2 c if that had nething 2 do w/ it. I wonder if the reflash changes fuel/air mixtures also, prob not, just a bug fixer, mayb it will fix the engine flooding bug .

Rx8Freehk

I've started getting an Engine Light on the Autobahn.... usually crusing at around 120 for at least 5 min then the CEL light blinks.... I slow down.... CEL goes away.... Bring the car to a german dealer and all they tell me is that the car isnt shelling out a fault code this sucks............

khoney

Got another CEL (3rd time), this time with 93 octane gas. I haven't had it checked - probably another cat inefficiency code (P0420). If this is Mazda's plan to train me to ignore a CEL, it's working. I don;t have the free time to run to the dealership every time a light comes on.

khoney

Ok, the CEL went off after about 5 restarts, and came on again about 100 miles later. I was just cruising on a flat road at about 55. THis is really starting to irritate me. It's probably another P0420 code. This is now 4 times in about 600 miles.

For those of you who have gotten codes, PLEASE POST THE NUMBER! A general description doesn't mean much if we are to try and see how prevalent each problem is.

TdotRx8

I got an engine light took it in and i got my O2 sensor and CAT replaced. They said their was a build up of moisture.

elscorcho

My CEL came on the day I picked my 8 up. Took it in to the dealer, they pulled a P0420 code. Said it had something to do with the cat, but didn't seem to know much more beyond that. Took them four days to get a reflash done. First, they were waiting for some kind of software download from Mazda, then they couldn't figure out how to make their computer talk to my car...anyway, got it back today. Hoping this isn't a recurring problem, but reading this thread doesn't give me much hope :-)

Here's the text from the service invoice:
505 PCM REFLASH WARR. FOUND P0420 STORED IN PCM. REFLASH PCM FOR P0420. UPDATED TO LEVEL 'L'. PERFORMED DRIVE CYCLE AND CHECKED FOR DTC'S...NONE STORED AND/OR PENDING. CHECKED DRIVE MODE 6...PASS 80 @ .83, ALL OK AT THIS TIME.

I guess LEVEL 'L' must be a PCM firmware version indicator... Not sure what the "pass 80 @ .83" bit is about.

akrx8

i also had the same thing,took mazda 1 day to download the new reflash to there computer and after the flash i have noticied a big diffrence in fuel mileage and accelaration.i have 16,000 miles and know the cars power and fuel consumption very well and this reflash has most definitly increased both,very happy.:D

doccable

I had my CEL come on today, first it started flashing, (slowly); it started to act like it wanted to go into into limp mode. I was cruising about 95 MPH or so, turning about 6k in fourth, I immediately up-shifted to 6th, which brought the RPM's down to around 4k. It stopped trying to go into limp mode, but the CEL stayed on. I'm scheduled to go in for a check of the throw-out bearing on Monday, so I'll have this looked at then. I have somewhat strange question... since I saw a couple of mentions in this thread about the O2 sensor, does anyone know if the fact that I live at 7200' above sea level - and have a lower level of oxygen, if that might be part of the reason for the CEL? I did have it filled up on fuel, and I checked the gas cap when I got home - it was tight.
Or am I barking up the wrong tree?

elscorcho

Seems like a reasonable tree to bark up to me. I once had a Jaguar that didn't like mountains -- CEL would come on after driving at altitude for a while.

But on the other hand, I wouldn't expect an O2 sensor fault to cause it to go into limp mode...

waldo

My 8 (11/03, 7k) threw the CEL Saturday, and its been started maybe thrice since then. This is my first OBDII car. Is there a way to get the indicator to blink like my 92 Explorer, or is a reader required?

Thanks.

doccable

Ok... here's what happened. Misfire due to engine being cold. Apparently, allowing 15 minutes to warm up, about ten minutes of stop and go driving isn't enough on a cold day to get the engine warmed up enough for a run down the ol' interstate. On the throw-out bearing question, the tech wasn't quite sure what to make of it, but said he'd keep an eye open for anyone else reporting the same problem... he's thinking the problem might be related to temperature. I can't think of anything to use to say BS to this, so... I'll go along for now.
Also, if anyone isn't already aware of this: https://www.rx8club.com/showthread.p...594#post253594
Check your VIN! No - the dealer didn't say anything about it when I was in earlier, and I'm willing to give them the benefit of the doubt, this was just issued (allegedly) today. I left the dealer at about 9:00 or so this morning, and they may not have had the info yet.

godai00

A month a go, CEL came on after driving about 10 miles, 65mph on I66. Dealer said it was cat inefficiency code (P0420) but they found nothing wrong. This morning, similar conditions, 25 F, half tank of gas, CEL again. I guess I'll take it in to be checked but anyone considering turning it off and waiting for a 2nd validation CEL before taking it in to be checked? Maybe I'll wait for the airbag recall to combine the issues and save a dealer dropoff.

GTF-RX-8

What?????????
The rotors are not under warranty?????????

Rotarian_SC

I think he might be talking about break rotors, like on your wheels. Not the rotors in the engine.

ranger4277

BRAKE!!!! Grade school English!

I see it mis-used more often than not around here...