crimson-rain

Got a CEL this morning while going to work. My car feels fine. No power loss, no weird noises, no shuttering, nothing. I got gas a while back and it's about time to fill her back up so I'm thinking if it was the gas cap it would have come on a while ago.

Should I try to reset the ECU (what's the steps again ... press pedal 3 times and say 'there's no place like home') and see if it comes back on? Or just take it to the dealer. I'm outside of warranty now and getting a CEL is scary to me. I hope I don't have that vacuum issue. I've just got back from Korea and recently moved (locally within VA) so I haven't received or seen any recall notices.

Just wondering what to do here.

NEWireless

With that mileage it's probably just time to replace the oxygen sensors in the exhaust system.

Just a guess though.

Good luck!

toxin440

what is the typical milage people are having to replace their oxygen sensors at? How much are they? I've heard they are expesive - personally if i had to pay a ****-ton to replace a sensor I'd rather just go buy an O2 fooler and get a straight race pipe for added power.

yiksing

I never expect oxygen sensor to be a replacement item so soon in a car's life.

crimson-rain

^ well it is a rotary. from what I know, rotaries can burn up quite a few things.

Now that you mentioned it, I wonder if that IS the case. My O2 sensor got changed at like 35000 miles if I recall correctly. When it first went out, it was the same kind of thing; get a CEL but nothings wrong with the car. Well that was the case until about a week+ later. I drive 250+ miles a week thanks to living in Centreville, VA and working in DC (putting a stop to that REAL SOON). Anyone in this knows thats one HECK of a commute to put on this car because of the traffic and whatnot.

I turned her off and started her back up in the parking lot and it seems it's fine. I guess the next test is to see if it start from a cold start.

shaunv74

I wonder if you burned out your cat? You could always take it to the dealer and get an estimate but not have them do the work.

Go48

If you are located in the US, your warranty was recently extended and you should have received a letter from Mazda. Give them a call at the 800 number in your owners manual and ask them about it.

crimson-rain

^ yes sir. Talked with Mazda and they said I'm covered. But the good thing is that I found the problem. I checked the oil and there it was crazy low. I checked it not to long ago and topped it off. But I haven't seen my car suck down oil that quickly in a long time. I have been in the upper rpms a bit more often lately, but geez. I didn't see any signs of leakage, but I haven't had the chance to jack up the car to get a better look.

Oh well, it's time to change the oil anyway and she goes to the shop either tomorrow or monday. My only concern is why a CEL and not a COL (check oil light, hehe)?

VOODOO8

Most folks seem to run through about a quart of oil per 1,000 miles or so depending on individual driving habits (% of ZoomZoom per mile) and conditions. If your seeing significantly fewer miles per quart than this you might have bigger issues to contend with. Suggest you take advantage of the extended warranty as noted previously and get it looked at if this is the case. If the vehicle hasn't had the recent recall done on it yet I would also suggest you look this up here on the site as well, print out the related docs, and bring them along with you to the dealer you go to.

crimson-rain

Thanks for the heads up. Talked with the dealer I always and only go to and he said they haven't performed the latest recall stuff for my car. He said he'll be checking the CAT, plugs, wires, ?coils?, and performing a compression test. Sounds like the latest recall stuff will be addressed.