Ouch. Eh we live and learn right. :doh:

Part number is K5T44091 I believe.

Thanks guys!

i've seen it on numerous cars, initially i tried cleaning the connections but that never worked long term for more than a day or 2(until the engine warmed up enough for the solenoid to drop in resistance enough to throw the code). now i just replace the solenoids whenever the code pops up and the problem goes away.

swapping the solenoids was futile but it did verify that the solenoid was at fault. the code just moves to the air pump but the cars still would fail smog due to the CEL still being on.

Outstanding... Thanks again!

No prob, glad you brought this thread back to the surface!

Pretty much the same thing I went through.
First vehicle I had this issue with...

What site did you get the part from? I googled the part number you gave and only got ebay. Not sure if the part I'm looking at is what I need to replace but i do have that p0661 CEL on so its worth a shot.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/NEW-OEM-Mazd...a797c0&vxp=mtr

Yeah eBay will work fine. I think I paid $10 for a used sensor cleaned w warranty from there iirc. I see them new on eBay for $20-$30

the same solenoid was used on numerous other mazda and ford cars/trucks/vans. as long as the part # matches you should be fine, as it was also used to control various other components as well.

Thank you both. Hopefully it's just that piece throwing the CEL.

From all I read p0661 is 9x out of 10 the solenoid.

unfortunately i found out about the alternate solenoids after wasting a few hundred $ at the dealer on them. $78 a pop.. at $30 i'm sure i can find space for them on the shelf.

:) eBay sometimes is pretty kewl

it's only the unlucky or those lacking common sense that get ripped off, and it's better now than it was 5+ years ago where people went out of their way to infringe on copyrights/trademarks.

I hate selling on eBay. Its worse than buying from there

Does anyone have the "blue, white, and black" clip order for the vacuum pod?

IE, white equals SSV / black equals VDI / blue equals Air Injection?

I think the white clip on the vacuum chamber controls the SSV....

Wow, this thread still has life...
I'll have to look it up in my shop manual, can't remember. Might take a minute.
Maybe one of the Mods can interject... :eyetwitch

This goes back in this same thread (Post #4, by Jon216G)... not sure if you wound down a bit to the earlier posts, but I found my answers with his help in the color coding....

Is it necessary to replace all 3 solenoid valves together or would replacing just the SSV solenoid valve be sufficient?

Just replacing the SSV took care of the p0661 circuit code. It never came back up and no 5k RPM triggering. Power restored.

I realised that it's really hard to remove the solenoid without removing the UIM. I tired it, it's near impossible. I'm not sure if I'll have the time to take a part. What could have caused the SSV solenoid to fail? Will constant hard driving clear the code eventually?

SSV Failures are pretty typical with the 6 port Renesis engine after 30k miles.
I agree, it's hard to reach.
With my big hands, it drove me nuts because I could see it. There was no way to contort my arm to reach it well enough to work it loose. I wound up taking the intake runner assembly apart. It took about 20 minutes. I was tempted to change the other 2 out while I had it down, but I didn't have the replacements for them on hand.

The really funny thing was that before I replaced the bad solenoid, the code cleared when the ambient temps were below 50 degrees. At around 90 degrees in the spring, it was really bad.
Once I changed it out, the code cleared itself after 2 starts. I re-read the OBDII later and it also cleared.

You took 20 minutes to remove the UIM? It does seem a lil complicated to remove within 20 minutes.

Were there any after effects of not changing the SSV solenoid?

For me, yes. It made mountain driving quite frustrating, almost stalling.

Awesome. Gotta give it a go one of these days.

So far the car still runs fine but I need to set aside time to get it done. I've got my finals coming up.

Good thread just got this code myself right as I am trying to sell the car.... have to see if I can get it out without removing that UIM which is pain

If you have really good skills as a contortionist it just may be possible... Good luck with that.