Check Engine Light and Engine Coolant Light
 

Good day RX-8 Fans,

I wanted to call this post "a cautionary tale," but now I am not so sure. . .

A quick version of the story. The engine coolant light had been coming on for just a moment when I first turned the car on, but would go off quickly. That happened for about a week, and then the CEL came on, and stayed on.

I took it to the dealership, and after charging me $80 to look at it, they gave me a sheet that accumulated in $524 of parts and $400 in labor. They said they needed to replace the spark plugs, the cord set, the ignition, fuel injection system, and the fuel cap. I thought this was just crazy, so I said I didn't want anything done and took the car home, and hopped on this website.

I found that I could take it to Autozone and have them find the error code. The error code read P0456, a very small leak. The guy told me to tighten the gas cap, and restart the battery. I did this, it took care of the CEL light, and I drove it around town for the rest of the week and then took it on a 170 mile road trip, no problem. The light came back on a couple days later, and once again the engine coolant light flashes on for just a second.

Now I am perplexed. My first step will be to actually replace the fuel cap, and not just tighten it. I imagine there is a thread on here on how to do that? But I was thinking I was getting reamed by the dealership, and now I'm not sure. What are your recommendations? The car just hit 50,000 miles, and has had all of its regular oil changes and scheduled maintenance, and I unfortunately did not opt for the extended warranty. Thanks to any advice you can 'zoom' my way. Cheers,

Scott

Replace the coolant overflow tank and get a new gas cap. That should solve your issues.