Engine light on
 

Hey guys,
I juss bought a rx8 and the engine light went on....I went to the dealer and they say its a recall on some catalytic convertor temp. malfunction. Was wondering if anyone knows about it....
Thanks
Nish

WAS THE code P0240? if so that's a cat failure code. it may be just a software glitch but more than likely you have a cat converter that is failing. if they drop the exhaust and look in the cat they should be able to see it broken up inside. dont let them just clear the code or flash the pcm and send you on your way. make them look at it.

Same happened to me...Cat converter, replaced under warranty. Guess its an inherent problem like the mileage and the door that always, always smacks my ass, and not in a good way.

CEL light went on the day I drove it home (10/23/04). At the dealer on 10/28/04, the car failed emmisssions. The M-Flash was performed and the Cat converter was also replaced. It's been fine since.

reset
 

I have a quick question for all you rotary god's...which I obviously am not one.

I ignored the air pressure light for a lil while...bout a week and a half to be exact, now my check engine light is on, I filled up the tires to exactly 32 psi and the light went away, however the check engine light is still on. I'm wondering if you all know a way of getting rid of the check engine light? Or perhaps does reseting the ecu turn of the light, and how would you do this.

Any help would be great.

-Chris

I did attempt to search first, on reset, and got caught up in morgans thread about a new car.

The two aren't related, so it really depends on what lit up the CEL. If it's something as simple as a loose gas cap, the light will turn off after X amount of power-off/power-on cycles once the problem is corrected. If the problem doesn't correct itself, the light won't go away... so if you want to play home mechanic, you can get a CanScan tool and pull your own codes and reset the light yourself. CanScan also lets you pull pending codes, so you can see problems before they become problems. Barring all of that, you'll need to go to the dealer to reset the CEL.

Damn, I have to goto the dealer? I really don't like them, I heard someone once say that If I unplug the battery for long enough that resets the ecu? Will that also take of the CEL?

-Chris

and how much do one of those canscan tools cost?

If might clear the code... not sure though, but wouldn't you like to know what the code is? And if it's a condition that's not getting better (like a failing cat), the light is just going to come back on again.

I bought this canscan tool for $140:
http://www.ghg.net/dharrison/canscan.htm

Perhaps someone on the list with a scan tool lives near you? The guy who developed it is also in Texas...

checking my gas cap now, however I've had serious problems with the local mazda dealer so I'm trying to prevent going to them, how do I get one of those scan things, and how much do they run.

-Chris

Mazda dealer here never wants to check it for me they tell me to setup an appointment and I have to work all the freakin time, so I just prefer to leave their rudeness alone.

sorry I didn't see your link, does anyone know what are the possibility's of what is happening the car doesn't seem to be running any different.

-Chris

Wow you from the burbs...familiar with lombard? used to live out that way.

-Chris

well ignoring the tpms light for too long might actually light the cel. i could be wrong. but even if it was or it was your gas gap it can take many on/off key cycles to clear the CEL. it has to turn on /off a number of times with out having the problem that caused the cel.

whats the build date of your car and have you had it in for service recently. if so did they flash the pcm?

I haven't flashed the pcm yet, just got the letter in the mail, the mazda guy pretty much refused service so I've been getting the services done outside mazda.

-Chris

p.s. the check engine light has come and gone for the life of the car this time it seams on longer but I just might be overreating.

i bought the car sept of 03

well how do you reset the whole computer...this might reset everything.

-Chris

I read somewhere on this forum the following:

There are two reset procedures, one for the NVRAM and the other for the KAM. Neither will erase your radio presets.

1) With the key in the off position, press and hold the odometer reset button and turn the key to on. Continue to hold the odo button until the odometer reads "TEST" and then release.
2) Turn the key to off and repeat step one.

This will reset the entire PCM except the KAM which contains the sensor profiles amongst other things. You can reset it with the familiar procedure:

1) Turn the key to on
2) Depress the brake pedal rapidly 20 times in a row until the oil pressure gauge sweeps to halfway and back again.

I do not know if this is what you are looking for, but please be careful.

Will the first step realease the CEL? This is some interesting news.

-Chris

I'm not sure. Like I said, I saw this posted here somewhere. Let me see if I can find out who posted it. Sorry I don't know. :(

Ok...cool...anyone with any info please let me know, to be more specific I need the light off for just this weekend :D

-Chris

explain. in detail.

Instead of buying a canscan, why don't you go to an AutoZone and have them pull the codes. They will do it for free. If it is something that needs attention then a trip to the dealer is not wasted time.

I've never had my pcm flashed to that new standard you all are always talking about...the mazda dealership told me it wasn't necessary when I took them the TSB, but I dunno, just trying to get rid of the CEL. The CEL has come and went since I had the car and mazda juat tells me as long as it isn't flashing no biggie so i dunno.

-Chris

You NEED to get to a different dealer, period!

Well thats cool, however I need this fixed by Saturday, and I work tomrrow, I dunno what to do all I want to do is reset the CEL does anyone know the way to do this, or perhaps is autozone able to do it?

-Chris

I just read something on the internet about disconnecting the battery for 15 min...during that period while disconnected press brak a few times which will cause all electrical power to be gone and then in-turn clear all the memory.
Is this right or does it make sense?


-Chris