First Issue in 30 days of ownership: fast blinking check engine light at high RPM
 

The Facts:

I bought the car about a month ago. 2008 40th AE with 13,100ish miles on the clock. The car came with a Mazda Pre-Owned Certified Warranty. So the dealer inspected the hell out of the car for it to qualify for the certification program. In addition to that, I asked the dealer to do a compression test before I bought the car. The car obviously passed the compression test. Overall, the car seemed in great shape mechanically before I purchased it.

I've put around 1,000 miles during first month of ownership. These are mostly high way miles since I basically drive the car on weekends only.

I stared pre-mixing around 300 miles with Pettit Racing Protek-R (or whatever it's called) at 4 ounces per gas tank.

I've faithfully check the oil level every other fill up.

Also, I've made sure to redline the car one time every time I drove it during the first month. Of course, I always wait until the car is fully warm before going to the high RPMs.

The Issue:

Last weekend, when I took the car out for a spin, the check engine light started flashing really fast past the 8,000 RPM mark when I wanted to redline it. I immediately starting slowing down and the light disappeared. It never came back at all.

This weekend the same thing happened when I redlined the car for the first time during the weekend, but the check engine light stayed on:SHOCKED: The engine didn't lose power, no rough idling right after, etc. Everything seems/feels just fine.

So I've searched/read as many threads as I could about fast flashing check engine lights during high RPMs before I take the car to Mazda probably tomorrow or Tuesday for a diagnostic test. Want to make sure I am well informed before I deal with the dealer:naughty:

Based on my search so far, it seems like I have a misfire/ignition problem. But I wonder, is it normal to have bad coils/spark plug wires/spark plugs with such low miles? I mean, I know the car was barely used by the previous owner, so I wonder if that had a negative impact on the car:eek:

I read something else somewhere about the ECU not being able to keep the right coolant flow parameters at high RPMs or something like that. But the car had no signs of overheating, and whatever computer updates the car needed I'm sure they were done by 2008.

Anything else I should consider before I go to the dealer? :dunno:

The Pre-Owned Certification program comes with a 12 month bumper-to-bumper warranty, as well as extended power train warranty. If any components of the ignition system are bad I hope the dealer will take care of it without me having to pay for new coils/wires/spark plugs so soon after owning the car. That would sux:eek:

And I certainly hope I don't have any internal engine issues so soon:eek::eek::eek:

Any other suggestions will be greatly appreciated, so that I know how deal with the dealer!!!

Thanks.

Until you get the cel information .... it's just a guessing game.

However from what you described and having the exact same thing happen to me (bit lower rpm however) ...
If I was a betting man (am I not) I would say engine misfire ...... any harm done to the engine ... not likely.
What could be causing it .... <shrug> look at the usually suspects ... you know who they are:

Plugs
Coils
Maf
Eccentric Shaft Sensor
Carbon build up
Bad Gas
Fuel pump
Air Filter
Fuel Injectors

I wouldn't take it to the dealer, yet.
Go to Autozone or buy a ODBII reader .... see what's up with the engine light.
You can check most of what I mentioned yourself .... even if you are not sooo mechanically inclined.

Good luck ... keep us posted

Cool, thanks. That was very helpful. Indeed, I realize it is a guess name until the code is read/analyze. But any piece of extra info I can get will help me.

I do have a OBDII reader that I use in my other vehicle, so I'll try that. For some reason I thought you needed a special scanner for the rotaries, LOL.

Make sure your scan tool is CAN compliant.

Mmm...not sure about that.

What I have is a Scangauge II. Need to search here on the forums to see if other RX-8 owners have used that one.

On top of all the above, a clogged catalytic converter can also cause a misfire and foul plugs. I think mine was replace when I only had 5-6000 miles on the car.

Scanguage II should be fine. There is a thread on it somewhere here.

Interesting point about the cat converter. Wow, so yours died so early. That's kind of crazy.

Thanks for pointing that out.

Update
 

Even though I have a OBDII scanner, I ended up taking the car to Mazda in case something from the ignition needed to be replaced under warranty since I have the pre-owned extended warranty.

They kept the car for two days at the dealership:eek: So I was getting a little nervous :)

Guess what they found: NOTHING.

All they did was to clear code P302 ("cylinder #2 misfire"), clean the spark plugs, inspect spark plug wires and spark plugs, inspect cat converter and emissions systems. Apparently one of the spark plugs on the rear rotor was "dirty" or so they claimed, but all parts "passed" inspection and did not need replacement. Therefore, no warranty claim was submitted.

Then they took the car for a test drive on the highway to rev it up. Everything is fine now.

Funny thing is that the tech told me that I need to "rev it up" in order to "clean carbon deposits." They also said "don't be afraid to push the rotary engine."

I responded by saying that the check engine light came on because I was doing exactly that!!!:dunno: I also told him I've been very well taught by the RX-8 community:smoker:

At the end I had to pay for the diagnostic test/reseting of the code - which is funny since I have a scanner and could have done it myself for free, LOL. But I am glad I did it anyway. When something happens with the car again, at least I started a "relationship" with the local Mazda service department.

Perhaps the previous owner babied the car too much:cwm27:

I've been having this issue pretty much ever since I bought my car, intermittently.
I've seafoamed it, changed the wires, because that's the only thing the previous owner hadn't replaced? Then it'd come back again a week later. Then last night, it came back, so I got home and was looking around at some things that could be causing this...that I hadn't checked before.

I then flipped the butterfly of the throttle body open, to find probably close to 1/16" of gunk and dirt inside the throttle body.
I cleaned it until it was shiny again :D
It idles better now than it ever has, but, I haven't really driven it hard enough to get the CEL back.