Let me tell you what happened:

Drove out of town last week...about 180 miles round trip. Got half way through the trip and my car started making this infamous "marbles in a can" sound. Then it couldn't sustain a 75 mph cruise. It would loose a little power and dip to 70mph, then surge to 79-80 mph and come back to 75. This happed until I got to my destination. Then later that night when I was getting ready to leave, I started the car, and noticed that the check engine light was on. DAMN IT! I thought that the problem was bad gas, so I put some 93 octane in. The car was flawless during my trip home and the check engine light went off. Sat. morning 11/03/07, the CEL came on again, so I called the dealer to make an appointment to bring it in.

That Tues. 11/06/07, I brought it in and the dealer kept it that day. The service manager called to tell me that the car gave a code: P0456 "small emissions leak" The service manager said that I didn't screw on my gas cap tight enough so the engine computer was registering a leak. I believed him because I read that sometimes that can cause a CEL. Well, YESTERDAY the CEL came on again! I've gotten gas since Tues. and I made sure the cap was on tight enough. My car has been serviced several times in the past, and I always mention a horrible "clank" sound coming from the rear exhaust area. The service tech. said that he couldn't find it, until the last time I brought my car in, then the service tech. said that there was a loose exhaust hanger and that he tightened it. Well when I got my car back that day, I could still hear the clank, so either he didn't tighten it enough, he didn't tighten at all, or that wasn't the problem

I have to make an appointment to have my car serviced again, because I mentioned to the dealer (at my service on 11/06) that my moonroof was rattling, so they ordered new rails for it. I will mention the CEL again to them. Do you think that the clanking in the rear has something to do with the CEL and the emissions? I've read about problems with the RX8's cats. also. The awful thing is that my warranty expired on 11/09/07. On 11/02/07 I sent Mazdausa an email asking them when my warranty will expire, and they replied on 11/09/07 the day my warranty was up...ain't that about nothing. I'm anxious to hear what my dealer in going to say since I have no warranty now considering that this was a preexisting problem. HAVE YA'LL HAD THIS EMISSIONS CODE?

 

Sounds like you need a new gas cap??

 

...yup