So my first winter with my 8 is starting. It's an '04, just had her refurb put in about 4k miles ago. Just changed the oil and put in Royal Purple 5w-20.

The first day we got down below freezing was about 3 days ago, serious frost on everything that morning. When I got in my car it was roughly 30F outside. Turned her on and to my dismay, the CEL was on.

Later that day I turned her on and the CEL was still there, so I drove to Autozone (car really didn't get a chance to fully warm up by the time I got there). They pulled the code and it was P06091 or something close, I'll verify it later, but it came up in mazda's system as PCM Malfunction. When I went up to mazda they told me if I had to replace it, it would run be a grand, and that they wanted to first try and reprogram it... Well I'm not really in the mood to spend extra money before spending over 1000 bucks.

So I walked out, reset the NVRAM (at least I think that's what the 20 pedal pushes resets)... The CEL disappeared and did not come back the rest of the day. The next day, I had the exact same problem in the morning (~32F), and once again it stayed on the second time I started the car and it was around ~45F. Then finally the third time when I went home from work it was around the same temp, but the car had been fully warmed up and driven the last time. This time there was no CEL when I turned her on.

Today, I woke up and it was around 28F, CEL when I started her. drove to work and she was pretty warm when I got there. This afternoon I drove across town it was about 60F and the CEL was still on, but she was pretty warm by the time I shut her off. 3rd time's a charm, as when I drove back across town again, the CEL was off when I started her. Should theoretically stay off the rest of the day.

Any ideas?

 

something close doesn't count.

please get the correct code.

 

Yea sorry, long day, just wanted to get most of that down lol. And yea totally off...

P0610

Thanks in advance

 

https://www.rx8club.com/series-i-trouble-shooting-95/dtc-p0610-62049/

read the snap-on post especially. the only way to test it is to flash it/configure it. the the code comes back after the configuration ... it's new pcm time. make sure they show you the failure

 

Wanted to add that the last time I drove it tonight it was around 45F and it still had no CEL. I don't think we're going to hit freezing again tonight, so we'll see if it still comes on in the morning. Also note the day after I first tried the reset, I tried it again not too much later the next time I got in the car, and it stayed that time (although disappeared the next time I turned her on).

 

Thanks for the info.

 

reset wont work. the only way to fix it is with a flash. and that might not work either. see my above post in case you missed it while we cross posted.

 

hahaha

 

Would the PCM have been flashed when I got my reman swapped in? I'm going to have to set up an appointment with Mazda... they'll be glad to finally get some money out of me...

 

And I ask because of the whole "unless you've recently been flashed it's probably dead" idealogy.

 

probably not

 

Isn't the PCM covered in the Emission Waranty?

 

For an '04 with 75k?

 

Also if the PCM is going bad, what are some of the problems it could cause? As I am a little tight on cash and it only triggers the light when started below freezing...

 

Hey, good news.

They determined the PCM is bad and it will be replaced under the emissions warranty.

Now if I could just get the dang clutch to work... :/