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New Owner - CEL :(

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Old Apr 9, 2012 | 03:43 PM
  #1  
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Unhappy New Owner - CEL :(

Got my 04' RX on Saturday night, had endless fun with her, great drive :D

Been totally fine untill now, went for a short drive (10miles) then stopped at petrol station to put fuel in (super unleaded) when i then tried to start it stuggled to start up then CEL came on. Massivly down on power, stuggled to get to 50mph on the main road coming home.

Tried a few resets that i read about (pumping brake pedal till pressure gauge goes up & holding trip reset and turning ignition on) in a desperate attempt to fix it.

That CEL is really depressing

hope its nothing serious....

any input would be great, Thanks guys.
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Old Apr 9, 2012 | 04:53 PM
  #2  
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have the CEL code read.
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Old Apr 9, 2012 | 07:48 PM
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+1 on get the code read

But let me get this straight.
You've had your since Saturday like a total of 2 days.
You get a MIL and you think by resetting it you are fixing it?

Wtf?

If you get a check engine light something is wrong.
Unless of course you know what you have done that would cause a check engine light. Then of course you wouldn't post such a silly thread?
Would you?
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Old Apr 10, 2012 | 02:39 AM
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just read a few random things and had a guess in panic :/

also read apparently the number one cause of CEL is fuel cap not on properly.

So... i took it off, put it back on properly (3 clicks) and went for a drive. All the power is back and drives fine again but light is still on. Would a loose fuel cap cause the power to go like a "safe mode" or something? had cars before that went into a "safe" or "limp" mode when something was wrong as a fail safe.

Bit of a newbie with rotary but lots of experiance with normal engines :/
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Old Apr 10, 2012 | 03:00 AM
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Get

the

code

read.
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Old Apr 10, 2012 | 06:05 AM
  #6  
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Originally Posted by mike8135
just read a few random things and had a guess in panic :/

also read apparently the number one cause of CEL is fuel cap not on properly.

So... i took it off, put it back on properly (3 clicks) and went for a drive. All the power is back and drives fine again but light is still on. Would a loose fuel cap cause the power to go like a "safe mode" or something? had cars before that went into a "safe" or "limp" mode when something was wrong as a fail safe.

Bit of a newbie with rotary but lots of experiance with normal engines :/
+10000000
Get the code read.

I've never actually seen a check engine light caused from a bad gas cap ... but I've heard about it ... don't know how anyone could say its the number one thing that causes a CEL.

How would Mazda collect that stat? Do you have a link to that thread/article please

Last edited by wcs; Apr 10, 2012 at 06:09 AM.
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Old Apr 10, 2012 | 07:27 AM
  #7  
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It was on google questions about the gas cap. It's booked in at Mazda dealer Tuesday next week. There real busy. Pulled terminal of battery this morn to reset. Cel has gone away now, driven 30miles today and still off so far so good lol
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Old Apr 10, 2012 | 07:34 AM
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Originally Posted by mike8135
It was on google questions about the gas cap. It's booked in at Mazda dealer Tuesday next week. There real busy. Pulled terminal of battery this morn to reset. Cel has gone away now, driven 30miles today and still off so far so good lol
LOL it was a google question and of course that correlates to the RX8?

So now you've gone and cleared the CEL.
What's Mazda suppose to do?

I wouldn't bother taking it to the dealer unless you have the CEL or some problem that you can reproduce for them ...

For a person that says they have experience with engines, I'm beginning to have my doubts.
Maybe lawnmower engines?

Last edited by wcs; Apr 10, 2012 at 07:36 AM.
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Old Apr 10, 2012 | 12:18 PM
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Originally Posted by wcs
LOL it was a google question and of course that correlates to the RX8?

So now you've gone and cleared the CEL.
What's Mazda suppose to do?

I wouldn't bother taking it to the dealer unless you have the CEL or some problem that you can reproduce for them ...

For a person that says they have experience with engines, I'm beginning to have my doubts.
Maybe lawnmower engines?
LOL!

Well in my mind if i clear the fault code and it doesnt come back then surely its nothing too bad otherwise it would ping back on :/ been driving all day today and so far typical happy RX8 motoring :D
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Old Apr 10, 2012 | 12:35 PM
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Quick tip: whenever you get a CEL, run by autozone or murray's, and they'll grab the code for you. This helps greatly with determining the cause. Clearing it before taking it to the dealer is just wasting everybody's time, and your money. As well as possibly causing more damage to the car before it picks up on the fact that there's an issue.
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Old Apr 10, 2012 | 02:33 PM
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Originally Posted by mike8135
LOL!

Well in my mind if i clear the fault code and it doesnt come back then surely its nothing too bad otherwise it would ping back on :/ been driving all day today and so far typical happy RX8 motoring :D

Not true actually. For example I have a midpipe which replaces the catalytic convertor. It takes my cel a good 300-600 miles to turn on, and its a cel that I would also get if the cat was failing which is a serious problem. Some CELs might come back on fast and others might not, it just depends on your luck I guess.

Just get it read at some place its easy. You could also buy your own obd2 reader and check the car yourself.
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Old Apr 10, 2012 | 04:33 PM
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Originally Posted by xexok
Just get it read at some place its easy. You could also buy your own obd2 reader and check the car yourself.
Wouldn't a guy that worked and knew a lot about "Regular Engines" already have such a device or know how to get such things done.

I know a lot about Nuclear Reactors ... think I'll go fix some.

Last edited by wcs; Apr 10, 2012 at 05:45 PM.
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Old Apr 10, 2012 | 05:35 PM
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Originally Posted by wcs
I know a lot about Nuclear Reactors ... think I'll go fix some.
Please don't. We need you here to TS issues like this one.
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Old Apr 10, 2012 | 05:51 PM
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Originally Posted by 09Factor
Please don't. We need you here to TS issues like this one.
LOL
I suck at both doesn't that make me an expert of sorts
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Old Apr 11, 2012 | 05:15 PM
  #15  
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Okay lesson learnt. Wont clear anymore CEL's thanks alot for advice guys. And no i dont have any ECU readers, if i need any of that i take it too my friends Garage, but ive moved over 2 hours drive away now so it gets hard .
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Old May 9, 2012 | 11:41 AM
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Alright fellas. Hoping to get some advice. - I got a CEL last night, car runs great. These are the codes that were read.

aaCatalyst efficiency monitor malfunction - bank 1. Probable cause:

aa1 - exhaust leak
aa2 - Check other service codes first
aa3 - faulty catalytic converter.

BTW: 2005 RX8 GT, 66k miles on it. Runs like a dream. A good dream that is. Averages 20 mpg.
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