I have 1800 miles and my check engine light came on today. Took car to mazda no answer on what it is yet. They THINK it's the gascap not being on tight enough. I dont think so

 

Haven't had this happen to me yet, but there have been a few threads on the subject. I haven't followed the discussions or remember what conclusions have been made if any. Maybe a search on "CEL" might come up with something.

 

I'm not sure about the 8, but usually the check engine light is not a big deal. Most of the time it is a fuse or the imfamous gas cap issue. I wouldn't be too woried about it unless Mazda says something otherwise.

 

mazda just called and said they dont know but it looks like a exhaust leak and might be several days before fixed WTF

 

Ouch, looks like I was wrong.
Sorry about that. At least it is still under warrenty.

 

For some reason, a scene from "Ferris Bueller's Day Off" just popped into my head :D

 

aw damn.. hope they give you a good loaner. Wonder what caused it.

 

What's up with the Mazda service being clueless about the reason for a CEL? Don't they have a code reader? A CEL will usually log the error code in the ECU, so the only thing they need to get an answer is the reader. It's scary if they say 'we don't know'. What kind of service are we going to get if something more serious happens?

Ah, the nice days of OBD-I and the ability to read your car's codes with a paper clip... I'm so happy that my current car, being a '94, tells me so easily what's wrong when any CEL comes (luckily, I didn't have one for years).

OBD-II is a pain from this perspective :p

 

they gave me a 98 ford escort as a loaner. They said to expect a couple of days and they can expect a couple of phone calls from me to check on my 8's condition

 

un-FREAKIN-acceptable!!WTF kinda lame excuse for a loaner is that?have they even heard of Customer Service? you drop of your your barely-broken in brand new 30k sports car and they give you a 5 year old economy car worth about 2k as the loaner? what will they loan you when that thing breaks down? :o

 

Don't knock the escort. My dad's went for over 200,000 miles.

Seriouly though, you do deserve a better car than that for a loner.

 

NO WAY! If they have Ford products on their lot , the should atleast be giving you a loaded Mustang. That way you'll really learn to appreciate handling over torque.

This licks the left nut! They better not pull this sh-t when I leave my car for service.

 

for what its worth, my 6 threw a few CEL's when it was new, they had a minor computer bug in the emissions code, and once it was the gas cap. I'm sure you guys will have a few of those as well as the car is brand new, they just reflash the computer.

As long as you don't notice a performance issue, its usually a emissions software glitch.

 

My dealer only lets a couple of the MAzda Master Techs work on the RX8s. Both said that Mazda told dealer service to swap out the EVAP unit for any car that comes in with the CEL on. Apparently, the factory set the EVAP units too tight tolerances for what's acceptable and what's not when it comes to emmissions. Techs said it's a clear case of "overengineering" to tolerances that are much higher than required here in the U.S.

 

Hmm, I'd like this! But I want the right nut licked also :D

 

I keep forum posted but mazda said they don't know what is wrong and they are thinking it may be a vacuum hose or exhaust leak.

 

called mazda and they said tells are not their today til 3pm and they said they think its the computer that needs to be replaced but the techs arent their to fix it til 3pm sounds like bs

 

mazda says they can't solve problem and will contact irvine mazda becuase they have four techs from japan their to help with my car tomorrow.

 

mazda called me today and said check engine light was probably caused by me. They say because I added subs to sound system or because I added two neon lights under driver and passenger side which I ran to dome light fuse this may have caused check engine light to come on. So they reset computer and now light is off. How can interior lights or sound system subs cause check engine light to come on. Is this bs

 

I told you Mike. Atleast you know not to let the tire pressure get low, or you're engine with shut off. LOL Just kidding! New Technology = New Problems........

 

It is a total load. They were incapable of doing their job properly, so they made up a big excuse.

---jps

 

Mike, can you ask them to take a look at their diagnostics program that displays the code interpretation, or get a hard copy? I don't know how realistic this is with most dealerships, but I can't think of how you would trip a CEL with a stereo system...

 

I just got off the phone with mazda and they told me come get the car. They reset computer and test drove it and the cel light is off. Their customer service answers were not complete

 

Well, I hope that the problem is resolved and you can go on with driving without problems. Let us know how the 8 behaves.

 

It looks to me like they couldn't figure out what the problem was, so they hit the reset switch and hoped it wouldn't happen again.

Be sure to document the date you noticed the problem, the date you took the car in, how long they had it, and what they tell you the problem and the fix was.

If this ends up being a re-occuring problem, having proper documentation early on will help you out if the car ends up being a lemon...