Check Engine Light On

The engine.

Yes, the error codes being supplied. Not that it will solve your problem.

Check that various wires to various sensors around the engines are properly plugged into their various sockets in various places.

Alas I don't have a code reader. Many thanks anyway.

Excellent, thanks.

Yep, checked that, or at least as far as I can.

Just wondering if there's anything particular associated with this car/fault. Obviously not ;-)

Rob

See

or ask on a Mazda 3 forum? Are you comtemplating a visit to a main dealer or an independant mazda specialist? Getting use of a code reader yourself might not be that difficult - ask around. There are some standalone units (though myself no experience) available in Argos, though for my Skoda I've got kit that runs into a laptop.

Honest John doesn't offer much beyond 'the most reliable car ever'. Mazda3 forum is down - I would have asked there first of course, desperate times etc ;-) The Aussie forum has 14 messages posted in 3 years.

Are you

Main dealer - it's got to be worth a try, on the just expired warranty.

Yes, I did look at that a while ago and they're a lot cheaper than I remember. Do you reckon this might do on my netbook:

(ebay link)? I've no experience of these things.

Although I've been through the usual (connections, filler cap, fuel level) my guess is emissions - it always starts *after* two minutes from cold and won't go out. And that can be expensive - hence the dealer. It was only in there last week for the MOT.

Thanks, Rob

do you use cheap fuel?

Well - not 'cheap' as such, but Tesco 98 RON of late.

that may well be the problem.

Thanks - I'll give it a try. Shouldn't take many runs round the block to clear the current half tank ;-)

If it seems to be running ok in general then it will be worth waiting and seeing.

But the cheap fuel may have ruined the lambda sensor. You may be lucky, but in all seriousness using generic fuel from supermarkets is not a good idea in the long term. Modern cars do run better on 'good' stuff, drivers that are really used to their cars can tell the difference.

Yes, I think I'll do that. Went to the dealers for what i thought was a while I wait booking, but apparently they need to keep the car for at least one hour diagnostics at £70 p/hour, and wouldn't even discuss warranty until anything had been diagnosed. I needed the car today, so cancelled.

I'll certainly give it a try when the tank is emptyish.

This fuel source does seem to be an inexact science - from a quick google it seems all petrol starts the same, but is differentiated at the pumps by what's *added*. TBH I've never paid much attention - I just put the higher octane in when I can (cos it says so in the manual).

Anywho, thanks, I'll see how it goes. Bought a code reader off ebay as well, so i'll check that when it arrives. Got to be worth a punt at £30.

Rob

absolutely worth while, the trick is to read the codes, clear the codes and then see what comes up after that, then the problem is to interpret what has actually caused the initial problem, sometimes multiple fault codes will come up which actually only have a single source problem. Also, when you know what the fault is you can sometimes decide to ignore it or delay its repair. One of my customers has a VW which actually needs a second lambda sensor, the only symptom is the light being on, it sails through the mot, so the customer just ignores it (the sensor was 164 quid from VW and at the time I priced it was not available as a generic)

Just by way of update. The light has been going on/off for the past few weeks, and I finally got round to hooking up an OBD diagnostic thingy. This revealed a fault code, the fault code pointed to a stuck valve, and the valve sticks because of a weak spring exacerbated by cold. This was the subject of a US recall. I need to check whether it can/will be done in the UK by a dealer FOC.