I've had an intermittent CEL problem with my '92 Mazda Protege for
about 2 years. I've had it in the shop 3 times but it behaves
everytime I take it in. No coding shows up in the diagnostics so they
say they can't fix it. The light usually comes on as soon as the
engine temp reaches max then comes and goes corresponding with a
slight surge or lag as it comes on and off. Once it's good and warm
the problem seems to go but the idle is sometimes rough and surges. On
occasion the car stalls at lights and sometimes just won't start
unless you put your foot to floor. I found I had a gas tank leak and
thought it might be a similar problem to the loose gas cap but I
replaced the tank but not the problem.

Phil


"BernMan" > wrote in message >...
> May not be the problem but it happened to me. The CEL was lit turned out to
> be I did not have the gas cap tight. There is some kind of sensor in the
> tank, don't know how it works, detects pressure or vacuume of some sort
> designed to prevent gas fumes from escaping????
>
> Someone told me this and I thought, yea right????I checked and the cap was
> loose, no light since.
>
>
> "CELbegone" > wrote in message
> ...
> > This is about Mazda rather than the Miata. I own two Mazdas, a Mazda6
> > and a Mazda3. Hindsite tells me I should have varied brand names a
> > bit. But this is how things turned out. The popular mazdaXforums
> > websites are more geared towards fandom than actual technical issues.
> > So this is the best place I could think to ask a few questions. I
> > hope you don't mind the semiOT post.
> >
> > My Mazda6 is the 6-cyl 5-speed automatic version. It's had three
> > CEL lights in the past year (the last one was four or five
> > months ago). The dealership took the car the first two times and
> > gave me a rental. They reset the CEL and did a lot of ignition
> > work the first time (new plugs, somethind else - I can dig up
> > the WO if it's of value). The second time, they reset the CEL
> > and gave a story about firmware. The third time, they didn't
> > take the car at all and said the CEL would go away. It did.
> > The first two CELs were misfires. The third probably was too,
> > although the code was never read.
> >
> > My Mazda3 is the 2.3L 5-speed manual version. It had a CEL go off
> > last night. I've put about 20 miles on it since. I haven't called
> > the dealer yet.
> >
> > Between two Mazda cars, I've had 4 CEL lights. Alright, now the
> > questions.
> >
> > Independently of Mazda's bull****, what's going on?
> >
> > Is it some quality issue with Mazda? Maybe the engines
> > just aren't put together well. The 6-cylinder is the American
> > designed and built variety (ie Ford). I'm not sure about the
> > 4-cylinder. Or is the computer too sensitive? Perhaps misfires
> > aren't as uncommon as people think. Could it be that it just
> > reports everything?
> >
> > Are my driving habits to blame? I did hit the rev limiter on
> > the Mazda6. The tiptronics absolutely sucks on it. Sometimes
> > it would delay my shift and continue in a lower gear until
> > the RPM went above redline for a second. I experimented and
> > stopped using tiptronics over about a month. I've never hit
> > the rev limiter on the Mazda3. I rarely shift aggressively.
> > I did so three days ago merging with interstate traffic.
> > Crazy holiday shopping patterns led to the low speed lane
> > doing 5 mph and the next lane over doing 40, so the car
> > had to scoot.
> >
> > Will I do damage driving the car now that it has a CEL warning?
> > It's a bad time to bring it into the dealership. I'm too dependent
> > on the car right now and can't spare the time from work.
> >
> > Can I actually detect a misfire? What symptoms do they show?
> > (Besides a CEL obviously :-)
> >
> > The Mazda6's strings of misfires stopped - or at least the
> > misfires have disappeared for the last four months. Could the
> > misfire be related to engine break-in? It has 15,000 miles
> > on it. (The Mazda3 has 5000 miles)
> >
> > I'm skeptical of the dealership's claims right now. I work
> > in IT and I hear bull**** stories all the time to soothe the
> > client while not really addressing the issue. Unfortunately,
> > I don't know nearly as much about cars as I do about computers.
> > I've lurked here forever and have seen some excellent advice
> > and help offered. If you want to send some help my way, I'd
> > appreciate it.
> >
> > Thanks.