Hi, I am a new member who has a problem with a my 2000 Miata. The check engine light just came on at 30,000 miles. There does not seem to be anything wrong with the engine etc. Is this light pre-programed to come on at 30,000 miles, and if so, how do I turn the light off?<IMG src=smileys/smiley19.gif border="0">

 

has your gas mileage gone down? the car can run fine with a CEL but if you fuel mileage has gone down, i would check the O2 sensor. </P>


The Auto Zone stores here will run a check on them for free.</P>

 

I had a 97 Miata with this problem (at higher mileage) soon after I changed the oil. After I paid the local Mazda dealer $65, he took 3 seconds to reconnect a vacuum line that had come loose and it ran fine. The next time it happened I knew where to look and reconnected it myself. It's very easy to pop this line off as you wrestle the oil filter out from the top.

 

where do you find the vacum line?

 

Anyone have experience of check engine problem not being fixed? Mine has never been figured out and I keep spending money for a car that runs wonderfully.

 

I'll just repeat an advice that I got on this board,

Remove fuel cap,
Disconect battery cables,
reinsert fuel cap, tight
wait 30 minutes
reconect battery cables,

mine was fixed this way and had no problems since

 

FYI...I have a 2000 Miata, which I dearly love. Shortly after I purchased it, the check engine light came on for no apparent reason. I was surprised because it was running like a dream. I was close to home, so I drove it and called the dealer. He asked if I had left my keys in the ignition upon fueling up. Yes, as a matter of fact, I had. The dealer turned the light off at no charge...THE FIRST TIME...the second time cost me $83. I have since learned to remove my keys from the ignition and to make sure I turn the fuel cap until it clicks 3 or 4 times. It's in the owner's manual...go figure. Anything to make money for something which is not intuitively obvious to the owner. I like the tip about how to turn it off yourself since it's easy to forget about your keys. Thank you!

 

Did you ever get an answer to your check enginer light question? Mine just came on. I have a 2000 with 36,000 on it.

 

So many posts about a check engine light being on but no mention of the code that was stored. On your 2000 there are 93 different codes that can cause the check engine light to come on. They range from a loose fuel cap causing an evap system leak, to leaving keys in RUN position while refueling which gives a fuel level sensor range/performace problem, to engine missfires and so on and so on. The thing to remember is that your engine computer has seen a malfunction in some part of the system and it turns the light on so you will have it checked to see if it something major or very minor. By going to a dealer or trusted repair shop they can retrieve this code and will then usually diagnose why this code was set. Say your light came on and code p0172 was stored. This code definition says the adaptive fuel control is maxed at rich. You may notice poor mileage or mayber not. The code does not tell you why system is too rich, just that it is. Is then up to mechanic to figure out why. Taking to a shop can get expensive if it is a simple loose fuel cap. They still charge an hours labor ususally. An alternative is that many parts stores such as Knecht's, Autozone, etc will often retrieve this code for you at not charge in hopes that you will then purchase a part from them to repair. If your light is on, go to one of these stores and have them tell you the code #. Should be a letter P followed by 4 digits 0-9. Post with that code # and any abnormal things your car might be doing and maybe we can figure out what to do from there. Disconnecting the battery is often only prolonging a problem that may get worse and cause more damage.

 

Do not Do this!!!
primarily on 2000 and up vehicle's

Todays vehicles are computer drivin for the most part...its not like the good old days when your could fix you car in the drive way with a case of beer with the boys.

Take your car to the dealer for a definate code...then worry about how to "fix" the problem