here's what I was told by dealer service when it happened with my 3i
as long as the light is not flashing the car is usually safe to drive.
mine turned out to be an oxygen sensor that went bad

 

bruklinboy, thanks for the information as well man, as usual it is much appreciated. I am kind of concerned to drive her now, taking her in wednesday am. Update will follow .

 

UPDATE GUYS : SHORT VERSION - took car to my mechanic at 800am by 805am issue was resolved . The gas cap was not on tight enough which caused the sensor to trigger the CEL. He hooked up the computer to diagnos and it showed the code and meaning - reset the CEL and I was done and gone = 0 dollars , not having to deal with dealer = PRICELESS.


Brings me to 1st part - call the dealer and 1st ask about the warranty, status of it. Advise me cannot tell me if its under warranty and to bring/drop off car. I WAS LIKE WHAT THE , YOU CANNOT TELL ME . Got tired of going back and forth so asked about the issue. What was causing it ? I advised thanks to OUR MAZDA FORUM FAMILY about the gas cap triggering the CEL.Tells me no, something that simple would not and will need to drop car off so it can be checked out. There was more BS but that about somes it up ( they did not get my number or name as well ). FREAKIN DEALERS MAN - anyway thanks again guys


FYI Is there a site were we can check the warranty on our vehicles ? Look to see if previous owner added extended warranty, etc etc. ?

 

I think you'll find that Service Managers do very little actual service work, regardless of the brand/dealer. I assume you were probably talking to a manager (or scheduler) vs an actual repair technician. Glad to hear it ended up being that simple.

Maybe see if there is another dealer near you that might be better. As they are all independently owned and operated, it's tough to judge which one's are good vs. bad.

Loose gas cap tripping a CEL has been common since OBDII diagnostics were introduced.

 

If you had just re-tightened the cap, disconnected and then reconnected the battery, you would not have had to go to a mechanic at all.

Re: the warranty, years back I was considering buying a used Nissan (never happened), I was able to call a Nissan 1-800 number, provide the VIN, and get details of warranty remaining.I have to think this is possible to do for a Mazda. Like SSTlaure said, not all dealers are equal, if you call a different dealer, you may be able to get them to give you a number you can call to check warranty status. You know this info is on their central system,stored by VIN.

 

SST, how ya doing man ? This guy was not the person you would want representing your business, period .=!!!!!!!!! I called another dealer and was given my warranty status over the phone Urbanman without any issue.

Ya Urban, I could not find the correct rachet to remove the battery cover . I had every other damn size except the correct 1. Thanks though guys again for the help ?

 

Maybe relay your experience to the dealer closest to you that you had the problem at...inform him how easy it was to get the information across town to illustrate that they aren't doing something their competition does. Sometimes the problem is with the person, others because they weren't properly trained, and many times management might have no idea about the problem.