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Check Engine Light Came On
I have a 1999 Mazda Miata. The check engine light came on and stays
on. It's been a year and 8 months since the oil was changed. Would that cause the check engine light to come on? Patricia Macon, GA |
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Check Engine Light Came On
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#3
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Check Engine Light Came On
XS11E wrote:
> Have you checked the oil level? If it's too low the check engine light > will come on but if the level is OK then the problem isn't the oil. > > A year and 8 months is too long to go w/o an oil change. Yes, conventional wisdom has always been 3,000 miles or 3 months, whichever comes first. Now there are endless arguments that you can go much longer, especially when talking about synthetics. I think that Hyundai recommends 7,500 miles with dino oil. Still, 6 months is the longest that I would consider between changes, regardless of miles driven. I watched my mechanic do an oil change on a Chevy van one time. He had checked the oil and it was full but very dirty. When he took the drain plug out, nothing happened. He actually had to punch through a solidified piece of sludge that had formed at the bottom of the oil pan to get the oil that was still fluid dripping, and it dripped out thick and slow. The owner had never replaced the oil in over 5 years, he just topped it off as it seeped from bad seals. Still, with a new filter and oil, the van drove away with no strange sounds or smoke. Pat |
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Check Engine Light Came On
"XS11E" > wrote in message ... > wrote in > oups.com: > >> I have a 1999 Mazda Miata. The check engine light came on and stays >> on. It's been a year and 8 months since the oil was changed. Would >> that cause the check engine light to come on? > > Have you checked the oil level? If it's too low the check engine light > will come on but if the level is OK then the problem isn't the oil. > > A year and 8 months is too long to go w/o an oil change. There is no CEL for oil level or oil pressure. Apparently Auto-Zone will read, for free, the stored code relvent to the CEL. |
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Check Engine Light Came On
XS11E wrote: > wrote in > oups.com: > > > I have a 1999 Mazda Miata. The check engine light came on and stays > > on. It's been a year and 8 months since the oil was changed. Would > > that cause the check engine light to come on? > > Have you checked the oil level? If it's too low the check engine light > will come on but if the level is OK then the problem isn't the oil. > > A year and 8 months is too long to go w/o an oil change. Thanks for the responses. I have a feeling that once the oil and filter are changed the check engine light will go off. Patricia |
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Check Engine Light Came On
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Check Engine Light Came On
pws > wrote in
: > wrote: > >> Thanks for the responses. I have a feeling that once the oil and >> filter are changed the check engine light will go off. >> >> Patricia > > > Patricia, > > I have been driving several miatas for about seven years now and > have had many check engine lights go on, both with my cars and > with my friend's vehicles. > > In almost every single case, removing the gas cap and putting it > back on until it clicks at least 3 times turned the light off. > > Have you tried this yet? I did have to replace one gas cap that > had quit holding pressure, but it was the same common problem > causing the CEL to show up. To Patricia: If the above fixes the check engine light you still need to change the oil and filter. |
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Check Engine Light Came On
XS11E wrote:
> If the above fixes the check engine light you still need to change the > oil and filter. Nonsense, your lowest grade dino oil is good for at least 10 years or 100,000 miles, whichever comes first. As far as oil filters, I got tired of paying for those and deciding which one to use, so I just plugged off the hole. The lack of an oil filter makes those once a decade oil changes much faster. At least I think it would, the engines seem to keep burning up long before then, but I doubt if the problem is lubrication based. Now quit trying to get people to waste an ever-decreasing and ever more-costly resource. ;-) Pat |
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Check Engine Light Came On
pws > wrote in
: > XS11E wrote: > >> If the above fixes the check engine light you still need to >> change the oil and filter. > > > Nonsense, your lowest grade dino oil is good for at least 10 years > or 100,000 miles, whichever comes first. > As far as oil filters, I got tired of paying for those and > deciding which one to use, so I just plugged off the hole. > > The lack of an oil filter makes those once a decade oil changes > much faster. At least I think it would, the engines seem to keep > burning up long before then, but I doubt if the problem is > lubrication based. > > Now quit trying to get people to waste an ever-decreasing and ever > more-costly resource. ;-) I'm sorry, should have thought of the environment! Once had a lady come into the shop with a Dodge van, 318 V8 (5.2 liters for you european types, 5.2 litres for you Brits) and wanted to know how often she should change oil. She'd had the van for a couple of years, many many thousands of miles and had NEVER changed it, I told her she was due and suggested the conventional 3 months or 3,000 miles. We changed it, when we pulled the drain plug a quart or so of thick sludge came out. With new oil and filter it started, ran normal compression, normal oil pressure and ran fine. My girlfriend once had a 1973 Ford LTD that got an oil change only when the oil light came on, same deal, it didn't seem to hurt it? Engines take an amazing amount of abuse. OTOH, a young girl brought in a Pontiac Grand AM (GMs attempt to build something even cheaper and crappier than the Vega) with the oil light flashing, she was coming from LA on her way to Colorado. We drained about a cup of oil, refilled it and the engine disintegrated as she reached Albuquerque. Of course she tried to sue us and GM for using a defective oil filter.... So when I said engines take an amazing amount of abuse I didn't mean GMs 2.4 liter 4 banger.... |
#10
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Check Engine Light Came On
In article >,
pws > wrote: > Nonsense, your lowest grade dino oil is good for at least 10 years or > 100,000 miles, whichever comes first. Absolutely. It's already 60 million years old; what's another 10? :-) -- Lanny Chambers '94C, St. Louis http://www.hummingbirds.net/alignment.html |
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