I have no luck with cars

sigh So the Miata as of yet, has not been the dream car I was hoping for. I picked it up Wednesday, and the Check Engine light (CEL) came on. The dealer had told me that it had done that before but they had fixed it. So I took it back. The replaced the O2 Sensor, said it was good. Get it back Friday. Drive all night, no problems. This morning the CEL comes back on. Some quick googling says it could be as little as a loose gas cap. However it could be more. Since the light came on at stop lights the idle will drop below 1k for a few seconds and then go back to normal. And it feels like when I'm driving it will, I dont know, studder (no change in speed or RPM but the car just feels different for a second). It didnt do any of this when I looked at it. How serious an issue could this be? If its bad, do I have some kind of legal group to try and return this car? The dealer said it was fine. Gah, just my luck.

Drew

What year is this car? I had similar symptoms on one of my 96's when a I pulled off a vacuum line and failed to reconnect it.

It's a 2001 Mazda Miata SE.

If you go to autozone or a local parts store they can usually pull the code, when you get that it will usually point you in the right direction.

In N.Y., if a car goes back for the same problem three times and isn't fixed, you can get your money back under the lemon law. Check and see if yours is similar.

get an OBD2 scanner and see what codes it shows and what the "freeze frame" says was going on when it was thrown.

minimac wrote: In N.Y., if a car goes back for the same problem three times and isn't fixed, you can get your money back under the lemon law. Check and see if yours is similar.

Does that also apply to used car purchases?
Here in Ohio the lemon law only applies to new car purchases.

Just fixed a friend's wrangler with similar issue - recurring code indicated gas cap problem - she bought 3 caps before asking for help. Tracked down a split vacuum hose. Not sure if it's relevant with a miata, jeeps have a cam position sensor in the dist. When they start to fail, they start stumbling or feeling like there's no power.

If they changed the O2 sensor, it probably had a lean or rich code stored. I see that all the time, on all types of cars, where there is a vacuum leak, or bad mass air sensor, or something that causes the O2 sensor to read out of range. Usually the O2 is doing its job exactly right, but it takes a certain amount of thought and some diagnosis to find the real cause.

Unless you like throwing money at shops, a harbor freight obd code reader is a non optional part of owning a newer car. Autozone used to rent them, but they got more and more weird about and no they no longer do at all.

Update!

Ok, so i went to Autozone and they pulled the code for me. Now it's saying its a problem with the Catalytic Converter. I don't know why it didn't throw that code the first time. So the dealer is seeing if Mazda will replace it (supposedly they will if its under 80k miles). If Mazda won't do it, I told the dealer we might have issues. He said he could probably do like a factory replacement for free, or get me a really good deal on a exhaust system. I should know more tomorrow.

Yeah Federal Emissions Warranty is good for 80k miles or 8 years from original date of purchase. So, yes you are likely to be timed out on warranty repair. But, it does indeed sound like the dealer is going to work with you on this that is good to see.

Best thing you can do at this point is cut your losses, sell the car for a few hundred, and move on.

For sure try to get a factory cat, my dad replaced the one on his subaru with a $600 aftermarket one rather than a $1700 factory one, and it has already failed again after about a year (I believe it failed the first time due to misfire issues caused by a number of things which have since been fixed). Of course it does have alot of miles on it and burn alot of oil.

I had this problem and it was too much build up in the intake. Simply cleaned it out with a carb cleaner and problem fixed.

Does this thing have an AFM/VAF/MAF/flapper do-hickey?

My Deathscort shows the same issues from time to time.

Ok, supposedly the Mazda Dealership is considering doing the Cat even though its out of the time window because its so low miles. The Dealer is sweet talking someone he knows there.

Datsun, yeah thus far the dealer has been really helpful and is working with me to fix this problem. It's still really annoying. It also doesn't help that it seems like every car I buy breaks shortly there after T_T (which the wife is currently holding over my head).

I need to call the dealer soon and see whats up.

Alright, so Mazda said no the car was too old (it was worth a try). The dealer has given me the option of returning the car and I have to admit I am sorely tempted. I've had the car less than a week and probably only had 3 or 4 none Check Engine Light hours out of it. It just seems like trouble.

I think the dealer will foot the bill to get the cat replaced. However now that the "new-ness" is gone from my eyes, I'm able to take a real good look at the car. Mechanically its fine (aside from the cat). However the top needs to be replaced, and the exterior is not perfect (several dings, etc).

I just don't want this car to turn out like my 944 (always broken, etc). Despite Mazda's reputation, I just have a bad feeling. Yes it's an SE, but that doesn't matter too much.

Have the dealer fix it for free, kick in some cash and get the exhaust done, or return the car and find something else?!

Would you feel comfortable with the car if the CEL issue has been sorted? If not, return it.

Put a piece of electrical tape over the CEL and drive it.

Or better yet, attach the proper resistor in place of the cat's O2 sensor and drive it. If you match the resistance of the sensor at full operating temp that should make it run nicely most of the time.

http://www.audiworld.com/tech/eng53.shtml