Really Poor Fuel Economy

DJ · Post by DJ » October 14th, 2005, 9:49 pm

But are you getting enough mileage/performance to justify the 11 cents more a liter?

snellgrove · Post by **snellgrove** » October 15th, 2005, 6:56 pm

Hi guys

stumbled across this thread, and I think I am suffering from some issue like this,

basically when I let off the gas pedal I always get popping (burning fuel in the manifold) I still have my cat on the engine, and it runs and idles just fine (although when cold and wet, it doesn't like its idling.. sometimes gets to the line on the rev gauge just over the 0 line, you know? its like at ~250/300 kinda area)

I dont think the sensors were replaced at 60,000. I got the car @ 72,000 and the cambelt etc etc wasn't done so no proper Mazda service @ 60 grand! (heck, it had NO service history at all

but evidence of basic servicing.. oil was clean!)

my question.. is the lambda sensor the o2 sensor? or are they different...

how much is the gadget that I plug in, to see ECU codes? I reset my ECU today and have done probably 15/20 miles and driven it pretty hard and gently, so I would like to check codes at some point soonish!

Chiggles · Post by **Chiggles** » October 16th, 2005, 2:10 am

snellgrove wrote: how much is the gadget that I plug in, to see ECU codes? I reset my ECU today and have done probably 15/20 miles and driven it pretty hard and gently, so I would like to check codes at some point soonish!

Are you telling us you can't afford a paperclip in the area where you live?

snellgrove · Post by **snellgrove** » October 16th, 2005, 5:41 am

I'm such a n000bie when it comes to my car!!! - so I just create a circuit between some pins and the car itself has all the lights and stuff in it?!

I was always under the impression you had to plug something into the car

well, if this is the case thats fantastic

which bit of the online shop manual do I look @ to find the pins? I wouldnt want to jump across the wrong ones or anything. Its code 15, 17 for one of the sensors and 20something for the other one isn't it.. but if ones gone I'll replace both.

Is the o2 sensor, the lambda sensor? just a different name?

Chiggles · Post by **Chiggles** » October 16th, 2005, 8:26 pm

LOL, yeah, just take a paperclip and create a circuit between the points labeled TEN and GND in the diagnostic box and you'll be able to extract the codes from the vehicle. I don't know if there's a thread on these boards regarding how to extract CEL codes, but on Beyond (a local board closer to home that I'm a member of): follow this link to get a better idea of the procedure. That page also gives you a list of what sort of errors the codes refer to. Sorry that the images in that page went dead. I don't remember the exact locations of those connector points, but they should be labeled in the box somewhere, I think.

As far as a lambda sensor is though, I don't even know what you're referring to. Perhaps a description of what the lambda sensor is supposed to be used for would help clarify whether or not it's the same thing?

EDIT: LOL Didn't even see this thread until AFTER I had just posted a reply to this one. Glad someone's got a labeled picture for ya.

snellgrove · Post by **snellgrove** » October 17th, 2005, 12:52 pm

Yeah I took those pics myself.. the FAQ had no pictures so I asked the admins and the like to stick those in there, as I really got frustrated not being able to do a simple code-pull on the ECU. (going to do that in a few minutes)

hopefully it'll help others out there who dont have labels on theirs

Juans_93_MX3 · Post by **Juans_93_MX3** » October 22nd, 2005, 1:10 pm

Ok, so let me get this straight, there are 3 Oxygen Sensors and in total, they all cost around $130, right?
These seonsors dont got any funny names right? Like PVC Valve or anything like that?