CEL woes again...

[EggyRollz]

Ok so....I let the car sit for a while and when I charged the battery it fired up fine. Ran fine and now CEL's are popping up left and right.


I've had 3 in one day and then 5 today but now i'm back down to 3.

From what I can tell from the Ten/GND I got

Code 5 : Knock Sensor.

Code 17 : LHo2s Inversion Error.

Code 24 : RHo2s Inversion Error.


How can all these happen all at once ? I know when my buddy drove it home ( over 200 miles ) he said it didn't even flicker a CEL once.

Also if it helps any, it feels completely gutless right now and my RPM gauge is jumping all over the place but the idle is steady. Go figure :/ the highest i've seen it go is 7K when I was going like 3mph over a speed bump hahaha...what the hell.
Any advice where to go from here would be much appreciated guys =)

[solo_ryder]

Well you just need to fix the problems and your CEL will go away.

You have a knock sensor, which is the most important to fix. Check the connection for it by the coolant neck and see if the plug is busted or if it was wired in ghetto. The knock sensor is wierd, its a 2 wire plug, but one of the wires is exposed and it is wrapped around the other wire, making it possible for a bad connection if it was put together with a butt-connector

As for the other 2, those are front and rear 02 sensors, if they are shot, they are shot. Perhaps pull the neg terminal off the battery, hold the brake down for 30 seconds and reconnect and take the car for a normal 15 min drive. See what happens

[EggyRollz]

Is there a way to test the knock sensor before I decide to replace it. I really don't want to pull the intake manifold off.

Also if I have to , Anything I should look out for ?

Oh I also just peeked at my o2 sensors and they look like 4 wire universals that were tapped into a specific harness connector. don't know if it is right or not.

This goes for both

[solo_ryder]

Is there a way to test the knock sensor before I decide to replace it. I really don't want to pull the intake manifold off.

Also if I have to , Anything I should look out for ?

Oh I also just peeked at my o2 sensors and they look like 4 wire universals that were tapped into a specific harness connector. don't know if it is right or not.

This goes for both

That means they were replaced before at some point. Does you car burn oil?

Look in the online manual or on probetalk to see if there is some type of resistance test on the knock sensor,

[EggyRollz]

No the car uses like 0 oil whatsoever. However gas is crap and power is not to be found :/

I also had some run ins with vaccum errors.

As for the o2's luckily the clipped the o2 sensor side of the harness and used it instead of cutting into the main harness connector. At least they did something right. Doesn't mean they were wired right though lol.

[EggyRollz]

Can I use the o2's from a probe Gt/ MX-6 ?

they are like 60 bucks cheaper.

[solo_ryder]

Yes, but the connectors are opposite IIRC. You can cut em and splice your oem ones back on or just get universals

[EggyRollz]

Ok so I fired it up today....and...problems more gallore.


I'm still getting the CEL for o2's and Knock Sensor but the car seems to suddenly have no power whatsoever. It starts fine. Has a smooth idle @ 1000 RPM but has no balls even for the 1.8. It takes quite a bit to get it up to speed. The tranny is good , clutch is fine , ignition seems to be working fine.

What should I be looking for ? Would a fried catalytic converter from shot o2's be the culprit ?

[EggyRollz]

Ok so I replaced the o2 sensors ( all of them ) and I am still getting the o2 sensor codes..how the hell do I clear these things off diagnostic memory. Or is my ECU dead ?
Or do I need to 'drive cycle' my car for so said amount of time/mileage ?

[Ryan]

Reset the ECM by removing the negative battery terminal, and then holding down the brake for 30 seconds. Its been said in here before already..

It sounds like your O2's are wired in wrong, and if your knock sensor harness is fine, have fun replacing that baby. We're talking intake manifold, and that main coolant pipe down the centre, and then some creativity to remove it, as Mazda uses a special socket with a slit up its length to accommodate the wire.

[EggyRollz]

Reset the ECM by removing the negative battery terminal, and then holding down the brake for 30 seconds. Its been said in here before already..

It sounds like your O2's are wired in wrong, and if your knock sensor harness is fine, have fun replacing that baby. We're talking intake manifold, and that main coolant pipe down the centre, and then some creativity to remove it, as Mazda uses a special socket with a slit up its length to accommodate the wire.

The o2's were ( well when I got it anyways ) originally 4-wire universals and I replaced them with direct fit OEM's. I am wondering if the Uni's just burned up or have lost the ability to do their job if they were cheap brands or what. I'm not sure hahah.


I tried the negative battery cable & brake trick already and they are still there and the car still runs like crap =( I'm so disappointed in my cheap find that it's turning out to be a nightmare from hell...

[EggyRollz]

ok so this might be a dumb question but I am going to ask because I don't know..

Would the distributor cause a rough idle if that bottom lock bolt in the channel is not there...like would it rock back and forth and throw the timing out ?

I had the wild idea of looking inside the disty cap and realized the underside of the distributor isn't locked down with that little bolt in the adjustment channel.

If this is my problem...well hell I feel like a tard lol..