The dreaded Engine Light

[Ztyxx]

Hi folks just new to forums and Mx5 owner ship, purchased mk2 1,8, "Arizona". its got the k&n filter and runs like an old cow bringing it home (400 miles) engine light came on, no loss of engine oil or water, car still running crap struggles to idle, any pointers?

[feef]

Lambda sensor perhaps?

[Ztyxx]

Thanks Feef, will invistigate

[Rickyy]

Not had a Lambda fault on an MX5, but did on a Focus and it had no effect on how the engine ran.

You need to get it hooked upto a diagnostic machine. Could be a number of things. First thing I'd check is the fitment of the induction kit and the MAF sensor.

[Ztyxx]

MAF sensor replaced..a big difference although still a bit "lumpy" when driving, gonna replace plugs and leads, any recommendations on make and online suppliers?...cheers

[Ztyxx]

Ztyxx said:

Hi folks just new to forums and Mx5 owner ship, purchased mk2 1,8, "Arizona". its got the k&n filter and runs like an old cow bringing it home (400 miles) engine light came on, no loss of engine oil or water, car still running crap struggles to idle, any pointers?

A positive update on this original issue, hopefully will shed light for anyone with similar issues, first step: replaced MAF sensor it did help car run a lot better but still stuttered at times (also engine fault light went out), replaced spark plugs and two leads (this model has the coils on 2 of the spark plugs), ran a lot better but still occasional stall and intermittently slow to respond to throttle, this was the limit of my knowledge so was booked into a garage who have experience with mx5's.......under diagnosis new lambda sensor, front one, as apparently there are two. car is now running sweet and responding well

thinking of investing in a fault code reader

[feef]

Nice to know it's all sorted.

I've got a wifi OBD reader and an app on my iPhone. It's quite handy and also allows you to view stuff realtime. I sometimes use it just for shtis and giggles to see throttle position and whatnot

[Ztyxx]

ahhh, damn couldnt find one for iphone, so went and got the obdlink software and cable for laptop, would have got the bluetooth one but needed andriod (lappys not bluetooth)

management light had come on again...code P0420...inefficiency in cat...cleared light and it hasnt come back on yet ...will monitor

[feef]

Ztyxx said:

ahhh, damn couldnt find one for iphone, so went and got the obdlink software and cable for laptop, would have got the bluetooth one but needed andriod (lappys not bluetooth)

management light had come on again...code P0420...inefficiency in cat...cleared light and it hasnt come back on yet ...will monitor

That can be tripped with the cat efficiency only 5% off. I'd hazard a guess at the error being caused by the cat getting dirty/clogged from the lambda sensor problem causing the car to run stupidly rich.

you could try running some cat cleaner through too, but I've no idea if that sort of stuff actually works... wouldn't do any harm other than to your wallet tho.