1996 Mazda 626 Check Engine Light

MBEACH08

MEMBER
1996 MAZDA 626
6 CYL
FWD
MANUAL
131,000 MILES

I recently bought a Mazda 626 V6 with a manual transmission and 131000 miles. I test drove the car for about 10 minutes and it ran fine, quiet and very responsive. At that time the engine light was not on. After I pulled out of the parking lot, I decided to really give it some gas on the highway just to see what kinda of pick-up it had. Immediately after doing so, the engine light came on and remains on now. The car still seems to run as well as it did prior and all the gauges are still reading in the normal range, the light is just on. Any insight on this matter before I take it to have it scanned would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.

1 Reply

MERLIN2021

MECHANIC
17,250 POSTS

First thing you need to do is have the codes read, Autozone does it free, Post the results with the code number(s). Even if the service engine light is not on, there should be freeze frame data stored.
If it won't make it to Autozone, buy a cheap scanner, they can be had for 30-40 dollars, a good investment, since they cover all cars sold in the USA from 96 on.
You might come up with 02 sensor lack of switching. At 130,000 miles, if the 02 sensors havent been done, it might be time! Read code first!