Questions and Answers

Mazda 626 MIL Q. Just purchased the car about a week ago and the check engine light keeps coming on. The pattern seemed to be that after the dealer "repaired" the problem and I drove the car for the first time the light would not come on. However, upon starting the car cold a second time, the light would come on and stay on until I took it back to the dealer to have the problem "repaired". So far I've had to take it back four times.

1. The dealer reset the light,
2. They replaced what they called a clutch bumper switch
3. They reset the light again, said it was "driver error" and refused to work on the car until I threatened litigation
4. They said there was a problem with the enunciator system (excuse my spelling), namely that they had to tighten a loose neutral start switch.

After the fourth try the light has not come back on, but I don't trust them and I don't know if there is something actually wrong that they're not telling me about.

To make a long question short... have you ever heard of a neutral start switch? Does their explanation and solution to the engine light issue sound plausible?

Since this is a brand new car, I'm very uneasy about having all of these problems in just a little over a week and am strongly considering taking action to have the car replaced or my money refunded.

2001 Mazda 626 LX-V-6
V-6 2.5 liter
Manual transmission
Mileage 300
Fuel Injection
No ABS brakes
P/S - A/C - Cruise control

Thanks in advance for your reply

A. Since this is a new car the information I have on it is very limited. I have about 320 TSBs from Mazda that I need to sort through yet, but I did look through them to see if there was anything related to your problem, I didn't find anything but I will look through them again as I sort them out.

An automatic transmission has a Neutral Safety switch that prevents the engine from starting when it is in gear. The equivalent in a manual transmission is a clutch interlock switch. This only lets the starter engage when the clutch pedal is depressed. I suppose it could also be referred to a Neutral Start Switch. I don't know if Mazda has it set up to set a code, but it is possible.

With the limited information I have and not having worked on one personally yet, it would be unfair of me to try and second guess the technicians who actually worked on your car. It would be nice to know what DTCs they pulled out of the computer however.

Next time you start your car, put the key in the run position and look at the Check Engine Light. It should come on. When you start the car it should go out after a second or two. If it does then the system has performed it's self test and everything is okay and the system is operating correctly.

Keep your documentation in case this should become an ongoing problem. If you do decide to Lemon Law the car, it will be needed to show a history of the same problem.

Additional Information provided courtesy of ALLDATA