What does a blinking check engine light mean on a Mazda?

What does a blinking check engine light mean on a Mazda?

If your check engine light comes on, your problem is probably not an emergency, but you should still get your car checked out by a reputable mechanic in Little Rock. A blinking light can indicate that unburned fuel is getting into the exhaust system, where it can quickly damage the catalytic converter.

What does it mean when your check engine keeps blinking?

A flashing check engine light does require immediate attention. A blinking check engine light will pop up on your dashboard display when your engine misfires. This means that the engine is dumping unburned fuel into your vehicle’s exhaust system. It could even start a fire in your vehicle.

Can I drive my car with the check engine light blinking?

The rule of thumb is that if the check engine light is flashing, you can’t keep driving the car. It’s an emergency. Often it indicates an engine misfire. If you keep driving, you will likely cause irreversible damage, mostly to the (expensive) catalytic converter.

Can bad gas cause a misfire?

A tank of “bad gas” (incorrect octane or old gasoline) can cause a misfire. Weak or dirty fuel injectors can restrict the flow of fuel into the cylinder leading to the wrong air/fuel ratio. A clogged fuel filter leads to low fuel pressure which can also limit fuel flow.

What does an engine misfire feel like?

When a misfire occurs, you may feel like light or strong jerk coming from the engine. These misfires do often come under load from the engine, like when you are accelerating hard. The most common situation to notice misfires is on high gears, low RPM, and the accelerator to the floor.

How much does it cost to fix an engine misfire?

Misfiring of a cylinder can happen for numerous reasons. Here are the most common causes and related costs of the misfire condition: Carbon or oil-fouled sparkplugs: $100 to $300 depending on cost of plugs and labor to replace.

What is the most common cause of a misfire?

The most common cause of an engine misfire when accelerating is worn-out spark plugs. When spark plugs are suffering from excessive wear, they don’t ignite the fuel in the piston cylinder when they are supposed to. This can also be caused by fouled spark plugs, a cracked distributor cap, or bad spark plug wires.

Can low oil cause a misfire?

There is a relation between engine misfire and low oil pressure because the sudden drop of oil pressure can cause the engine not running right and the RPMs to drop low in gear causing an engine misfire.

Can you drive with a misfire?

An engine misfire can be caused by bad spark plugs or imbalanced air/fuel mixture. Driving with a misfire isn’t safe and can damage your engine.

Can bad gas cause blinking engine light?

Loose Fuel Cap In many instances, a flashing check engine light doesn’t indicate that there’s something seriously wrong. Emission control sensors, for instance, will detect that there’s air in your fuel tank or fuel vapors are escaping, which would usually be caused by a fuel line leak or something even worse.