It was a private sale, and i possibly think there is an obstruction obscuring the engine check light. I will have a look after i have been through all the other things regarding possible water leak areas. and no the other lights still don’t work.
I have service history and the MOT history and nothing stands out as odd, other than the EML being on for the MOT in 2013 you can check (KH06EXE) https://www.check-mot.service.gov.uk/ and its had 5 owners inc me.
According to the Mazda service history it was borne in Letchworth, moved to Glasgow, then Edinburgh, was sold by John McGregor in Dundee, them sold at auction then serviced again in Elland, its previous owner lived in Henley on Thames and then bought by me and moved to Portsmouth. I might go through all the dates/paperwork etc. and make a time line for my own benefit in the near future.
OK, weather was nice this morning so did some inspections;
!, Removed glove-box and inspected behind dash, all dry no damp anywhere.
2, Removed trim from around wind screen, all dry and there is new sealant on the screw holders.
3, Removed instruments and found a tacky sealant covering the EML, charge and obscuring the ABS light,(see pics). while dissembling you could see someone had been there before and there was a missing screw and finger prints.
Dash now working normally so begs the question why did someone do it in the first place?
Very sorry to say you may have bought a pup.
It obviously had problems and someone decided it was cheaper to block the warning lights than fix the faults.
I hope I’m wrong but that’s what it looks like to me.
Agree, not necessarily a pup but a lowlife previous owner who shortcutted resolving an issue by doing the equivalent of removing the engine management light bulb.
Very poor practice as although the original issue may have been trivial the EML would also highlight any major issues…or not as in this case.
The MOT inspector should turn ignition on and ensure that all these check lights come one and then go out - I guess this fundamental check has been missed.
Moving on from this I would suggest that part of the MOT with OBD cars should be a read of the error codes stored to confirm that the car has no hidden faults.
Hopefully at some stage the previous owner was forced to address the issue, perhaps expensive precat O2 sensor and the light went out. Emissions failure at MOT time would indicate that.
You don’t say if the light is still on but in any event remove all that sealant and face the music. A daignostic check with an OBDII reader will show any stored error codes.
Did you re-pack the connector plug with dielectric grease? I ask because that is apparently what should be used.
As the last photo shows the EML now goes out after the engine is started, my best guess is a PO covered the light in 2013 after the mot so he could sell it rather then have a garage delete the error code for the exhaust emission failure.
The ABS light has to alluminate for the mot, along with the airbag lights, I don’t think the EML has to as long as it passes the emissions test.
All idiot lights now work as intended and there are no codes I can find.
Fuse box connector was squirted with lithium grease to get between the pins and then sealed with red rubber grease as I guessed anything would keep the moisture out. Original grease looks like a heavy axle grease and not dialectical.
I did not put 2+2 together with your last photo but obviously that is good news.
Does the EML light come on and then go out when ignition turned on? I think it should as the other IDIOT lights do to prove that it has not been tampered with, hence my comment to that effect. Emissions is a major issue that is otherwise checked at MOT time but there are other good reasons for EML illumination to be justified that would not necessarily be tandom checked with an MOT.
You obviously did the wrong thing twice with the grease - firstly removing it and then replacing it with the wrong grease. Clearly the type of grease used in that obscure application is critical. I don’t know what dielectric grease looks like and only realised what is generally used in this application when I searched for advice, for your benefit, as usual finding it in spades on Miata.net.
Your assumption and justification that the original grease was not dielectric and that the general purpose grease you have applied will work is ill founded. Check the facts supplied and do the job properly to avoid future problems.
Dielectric grease is also known as silicone grease and is a anywhere from clear to white in colour, the dark brown stuff i removed was axle grease.
As brake seals/components need to be lubricated before assembly with silicone or red rubber grease I assumed they were from the same family and comparable, i’ll clean it again and use some silicone grease.
