Newbie with a few questions.

[LiveFastDieHard]

Hey everyone,

I am new to the Mazda forums, I just bought my P5 about 2 months ago and I have come across a few questions I am hoping to get some help on. its an 02 with 65k miles on it with an auto trans.

My first question is MPG. I was reading a couple other threads on their MPG and it seemed everyone was in upper 20's to low 30's, depending on how they drove and city or highway. I seem to be averaging out at mid 20's. This seems a little low especially for this car. I just bought new iridium plugs that I will be putting in tomorrow because I feel like those might be the original plugs. The filter is clean and I am thinking this may raise my MPG up a little. Any thoughts on what else might cause low MPG.

My second question is while I am driving on the highway at about 70 mph I seem to be running at 3k rpms and it seems like that is all the car has with out me pushing her to hard. is this normal for these cars? I know they don't have a lot of power and the gears are a little low. I might just be used to me old Honda that had a V6.

Now here is the big question. I was reading all on how to fix this blinking AC light issue. I don't trust myself with wiring in resistors and soldering, since I am like the anit electronic type of person, so what is the issue with that? Is it a relay issue or harness issue? I'm curious because I would like to get a mechanic to fix it if it can be fixed. Also are there any recalls on it? Seems like it happens to A LOT of drivers but I couldn't find anything.

I am sorry this is so long and I tried to stay vague to keep it short so please any questions I would love to answer. I would also appreciate all the help I can get.

Thanks guys

 

[pcb]

Your mileage is probably right on average,... automatic transmissions don't get as many MPG as a standard transmission.

High RPMS are normal for this car.

The blinking AC light is an issue for just about every P5 owner. I think it is a relay issue,... the complete lack of them to be specific and I just did my own relay install for my car in an attempt to combat the issue.

If you're not comfortable with soldering (I'm sure looking at the jumble of wires I made isn't helping) then at least take apart and clean your switch and connector that plugs into it. My light started to flash last summer and I got it to stop by cleaning the switch and connector.

Doing that isn't too hard and it is more like taking apart your cell phone than your cylinder head.

The only real fix is a complete replacement of the in dash control unit and that will run you about $300 (over $500 at the dealer)

There was a TSB but we are all out of luck because we're out of warranty now.

 

[tweety2300]

At 75 mph I'm at 3500 rpms

Gas mileage is dependent on a lot of things, high elevation and cold weather will kill mileage. Summer I average 30-32 winter I average anywhere from 24-28 temperature dependent. Auto matics will get less

 

[LiveFastDieHard]

Thanks! I wish it was manual but oh well. I will clean the connectors and see if that helps hopefully since I don't wanna dish out 300 for that issue.

I assumed the rpms was about normal but I figured I would check. My honda would be at 80-85 at 3000 rpms and my focus has 6 gears so it was hard to compare

And thanks for the gas mileage I thought for the low elevation no hills and warm weather it would be in the 30's but we will see after the plugs if that helps.

 

[pcb]

Don't forget to take apart and clean your switch,...

http://www.mazdas247.com/forum/show...quot-problem&p=6166974&viewfull=1#post6166974

 

[shindou26]

I have a auto P5 as well. So far, I'm averaging 27 mpg driving both city and highway. My lowest so far is 25 mpg and highest is 28 mpg. Just recently went camping in the mountains and averaged about 27.75 mpg. For this mpg, I'm not complaining as my old auto Civic averaged 27 to 30 mpg.

 

[tweety2300]

I miss my old beat up civic 42 mpg ftw