We had been to shrevport playing slots when the wife got lucky and had 3 machines pay off nicely. We decided to purchase a Miata and so went looking
We found what we thought was a nice used one and made the purchase with the agreement that they get a current inspection and registration for it which they did {we thought}
I We went this past july to get a new inspection and it would not pass.
Started looking and found the check light had been disconnected . WE connected it and it would not go out so started chasing error codes
After 9 months of tearing the dash out ,removing the seats ,the carpet the ,replacing O2 sensors pulling wiring harness apart looking for broke wire .
The culprit was finally found someone had installed the wrong ECM
This was never checked because the car ran fine and was showing codes
If you buy a used car insist on getting the paper work that goes with the inspection sticker that shows it passed .I understand that the law requires you to carry this in your car or at least in Texas. We did ask for it but was told it had to be sent to the state and then sent to us Well we know better now.
So even if you get a sticker get the paper second if it is a used car and codes pop up make sure they are for that car and not ghost codes.
The code I got was PO 141 BANK 1 SENSOR 2 HEATER MALFUNCTION
This is a real code for some cars but it does not exist in a 96 Miata so I was chasing something that did not exist.
When you get a code form a scanner even from an auto supply turn and call a dealer and see if the code exist. If there had really been a heater malfunction on BANK ONE SENSOR 2 it would have read PO1xx
All this time I had been chasing a problem that did not exist
We installed the ECM yesterday and bingo so far all is fine and dandy
We found what we thought was a nice used one and made the purchase with the agreement that they get a current inspection and registration for it which they did {we thought}
I We went this past july to get a new inspection and it would not pass.
Started looking and found the check light had been disconnected . WE connected it and it would not go out so started chasing error codes
After 9 months of tearing the dash out ,removing the seats ,the carpet the ,replacing O2 sensors pulling wiring harness apart looking for broke wire .
The culprit was finally found someone had installed the wrong ECM
This was never checked because the car ran fine and was showing codes
If you buy a used car insist on getting the paper work that goes with the inspection sticker that shows it passed .I understand that the law requires you to carry this in your car or at least in Texas. We did ask for it but was told it had to be sent to the state and then sent to us Well we know better now.
So even if you get a sticker get the paper second if it is a used car and codes pop up make sure they are for that car and not ghost codes.
The code I got was PO 141 BANK 1 SENSOR 2 HEATER MALFUNCTION
This is a real code for some cars but it does not exist in a 96 Miata so I was chasing something that did not exist.
When you get a code form a scanner even from an auto supply turn and call a dealer and see if the code exist. If there had really been a heater malfunction on BANK ONE SENSOR 2 it would have read PO1xx
All this time I had been chasing a problem that did not exist
We installed the ECM yesterday and bingo so far all is fine and dandy