Check Engine Light And Other Warnings (2020 CX-5)

[Pitter]

I've just read the the "Check Engine Light" thread below and I may heve the same issue, However there's more, The message about Smart City Brake Support came on followed by a warning about the front camera. Concureently the check engine light is on. The worst however is that when all these warnings occurred engine power was suddenly cut to almost nil. I stoped, turned off the engine, waited and turned it on again. The warnings didn't come back on but the warning light stayed on. I will take to the dealer tomorrow...if I make it. The car has been out of the shop for just three days following front suspension repair. This is starting to not be fun.

 

[concept]

Do you have the original battery? Sometimes when they start getting weak, dash lights will illuminate.

 

[Pitter]

No it's a replacement battery. The big worry is the engine power being cut.

 

[yrwei52]

No it's a replacement battery. The big worry is the engine power being cut.

The engine power cut seems to be somehow it went to the limp mode due to the CEL you have. But that shouldn’t be related to your front camera error.

At this point you can only read the CEL code and go from there. Hope your Mazda dealer has enough factory equipment and computers to figure out the camera issue (make sure your windshield in front camera area is clean).

Keep us posted.

 

[Pitter]

Well the culprit off course was the battery which I already guessed from the slow cranking. I don't know what "CEL code" is and the "limp mode"is a new one on me and caused greatest concern as it occured several times yesterday and on the way to the dealership today. Not knowing about this feature I wasn't sure I was going to make it. Each time it happened various warnings appeared on the dash in sequence including the one about the the front camera. I would shut the engine off and restart and they would go away for a while. So the car has sensors that react to a low battery with these behaviors?

The car has 33,500 miles on it and this is the second battery replacement. The first was at 16,700 miles. Lifetime of the second battery was 2 years, 3 months. The battery in the car now has the Mazda name pasted on it but the mechanic said it was a Willard like the first replacement. All I can say is I can't imagine how these batteries (now three) would survive winter conditions in North America. Where this car is now the temperature range is from a little over ninety F down to about fifty eight F year round, hardly a climate that would limit battery life unless I'm missing something.

 

[concept]

Short trips can reduce battery life, significantly. When I take out any of our vehicles, the minimum trip length is close to 20 miles (both ways), although the second battery (a deep-cycle battery needed for the iELoop system) in my 2014 Mazda 3 lasted less than three years.
So many of the electronics depend upon having a fully-charged battery.