A few days ago, I got a "System Malfunction" warning message that popped up when I started the car. Nothing is wrong, my tires are all properly inflated, fluids are good, everything is working normally. Then the light just turned off on its own and everything was fine. Yesterday, it came back on again. It suggested taking the vehicle to a dealer. I tried resetting everything to 'factory settings' - but it did not work. This is a 2021 CX-30 that has been trouble-free for us. It's a US-spec car that we had shipped over here to Germany last September (my wife works for the federal government of the US). Mazda does sell a German-spec CX-30, but the engine, transmission and lighting are different.

When I had to buy a battery for our car (because the idiots at the port killed off the OEM battery that was only 1.5 years old), the Mazda dealer did not even have it in stock. They had to special order it from Mannheim and it took a day to arrive. German-spec batteries are much shorter and all seem to be made by Bosch + they seem to have far fewer different sizes/groups.

I don't think a "system update" will work here because there is no satellite over Europe that is connected to the Mazda network. It's sort of how the SiriusXM radio and the navigation system don't work here, either. I am reluctant to try to go to a dealer (the nearest one is 40 minutes away) and my next step is to try to find my OBD-II diagnostic scanner to see if it will work. It's in our basement storage and it might take a while to find it - but I know it I brought it over here with us. Has anybody else on this forum ever had this issue? Did you find a way to rectify the problem or reset it without having to hassle with going to the dealership? FWIW, we have the 2.5L non-turbo SkyActiv engine.

Thanks in advance for any replies or advice!!

 

Welcome to Germany. I too am here with my US spec 2021 CX30. I have the same issue with the System Malfunction light coming on/off. I have an appintment with the Mazda dealer in Kaiserslautern. I suggest you call the US Mazda customer service line and establish a case. This will help with getting work done that would be part of the vehicle warranty. You will have to pay for repairs and then request reibursement from US Mazda warranty. Or that is what i am learning with my go around with this issue. A couple of times all the driver's assistance and ABS warning lights went on when i was driving. They have turned off since but nothing that I want to fuss with or ignore. You will want to make sure your gas cap is tightly closed and your tire pressure is within normal recommendation for size. These issues may cause warning light to come on from what I have learned.

 

Well, it's been quite some time since my last post. We're still in Germany. Our 2021 CX-30 has 33,000 miles (about 58,000 km) on it now and is running just fine. The "System Malfunction" light only comes on maybe once a month and then goes off after a day or two. I hooked up my OBD-II scanner it and wouldn't find anything wrong at all.

We are likely going back to the USA about six months earlier than intended - meaning that we should be out of here sometime in October. I'm not going to mess with it until we get back to the States. if the system update via satellite works, then we'll be okay. Otherwise, I might make an appointment with a dealer after we're home. I am pretty sure that it is pointless to go to a dealer unless the car is actually DOING IT when I am there. That's what is frustrating - you never know when it will pop up.

I changed the oil myself on Thursday and everything is going well with this car so far. It's our first Mazda and we've been pleased with it overall. We have been in several countries in Europe + even drove to the UK (took it on the train through the Euro Tunnel) back in March. I suppose we'll keep it for a long time.

The tire pressure is fine and so is the gas cap (both of which would cause a different light to come on if there were an issue). As it stands now, it's more of an occasional annoyance than anything else. If that's the only problem we have with the car, we ought to count our blessings.

Thank you for your nice response and guten tag!

 

Your scanner although you did the usual plug it in and looked at some area's you may be familiar with your scanning device or the scanner was limited to what it could report . I read from you post that you did not look at more area's that would have indicated the number of times (counters) the light came on and also what that area was. If a cautionary light activates on your dash there is record of it in your ECU

 

Interesting. I wasn't sure that the ECU would contain that information, but with technology being what it is, I ought not be surprised.

That little FIXD device that plugs into the OBD-II port is actually pretty cool. I have used it on several cars via the app on my phone. For as cheap as it is, it really unlocks a lot of information. You can even use it while driving and it monitors fuel flow, manifold vacuum, throttle position, temperature, etc. It also will let you know if there are any open recalls on whatever vehicle you are connected to with it.

It has read the codes and even enabled me to turn off a "check engine" light on my son's car when a dealership wanted $100 for a diagnostic scan. I suppose that the more elaborate scanners a mechanic owns might pick up on more things. If it acts up again after we take our car back to the USA, then I'll probably consider making an appointment with a Mazda dealership. I generally avoid using dealerships for anything but warranty work because of their tendency to try to rip you off.

With new cars generating less raw profit and consumers becoming more educated about the buying process + the majority of people are Internet savvy, the dealers have to "pad" their profit in other areas. Parts, service, used cars, financing and warranty gimmicks are often the additional profit centers that are required to pay for their overhead. Eventually, the typical "brick and mortar" franchised dealer model will go the way of the dodo bird...........but until then, we have to guard our wallet from having it pillaged.

After we're back on US soil, I'll give it some time, enable a "system update" via satellite and do another OBD-II scan. If it doesn't correct itself and I get the error message again, then perhaps I will consider dropping by when it happens to do it. As I said, it never stays on very long and somehow resets itself after a day or even later the same day. If that's the worst issue we ever have with the car, then I'll be quite pleased!

 

I don't use nor recommend the blue tooth scanning devices.
The reason for the $100 diagnostic fee is to give you a full comprehensive scan.
Turning of the DASH causation light is all you did!!! If you did not correct the cause, then it does remain in the permanent history until the problem that caused the dash check engine light was activated..

The resetting as you call it is simply the normal ECU engine cycling registry. If any condition after between 1-5 complete engine cycles the anomaly or system concern was reporting as clear the check engine light with be "TURNED OFF. But if after another engine cycle the condition that caused the check engine light returns because it was never corrected then you will get that which is often called intermittent check engine light.
Dealerships and service departs will be around for another few more decades even with more electric vehicles.
Many dealerships have factory trained Automotive Diagnostic Technician. We have one lucky on this forum that chimes in helping members from time to time.
We also have an ASE Automotive Technician that also helps members as well.


Your cell phone IMHO should not double as a PID readout but that is only just me and personal preference. I use a ULTRA Gauge and choose up to 10 screen and can set in any format up to 7 PIDs to monitor at a time. And I can change pages with 1 press off a button.
However, for Diagnosis service I recommend that a DIY invest in a quality and professional grade Diagnostic scanner. Anything less and most from my experience on forums miss things and incorrectly diagnose problems.
My suggestion and recommendation before one problem create others is to pay the diagnostic fee and find exactly what is causing your problem. Then you can decide if you are skilled enough and have the correct tools to change the part or other service means to properly correct the problem.

 

I never used my OBD-II scanner to turn off a "check engine" light on our Mazda. It was never necessary. I used it on older vehicles I used to have so that it would identify the problem. I then would correct the issue and reset the light afterwards. That little device worked wonders on my old Silverado truck, an old Nissan Sentra that I owned for 13 years + I have helped out friends with it on their cars.

The only thing I ever did with it on our Mazda was to plug it in to SEE if anything showed up on it. Nothing did - even on the rare occasion that the "System Malfunction" light came on. I realize that it's nothing like the super costly ones they have at the dealership, but it's more than paid for itself already and I have owned it several years. You'd be surprised at the information it can provide.

Apparently, we'll be going back to the USA sometime in October - waiting on final orders. That means we'll have to take our car to the shipping company sometime mid-September.

 

Ok so a common DIY mistake is to turn off the engine check light. If you think you correctly solved the issue the ECU will turn off the light. That really all it is contrary to the universal belief, nothing more than a caution light that something is not correct. It does not affect the engine operation, or any functions controlled by the ECU in any way. Yet people just seem to feel that turning it off solves the problem. There is more technical things that goes on when you just turn off the light.
Also just looking at one area of the ECU for reported issues is also a DIY nightmare on forums. There are multiple areas that need to be looked at not just what DTC(s) are active. Those only give you a "rough" starting point to diagnosing an issue. If one only uses the current DTC to try to resolve and issue it is like the movie "TAKING THE LONG WAY AROUND" in actually solving an issue quickly and without guess and randomly changing parts, which in most all cases causes more problems than the original one.

Lastly every week at least a few customers bring their vehcle in and right off tell me what they found was wrong using low quality scan tools or a blue tooth one and almost every time they are wrong. I do inform them and have them sign off on us looking at their never charge them for the "witch hunt" findings that is generally about .50 hour labor of a normal 1.0 that actually finds the problem. But hey they know cuz of there scanning device. LOL

Then there is the Warranty.... DIY that turn off the light without out knowing for sure the problem was resolved gets stored in the ECU. A good diagnostic Technicon can see these reports in the ECU.

 

The only time I have ever used a scan tool to turn off a "check engine" light was on vehicles that were more than a decade old and long out of warranty. On my old Sentra, the little OBD-II device correctly found the problem and I fixed it very quickly before I reset the CEL. I sold that car to my co-worker's nephew. He ended up wrecking it anyway - young guy in his twenties. At least he wasn't hurt.

I used it to turn off the "check engine" light on my then 12yr old Silverado truck. Turns out it was a bad sensor of some kind. Problem solved. Those cheap scan tools are no match for a professional mechanic, just as a fire extinguisher can never replace professional firefighters.................but they sure do come in handy when you are in a pinch.

Our Mazda is out of the 'basic' bumper to bumper warranty now, but is only under the powertrain warranty. 15 more payments, I think, but we intend to keep it a long time. We'll have to buy another vehicle after we get back in the US. We're fine with one car here - and there's no place to park a second car anyway - but we will need two cars. No mass transit where we'll be living and nothing is within walking distance.

 

I use a Snap- on Solius with all the upgrades and goody attachments.

ASE