Car suddenly died

[bluntman]

Has anyone else experienced this problem? This afternoon I was driving along Highway 7 westbound on the way home when I came to a stop at a red light. As soon as the light turned green I noticed that all of the indicator lights in the gauge cluster lit up. I thought the engine had stalled, I drive and automatic so I thought that this was highly unusual. I proceeded to crank the engine but it just wouldn\'t turn over. There was no noise from the starter, nothing. I thought I had killed the battery, but that wasn\'t the case because the windows still operated as well as the radio and the battery indicator was not lit. As I repeatedly cranked the engine I noticed that the immobilizer icon started to flash at a faster rate as if it were saying that the key I had inserted had an incorrect key! Go figure, this was the same key I left the house with and having the car die all of a sudden in a somewhat busy thoroughfare was kind of scary to say the least. Luckily the Mazda Roadside Assistance Program came in handy and my car was towed to Avante. For a few minutes looking in my rearview mirror (with my hazards flashing), I thought I was going to get rearended a couple of times.

I had to leave my car at the dealership overnight since it was near the end of the day, but they also wanted my spare key in case they had to reprogram both keys.

[Dr Butcher]

I haven\'t had that personally but my sis drives an Alero and she\'s had all sorts of immobilizer problems with her car. She\'ll drive all day and then she\'ll go to start the car and it\'ll crank but won\'t fire, at the same time her anti-theft light is flashing.... What I found on a forum for her was to leave the key in the \'start\' position for 10 minutes and it\'ll reset the anti theft... I wonder if the same solution could have been applied here?

[bluntman]

It was kind of embarassing being passed by other (working) Mazda3s.

[FLIPDADY]

That sucks Arthur, prior to this incident I don\'t recall your car having any problems at all. Let us know what the dealer finds.

I\'m taking mine in this Saturday for a list of complaints. Mainly the rotten egg smell, knocking noise from rear when braking, and strong coolant smell from the engine.

[idreamofmazda]

Maybe some contaminates in the gas? Let us know what the dealer said, hope they find something wrong, not that the car starts up with no problems.

[mazda3ride]

FLIPSPEED - Let me know what the find about the knocking noise. Mine use to do that when I use to break at low speeds. I brought it in, and for some reason, a week prior to bringing it in it stopped and it has not done it since. Just curious as to what they find.

[bluntman]

Avante was giving me flack after seeing the relays and the \"extra wiring\" in the engine bay fuse box (for the independent fog light bypass for my HIDs). Luckily I found a TSB describing my problems to a \"T\". They have ordered a new (ignition ?) coil which they will have late on Monday. BTW, this TSB effects all 2004 Mazda3s, so be careful.

TSB (http://www.mazda3forums.com/viewtopic.php?t=8109&highlight=immobilizer)

[Cosmo77]

The coil they talk of is a small transmitter on the steering column that read the key and transmits the code to the imobilizer system (this is the easy way to describe it)...sometimes the coil comes loose from the column and cannot \"read\" the key code anymore and basically shuts down the system....it should be worked out soon...chaulk it up to new model \"teething\" problems.


Cosmo

[bluntman]

What I really resent is the fact they they were blaming the extra wiring in the fuse box as to the cause of the failure. I had to go there and tell them that that wiring had been in there ever since I bought the car and that I was aware of the TSB which then led them to re-evaluate the situation. On my initial update with them the Service Manager said that they did in fact hear a rattling in the steering column thinking that it was in fact that the coil had gotten loose but as soon as they saw the wiring in the fusebox they quickly dismissed that idea. Heck, he didn\'t even know that the Mazda3 even came with a factory alarm, let alone a vehicle immobilizer on the GT spec cars.

[MajesticBlueNTO]

Originally posted by bluntman


Avante was giving me flack after seeing the relays and the \"extra wiring\" in the engine bay fuse box (for the independent fog light bypass for my HIDs). Luckily I found a TSB describing my problems to a \"T\". They have ordered a new (ignition ?) coil which they will have late on Monday. BTW, this TSB effects all 2004 Mazda3s, so be careful.

TSB (http://www.mazda3forums.com/viewtopic.php?t=8109&highlight=immobilizer)

toronto or Richmond Hill location?

[bluntman]

Toronto.

As a side note, I wonder if their quality of service will change as soon as new ownership takes over the place. I would rather deal with Avante exclusively, but their Richmond Hill location is somewhat out of the way for me especially when I have to drop off my car for service. The new oweners are supposedly the same owners of North Toronto Acura, Mazda Canada didn\'t like one owner owning two Mazda dealerships, especially two dealerships that are practically within spitting distance of one another.

[MajesticBlueNTO]

Originally posted by bluntman


Toronto.

As a side note, I wonder if their quality of service will change as soon as new ownership takes over the place. I would rather deal with Avante exclusively, but their Richmond Hill location is somewhat out of the way for me especially when I have to drop off my car for service. The new oweners are supposedly the same owners of North Toronto Acura, Mazda Canada didn\'t like one owner owning two Mazda dealerships, especially two dealerships that are practically within spitting distance of one another.

you might want to make the trek to the Richmond Hill location if the new owners are indeed those of North Toronto Acura.

when i was looking for a car after the maxima, one of the cars on the list was the RSX-S and, from reading ClubRSX and such, North Toronto Acura didn\'t come highly recommended.

i\'ve heard varying stories as to why the Avante owner sold the Toronto location... :)

[FLIPDADY]

I think your car was the first to have that problem at the Yonge and Steeles location.

Would you stay at the Toronto location if you knew that some people were coming back?;)

[bluntman]

Originally posted by FLIPSPEED


I think your car was the first to have that problem at the Yonge and Steeles location.

Would you stay at the Toronto location if you knew that some people were coming back?;)

Definitely.

[mEtH]

SWEET FLIPSPEED GOING BACK????????

no more subbie avatar and now promoting GTA...:D

P.S. when you get back order axela badges...I need one so I can test painting my emblems, for $12 I might as well use one for my test monkey.

[bluntman]

UPDATE:

On Friday April 1st I called the dealer only to find out that they had not installed the new \"junction box\" because the techs were afraid that they might short circuit that expensive component. I was then told that they had to order a new gauge cluster because the original one had blown!!! The last time I saw it everything worked from the odometer to the idiot lights. WTF???


I am just hoping that this was just their version of an April Fools joke.

[Xenon]

with any luck your odometer reset and you will have a \"brand new\" car again :p

but on a more serious note, what exactly caused the immobilizer to reset? I know you people mentioned something about the coil... but what was the source of the reset? did the coil just short out or something?

(sorry if I sound ignorant)

[bluntman]

Originally posted by Xenon


with any luck your odometer reset and you will have a \"brand new\" car again :p

but on a more serious note, what exactly caused the immobilizer to reset? I know you people mentioned something about the coil... but what was the source of the reset? did the coil just short out or something?

(sorry if I sound ignorant)

The dealership and I are at a loss. According to the TSB, the coil usually just gets knocked out of place causing the \"no start\" condition. Apparently, this isn\'t what happened.

[Illmatic]

Originally posted by bluntman



Originally posted by Xenon


with any luck your odometer reset and you will have a \"brand new\" car again :p

but on a more serious note, what exactly caused the immobilizer to reset? I know you people mentioned something about the coil... but what was the source of the reset? did the coil just short out or something?

(sorry if I sound ignorant)

The dealership and I are at a loss. According to the TSB, the coil usually just gets knocked out of place causing the \"no start\" condition. Apparently, this isn\'t what happened.

Wow man that really sucks! So how long have you been without your car and when do you expect to get it back?

[chaser]

Which Avante you took your car to, TO or RH? I thought you took it to the TO location, but I saw it (according to the ROH/Yoko and moonroof deflector setup) sitting at the RH location lot on Sat afternoon.

[bluntman]

I brought it to the Toronto location the day it died, the day before they closed up shop. As soon as they closed that location they towed it up to the remaining Avante location up in Richmond Hill. Was it outside or inside the garage?


Originally posted by Illmatic

Wow man that really sucks! So how long have you been without your car and when do you expect to get it back?

I brought it in on March 23rd. I hope to get it back today, that\'s what they said last Friday. Of course they did have to order a new gauge cluster so we\'ll see if that effects me getting my car back today.

[chaser]

Originally posted by bluntman
Was it outside or inside the garage?


It was sitting outside.

[bluntman]

As my final update to this problem...after 2 weeks, the RH Avante was finally able to return my car to me. They did have to replace not only the fuse box (not sure which one) but also the gauge cluster. Replacing the gauge cluster also meant that I now have 137kms instead of 10,347kms on the odomoter! :D I wonder if they can add those back onto the odometer. Aside from non-functioning headlights and my non-functioning stereo equipment everything is back to normal. Ted and his staff, especially the tech (although I didn\'t get his name) did a great job. It was a learning experience for them as well. The best part of this story is that all the repairs were covered under warranty. I won\'t read into that anymore, I will leave that up to you!

They didn\'t reconnect my HIDs or my stereo because they will not touch any aftermarket equipment which is all fair and good. Luckily, the guys at Lockdown can take me in this Saturday! :D

[majic]

Originally posted by bluntman

I now have 137kms instead of 10,347kms on the odomoter!

nice!! better resale value :) :D

aaah good to know it\'s all fixed (and stereo and HIDs soon will be)

[bluntman]

OK, I lied, this is my final update on the matter. I went to my appointment at Lockdown today where I met Jeff and his team, Jason and Raj. Let me just say that these guys are great, very professional, very neat and their work is guaranteed. I can not tell you how impressed I am with their professionalism. To top it off, they were very generous and only charged me a \"nominal fee\" for the work done (rewired HIDs and independent fog lights, checked wiring for audio components and installed my strut bar). I was expecting, and willing to pay a lot more. Thank you guys! As a bonus, I found out that I now have the \"delayed shutdown\" independent fog lights, something new for me...I think.

Lockdown will now be my first choice for any sort of electrical work on this car or any other car. Again, thanks guys!!!

[TheProfessor]

Great to hear! Lockdown seems to know what customers want, and that\'s why they will be doing the install on my wife\'s 3 when we get it.

[Dr Butcher]

Good to hear stuff is back in order! Won\'t you run into trouble when you renew your license plate and your mileage has reduced by 10000 k\'s?

Good to hear Lockdown worked out for you. They\'ve done a bunch of work for me, my brother and my g/f. My only complaint is that Sam no longer works there, his work was super clean.

[bluntman]

Originally posted by Dr Butcher


Good to hear stuff is back in order! Won\'t you run into trouble when you renew your license plate and your mileage has reduced by 10000 k\'s?

Good to hear Lockdown worked out for you. They\'ve done a bunch of work for me, my brother and my g/f. My only complaint is that Sam no longer works there, his work was super clean.

Sam...Peng???? :D