2010 Mazda6 with a 3.7 and the push button start.
Just before Christmas I noticed the driver's low beam was burnt. So I replaced the bulb. While replacing the bulb, I disconnected the battery since it is an HID unit. Put it all back together. The car started back up no problem. Fast forward until this past Sunday. The battery was dead so I jump started it with my jump pack. Car started up after some struggles but it did start and run for about 5 minutes. Turned off the car and tried to restart and it was dead. I then moved onto putting a charge on the battery. After 2 hours on charge it was reading 0.2v so off to the parts store for a battery. After putting in a new battery, the car basically won't come back to life.
When the car is working with the fob, if you sit in the car it will illuminate the gauges and get ready to start, it's almost like turning the key to "on." I'm getting none of that. What shows up on the dash is a blinking security light (lock with a car silhouette) and a light showing a red key. The push button is lit red showing it ain't gonna start. The fob still locks/unlocks the car and the horn/headlights work, but that's it. Everything else is dead. I've check every fuse on the car and they are good. I've unhooked/rehooked the battery multiple times to try to reset the computer.
Yesterday a mobile locksmith came out and tested my FOB. He said it's good. He then tried to hook up his scan tool to the OBD port. No power and cannot get the car to connect. The very friendly people of Mazda said sure, tow it in! We can see it on January 25th.
I don't know what else to do here. My car has basically bricked itself. Anyone have any advice?
02Pilot
PowerDork
1/3/24 12:29 p.m.
A good third-party scanner with Mazda-specific software might be worth a try. On BMWs with weird electrical issues, the common "reset" is to disconnect both battery cables, touch them together, and then reconnect; no idea if that has any bearing on how Mazda does things, but voltage is voltage.
Appreciate the responses. I've resent the battery a few times and same thing.
I was able to find a local competent shop who knows what they are doing to come get the car. He said they have the equipment and knowledge to get the car working again. Tow truck is coming now to get it.
Then, I'm selling this piece of E36 M3. I just had to spend $1,100 to get the car to pass inspection. This will likely be another $600-$1,000.
Forscan (free software) might be able to reset it, as the solution according to the Mazda documentation is to reset the DTC in the keyless entry system. Mazda says to use the M-MDS but Forscan can talk to a lot of Mazda manuals. There are at least 5 DTCs that will cause a fail-safe condition.
Have you tried a new battery in the fob? Similar condition with my 2016 CX5 was solved by using the lesser used fob to rescue my wife.
In reply to outasite :
Yes. I also have two fobs. Both were tested as good by a locksmith.
Hoping today I hear from the shop I sent the car to. Also hoping they call with a "hey, we fixed it." instead of "we don't know what the hell is going on."
That generation of Mazda is pretty much all Ford underneath. We had the water pump fail *twice* in under 100k miles.
I won't say it was the worst automotive decision I ever made, but it certainly was the most disappointing and unexpectedly frustrating.
In reply to Brett_Murphy (Agent of Chaos) :
I'm sure the waterpump is the next thing to go on this one since it has over 150k miles on it.
Well, I paid $1400 + $300 in towing to be told the car needs another $3,000 in Mazda electrical modules and programming. So now, it's a part out.
This car has cost me about $4,000 over the last two years in addition to the very high price I had to pay in the fall of 2021 when used car prices were through the roof. So this was a $10k used car that has also put me in petty debt. Zoom Zoom!
All this from replacing a headlight bulb and a battery.
