My coworker's dad has a 39k mile 2001 NB in perfect condition...except he can't drive it. The problem has been tracked to the immobilizer and a search turns up this is a common issue. However, the solutions are varied.
Problem:
The car starts sometimes and will run fine all day. Other times it will start, run for 30 seconds and shut off. My coworker is also an ASE certified tech, worked for a Mazda dealer in the past and fixed a customer's car with this issue (they replaced all the computer stuff), and has narrowed it down to the immobilizer.
He has already swapped out the immobilizer and ECU from a parts car, zip-tied the appropriate key to the "new" RFID reader and unplugged the car's original RFID reader. That worked for a couple weeks before issues cropped up again.
Since GRM is all things Miata, I figured I could maybe get some possible ideas on how to help him solve this problem. (The Arduino hack probably isn't a solution unless there is a plug and play option)
Thanks!
