HELP! RX-8 won\'t start. Anti-theft system doesn\'t recognise keyfob and key

[pdoughty]

Help - got a serious problem and looking for any advice!!

I bought my RX-8 about 3 weeks ago. Only driven it a few times cuz I live in London, and it\'s been fine.

This morning, I used the keyless entry keyfob to unlock my car - worked fine, sat down in the drivers seat and put the key in the ignition - all the lights came on as usual, then suddenly they all went out and the only light left on was the red anti-theft/immobiliser light (a red triangle with a black car in the middle of it) which flashed really irratically. The car wouldn\'t start - wouldn\'t even turn over - suggesting that the immobiliser hadn\'t disabled. I also noticed that the rev meter and the other meters on the dashboard swept all the way to the right and then went back to the left(!!) :confused:

When I try to use the keyless entry keyfob the alarm goes off!

Is my immobiliser/anti-theft system f*cked??!!

Any help greatly appreciated!

[AMH]

Sorry I\'ve never heard of a problem like that.

I assume you brought it privately and it\'s not covered by Mazda Assist? Most breakdown companies should be able to help - have you got any cover? You might have it included if you\'ve got an added value bank account?

[pdoughty]

Called the garage that I bought it from - still (kinda) got a 28 day warranty even though I bought it back in July (various other issues with the car...) and they told me to take it to Mazda to get the key and keyfob reprogrammed(?) - which they will pay for.

But it\'s still a pain in the ass. I\'ve only driven the car 3 times since buying it.

Thanks for your reply though.

[AMH]

I hope you get it sorted. Might be worth getting Mazda to give it a once-over if you\'ve had some issues?

It is a great car but if it\'s not been looked after properly it can cause problems.

[pdoughty]

Yeah, I\'ve had Mazda take a look at it in mid-August (after the garage I bought it from fixed the original issues). They said that it was fine. Guess it\'s just one of those things...

...unfortunately, I don\'t have a spare key nor do I have a spare keyless entry keyfob. I\'ve been trying to buy them off ebay. Called Mazda and they qouted me £35 for the key, £141 for the keyfob (:confused:) and £56 to re-program them.... :2eek

Bloody typical that this should happen!!

[L18M]

low battery on the key fob??
just a guess..

[pdoughty]

Replaced it today - same issue. The garage that I bought it from advised that I have to take it to Mazda to get them to reprogram it (and the key)

[pdoughty]

Just for everyone\'s info - the light that comes up on the dashboard is the Security Indicator Light.... and it\'s flashing really irractically!

I did a google search and found this:
http://www.rx8blog.com/rx-8-diagnostic-outputs/

So I believe that the issue is with the key and the keyless control module (the keyfob) - the ID number data no longer matches for some reason.

[pdoughty]

Hmmm.... I think that my battery is flat! Which could explain why all my gauges are going loopy.

Anyway, I\'ve got the battery on charge - so will check again in 3/4 hours.

[HypoThermia]

The flashing light pattern that you\'re seeing on the indicator light should give you more information about the cause of failure - the very last section of the blog entry that you linked to shows the patterns and how to interpret them.

Ian.

[pdoughty]

Hah! Well, bugger my mother and call me a fishcake\'s wife...

The battery (charge) is fine, but it turned out that the Negative terminal on the battery was corroded, which was causing a poor connection!

A quick 5 minutes with some sandpiper and a bit of vaseline (oh-er, missus) and it\'s back to normal!

One to remember!