Ok I read the other suggestions for diag on the blackout issue for the radio, and still having the problem. i checked all my fuses, they are all good. I checked the four gold screws that hold the face on, they are all tight. All the plugs are intact and good. STILL black. No radio. When i first plug in the big connection on the radio the changer clicks on and cycles through the discs. So there is power going in. I just cant figure out whats up. Even the HVAC isnt working. So I think its something to do with the front piece/display. I just cant figure out what to do. I dont have the screws in that holds her down but I checked and there is no metal contact there. And I have never heard of having to fully install just to do a check. Help!

anyone?

My suggestion is take her to the dealer. It may be harness related. I don't know if there is a TSB on this but if there is, it should be covered warranty or none. If under warranty, a TSB is not necessary.

mines an 04, i dont know that it has the warranty anymore

hmmmmm, what was your original warranty, an how many miles do you have on the car?.....original owner??? Usually warranties run from Date of purchase..EX: I have the extended warranty, and it runs from 7/06/06 ( date of purchase) until 7/06/13, or 75K miles which ever comes first...same thing applies with a regular 4-5Y 50K warranty I think they come with.(dont quote me on that) Best thing to do is take her to a dealer. They should be able to run your VIN and find out anything you need to know. It shouldn't cost anything for a looksee at the records, and they are nation wide networked, no matter where any dealer work was done, they can pull it up.

try taking the radio ouut and pushing it in...it might have unclipped from the cartridge.....if not then it fried like mine did and you have to replace the unit

the experts FINALLY show up!!! hehehe. Thanks Chris.

it was working fine right before i took it out to install the audio link. and the lights all go on, the fan blows on the hvac. but the acc wont turn on, the temp doesnt change, and the actual radio wont turn on and the display up top has power but wont show anything. i dont get it.

if the front faceplate is not completely connected to the actual headunit then it will do this. check on the drivers side for a small connecter that plugs in. should be the size of the F1 key :P

yeah I saw that, I actually double checked it, then completely uninstalled it and reinstalled it to make sure. Still no change. Someone was talking about a screw that can cause my problem, I am sadly just not sure which one or what hes talking about. I never screwed the HU back in, just put it back in place flush. IDK if that has anything to do with it... but right now I cannot afford to buy a new one, so I have to find a way to fix this...

did you remove the jesus bolt before pulling the head unit?...if not then you might as well pray because you fried it.....its a bolt that you would say oh jesus if you were to try and remove it

yeah I saw that, I actually double checked it, then completely uninstalled it and reinstalled it to make sure. Still no change. Someone was talking about a screw that can cause my problem, I am sadly just not sure which one or what hes talking about. I never screwed the HU back in, just put it back in place flush. IDK if that has anything to do with it... but right now I cannot afford to buy a new one, so I have to find a way to fix this...

Yeah the bolt is on the face plate, not the gold "jesus bolt" on the drivers side, you don't touch when removing the head unit. If you pull the unit out incorrectly, this will unacttach the face plate from the radio. You can easily pop it back in, but when you do, the radio might not work since a connection inside became loose when the faceplate and the radio seperated. Try putting them back together pressing this area till the unit comes back. I had the same exact problem and this fixed it. Everything is connected to this area so if it is loose, everything goes out.

so i have tried everything i can think of, still no fix. Think the radio is fried. I am going to Mazda tommorow to find out if my car is still warrantable. If not, anyone know how much a new HU is for the 6 disc bose system?

Once you have the diagnosis from Mazda check out this site. You might be able to save some bucks using them. There are three different listings, and I don't know exactly what you do need, so once that is determined, this might might give you a price range for parts at least.

http://www.mazdaparts.com/CategoryProductList.jsp?cat=RX-8+Garage:Electronics

if not i have a few as well. The head unit does not matter as long as its bose or non-bose. So as long as you got bose, i can send you the main headunit (part that would be fried) and you can install your 6disk and reflash the firmware by yourself as per DIY on here. Just diagnose it and let me know what you need and i got it for FAR cheaper than anyone. Thanks!

thats beyond helpful guys thanks. yeah that site looks like its the whole setup, HVAC and all. Is that turned on and off through the radio because those are the only two things not working. the faceplate lights up and all, including the controls for the hvac but only the fan turns on. no ac. This is by far the most confusing and annoying radio I have ever dealt with on a car. Oy.

the only positive thing here so far is that this gives me time to fab up a subwoofer enclosure for the car while I figure out my next move.

thats beyond helpful guys thanks. yeah that site looks like its the whole setup, HVAC and all. Is that turned on and off through the radio because those are the only two things not working. the faceplate lights up and all, including the controls for the hvac but only the fan turns on. no ac. This is by far the most confusing and annoying radio I have ever dealt with on a car. Oy.

Yeah that metal screw im telling you about is the problem. Try clicking it into place on the radio so the faceplate is reconnected to the radio. This should fix your problem. I had the same symptoms as you.

I must be missing the screw you are talking about. Do you mean putting in that gold bolt on the side with the radio and and playing with that? Because that is the only bolt that was played with before I started having those problems, and I tried adjusting all four of the gold screws that seem to hold the faceplate on. I welcome the idea of being an idiot and missing the one ur talking about, would save me some cash.

is the screw circled in red the one in question that you suggest is causing the problem? Cuz I unscrewed and retightened all four of those. Nothing changed...

can anyone tell me if thats the one?

Sorry I haven't responded in the last few days. I have edited the pic by putting an arrow pointing to the location of the bolt. It is the gold one on the top which is located on the passenger side of the radio. Inside this bolt is where the loose connection lies. Try pressing on it and see if the radio comes back. You would do this with the radio plugged in, but not put in the dash. Hope this helps.

My car is in the body shop fixing a minor fender bender on my rear bumper. but this picture has me very excited, because I didnt look there haha. Soon as I get the 8 back ill try this out. mucho apprecianado, cross ur fingers for me hahaha

No problem. Hopefully this works for you.

ok so I got my car back, pulled the radio out, but i looked down there and couldnt find any bolts. I found two screws that hold the temp control to the faceplate, gold. I tried completely taking he faceplate off totally. Then put it back in. Im getting the same thing. I am very curious about this bolt that you speak of, but cant find one. Is it slightly out of sight?

Sorry about that. I'm trying to remember from memory. I meant to say they are the gold screws. It is the one on the passenger side of the radio. Try clicking it and pressing on it multiple times. That is the one that powers everything.

im sorry if im getting annoying haha. i found two screws that go up into the ac... one one each plastic piece (the pieces that come around the arrow you drew) is the one on the passenger side the one you are talking about? or yet again am i missing it?

Yes it is on the passenger side.

I went and took the radio out and snapped some pics. is the one on the right it?

No. I think it actually looks like a spacer. Lets say you were sitting in the driver's seat and just pulled out the unit. Once it is out you would look at the top right corner on the passenger side of the radio. Now if you were looking on that side of the radio, bt the back of it, you would see a gold looking "spacer" that controls the radio, display and climate control. Try pressing or clicking this until the radio comes back. Did this help? If not, I will try to find a pic of the piece.

I have another pic I can use. I'll post that up

I have another pic I can use. I'll post that up. see if you can help me id this damn thing. the only spacer looking screw is on the very very back, in the center. but this is nowhere near where that arrow you drew on that other pic was.

It is the gold looking spacer on the passenger side. This connects the faceplate to the radio. There is one on the driver side and one on the passenger side. You are concerned with the passenger one, not the driver one. I will try to find some more pics of what I am talking about.

hmmm i have no idea what u are talking about... if it didnt show in the pictures i took, then i am totally lost...

It is a piece that connects the piano black faceplate to the radio. I had mine in the car with the battery conncected when I fixed it to see if what I was doing would work.

Then I am at a total loss because i only have four screws that hold them together... take a pic of this mystery connection... plz of course. i am starting to feel like either im a total retard:banghead: or i saw this connection and it didnt work, in which case I dont even want to think about the cost of repair. its too much.

Take some pics of the back and side of the passenger side of the radio. I don't want to have to take mine out to show you the part. Then I can tell you the exact piece you need to play around with to fix the radio.

i am sick today, so these are all that i have on hand. when im feeling better ill get out and snap the passenger side.

Pics?

yeah sry my eye only just started clearing up today, ill head out in a lil bit and take the dash apart again. gotta get my contacts and shit in.

http://img526.imageshack.us/my.php?image=radiohelpbr8.png

this had happend to me also...
1st. inspect it and see if there is any cracks or broken pieces where those screws are.
2nd. try making sure they are tight and make sure the pins between the faceplate and the HU are lined up correctly(it would be located by near the top of the two screws, but further hidden)
if you need to open it up and look at it to see what im talking about.
make sure those bolts are all completely secure between the faceplate and the the HU again.
mainly make sure there are no cracks because the plastic there can be fragile

http://img526.imageshack.us/img526/5782/radiohelpbr8.png

oh..and of course make sure u connect all the connectors properly including the black plug

Thanks for the pic slimjimrx8. That is the pic I was trying to show blackoutrx8. This is the screw I was talking about. Play with the connection with the radio plugged in and then once you get it working, screw in the screw.

any luck getting it fixed?

i havent pulled it apart, ive been sick. i took those out, and fully seperated the two before, tried fixing all the connections. these solutions dont seem to have fixed it. I did notice the two connections between the two inside, and wondered about those... but idk how to make sure those are good. ill try and check tommorow morning before i go away for a week. I hate to say it but I think I need to start thinking about a new radio...

Put the unit completely back together and put it back in the car. Then with the car battery still connected, remove the top gold screw on the passenger side, it connects the piano black faceplate to the radio. Then pull only the part where the screw was removed to slighly seperate the faceplate from the radio. Once you have done this, snap the two pieces back together. Keep trying this until the radio comes back on. Once it does, put the screw back in and put the unit back in the dash. The cause of your problem, as well as mine probably occurred when you removed the radio from the dash. When I did it, I must have pulled it out wrong because one side of the face plate seperated. Snaping the face plate back on didn't fix the problem. I had to seperate the pieces, then put them back together and press on that section from the faceplate side, once I did this the radio and air conditioning came back. Hope this helps.

Sorry I was away, but theres been a breakthrough lol. THE RADIO AND A/C ARE BACK. While I was trying that screw the way you said, I noticed a difference in gap between the faceplate in radio... as shown in pic. the passenger side connection you cant really see when ur just looking at it, wasnt connected. Somehow when I pulled it out the first time, the passenger side mounting screws bent.... also shown. You can see a huge difference. So I took the radio out of car, obviously and redid these. I put the radio back in the car, and got the radio back. The A/C is back. Temp Control is back. Can I see any of it.... NO!!!!! Everything works, including the ipod adapter, but the display isnt working. I forgot to check if the backlights work, but i thought those were off the same circuit as the display. Any thoughts?

let this also be a good thing to check if you forget that pain in the ass screw under the steering wheel. Make sure if your radio cuts out, that you check!

I actually got the display working too. MY BABY IS BACK! And I fixed it without having to spend a monster load of cash on a new radio and kit. Tommorow, well today the subs are going in, and ill get pics up of that.

Allright! Glad to see you finally got it working and I was able to save you a ton of money.

http://img526.imageshack.us/my.php?image=radiohelpbr8.png

this had happend to me also...
1st. inspect it and see if there is any cracks or broken pieces where those screws are.
2nd. try making sure they are tight and make sure the pins between the faceplate and the HU are lined up correctly(it would be located by near the top of the two screws, but further hidden)
if you need to open it up and look at it to see what im talking about.
make sure those bolts are all completely secure between the faceplate and the the HU again.
mainly make sure there are no cracks because the plastic there can be fragile
I want to thank everybody on this thread for putting this info out. I live in FL and my radio went out to when I change out my single for a six dics and the radio everything with it went out, no AC in FL ahhh:banghead: for three weeks. I order a used one from the internet and it came in but it didnt work so I called the company and there sent me another one and it didnt work so i said to myself this cant be true so I them look on the RX-8 club page and search for radio problem and look at what I find. I did what you guys said and now I have AC and radio. I dont have display but i'm going to play with it later this week when I have time. Just having AC is whewww words cant explain it. Again thank you

Hey folks - I just went through this nightmare (pulled it apart to solder on a jack for an mp3 player) and thought I'd share my humble words of wisdom.

1st - I don't believe that the gold bolt on the passenger side has anything to do any electrical connections. In my car the gold bolt was originally on the bottom, not the top. I moved it around. It didn't matter. I do have an explanation for the recommendation below though.

The culprit for my case in the blank dash / no AC panic was (like someone's above) one of the plugs between the head unit and the dash panel were not properly aligned and did not seat. It took some screwing around but I did get this to seat.

Incidentally, I got it to seat by removing all four bolts holding the head unit "cage" on and was able to manipulate the alignment enough to get it to fit that way.

I suspect that as people loosen and tighten that gold bolt they've been indirectly wiggling those plugs and getting them to seat. While this is great if you luck into it, your experience may be less infuriating if you just take the whole HU and dash panel inside and approach it from the aspect of getting those plugs in place.

I did not take a pic but the plugs/sockets are not hard to spot. They're roughly behind the fan dial and the heater dial. The corresponding pieces are (obviously) on the front of the HU.

Also- save yourself some time and get the whole thing working BEFORE you snap the radio back into place, put the jesus bolt back in, and re-assemble the rest of the trim.

Had the same thing happen when I changed the battery (Numax 068 incidentally). So checked fuses......all fine.

Then i came across this thread. Pulled out the radio yesterday and took off the faceplate and reseated it. Put it back in the car and happy days it was working again!!!! Brought it for a long spin and everything seemed to be fine.

Then today I get in the car today. Radio comes on and flickers off again. The display is blacked out again. This keeps happening intermitantly. Comes on then goes off again.:banghead:

I notice if i disconnent and reconnect it works for a while normally, then the next day the intermitant problems comes back.

Anyone got any ideas. Only started happening when i changed the battery so its a bit weird really.

like was said before make sure there is no cracks in the housing that the gold bolts go into... if there is then you it will keep doing it

Thanks, I checked the black faceplate and it looked fine. Very annoying problem, cos i thought i had it fixed. Went to a lot of bother to make sure it was seated and delighted when it worked again. I'm at the stage where i just wanna smash the the thing now.:spank:

thank you for the contributions to this post as this problem happened to me and my stereo and a/c was out for 2 weeks!! and i was ready to spend like 1k going aftermarket!

thanks again!

No problem. Glad to help! :)

Hello - I have just joined, specially to say a big thanks to all of you who contributed to this thread. You have saved me upwards of £450 which is what my local Mazda dealer told me it would cost to fit a new front to my stereo to cure this problem.
The display on the centre console just went out, and with it all heating/air controls and the sound system. I hadn't been messing with anything so couldn't see how I could have broken anything, or why something like this should fail for no reason. My RX-8 is just 5 years old.
After I read what you all had to say, I went back to the dealer and told them to check that everything was seated properly so that all the connections were good.
Result!
I'm not criticising the dealer - the young chap who runs the service department is helpful and tries hard, and I got a big thanks for this (plus new respect for women drivers and a free car wash and polish) but he said there was nothing on this problem from Mazda.
From what I found in my online searches it seems to be a common problem.

Anyway, thanks again