so, right at the onset of winter my heater decided to stop working, but it's not the core because there is no water on the floor. after some playing around w/ the dials i discovered that if i wiggle the heat control dial the heater starts working again, so i'm thinking it's a control unit issue, i call mazda and they want $500 for a new control unit (aparently they won't just sell me the switch), so i'm putting it out here, does anyone have a parts car or a spare of one of these things laying around that they'd be willing to sell on the cheap? i don't think anyone has $500 just laying around this close to the holidays. anyway thanks for the help guys

have you searched the {FS} section?

Sounds like the issue I had, and I fixed it like this: http://www.rx8club.com/showthread.php?t=158200

Heater control knob failure. Common issue with a fairly cheap DIY.

Easy peasy.

Hi folks. I have been searching to help Mother with some issues on her 05 shinka. She told me the other day that she was took the car out and did not have heat. She said she warmed the car up before leaving on her 15 miles drive. The car never had heat the entire trip. She return home later and same thing. Then she said she heard a click or something (noise of the heater system changed) and there was heat. To my knowledge this is the first incident and she did not fiddle with the knobs at all. Could her system be related to the heater control knob failure? Should I have her do anything to help determine if this is it?

Thank you! I will also follow the thread link listed above!