gingersrus

I have a low-mileage 2004 RX-8 that recently has had the ABS, Brake and TSC lights stay on. I called the local Mazda dealership in Tallahassee, Florida to get a service appointment and they said they no longer have any RX-8 mechanics and nearly indicated they would not even touch my car - even for a simple oil change. I talked to the service manager who confirmed. They would not even check the computer code for me or do any kind of diagnosis. Has anyone else had this experience with their local Mazda dealership? Does anyone on this forum know of a good RX-8 mechanic near Tallahassee, Florida, or a dealership that they know still has an RX-8 mechanic? I really would not want to drive the car too far without ABS in case there was a panic stop or wet roads, although I have driven plenty of older cars without ABS.

BigCajun

iTrader: (1)

That sounds like a load of BS.
RX8s except for the rotary engine are like any other car.
For them to issue a blanket refusal to work on it sounds fishy.
If there's another Mazda dealer nearby, check with them.
I would call Mazda North American Operations and report it.
That's not a good look for the Mazda brand.

https://www.mazdausa.com/

gingersrus

I have been taking my RX-8 to the local dealer, Gem Mazda for 18 years and they would not even tell me whether there is an RX-8 mechanic at another dealership. Nearest other Mazda dealer is 100 miles from here and I was supposed to just keep calling around the state until I found one. I was speaking with the local service manager. I have sent email to Mazda Customer Experience, so will see how they respond.

kops

iTrader: (1)

I have actually been having the same ABS and DSC lights issue.. There is some good info on this site but I have gone through most of it and haven't solved it yet. Thinking it might be something I have to take in as well so I'm curious how your journey goes
https://www.rx8club.com/series-i-tro...taying-202843/

Tamas

iTrader: (1)

For the ABS / DSC / brake lights, did you perhaps replace the tail light and third brake light bulbs with LEDs? If so, that is the probable cause for the problem, and you'll need load resistor(s) to fix it.

kops

iTrader: (1)

I did not replace any but the car was off the road for a few years and in a few pieces... issues started happening after I just got it all back together.. Anything could have happened along the way.

I did try replacing the third bulb even though it was working fine, but it didn't help. All tail lights working ok 🤷

Variable_Ian

Did you keep something plugged into your OBDII port? I had a very similar problem with my TSC/Brake/ABS lights until I removed the OBDII Bluetooth dongle from my car while I was driving. Solved all the warning light problems after as few restarts.

kops

iTrader: (1)

I have used a Bluetooth OBDII dongle on my car but not one that was left on, and not currently on for several restarts.

Don't want to hijack the thread from the OP but these are all good things for him to consider as well

gingersrus

As a follow-up I sent an email last week to Mazda USA telling them what the local dealer (Gem Mazda) said and asking them where I could find an RX-8 mechanic at one of their other dealerships. No response so far.

I also checked out that great list of possibilities for the ABS/DSC light problem that was posted by Mazurfer at https://www.rx8club.com/series-i-tro...taying-202843/. None of the easy ones apply to me - fuses okay, no changes in tail lights, no reason that the wiring likely messed up, etc and I even still have the original tires on the car in good shape at 22,000 original miles since I bought the car.

I took it in to my local Tires Plus and got a free code reading of U1900 which indicates a problem in the communications bus between the sensors, but I think the guy doing the readings may have done them with key on which I read can trigger that code. The other code, and most likely the problem, was C1956 - the steering angle sensor. If diagnosis confirms that is the problem, it will not be cheap to fix and I am not up to trying to fix it myself.

Thanks to all for your comments and suggestions. I really want to get this fixed. I have kept this car garaged since I bought it new 18 years ago and it is otherwise in perfect condition. If I keep it long enough it might eventually be worth something as a collector car.

BigCajun

iTrader: (1)

I didn't read the link, but here's a DIY diagnostic thread that can possibly confirm what you've already found out.

https://www.rx8club.com/series-i-do-...utputs-155947/