RedLine9x

oh sweet! same thing happened to my 04 ride, I haven't gotten around to doing it yet, but I'm glad i did a thread search before looking for a heater control replacement unit. these forums kick ***.

EdwardsB

awesome DIY, this just saved me buying a replacement control! My ac readings where jumping around when the control was left in one place, and would not even change through half the dials rotation. Looked at the solder and you could see the rings where the solder cracked. Now works fine, dial reads steady from 0-16.

robbz23

Wow I am glad I found this DIY...I was driving this weekend and noticed that heat would not go to a mix. I get all hot for the entire dial, then cold if i push it all the way to the coldest setting. I can't wait to do the diagnoses check to make sure this is the issue but I am pretty sure. Thanks again for the DIY.

Toxic Gecko

That's exactly what mine is doing. I guess I'll be taking my dash apart once again.

robbz23

Well i did this on Wed night and it went well. One thing to add is that I am not very good at soldering and I didn't see any traces on the top side of the board (same as the **** side) so I didn't mess with those connections. It was just the 3 on the bottom side of the board that fixed it for me.

jdzoom8

Great DIY. Since it is getting cold out and I was tired of not having heat, I decided to give this a shot. I was able to solder the connections on the temp control **** and get my temperature to once again range from 0-16 instead of just 0 and 16. This saved me from having to buy another board, thanks!
Although my fingertips are hating those wiring harness clips - those things can be such a pain.
I did have to disconnect my PIE aux input prior to pulling my radio out. There was not enough slack in the wires to allow my radio to pull out far enough to get to the other connections.

Vortexx

I used this GREAT DIY successfully the other day, and while I was doing it I realized that the one thing I like best about owning an RX8 isn't in the car at all. It's the fact that any time I've EVER had an issue with or question about the car, a workable answer/solution has always been right here in the RX8 forum. GREAT WORK WINGNUT!!!!!!!

Niburu

see Wingnut, I knew that engineering degree was good for something
(I work on the other side of the cube wall form Wingnut)

Hammer

I've been without heat in my RX8 for close to 2 years now...living in Socal that's not normally a problem but the past few mornings have been quite chilly. This fix worked like a charm. Great job by everyone who chimed in on it, as you have saved me and countless others a lot of runny noses and money by sharing. THANKS!

SoloMazda8

One thing, I did this DIY and it is very awesome. I did not put any solder on the three connectors, cause I thought that if i missed and got it on the board that I would ruin it, so I just heated them up and that worked for about a week.. My question is can I just reheat them back up with out actually soldering them and then super glue them in place or do I need to solder them?

onefatsurfer

just solder them. it's really not hard

bose

iTrader: (5)

The solder is what makes the connection. Yes you need to use more solder.

Great DIY, saved me a bunch o money. And I didn't even have to switch to Geico.

alnielsen

iTrader: (4)

But did you stay at a Holiday Inn Express last night?

wireaddict

Wingnut is my hero.
Only one question, how the hell did you know about the stereo scan up thing. I was using the official shop manual to trouble shoot this problem and it sent me in a totally different direction. Nothing in the manual about this simple diagnostic... stupid manual.

robbz23

If you are really nervous about soldering you can use a mask on the board to make sure the solder doesnt stray to where it shouldn't be. I have some really bad skills with soldering and was able to do this pretty easily. As I mentioned i believe it is just the 3 connections on the back side of the board that need to be fixed. Also when i had the board free, i could flick thewire sticking through and hear that it was loose. After putting a small amount of solder on there i didn't hear the clicking noise.

RX927

iTrader: (1)

Just did this ( my heater would only work at low level an go to cold anywhere else)

thanks

fritschep

i tryed the test with the radio and the numbers moved from 0 to 16 some times they would jump around if i moved it to fast, so im not sure if thats the problem the ac sometimes blows warm air and when i use the heater it gets luke warm but not hot enough to actually heat the car on a cold day i took it to the shop and they said they didnt find anything....HELP please

Wingnut

fritschep,
For each detent/click of the ****, the number should increment by 1, i.e. 0,1,2,3,4...16, from cold to hot. I assume by saying "moved from 0 to 16 some times" you mean it was doing this most of the time, in which case you may have another problem.
If you can set the **** to to full heat, **** all the way right AND A/C TEMP number at 16 and still not get full heat when the engine is fully warmed up, then you most likely have another problem. Another check for the **** is to bring up the A/C Temp display, set your **** to about 8 and press the ****/move it around (without turning it) and see if the number jumps to 0 or 16, which indicates a bad solder joint.
Good luck.

bobkat181

thanks. both of my kids thank you too. we haven't had heat in years. no money to fix it. it gets cold here in ohio. you are a great person.

fritschep

thanks for the quick responce, i did the test and it functions properly but i just noticed that from the center of the radio to the far driver side is blowing hot/warm air and from the center to the passenger is blowing luke warm any ideas?

kogroc1

First and foremost I want to thank wingnut and everybody who help us put our 8's back inorder and saving us so much money. I know for myself I muster save at least 500-3000 dollars with all the threads that the club has on it. THANK YOU. sorry for the dealerships

ruizmc

We did this over the weekend and still no heat, so we bought a refurbished temperature control and it still did not work!! Please any tips to what else could it be?
thanks in advance

Wingnut

Ruizmc,
The key to determining the success or failure of the original unit, repaired unit, or refurbished is the Power-On/Up-Scan diagnosis at the beginning of the thread. If the unit passes this test then the problem is most likely elsewhere. I would recheck every connector first. I would suggest looking into the blend door actuator. I have read elsewhere on the forum that it is under the center console and can be observed from under the driver side and should move with the control ****. Good luck.

fritschep

ruizm


I had the same problem, the actual control **** for the heat/cold air was working but it was only blowing hot air on full heat and the number one fan setting same with the ac the problem is the ac controller modual replace that and say goodbye to your heater problems hopefully oh start with you fuses befor you take anything apart could be a fuse thats just a thought.

mkiv_t74

I just did this to my rx8. Great DIY. I have never soldered anything before and I had a
huge soldering iron and was able to do it first try.

One thing I might add is that picture with the under the dash bolt for the radio is in the wrong spot. It is not higher that the 2 bolts circled its on the same level. I took off the metal pannel under the steering column and was able to reach the bolt with my hands so as not to drop it in the carpet.