Dash display blinking wildly
 

What can cause the center display that normally says mazda RX-8 on it, the time & outside temp. and stuff to malfunction and blink extremely fast? Recently, I started up my 8 and all the indicators on the display were immediately flashing. It's really distracting and I can't read anything. Does anyone know how to go about fixing this? I checked all the fuses in both locations and all were fine. The flashing went on for 2-3 days. Today when I started the car, it had suddenly gone back to normal. I'm worried it will do it again anytime now. I'd also like to mention that I have an aftermarket head unit installed. Is the wiring for the display that's flashing be close enough to the wires/cables for the head unit? If this happens again, I'm wondering if I'll have to take it to a mazda dealer.

umm... that is a good question, I would check your wiring.

When you installed the radio there is a harness that is too short.

I'm thinking that that is loose.

Next time put some electrical tape over the display until you can fis it.

Don't keep the roll in the glove box center console or even trunk.

Gets too hot.

your headunit faceplate is not plugged all the way in or has gone bad. its not actually the LCD

the wiring for whatever kit you have (metra, corksport, whatever) has to be plugged in firmly or it will cause the LCD to go crazy

This is correct, it happened to mine. The faceplate is attached to the stereo with four screws, and two of the female ends had cracked. I removed them and glued the cracks, problem solved! This maybe too late but oh well

If you have a Metra kit, the display flashing can be fixed by a firmware upgrade to the kit. Go back to whoever installed the radio, and ask them to use their USB bootloader cable to upgrade to revision 1.4.

flashing display
 

2006 mazda rx8; info panel red display and red lights behind radio and ac console are flashing on and off in rythm and will not stop. i think this occurred after a battery replacement. rustygrunwald@gmail.com