PS One Mazda dealer refuses to work on A/C system because of all my problems and me calling the Mazda customer service line so much. And I did not buy my 8 fron there. Reported to Mazda and they did not seem to care...

A dealership does NOT have to work on your car if they so choose to. Most are independently owned, and they have to right to refuse service to you if they so desire, Mazda can only tell them they will pay for the work, but sometimes that is not enough.

Open your windows instead :D

I'm going to assume ( I Have no data) that most car companies are doing this then ever and it wont change :(

This is why I don't understand this flash issue. It seems obscure and virtually unknown by the dealerships. With the amount of time they are spending with customer AC issues repeat visits and bad blood, you would think that Mazda corp. would be shouting from the hilltops -- "Hey you dealers! We Fixed It!!! 10 seconds and BOOM! you're done!". Hell, if I were in charge of the Mazda Tech, I'd be sending doggone SINGING TELEGRAMS to the service managers. This business of the customer having to know to prod the dealer to call the tech line for this unidentified flash is just strange. I mean, wouldn't you think there'd be a TSB? But, I'm repeating myself :)

Tried the flash
 

I tried the flash, holding the defrost button and the mode button, nothing......I have the latest amp so no luck here. Just a malfunctioning control panel. Makes five visits to a dealership for A/C problems. A/C is piece of ----.............
Are the 05's A/C this bad??

You might try disconnecting the battery for a while and then attempt the reprogramming again...

But I understand you may have other issues; I was speaking in a more general sense. There is a whole lot of dissatisfaction with the AC and if Mazda has really nailed one of its major problems it should be actively pushing the solution through the pipeline.

Well mine was still acting weird like it had a mind of it's own, so I disconnected the battery for 15 minutes to reset everything, good to do every now and then anyways. I preformed the reprogramming steps which did not flash the rear defrost button for some reason, yet when you turn the A/C on it automatically went to RECIRC. So, we will see if that makes it act more like it's suppose to work. Does anyone know for sure that it definiantly looses it's programming after not having power?

I got a new amp in my 2004 when I brought it in. Was working great, but thought I'd try the reprogram instuctions in this thread anyway. The reprogram didn't work, so I'm wondering if it was already set by the dealer. It does switch to recirc. on its own now, which it didn't do before.

Regardless, it's working fine so I'm happy.

Does this A/C issue effect the 2005 model?

Don't get me wrong mine is not broken at all, and the A/C cools very well. The thing that bothers me in my situation is that driving down the road the air is great on RECIRC and then it changes its mind on its own and switches to FRESH and I notice that the air is not as cold any longer. I think the programming got courpt and that is why I tried the reset with the battery pulled, but it still seemed to retain the programming, that is why I was wondering if anyone knew for sure that it loses its programming.

Is their a reason you haven't gone to the dealer?

Because it works just fine except for the annoyance factor. Figure they might look at me like I am crazy. I am seeing if the reset of everything by pulling the battery plug fixes it, if not I probably will talk to them about it.

A/C Working
 

Well it looks like the 3rd control panel is the trick. I know have mode function recirc., and defoster funtions back. Got my fingers crossed. My luck has changed but one dealer refuses to work on the A/C. I call Mazda 800 and they said they could do that but it would be reported whatever that means...

Thanks Glyphon, your instructions worked exactly as advertised . . . Dramatic difference . . . Mine is a 12/03 car with no AC work done, always worked fine at speed but marginally at idle.

Well, I was, I believe the first one to post an ac problem. The issue for me was the compressor itself. The air, every time it worked, was COLD but I had to drive and get the RPM up to get the cold flowing. Idling around was like most any other car - semi-cold at idle. They have replaced the compressor though 3 times in two years.

Bump.

Strange thing happened yesterday- I am usually not at idle for long, but after work I got caught in bumper-to-bumper/stop and go traffic @ 90 degrees for a good half hour. After 10 minutes of traffic, the air coniditioner just blows out hot air. I roll down the window and you can hear the ac cycling on and off after driving a little bit. This is the first time I experienced this in a year's time after I have had the ac amplifier replaced in 2004. I am familiar with the ac cycling at idle but the thing that caught my attention was on the car's temperature gauge (not ambient), the cold/hot needle was running almost 3/4 to hot. After traffic subsided and started moving again the ac works like a champ and needle went back to halfway.

My dealer likes to repeat situations in order to do any work, but I'm sure the ac will be blowing perfect as long the car is not in heavy traffic. I will bring it up next time (and the updated ac flash?) I go in for service. Anyone else?

Haven't had that problem before, my low side hose had a leak so it got replaced, and it cycled on and off real fast and blowed hot air like yours before they replaced it.

My car at 20k miles sat in cruising traffic at Myrtle Beach in 100 degree, 70% humidity heat a couple hours a night for 3 days with the windows down and A/C running and never hinted of overheating or blowing warm air, so I would say something is not quite right with your ride. I was on the "P" flash at that time too.

A Random Blast of Hot Air
 

:mad: I've got a maddening problem where the HVAC will blow full hot for about 20 seconds. Fan speed doesn't change, it's just like somebody cranked the temp dial to max. Definitely annoying when trying to cool off a hot car with the A/C. And, of course, been to the dealership twice and since they can't reproduce the problem, it doesn't exist...

I just had recall work done today. This is 2nd time I've brought TSB into dealer and asked for new amp. My 8 is 5/03 build. AC has never been wacky with cycles but it seems weak at idle and only gets really cold at speed. My dealer in Santa Monica says the blow temp is 40 so I don't need a new amp. Any advice? It doesn't cost them anything so should I insist on a new amp?
Thanks

If blow temp is indeed 40 deg, the amp is well within the acceptable range of Mazda specs. If you can verify it is actually above 46 deg, you could argue for a replacement.

count me in as another a/c fatality, lost it last night, I can't switch between any modes and even though the little light is on it's not blowing cold air. Any suggestions? I think it may the the little "box" that houses the climate controls etc., is this a common thing? I've searched a bit, thought I'd ask while I search some more. Thanks.

wow,

2.5 year bump! :)

beers :beer:

yes,

that is it, and it does happen. i would not say it is common, but it is known.

beers :beer:

okay cool, that'd be great if that is all it is, I've found a couple on ebay for around 100 bucks or so that would rock.

Just had a friend of mine with a 2004 AT RX-8 tell me about her AC going berserk and the dealer wanting to charge her $750 for a new AC Amplifier. My first thought was the knob and valve assembly (not sure of the proper term) was busted since she said she would get hot air when set to full cold and get cold air when it was set to hot.