Today when I left work, I tried to start the car, but it wouldn't turn over at all. Lights were bright so it didn't seem like a battery problem. When I tried to start the car, the security light began flashing rapidly.

So I look in the manual and it says that a flashing security light might indicate a malfunction. I call the dealership and he says the chip is out on my key or the receiver is out in the steering column. So I had my brother come bring me the spare keys and none of them work. Of course, it's after hours so I left my car at the office and will have to have it towed in tomorrow.

Has anyone else had this problem and what was the fix? Any help is greatly appreciated.

 

umm alarm problem?? try turning off the alarm, happened to me before

 

The alarm is off. Locking and unlocking the doors works fine with all the controllers. It just won't start. I tried disconnecting the battery, but to no avail.

 

Is it an auto, and not properly in park?

(sorry, it's the best I got...)

otherwise, yes, you're screwed.

S

 

No, it's a manual.

Is there any way that the alarm is still active, but the fob is locking and unlocking the doors normally? That's the only thing I can think of. Otherwise, I'm gonna wait until traffic dies down and have it towed in.

 

I would say it's the steering column reciever. This is a long shot, but could it be something with the clutch switch not being triggered when you depress it to start the car?

 

That's a good point. I reached under and pressed the button manually while trying to start the car. Same thing. Is there supposed to be a click when the clutch is depressed? My old car used to have one.

 

The car has been towed to the dealership. I'll post the results for posterity.

 

As an update, the dealership can't figure out what's wrong yet. They said they can't even talk to the car's computer. I'm awaiting a call this afternoon to see if they've figured out what's wrong. Does any of this sound familiar?

On a side note, they rental agency there didn't have any more cars so I got the next best thing: a cargo van!!!

I think I'll go exchange it later today.

 

Any updates on this?

 

Yes, they had my car for a week and I just got it back on Friday. It turns out my PCM was fried. When I had the car towed in, they couldn't even communicate with the PCM through the OBDII port. They replaced the PCM, but it still wouldn't turn over like before. They needed to reprogram the immobilzer which took them an extra 2 days because they were doing it wrong, but finally they got it right.

According to them, they've never seen a PCM fail in the RX8 yet. Everything seems to be working fine now, but the first evening I got it back, the headlights would not work. I pulled the fuse and put it back in. Then they started working. I will have to test every system to be sure the PCM is recognizing everything.

 

Could you post how much it cost them to reprogram the immobilizer? I have run into this problem and the dealer I took it to will not assist.