RX-8 ECU Failure ?
 

Hi everyone I am new to the furum so hi

Right i am writing on behalf of my farther who owns an RX-8 192 and has had the same problem twice ina row (The car won't start or unlock etc etc)

So we rang the RAC and they recharged the battery and we took it back to Mazda and it had a new battery , since then a week later we have the same problem the car won't unlock itself or anything , so he called the RAC again and his diagnostic equipment couldnt connect to the ecu he said it had no responce at all he had put down on the RAC rocovery sheet thing Battery volt high (18v) so i knew it woudnt be the batttery and he suspected an ECU fault


Has anyone else experienced this ???????????

What's your location?
What year is the car and how many miles?

This sounds like your alternator(charging system) was putting out WAY too much voltage and this may have taken out the ECU or at least corrupted it.
But.................... let's see what others say.

Also the car is a 57 plate 192 in Merseyide England milege fifteen thousand one hundred and fifty miles on the clock

I figure you might be in the UK...................So it's still in warranty right?
Take it in and tell them to fix it!

Don't know what a 57 plate means(unless it equates to an 07?), but I know the 192 must mean it's an automatic.

You may get better help on http://www.rotaryheaven.net. They are a european rotary website. There is also http://www.rx8ownersclub.co.uk/, however a membership fee is required. Good luck.

Actually This has just started happening to my car too. 05 6 speed with 43k on it and randomly the car wont start or unlock from time to time. No lights on the dash at all and not even a click when you turn the ignition. 3 of the times its happened the guages turned on but the dials were going crazy and the door were locking and unlocking randomly and the ignition clicked but didnt tuen over. However today was the worst yet, driving home from work I was accelerating easily up a small hill and everything cut out for a second including the dash, radio and engine. It all came back on and jerked hard (felt like someone who doesnt know how to drive stick). The dash lit up jusk like it had just been turned on with all the warning lights and then they turned off like normal start up. Any ideas?

Mike, that sounds to me like a bad ground problem.

Check the integrity of the ground connection underneath the airbox tray, slightly toward the passenger side and the one on the driver's side fender, near the brake master cylinder.

Thanks guys. I only have messed with one of those ground points which is the one on the drivers side fender. I had grounded the BHR coils to that same point. I moved the coil ground to the firewall next to the brake master cylinder. Its the mount for the an a/c line I think. So all those ground points are by themselves just like they are stock. Hopefully this solves this issue.

The car locked up twice today again. I checked the grounds and everything is fine. Each time it happens the memory in the car is lost on the dash and radio. Any more ideas?

It happened 3 more times today. This time the engine blipped out and then the traction control and abs lights would come on each time. This is getting annoying.

Mike any updates?

could it be a bad/weak battery causing or damaging the alternator causing the electronics of the car go aywire??

Are your cables that hook onto the terminals snug, and is your battery properly held in place? I only had it happen once where the car turned off on me while driving (and then quickly turn back on with the "Mazda RX8 display, etc."). Somehow I seemed to maintain power steering though which I'll never understand, but none the less I went under the hood, didnt really see anything wrong, but I tightened the **** out of my cables on the terminal. Havent had the issue since.

Smh.....