2006 231 20,000 miles.

I bought it privately and the previous owner has moved away. I had the car checked before I bought it but nothing was said - there were no fault codes and no comments.

I found out today that the ABS wasn't working (heavy braking brought forth clouds of tyre smoke not pedal pulsing) but there were no lights or fault codes.

Mmmmmm, strange, thought I. So I checked what warning lights should be on with the ignition....oops, some not showing. Then put on mate's spare instrument console of unknown status and the following warning lights remained lit up:
ABS.
Air Bag (flashing)
TCS/DSC (indicator light)
Power steering malfunction
Checked existing instrument panel and these 4 did not light up when switching ignition on
It is possible that instrument panel needs coding to car, but lack of lights when switching on ignition leads me to suspect not.

BTW I've been living with the remotes not working the central locking (& they won't code to car when I try the procedure) and this may be relevant.

So, I have either:
a duff ABS & no warnings + duff spare console.
some real problems solved by a previous owner bodging the warning lights.

The obvious solution is to put the car into a Mazda dealer, but the nearest has so plssed me off that I'd rather gouge my eyes out than let them screw me again and the next nearest is a long way away.

The checking company has a 'guarantee' but could easily wiggle out of any liability.

Before I throw money at a dealer, can anyone help?

JLG's Dad

 

you cant just switch instrument panels. they are on the can bus and have to be introduced to the others to work correctly and to keep people from illegally altering the odometer. the best bet is to get a can/obdii scanner and get the codes from the computer. the techs need to take a look at why those lights don't light up when you turn the key on.

btw thank you for opening with information about the car. its very rare for someone to do that. we often have to drag it out of them.