WAIT! One final twist!
So I yanked the battery so I could do other work under the hood. It was a 7 year old battery...may as well get a replacement....it looked beat even though it worked. I was chasing down an issue with the fog lights...had to disconnect the computer and remove the battery box (dropped a nut under it). I disconnected the wiring harness from the fuse box too. Didn't figure out the issue ( I have since...but another story)
Later in the day, I took the battery to Autozone and swapped for a new one. Got back, put everything back together and hooked up the positive terminal and as soon as the negative terminal touched...HONK HONK HONK!
JFC! The car was throwing a fit. Lights inside and out were going off. Horn blasting away, interior chime going nuts. Relays just clicking away. Thought I had hooked up the battery wrong.
I thought I fried the poor thing.
Yanked the negative terminal. Double/Triple checked it...nope. I got it right.
I was pissed. I thought I had screwed up a connection somewhere. Double checked...no pins bent/messed up on the CPU or the fuse box. All fuses look correct as compared to the picture I took before messing with them.
I pulled the horn relay to save the neighbors' ears.
Couldn't start the car, nothing. Nothing worked.
I noticed when it was hooked up, it was the same pattern over and over.
Had the damn immobilizer woken up? Without the 4 button fobs that come with the immobilizer...I don't think there is a way to shut it off. Well...no way to do it "nicely".
I was all out of bubblegum so time to kick some ass.
I pulled out the MAZDA remote start/immobilizer install manual (thank god I found it online prior) and spent half the day ripping open the dash, and removed the stupid thing. It's basically 2 boxes put in the middle of the stock ignition wiring harness. Unplug the stock wiring harness from the immobilizer harness and plug the 2 ends of the stock harness back together.
Hooked up the battery. No crazy noise. No flashing lights.
Car started right up.
Removed the rest of that abomination and chucked it in the trash.
-Mike