electrical gone crazy.

xMS3x

Member
:
08' MAZDASPEED3
Last night my electrical system went crazy it's like it had a mind of it's own. I pulled the codes and there were a ton. For example idle too lean, bad cam censor? timing jumped, short circuit, maf censor problem and a few others I can't recall. My dash lights would dim then go bright my headlights would go on and off and my parking brake light was on without the brake being engaged. My car also hesitates then goes hesitates and goes like it's bad gas but it's got to have something to do with the electrical system. I got an oil change that day and washed my car the only thing that I noticed was that my driver side headlight had water in it. My car was in idle for about 30 to 45 minutes also my wife said. The only thing working correctly is the boost gauge so I figured if it was the gauge that caused this it would be having issue also but it's not. It's all stock other than a Cobb sri, Forge bpv and Cobb tip. It's like everything that runs through the steering column is shorted out. If anybody has had any similar issues I would really appreciate some feed back.
 
My 08 has shown some random electrical glitches, like hazards turning themselves on and dash lights popping up randomly. No engine-run problems though. Since the problems are irregular and don't show up consistently I can't easily track the source. It's been reported to me that similar issues have to do with the fuse block under the glovebox shorting out but, I'll be damned if I can find any continuity issues there when I checked.
 
My 08 has shown some random electrical glitches, like hazards turning themselves on and dash lights popping up randomly. No engine-run problems though. Since the problems are irregular and don't show up consistently I can't easily track the source. It's been reported to me that similar issues have to do with the fuse block under the glovebox shorting out but, I'll be damned if I can find any continuity issues there when I checked.
If its the fuse box under the glove box that sucks cause that's where the shop that installed my boost gauge ran the wiring so there goes that warranty s***.
 
Last night my electrical system went crazy it's like it had a mind of it's own. I pulled the codes and there were a ton. For example idle too lean, bad cam censor? timing jumped, short circuit, maf censor problem and a few others I can't recall. My dash lights would dim then go bright my headlights would go on and off and my parking brake light was on without the brake being engaged. My car also hesitates then goes hesitates and goes like it's bad gas but it's got to have something to do with the electrical system. I got an oil change that day and washed my car the only thing that I noticed was that my driver side headlight had water in it. My car was in idle for about 30 to 45 minutes also my wife said. The only thing working correctly is the boost gauge so I figured if it was the gauge that caused this it would be having issue also but it's not. It's all stock other than a Cobb sri, Forge bpv and Cobb tip. It's like everything that runs through the steering column is shorted out. If anybody has had any similar issues I would really appreciate some feed back.

I pulled those codes as well after installing my STRI gauges and I had the exact same mods as you at the time. My ecu would tick like crazy and still is loud. I too used the glove fuse box for power and ended up swapping the illumination tap. I still don't feel like the problem is fully resolved given the noisiness of the ecu on shut down, but I haven't pulled those codes since. IIRC I swapped the tap from pin 58 to 57. I can check for you if you want.
 
I pulled those codes as well after installing my STRI gauges and I had the exact same mods as you at the time. My ecu would tick like crazy and still is loud. I too used the glove fuse box for power and ended up swapping the illumination tap. I still don't feel like the problem is fully resolved given the noisiness of the ecu on shut down, but I haven't pulled those codes since. IIRC I swapped the tap from pin 58 to 57. I can check for you if you want.

Yeah if you wouldn't mind checking that would be awesome. It's weird that this just happened though that gauge has been in for a few months. I haven't checked to see what pins mine is tapped into I had the install done at a local shop I'll check tomorrow. I'm taking the car to mazda to get the exact problem found.
 
It is going to cost you tons of money from the dealer may you may void your warrenty (part or all of it)
I would suggest to use the lighting from cigar lighter. Thats where mazda tapped the power for my gauge. No problem so far, running it like that since 2 years. I also suggest that you use quick connect splice so if you ever have a problem you just pull it and voila! problem solved.
 
It is going to cost you tons of money from the dealer may you may void your warrenty (part or all of it)
I would suggest to use the lighting from cigar lighter. Thats where mazda tapped the power for my gauge. No problem so far, running it like that since 2 years. I also suggest that you use quick connect splice so if you ever have a problem you just pull it and voila! problem solved.
Agreed. I also used the cigarette lighter(#43) also.
 
Mazda is being pretty cool about it they even though they have had my car all week. The tensioner on the timing chain somehow broke and the junction box on the passenger side went bad. Which is funny because I had just got an oil change a few hours prior to these issues. They still can't get the electrical right the headlights keep having issues so they are going to try the alternator next and go from there. As long as it's done right I don't care how long they have my car. What gauges are you running?
 

New Threads and Articles

Back