Intermittent cruise control, now dead + Weird power window "feature"

[WeekendWarrior]

Almost from the beginning, my '02 Protege's Cruise Control was flakey. Dealer tried to pass it off as "user error". You know, 'Main' switch, yada yada. Eventually it got to the point where it would work only every other time the car was started. (So if it was working, the next time I would drive the car it wouldn't. But the next time after that it would work again, and so on.) Now it's just plain dead. Hasn't worked in years.

Now, after perusing some other threads, I see that this may not necessarily be electrical, but my car has another strange "feature" that makes me wonder whether it didn't receive some Monday-morning or Friday-afternoon wiring...

According to the manual -- and as experience with other like-equipped cars has demonstrated -- the power window lock is supposed to disable the passenger window controls, but mine actually disables the passenger windows. So if the lock is engaged, then from the driver's controls, I can only operate the driver's window and not the others. I actually have to disengage the lock to move the other three cabin windows! WTF?

Anyone hear of any such thing as this about the cruise control? And what about the power windows? This isn't normal behavior, is it? Thanks everyone...

 

[CiviCity]

I'm having the same "issue" with the windows.
If I lock them, I can't open/close, via driver side controls, any of the 3 other windows in the car unless I disengage the lock.

 

[MadBiker]

I have a BJ5W Familia which has the steering wheel on the right. Lemme check how this power window lock feature works in the JDM and I'll get back to you.

This is interesting because the power DOOR locks for the US version Protege have not been redesigned for the US left-hand drive market. If I remember correctly (and I'll try this out tonight as well), when you lock the US driver side door USING THE KEY (not the remote), it will lock all the doors BUT if you use the key to unlock the US driver side door, it will unlock only the driver's door. If you use the key to unlock the passenger side door, it will unlock ALL the doors. That's the way it works in the JDM Familia. But I'll check it out and let you know (maybe in a new thread).

 

[CiviCity]

Interesting. Because for me,
When I use the key in the driver side door, it will open or close ONLY the driver side door.

If I use the key in the passenger side door, it will open or close ALL doors.

 

[WeekendWarrior]

Thanks CiviCity, at least I know it's not just me and mine.

MadBiker, just FYI, we were referring to the power window locks, not the door locks.

 

[MadBiker]

So guys, I checked out the functionality of the power WINDOW locks on my Familia AND my JDM Atenza (Mazda6 Japan version), and both work the same way. When you lock the windows via the driver side controls (which is on the right side of the car), it disables all controls except for the driver side window. With it locked the passenger windows cannot be opened from the driver controls nor the passenger controls. The only window that can be opened with the lock engaged is the driver side window .

So, Weekend Warrior, I think this is as designed, and this design, however lacking it may be, was ported to the left-hand drive models (i.e., your Protege).

I only mentioned the power door locks because Mazda didn't bother to port that to the left-hand drive models, and maybe they did something funny with the power window lock as well.

p.s. sorry to hear about your cruise control - I'd thought about adding cruise control to my Mazda's in Japan (most cars in Japan don't come with or have the option, not even the Mazda Atenza Sport) but I'd found out that cruise control can be a real pain because of reliability issues.

 

[MadBiker]

ooh, I forgot to look at the manuals on the window lock. Let me look at that and see if the japanese version has it explained correctly. Will get back to you tonight.

 

[WeekendWarrior]

"I only mentioned the power door locks because ..."

Gotcha, thanks MadBiker.

" ... but I'd found out that cruise control can be a real pain because of reliability issues."

Yup. That's been my experience. ;-)

Regarding the door locks, I can't say for sure because I always use the keyless entry, but ... OK, wait, I just checked. And true to form, I'm getting differing results.

On the driver's side, if I insert the key and turn it "toward the front" (so counter-clockwise on left-driving American vehicles), only the driver's door opens. However, if I hold this turn an extra second or two, all doors unlock.

On the passenger's side, the first time I inserted the key and turned it "toward the front" (so clockwise on a left-driving American vehicle), only the passenger's door opened. However, on subsequent trials, all the doors opened. And I checked that I was doing a quick motion, and I relocked the doors for subsequent trials both using the key and the internal power door lock button on the inside driver's door (which I usually use).

Must be other variables involved causing the discrepency, like whether the driver's door was physically opened (not just unlocked) or whether the vehicle was started between trials.

Finally, I was able to lock all the doors with the key with a single twist from either door.

 

[CiviCity]

Gotcha, thanks MadBiker.

MadBiker writes:
" ... but I'd found out that cruise control can be a real pain because of reliability issues."

Yup. That's been my experience. ;-)

My cruise control is fine . But completely useless lol.

 

[MadBiker]

Weekend Warrior, interesting about the power door locks using the key. I'll mess around with that more on my Familia and Atenza.

OK as for your original post about the Power Window Lock - I finally got a chance to check the Atenza Japanese User Manual - it describes the way it works. When the lock is engaged, the only window that is operable is the driver side window (in Japan that means the right front window). All other windows cannot be opened from any location, including from the driver controls. So the US manual has it wrong. I'll have to check the Familia manual later but if you don't hear from me, assume it also correctly describes how the power window lock works.

p.s. CiviCity you live in Canada where you have thousands of miles of open road and you don't use cruise control? If there's anyplace that cruise control is useless, it's anywhere in Asia - congestion everywhere, traffic lights, idiot drivers....

 

[CiviCity]

MadBiker, very good to know that it's not a defect in the car but only a mistake in our user manual.

And for the cruise control, there is no use for it here in Quebec with all the detours causes by the never ending "construction" lol. One minute you are driving 100kmh and the other you are down to 30.

 

[WeekendWarrior]

Hmm. Interesting. So either the translator read it wrong, accidentally wrote it wrong, or couldn't believe what [he thought] he was reading, and tried to "fix it" in the translation!

And Asia by no means has a monopoly on idiot drivers! (This must be a universal attribute.

It seems finally, then, I have "normal" CC issues. I've done without it for quite a while, but on occassion, I do miss it. I guess I'll have to find the time to explore these issues...

 

[MadBiker]

Weekend Warrior, yep, I checked the Familia manual and it also described it just in the same way as the Atenza manual (for the power windows). They probably just copied and pasted the same stuff from the older Familia manual to the Atenza manual. It would be interesting to see if the US Mazda6 manual still has it wrong.

As for your cruise control, it might be worth opening a thread in the appropriate section and see if some of the geeks here online could help you out.

and if you really want to see some crazy driving, just do a google for Russia Road Rage or Russia Drivers and you won't believe your youtube eyes...