Skywalker

On the blower, I'd say start with the easy stuff and check fuses (if you haven't already). Without getting the manual out, I can't say if the same fuse would affect the other controls, but it's a simple enough place to start. Another possible problem is the blower resistor pack, however, when they go out, from my experience with a previous car you only get off and high speed.

hokie027

This is super clutch.

travnett

On my car stereo panel I do not have a scan up button, what I have instead is 3 button's TA, PTY and AF. When I hold the power button and the TA button (your scan up button) I do not get A/C Temp instead I get FAN and Temp. When I turn the fan **** up I get an arrow going to the right and when i turn it down I get an arrow going to the left and if i leave it i just get a dash line beside the FAN. The same goes for the temp button. Does anyone else have this same configiration as me? BTW my car is a UK (Europe) 2004 model with fully automatic Air con

Bateman

This worked great! I had no experience with this type of thing and was not confident with my soldering ability but I did it with these instructions. Only one hiccup, got too much solder on one of the points and was concerned I damaged the board because it overflew onto one of the other light green circuits but after some coaxing the solder went back to its rightful place.
The only problem was that the hoses were so dry that after I recharged the a/c the upper rubber hose on the compressor split wide open. Must have been very dry as the car sit for several years. The hose looks like a pain in the *** to replace but its nice and hot so I gotta do it.

Savoelh

Im trying to fix my heater right now and im stuck at step 6 picture #2. I cant pull the dashboard all the way out due to (what seems to be) a cord that is plugged into the back of it and keeping it from pulling out far enough for me to stick my hand back there and unplug it....

Help me anyone?

bonestockrotary

sorry bro. i've got the metra kit now. i don't remember anything about taking out the stock stereo. btw AWESOME diy. thank you so much. i originally thought it was the box included with the metra kit. but apparently the moving and shaking from taking the stock unit apart, must have been all the crap soldering on the board could take. thank you very much.

lehal68

the cord is a pain in the *** you gotta just yank it out tho careful not to
damage anything i used plyers and pulled it out but it was not easy

Savoelh

See i tried just yanking it out and it felt like i was going to break something. So i gave up and i guess I'm just going heaterless for the winter ;/

bonestockrotary

Try to tilt the head unit different angles to give you a clear shot at it.

lehal68

yo man!! just do it made such a huge difference truz me well
guess kuz i live in canada it did but ya.. confidence is key plus
ppl say its harder than it really is so dont think so much n do
def worth all the work and it does work! saved my *** straight up

WellThen

Trying to do this repair this weekend. Stuck at Step 6 Picture 1 as shown here http://www.whatsmyip.org/ipodrx8/6.php - trying to remove the climate control connectors from the left side and underneath the radio. Do these connectors have some sort of tab you have to push to get them to release? So close to being able to get my heat working!

Jon316G

iTrader: (1)

Yes... they all have tabs you need to press in except the round plug for the antenna.

WellThen

Thanks Jon. I've tried to feel all around these connectors, and don't feel a tab. Can you give me any clue where the tabs are? Specifically for the climate control connectors on the left and bottom?

Jon316G

iTrader: (1)

I want to say they were on the bottom... been a few months since I've last pulled the HU out, so memory is a little fuzzy.
I'm pretty sure I was able to pull the HU out enough to see under it and observe the tab location.
Grab a flashlight and look up at the connectors to see the tabs, it'll give you an idea on where to press once your hand is in there.

Skywalker

They're on the bottom of the plugs. Get down in the footwell where you can look up at the underside of the plugs (or use a small mirror) and you'll be able to see them. I had to take a small flat-head screwdriver and use it to push up on the tabs. They're really small and hard to press with a fingertip or even a fingernail. By far the biggest PITA of the whole process.

Phish806

iTrader: (4)

I did this the other morning. It was fairly simple. worked extremely well. Took me about an hour and i was takin my time and trying to keep my dog from attacking small children walking by lol. However, i can see how the tabs on the clips would be hard to find, jsut check out the bottom they are there trust me.

WellThen

Well, I got it done, even if it wasn't pretty. Thanks to Jon, Luke and Phish for the advice.

I never did get the radio out - but I found that once I got the first climate control connector (Step 6, Photo 1) loose, I was able to pull the radio out far enought to remove the front cover of the radio by working backwards with a stubby screwdriver.

Wingnut's first picture shows you which screws have to be removed to get the radio faceplate off. Don't worry about the bottom pair of screws - you can remove them after you get the faceplate off - only the top and middle screws on each side hold the faceplate on. Also, don't kill yourself trying to get all of the connectors he shows in that first picture off - again, only the top connector on the left side has to be disconnected before you can get the faceplate off. The bottom connectors can be disconnected after you have the faceplate on your dining room table. . And getting the faceplate back on backwards is easier than you might think, because there are alignment pins below the middle screws.

Someone posted that they'd gotten this far, and gave up because of being unable to get the radio out. So, this is an option for you.

Also, for anyone who is planning to do this, I have a suggestion about the radio bolt that so many of us have had trouble removing. In the original instructions that Wingnut links to, Step 4 has you remove a plastic trim piece below the steering wheel. This exposes a metal brace that you can see in the last photo from Step 4 (See my first picture.) Once I removed the metal brace also (it's just 4 screws), I could kneel outside the car on the driver's side, peer through the hole under the steering wheel, and look right at the bolt in the side of the radio. (The first 2 bolts, which the instructions tell you are the wrong bolts, are closer to you on a vertical brace, but if you look to the right of the brace and further back, you can see the radio bolt.) And using extentions on my ratchet totalling 10 inches, I could reach through the opening (still kneeling outside the car!) and unscrew the bolt. I could even reach in as the bolt got loose and finish removing it with my fingers, so that it couldn't fall down in the bottomless pit. See my second picture - the radio bolt is in the green circle - by the time I'd took the picture, the bolt was out, but this is the location. You can also see the other 2 bolts that the Step 4 warns you are the wrong ones, in the red circle.

I hope this saves someone some time, and allows them to finish the repair. It's sweet having heat!

Skywalker

That's an excellent point. I started doing the same thing when I've needed to pull the radio out. It's definitely much easier to see the bolt if the metal brace is out of the way as well.

Phish806

iTrader: (4)

Someone has obviously removed my radio before. I have removed it twice and that nut/bolt was never there either time i removed mine lol

mxdeb

Thanks for all the great advice here! Took us longer than it should probably, 4 hours. I doubt that it had been apart before and the wires seemed a bit short accessing the back of the radio. Once we got the radio out, the actual solder took longer for the iron to warm up than the fix. We are so greatful for all the DIY. This saved us about $400-$500!

Sephitrask

Just finished this, excellent DIY!!!! I have always felt that whoever invented electrical connectors for cars were really sick sadists though; the climate control connectors were a b**ch. It was really surprising how my board looked EXACTLY like the one in the pictures (in reference to the cracks on the solders).

mbentley

iTrader: (1)

just wanted to say thanks for this DIY. i haven't really done much soldering at all and it was easy enough to do after checking out some how to videos on youtube. i can't believe there are this many circuit boards with poorly soldered connections and they all just happen to be the exact same three! definitely something faulty in the manufacturing process.

Ronin1011

your the man wingnut! no more freezing mornings! -_-"

Ronin1011

I love this Mazda forum

kungpow

Just got my car about 2 months ago, I didn't get to drive it at all because of travel for work until last week. Had this problem, found the DIY and fixed it right up. Took me about 2 hours to do since I had never taken the radio out of an 8 before and I didn't want my new toy broken. And to erasure everyone posting about the AC and radio connectors yes they are on the bottom, if you want to see how they work pop your hood and look at your air intake box (don't know technically what it is yet) and youll see a senser with he same type plug, that's what I did to get a feel for them.