Alright guys how is everyone? I got a 2006 Shinka, verified by VIN, that has some REALLY messed up issues, first off, the heat and a/c was working just fine in the car, shortly after i replaced the stock radio with a Metra DDIN kit and pioneer head unit, everything still worked well, then all of a sudden my heat stopped working. AC blows cold still but not an ounce of heat comes out on any setting... Before I threw money at a new climate control board, is it possible the metra "brain box" is messed up? When I first installed it it acted VERY erratic, my turn signal wouldn't work, my hazard lights operated my turn signal and didn't power the unit... then while troubleshooting with Metra i unhooked everything and hooked it back up and it was completely fine and has BEEN fine since then, the heat WAS working too (I Think? I'm pretty sure it was but I may be wrong and didn't use it because it wasn't cold yet). Is there any troubleshooting steps to see whether it's the Metra box or the climate board?

Second, my passenger side window... When I got the car, it worked fine, then all of a sudden it completely stopped working, took it to Mazda for some other work on the steering column , when i got it back the window worked fine for like a week then stopped again... took it back to mazda for a failed ignition switch and when i got it back, the window worked again, for like a week or two... now the window for the longest time would start going down maybe an inch or two and then stop, the motor didn't sound like it was operating anymore, but i could put it back up... just checked a couple days ago and now the window goes down about halfway after replacing the passenger side door actuator and exterior door handle as they broke... Is this a regulator issue? Motor? A sensor or switch?

Lastly, I posted about this before, but my airbag lights are on for the driver and passenger seats and the occupancy classification something or other code B2290 is one of the codes, after hours of troubleshooting and taking it to mazda they said my harness for the seats both in the seat-side and main harness side are corroded, and i verified this, tried two different resistors and they didn't clear the codes... has ANYONE found a way to disable the SRS light either by a flash, or directly by removing the bulb from the instrument cluster or shorting it out somehow? Help with this especially would be great because I barely managed to pass VA State Inspection last year and i guess he didn't notice the light or something.

urgent help with the heat issue first would be most welcome as i'm freezing my *** off in this car in 20 or less degree temps.

 

With so many electrical issues you will need to do some careful checking and testing to see what's up. Fuses are a good place to start.. and looking at a wiring diagram helps to see if any of the issues are same circuit

It was pretty common for people to have issues with the Metra dash. Is there an option to go back to stock? Even to test?

As far as the other stuff.... are there airbags in the car? The window regulator should be easy to test... they do have a fairly high failure rate in most cars that are getting up there in age. Maybe look for a door at a wreckers... and swap the parts over?
I would be very careful before spending money buying parts until you figure it out

 

you would need to contact Metra on how you go about testing it. I’m thinking it just passes the signals straight through and would then be be a continuity measurement, but have never had my hands on one and am not entirely sure. So they would need to confirm.
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Dan,

unfortunately I don't have the original radio anymore, i damaged it taking it out not realizing there was a funky screw under the steering column and to the side. Last I talked with Metra they wanted to say that my year had a weak solder joint in the climate control board and could be repaired/replaced. So I may start with a new climate board and see if i can just return it if that doesn't address the issue. As for the airbags, I would assume they are still there, the housings on the seats don't look altered. My ultimate goal is to get the light off, because if I replace the seats with racing seats I'm not going to have airbags there and they're going to code for that. So if I can physically delete/remove the bulb from the instrument cluster too that seems far more viable than anything else to do, but how? has anyone done it? Also as far as the regulator goes, I've taken the door panel off and popped the regulator out of the molding, I'm assuming if i can get that far it's pretty easy to replace the regulator in them ?

TeamRX8, I'll likely need to replace the board first as they wanted to point fingers at a weak solder joint in the climate boards of my year.

 

If the solder joints are the problem in the heater control you can check using the diagnostics mode. When mine acted up the test reading wouldn't go up and down properly.

There is a thread on how to repair this and it is an easy fix....

I have resistors in my airbag plugs so the light goes off... can't remember what size they were though 🙄

The door and regulator removal isn't bad... its the same PIA as any car. I dont remember having issues when I replaced the one in a buddies car over 10 years ago. So far I haven't had that issue with mine