HVAC Controls

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Marc D

Member
:
1999 Mazda Miata, 2007 Mazda5
I was wondering if it was possible to swap HVAC controls. I have manual control knobs on my MZ5 2007 Touring model for some reason. I thought all Touring models and up had electronic HVAC controls.

Anyway, is this possible? Or is this unit manually controlling the vents by the knobs with wire lines and the like? Thanks!
 
the actual controls are all electronic, on ALL trim level models of mazda5. the only differences, i think, are that some have automatic sensors to automatically adjust fan speed and distribution locations. (defrost, floor, vent, etc.) i also dont think you can replace just the controls, but you will need to add the temp sensors too.
 
Marc D said:
... I have manual control knobs on my MZ5 2007 Touring model for some reason. I thought all Touring models and up had electronic HVAC controls...
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For the '07 Mazda5, the Touring and the Grand Touring both had "fully automatic climate control", it was the Sport that had the manual climte control.

Either you don't have an '07, it's not a Touring model, you really have an automatic climte control system and don't realize it, or somebody swapped out the automatic to a manual climate control for whatever reason.
 
Im pretty sure its a touring package. It has a moonroof, fog lights, side skirts, rear spoiler, and a 6 CD CHanger. The thing is that it is a manual transmission car. :) In the car title, it also says it's a Touring package.

Anyway, I would love to switch it out for an auto HVAC controller. Does anyone have a diagram on how these are connected? WHere the temp sensor is located? Hell, what I would love to do is to change the center console to a 2008-2010 because I would like to have a rear blower for the passengers, especially for those hot summer days! I would definitely need to get the ducting for this to work, but it might be more of a hassle to get this done. I would love to look into it though.

If I would do this, I would rather pull off everything to sound deaden the entire car, then install everything back with changing what I want.

THanks guys.
 
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I might be in the minority, but I miss the "manual" climate controls I had on my 06 Mazda3 Touring. I don't think the auto mode works that well in my 08 M5. However, I definitely like the rear fan.
 
Wow really. What is it about it that you prefer over the auto controls?
 
Marc D said:
Im pretty sure its a touring package. It has a moonroof, fog lights, side skirts, rear spoiler, and a 6 CD CHanger. The thing is that it is a manual transmission car. :) In the car title, it also says it's a Touring package.

Anyway, I would love to switch it out for an auto HVAC controller. Does anyone have a diagram on how these are connected? WHere the temp sensor is located? Hell, what I would love to do is to change the center console to a 2008-2010 because I would like to have a rear blower for the passengers, especially for those hot summer days! I would definitely need to get the ducting for this to work, but it might be more of a hassle to get this done. I would love to look into it though.

If I would do this, I would rather pull off everything to sound deaden the entire car, then install everything back with changing what I want.

THanks guys.
Click to expand...

If I recall correctly, in 2007, you could get a SPORT, and add all of those options, such as the Moonroof, side sills, fog lights, spoiler, CD Changer, etc., but you would still be stuck with the Manual climate control system.

That is because the Sports Came with Manual Climate Control, and Touring/Grand Touring came with the AUTO Climate Control system. (For North America, the mirrors on the 2007 Sport will be black plastic, whereas the Touring model will be painted body color. In addition, the rear spoiler is different between the factory "Touring" model, and the Mazda dealer "Accessory" spoiler, since the spoiler is molded into the rear hatch as one piece on the Touring models)

For what it is worth, I never use the "AUTO" feature on the climate control. It never seems to do what I want it to do. As far as doing a swap to the newer console, I have read that it is not a plug and play swap. Not saying that it can not be done...

There is also some great pics of a stereo install on the 5forum here that show a "5" being gutted and getting sound dampened. Sure looks like a lot of back breaking work to me, but I would love to sample the difference.
 
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Really, we use AUTO climate all the time, basically just like our house thermostat. We usually keep it set @ 72*.
 
I think Mazdadude is correct. What is being described here is most likely a Sport model with what I think was called the Popular (or maybe Preferred?) Equipment package. I remember looking for either one of those or a Touring with manual trans when I got mine back in '07.

I ended up finding a Plum Mica (!) Touring w/ manual trans, btw....

I'd like to add that I NEVER use the auto climate control. I particularly hate the way it comes on in full blast recirc mode most of the time, whether it decides on heat or A/C. I just leave it in manual and adjust the settings myself. It works much better when I make the decisions on where the air comes from, how fast and at what temperature....
 
Also, I believe that the logic for the auto climate system was improved on the 2008 model year, as I have no issues with the "AUTO" mode on my parents 2008 Mazda5. (Man that rear air sure is nice too...)
 
In 2007 you could get a Touring with manual transmission, but not with manual climate control.

As stated a few posts above, what you have is the Sport with the "Popular Equipment Package" (an obsolete 6-disk CD changer, side sill extensions, and a rear liftgate spoiler), and a power sliding glass moonroof with interior sunshade, both of which were options for the Sport.

And count me as being one who hates the automatic climate control. I wish there was a dial for "cold / hot" and another for the fan speed control. And speaking of the fan (blower) motor, mine just stopped working yesterday during a heavy rain. I turned on the defrost and the dash shook badly , I turned off the defrost. Turned it back on and nothing.

I'll be taking it in to the dealer tomorrow, it's still under the 3 year / 36K mile warranty.

Edit: For the '07:
Sport: Black side mirrors and no center row fold-out tray
Touring: Body-color painted side mirrors and center row fold-out tray; neither were options for the Sport
 
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I agree with many posters... your not really missing much. I never use the Auto mode, basically because it always (in my experience) runs the A/C, not sure why, even when I want it warmer than the outside temp, it always turns the A/C on, which though not much, dose hurt your MPG. So I prefer to manually adjust the settings.

It does look much better than the manual version though...
 
Thanks for the replies guys. I guess I'll stick with the manual controls.

img20110430104816.jpg

Picture, as requested.

I gotta figure out how to install that rear blower then. Definitely an upgrade I need to do.

About those mirrors, if I wanted to install those LED type mirror cover's, would I just remove the cover? Does this require taking apart the mirror to get it off? Thanks for helping me out guys.

And what is this "center row foldout tray" you speak of?
 
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It's a center tray that normally sits under the passenger-side 2nd row seat. It can flip out as shown in the attached picture and provides a little tray / cupholders for the second row.

The problem is that when it's down it's even harder to get into the third row so in practice, for us at least, it's only out during longer trips.

In the attached picture, the seat is lifted to show where the table is stored. And Mazda calls it a "Center-row foldout table". For the '06 / '07, it was only on the Touring & Grand Touring. Starting in '08 it is standard on all Mazda5s (including the Sport). And based on a post I read from a few years ago, the seat frames were different in '06 & '07 on the Sport, so you cannot easily add this center row tray if you don't already have one.
 

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Now that is interesting, I had no idea that was supposed to be there. I don't have it, so I guess that pretty much confirms I have a sport model.
 
Marc D said:
About those mirrors, if I wanted to install those LED type mirror cover's, would I just remove the cover? Does this require taking apart the mirror to get it off? Thanks for helping me out guys.
Click to expand...

you will probably have to dismantle the mirror and the whole door to get the led covers installed, as it will likely require you to feed the signal wire to the body harness somewhere.
 
Marc D said:
Thanks for the replies guys. I guess I'll stick with the manual controls.

img20110430104816.jpg

Picture, as requested.

I gotta figure out how to install that rear blower then. Definitely an upgrade I need to do.

About those mirrors, if I wanted to install those LED type mirror cover's, would I just remove the cover? Does this require taking apart the mirror to get it off? Thanks for helping me out guys.

And what is this "center row foldout tray" you speak of?
Click to expand...
Nice carputer setup. Care to share where you mounted the head unit? Also, do you have the redundant steering wheel audio controls enabled (if HU is hidden)? What's the HW specs and what interface are you running? I look forward to building one soon!
 
njaremka said:
you will probably have to dismantle the mirror and the whole door to get the led covers installed, as it will likely require you to feed the signal wire to the body harness somewhere.
Click to expand...

Hmm... Seems like a couple of hours of work. And I still need to tap into the side blinker to make it work. Hrm.. I might just call it a day and install chrome cover caps.

Silentnoise713 said:
Nice carputer setup. Care to share where you mounted the head unit? Also, do you have the redundant steering wheel audio controls enabled (if HU is hidden)? What's the HW specs and what interface are you running? I look forward to building one soon!
Click to expand...

Thanks. Took me a good 2 days to install everything. I really gotta clean up the wiring though. THe computer is mounted under the seat. Amazingly it fits. I don't have steering wheels controls working yet, but I plan to do it; its a bit annoying that I have to touch the screen in a specific area to turn the volume down. My funds just don't allow me to do it yet.

The computer is basically an AT5ION-I Asus MoBo. It has a dual 1.8ghz core intel atom with NG-ION nvidia graphics. Basically, I can almost play any movie format I throw at it, even 1080P. I have still have a bunch of things I want to tweak on it, and I'm still kind of learning the ins and outs of what I can do with it.

The frontend is called Centrafuse. Pretty expensive software though.
 
Marc D said:
Thanks. Took me a good 2 days to install everything. I really gotta clean up the wiring though. THe computer is mounted under the seat. Amazingly it fits. I don't have steering wheels controls working yet, but I plan to do it; its a bit annoying that I have to touch the screen in a specific area to turn the volume down. My funds just don't allow me to do it yet.

The computer is basically an AT5ION-I Asus MoBo. It has a dual 1.8ghz core intel atom with NG-ION nvidia graphics. Basically, I can almost play any movie format I throw at it, even 1080P. I have still have a bunch of things I want to tweak on it, and I'm still kind of learning the ins and outs of what I can do with it.

The frontend is called Centrafuse. Pretty expensive software though.
Click to expand...
I'd like to learn more about your setup. Care to start a separate thread on your build so we don't hijack this one (diff topic)? I'm not so concerned with the hardware but more interested in learning how/where you have things mounted in the car.
 
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