How-To: Disabling Automatic A/C - Defrost modes

This is a GREAT mod. The only thing I'd add is it's a perfect time to replace the 2 light bulbs (incandescent, not the LEDs) just under the orange plastic sheet in front. Just 2 screws hold the sheet on.
 
Anybody knows how much it costs to put in a AC system on?

I bought a 2003 Mazda Protege LX 5 months ago and when I bought it I never got to see inside the car because at first I went to the dealership to buy a different car but they sold it so my only option was to buy this 2003 mazda Protege LX and now that the weather is so hot I notice there's no AC on my car, it's stupid because older Mazda Protege's got AC and I been looking online and all the Mazda Protege's has AC.
 
It worked absolutely perfectly. Thanks ZapWizard!

Now it would be great to have a guide like this for a Mazda 3, my next car...
 
Great how-to, first steps helped me in tuning the air direction knob which was not going to defrost at all.I think in spring I might go all the way & do this complete mod, for now days are too short uh...

Anyway a piece of advice when putting all back together - pay special attention to how you position the wire plastic skin inside the metal clips on the side of the heater unit - that's where you tune the knobs position. The manual helped me by providing good instructions - check out section 7-40-11 at http://www.floptical.net/mazda/service_web/07-40.PDF
 
ok so not to beat a dead horse or resurrect the undead buuuuuut... my heat is cranked up and i get cool air...not A/C cold but cool air...will this fix the issue...the car is warmed up...
 
ok so not to beat a dead horse or resurrect the undead buuuuuut... my heat is cranked up and i get cool air...not A/C cold but cool air...will this fix the issue...the car is warmed up...

sounds more like you have a cable in the back loose and its not opening the vent for the heat. this mod just makes it so you can run in defrost modes without the A/C coming on.

i would check the cable on the right side of the control unit. remove the glovebox and you will see the components for the heat vent. there is a loop on the end of the cable attached to a moving plastic piece. several inches down from the cable there is a clip holding the cable sheath in place. check this clip and see if it moving when you turn the heat dial...
 
hey that worked but what i first noticed was that when i turned the dial it moved the wire, but still blew cold air so i took my finger and pushed it further until i heard a slight click and EUREKA!!! HEAT!!!! Then i moved it back and cold air came back on. So it seems like that when i move it to cold and then back to heat, it doesn't go all the way. Seems like the wire is loose, so can that be tightened and how do i do that? follow the steps from the first post in this thread?
 
which way is it not going all the way? wire retracting or extracting from the sheath?

if it not retracting all the way back you can trim the sheath or see if there is a kink in he wire stopping it from retracting all the way.

if its not extracting all the way try disconnecting the loop on the wire and move the plastic piece it was attached to all the way up or down and move the dial all teh way left or right, in relation to the wire..

im guessing its option 2 if the wire seems loose however..

note: unless you have removed the A/C unit and taken off the cables then the problem should only be the wire placement on the plastic moving piece. just so you dont remove the unit for no reason..
 
well i guess looking at it, i'd say the wire is not being pulled all the way to the left...i see the exposed wire, the sheath is about less than half an inch away from the white plastic thing
 
half an inch doesnt seem like enough clearance, but hard to say without looking at it personally.

try undoing the clip, turn the temp dial all the way to cold so the wire is as far out as it can go and the plastic moving piece all the way up. reattach the clip and wire loop and see if you can turn the temp dial all the way hot.
 
it seems like the white plastic is loose cuz it went back to semi cool becuz the white plastic moved back to the right...so i took my finger and pushed it back and it went back to heat...i'll have to look at it this weekend if it's not raining
 
The procedure for disabling the auto-AC feature works well. A person who has not done much work on cars would need to be cautious. There are many plastic bits involved and too much force will snap those bits. It's an old thread, but a goody.

Thanks!
 
Just did this to my 03 P5 and it was extremely easy! Took me about 45 minutes once I quit worrying about breaking things haha
 
So I did this mod of the winter and it is great. However now I want to turn the AC on and it wont work. The button lights up but no cold air. Is this an intended result or what? I am going to soldier some wires and redo the cut contacts to see if it starts working again.
 
It is not an expected result.

You should make sure that the compressor is turning on and that the system is charged...

There are many reasons why an AC System would not work... just because you effed with the control does not mean that that is why it's pooched.
 
The magnetic clutch is not turning on. No voltage to wire. I will start working through everything.

Would a low charge stop the compressor from turning on?
 
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