Flickering AC, how much should I pay?

W

Weborific

Member
OK, most of you know about the flickering AC unit problems some of us have. I called a few junkyards and they don't have any parts for a P5. They say it's still too new. I went to a dealer today and inquired about it. They were super friendly with me, nut nobody heard of the TSB. A woman at the counter looked it up and found nothing. She then brought in a mechanic who has been working there 13 years (almost exclusively on AC) and never heard of the problem. He was very interested and said he'd do some research today and call someone at Mazda's head office. My questions are...

- Is it covered at all? It's THEIR error. I have 99700 Km
- Where can I get it cheaper?
- What car models AND year are compatible?
- Can I modify the board? Like maybe lower the resistance and thereby increasing voltage out to the compressor?

THANKS!!
 
- no, I tried. I know someone at Mazda and they checked on it for me but couldn't do anything.

- used on this forum or junkyards if you are lucky.

- 02-03 Protege (MSP, Sedan, P5)

- No idea.
 
If your having the switch INOP prob, like 2/3 works 1/4 doesn't or vise versa.. then try this it worked for me. take the center radio bezel (wat ever u wanna call it) if ur not too sure how. under the dash on the driver's side up near the gas pedal there is a connection for the climate control (white in color) disconnect this cable by unsnapping the black retaining clip and slide the ring off the center post by pushing the tab in..ok Passenger side now remove glove box..(figure it out,LOL) look in opening to the left u will see another (white in color) pivot connection like u saw on the driver's side do the same procedure...MAKE sure u remember where the black clips held the cables before disconnecting and reconnecting OR u will run into the heat oR fan spd not working if so readjust or reconnect becuz it came off...OK cables are now disconnected by turning center vents straight down grip ur fingers and slowly pull bezel away from the dash and then work down till bezel is complete pulled away unplug nesseccary(sp) plugs (keepin note where they were connected and they do not fall into the dash)...now with the whole unit in ur hand find someone with an air compressor ,unless u have one like me and blow out all the S*@#$! from the controls....i also used electrical contact cleaner becuz i had access to iti also took the whole thing apart(i can't remember if that will be nessecary)...so give it a try..remember this is just wat worked for me. PLEASE ATTEMPT THIS AT UR OWN RISK. I WILL NOT BE HELD RESPONSIBLE FOR ANY BLINDNESS THAT WAS CAUSED DO TO THE FACT U WERE NOT WEARING SAFETY GLASSES when blowing the junk out OR U CUT UR LITTLE FINGER ON THE PLASTIC EDGE... BUT PLEASE ATTEMPT THIS AT UR OWN RISK.....GOOD LUCK
and anyone please feel free to correct me if i'm wrong in anyway
 
You should make a How-to, lol. Or I could make one.

On topic- Blowing out the dust worked for me, I did it a day or so ago.
 
hehehe, you guys make me laugh! Thanks for all the tips! I actually took the whole console apart last year BEFORE I knew about the TSB. I cleaned everything AND used contact cleaner....no-go. :(
Is there a rev number on the board so I can tell which ones are newer before I buy? THANKS AGAIN!
 
Wuz just passin thru, saw the thread. Have that printed out to do that to my car soon. It wuz the least I could do since it wuz right there on the tip of my brain & all. LOL
 
OK, so my local Montreal, Canada dealer wants $418 plus taxes for this stupid thing they said would have been free if I got it within 3 years of the TSB. A US dealer wants $190 US with shipping included. Still pricey....
 
Weborific said:
OK, so my local Montreal, Canada dealer wants $418 plus taxes for this stupid thing they said would have been free if I got it within 3 years of the TSB. A US dealer wants $190 US with shipping included. Still pricey....
Click to expand...

Agreed. Does anybody know exactly what they changed? From this:

MT000003895 - A/C SWITCH LIGHT GOES OUT AND/OR FLASHES, WARM AIR

which can be found here:

http://www.protegefaq.net/tsb/

it sounds like they probably just changed the values of some resistors. That's the kind of fix that could be easily performed with a soldering iron and a dollar's worth of components.
 
Weborific said:
I know what you mean....I feel like taking it apart this weekend and seeing if I can increase the voltage out....
Click to expand...


These may help:

http://www.msprotege.com/forum/showthread.php?t=55382
http://protege5.ugly.net/07-40.PDF

Unfortunately I've never been able to find a circuit diagram of the innards oof the climate control unit.

Check the little resistor pack under the dash first. That would be much easier to get to and fix than the CCU.

Edit: If you do take the CCU out please look it over thoroughly for a manufacturer name and/or part number. It might be made by a parts supplier and not Mazda. In which case that parts supplier might be able to provide the circuit diagram and a list of other cars with the same unit. That might expand the junkyard search to include Toyota, Nissan, or Honda models, which would make finding a replacement a lot easier.
 
Last edited:
Ohhh good to hear someone else is having this problem lol......


Mine works on 1 and 4 and sometimes on 2 and 3 if I give it a good wack on the dash I think im going to replace the whole switching system soon to see if that fixes it and i'll let you know...
 
mine is flickering in 2 and 3 too...im gonna try cleaning all the contacts and see what that does...
 
I already cleaned all my contacts, re-soldered any funky-looking ones AND replaced the fan switch last year. Still have the prob. I will likely get it checked by a Mazda mechanic I met this week. He knows what he's talking about and works on 2-3 AC units per day... I'll let you know how it turns out!
 
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