My 2002 mk2.5 isn’t going anywhere, the immobiliser has locked it down and its throwing back immobiliser related fault codes. Had it towed to a garage thursday night. They say they are limited to fix the immobiliser so 2 options, towed to mazda garage to fix (and probably sell a kidney for the priveledge), or they can possibly call in an auto electrician to bypass the immobiliser.
The immobiliser is the factory fit visteon fob type (2 black buttons and 1 grey).
2 questions really, can the immobiliser be bypassed? and if so, do I lose remote locking too?
I don’t think it can be bypassed, since it is the PCM (ECU) which checks the code. Cheapest solution may be to swap in an import PCM if Mazda still weren’t fitting immobilisers for the JDM Mk2 (they weren’t for the Mk1). Then you’ll need a Thatcham 2 immobiliser adding (any car stereo/alarm shop) to keep the insurance happy.
The only other thing that seems strange atm is that now the immobiliser is on the fritz its taken out the front sidelights, bulbs havent blown, they just dont work.
All other electrics seem fine, and the remote fob still works.
I’m wondering if with all this rain,some has gotten in and caused problems.
Check to see if your passenger side footwell carpet is wet. The ECU is tucked away at the front end of the footwell on the mk2.5 MX-5 and if you have had a leak or you have had water sat in there for a little while, it could have gotten into your ECU. We had a similar problem on a relatively new Merc, which hadn’t had the drains cleared by the dealer at its regular service, which caused the water to sit inside the car under the 4 inches of foam and padding and we only realised there was a problem when all the electrics started going funny. Not really a solution, but just a thought to check.
yeah that had occured, apparently the immobiliser is up under the dash though.
I have spoken to a couple of indy immobiliser places and a mazda tech, and apparently the immobilisers were fitted when the cars came into uk,so for all intents are aftermarket and can be replaced/bypassed.
From advice it seems the immobiliser unit itself has just decided its had enough.
Most likely I will have the immobiliser bypassed for now,and get a new one fitted when funds allow.
