I’m looking for technical help or recommendations on: Central locking & keys
I bought my car a few weeks ago and the seller gave me three keys (no remote)
One ignition key
Two keys which will unlock the car
He explained to me that the car recently had a new sensor fitted and he was given a separate key for the ignition. I have colour coded them with some of my daughters nail varnish as it was driving me mad (see photo). I have no remote for anything.
The car does seem to have central locking when I use the key AND I think the lights flash when i lock it, maybe an alarm or immobiliser?
I have few questions …
Did the car originally have a remote and is it possible to get one (cheaply?)
Can anyone speculate on why I now have separate keys for ignition and door locks, I’m not that bothered but only having one ignition key is a bit worrisome
My 2003 has keyless entry and immobilizer from the factory…yours likely did too. Getting a new fob probably wont be cheap though. Inquire at the dealer first. The only reason you should have a different key is if the external locks or the ignition cylinder was changed at some point.
According to the specs here yes your Arctic would have had remote central locking :- Mazda MX-5 Arctic
MX5parts.co.uk can sell a new after market central locking kit but you will have to supply your own metal strips to mount the actuators and the reviews suggest the instructions are less than brilliant :- Central Locking Kit, MX5 Mk1/2 – MX5 Parts
Alternatively to keep it all original you could see if breakers like Prestige Spares uk on fb can supply a matching ECU complete set of four locks steering wheel transponder and key/s . This is not work I’d attempt my self but would be my prefered option if I ever lost my keys.
I guess one of the previous owners lost or other wise damaged the original key and took the cheapest option to keep the car going.
Getting a spare ignition key won’t cost much.
I still go to turn the engine off by reaching for the ignition key that isn’t there despite having fobs for years.
It’s likely that the car has had an immobiliser fault in the past, that has resulted in the ECU, immobiliser module and ignition barrel being replaced as a set.
The ignition key contains a transponder chip (matched to the immobiliser, which is in turn matched to the ECU, or ‘PCM’ in Mazda-speak) that needs to be cloned for any replacement key. (I believe that this is run-of-the-mill stuff for an auto locksmith.) Very wise to have a spare!
Remote locking was a separate option to central locking. If it has remote locking, there will be a cream coloured module visible behind the glovebox. Programming a remote fob to it is fairly straightforward and only requires a sequence of turning the ignition key, opening and closing the doors, etc. to carry out.
See this thread for pictures of the remote module:
UPDATE : I do think my car has remote locking as standard (Arctic edition), I haven’t yet checked that the receiver is behind the glovebox. I believe the correct remote would be three button Visteon 41703, people selling them second hand for £50 on ebay. Seems straight-forward to programme.
I think I’ll just manage for the time being, I don’t want to spend £50 and find it doesn’t work (I know I’m a cheapskate)
As I am sure everyone loves a happy ending , I got the keyfob from China and followed the procedure shared on this forum to pair it with my car. Happily it works and it turns out my car does have remote locking and the boot opener works as well!
Am really chuffed and would like to thank you guys for the help, 3.74 inc P&P !!!
I made a little video to show it being programmed in case it helped anyone, but it turns out the forums won’t allow them to be shared so nm. If anyone is interested I could put it up on FB group I suppose.
Thanks, I already have a YouTube channel and its not really suitable material for that! I can easily post to the Facebook group, I’ll do that instead!
C
EDIT : OK I see what you mean now, thought there was a FB group for the OC but I see now there isn’t really a suitable channel for uploading videos etc. A shame, I find videos helpful and I am used to making them for my YT so its easy for me.
, ordered! For this price if it doesn’t work then never mind!
, I got the keyfob from China and followed the procedure shared on this forum to pair it with my car. Happily it works and it turns out my car does have remote locking and the boot opener works as well!
