I think I immobalized my 3

[M3Nick]

Hi everyone,

I pulled out my instrument cluster to do a LED swap and when I finished up - I put it back in to test - car would not start, and I get the 3 flashes that indicate the engine immobilizer has been tripped. The cluster looks great - but really, its no use if the car doesn't go :P

Before I call for a tow to my dealership, is there anything that I can do perhaps to reset my instrument cluster? Is there a way to bypass the immobilizer temporarily?

*EDIT* I have two transponder keys... I haven't tried the key reprogram trick yet, because its a blizzard outside, but do you think this will work?

Thanks everyone.

[Soyabean]

Try the key reprograming thing first. Its worth a shot. Since you pulled out ur cluster to change the leds, its obvious cuz they probably see the cluster as being a different colour. They might charge you to fix it since you voided the warrenty by doing this so best bet would be to try it out first.

Keep us posted

[M3Nick]

The key trick didn't work, but I ended up fixing it. The screws that attach the board to the plastic mounting piece are NOT insulated from the PCB! They were causing SOMETHING to ground out because when I got those little insulation rings you get with computer cases and put them in, the car fired right up.

Cluster is pretty now!

Thanks for reading everyone.

[btown-mazda]

Let's see your cluster

[whiteomega]

pics!

good job figuring that out...if the screws weren't insulated in the first place why wasn't it a problem before?

[M3Nick]

Pics will be up soon... and I'm not sure why it wouldn't have done that before, but in my experience with this kind of stuff anything is possible :loco.