Flash for pass was the only headlights working

A local technician I know had a problem with head lights only working in the “flash for pass” position on a 2003 Mazda 6. There were no running lights, no low beam or high beams. This was puzzling, at least the high beam bulbs were good and it wasn’t really possible for all the exterior lights to have bad bulbs. After checking all the usual things like the fuses in the passenger compartment fuse panel and the one under the hood and switching a few of the relays to see if anything would happen… nothing. The high beam indicator on the dash DID light up indicating that the switch was doing something and the switch felt normal; sometimes on cars if a switch feels funny, loose or worn that would be an indication of a problem.

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Flooded in the driveway is a real problem, not so unfamiliar to RX8 owners.

Summary: Mazda RX8 is a great sports car with a bad flooding problem (cold starting problems as well). The Rotary engine tends to be flooded very easily if the car is turned off before the engine fully reaches operating temperature. This happens typically when the car is started up and only moved a short distance. There was a recall to recalibrate the PCM, plus a revised leading spark plug number mentioned in this TSB, however the problem still persists in some cars that have had theses updates. Reduced starter life and damaged catalytic converters are a few of the casualties brought on by this car’s flooding problem.

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