After troubleshooting a limp mode issue causing a throttle body circuit B DTC code I found that the 15 A Room fuse circuit is the culprit. I was getting a 250mA draw and when I pulled the room fuse it went away (ie;down to the normal ~ 25 mA). It says the fuse is for Audio/Overhead Light. I believe there is more connected because with the fuse removed the key-fob will not work and I have to use the actual key. Right now with the fuse removed I have no radio or overhead light and I have to use the key. However, the limp mode issue is completely gone. What is my best plan of attack to find the short? PS; I had it to 2 different garages already. Long story short ... they were, for lack of a better term .. useless. lol. Thanks in advance!

 

I don't see the relation between your issue and "Room" fuse, so you're saying with the fuse installed your car goes into limp mode? That's very weird.
Did you wait long enough time to let vehicle go to sleep? hood and all door closed?

One thing that's a major culprit of parasitic draws across many car brands is the "hands free telephone unit". They aged and won't go to sleep.
Disconnect the module, in Mazda usually it's behind glove box.
"Room" fuse feeds many modules inside the cabin, Audio unit, Info display, keyless entry etc. You have to disconnect one by one until you find the issue,
I see if I have a diagram and I will post it.

 

Thank you for your reply. Yes, I waited over 30 minutes to be sure. With my negative battery lead removed I measured amperage between the removed negative battery lead and the battery post. This gave me a reading of ~ 250 mA. I began pulling and replacing fuses one by one until I got to the ROOM fuse where I saw the meter drop to ~25mA. I have a manual for an older model cx-7 so I'm not sure if it's correct or not. I did see one diagram where it shows the ROOM fuse connected to A11 of the TCM. This would kind of make sense to me considering the throttle code it was throwing but then again a short is a short. So I will be removing all interior bulbs I can find and disconnecting the radio today. I will also try and verify which side of the fuse leg is shorting .. which should be easy. That may help if I have to get deep into it. ie; colour etc. I also saw a post where a guy had a similar issue. He sprayed contact cleaner into the keyhole. This resonates a bit with me because there was one time when it went into limp mode where I kept playing with the tumbler until it started up fine (ie; not in limp mode) and I was able to drive back home with no problems. A diagram would really help me out a great deal. Thank you so much!

 

here I found diagram it requires Flash to visualize. Quick glance to the wiring diagram and "room" fuse feeds inside cabin only:
Information Display
Audio
Hands Free Telephone
Keyless Entry System
A/C and Heater control
Interior lights
OBD port
Now rethinking your issue I see a common path and it's CANBUS, if one of these modules is failing it will corrupt data and cause the limp mode.
If you don't have a digital scope available to check the canbus signal you need to disconnect modules one by one starting with HF-tel. Check connectors too they could be corroded.
Seat in your vehicle and inspect all electrical inside cabin something would clue your issue. Keep us posted, very interesting case.

 

I will be away from town for a while. I may have a little time this evening to look at it. I greatly appreciate your help and I promise I will update you when I have some progress. Cheers from Newfoundland!!!

 

I have returned and have an update. First of all, I need to tell you that I made a mistake. I thought I had the door bypassed by simple pushing the latch closed. There must be a magnetic switch or something IDK. Anyway, it turns out the 250mA I told you about was actually 65mA. So basically, I was lucky to find this. The day I left I pulled the radio and climate controls, disconnected, closed the door and waited. It showed 250mA and about 10 minutes later after the door was closed it fell to 65mA. Then I went after every connector I could find one at a time and the only thing that would make a drop was connectors B and C on the BCM. I removed pin 4B from connector C which is where the Room fuse goes in. Rather than the 65mA it went down to 39mA. So I figured I was on the right track. I wasn't able to remove pins 3A and 3B on connector B and when I pulled connector B (with pin 4B on connector C back in) it would show a very erratic reading (160mA to 220mA) and with the door closed it would never go lower so I'm thinking the timer must be on that connector. Do you know where the HF-tel module is located. I found a module on the passenger side next to the glove compartment that has Bluetooth written on it. Would that be it. If so, I already pulled the connector to no avail. So right now with that 4B pin removed I have it down to 39mA. This makes me think that the BCM may actually be OK because I'm trying to get it down to 26mA. I must apologize as this must be difficult to follow. Tomorrow I am going to have a close look at the OBD2 connector and the rear hatch switch. Reason: The last garage said there was a time when they weren't able to communicate through the OBD2 but when I took the car back I had the same problem ie; no communication. I simply moved it around slightly and all of a sudden it communicated. As for the rear hatch, the latch was sticking a while back. Not throwing in the towel yet. LOL