Talk about a headache. First - 06 Mazda 3 2.3L (manual) developes a long crank on starting..upto 18 cranks before she lights up. Then she went to indefinate cranking. Had it towed. While at garage, long crank turned into no crank. Garage code reader was down. Sent to dealer. They said the entire cluster was shot. Voltage into the key ignition, but not out. Replaced cluster (mileage now off). Then they found a fried wire and a blown relay. Took home. Starts up with a long crank again. Called to make an apointment with dealer.Next day, the door locks engage as if the key fob button was stuck. Use the key to unlock, only I have to hold the handle open as the door locks to fast.

I have no after market parts. Car is 4k out of warranty. Only keyless entry (stock), no alarm. Could something have caused a power spike to fry everything?

Desperate to get fixed. Any thoughts or suggests WELCOME, aside from driving it off a cliff.

 

Sounds to me like a wire grounded and fried a lot of components. You probably still have a wire grounding out causing your continued problems. I'd start looking at wiring where it goes through the firewall to see if anything is cut, burnt, or frayed.

 

Ouch. Well, the dealership has been pretty good to work with, so hopefully I will not get killed to bad on labor with this new search and destroy mission..

 

That"s a new one on me.
Wish I knew, but I don't have a clue.
W/all the electronics in modern cars today, it could be almost anything.... or it could be something really, REALLY simple but easy to overlook.

 

I tried to drive the car to the dealership sunday night, but it was totally dead. Dealer said the battery was drained. They charged it and it still would not start. They said it is now a faulty starter. Funny thing is that when I could not start the car, all lights on the dash lit up briefly with only the oil light staying on. No battery light. Bo check engine light. Just an oil light. Somehow, I do not believe it is the starter.. And I don't believe changing the battery will do anything either. I think they are looking at symptoms and not seeing the source..

 

I agree!

 

+2!!!! Finsd somebody who knows what they are doing and are less likely to rip you off.

 

As of last Thursday, the car has been dead. [:@]Thursday morning, there was just clicking as I turned the key. By Thursday night, no juice to even light the dash. Bought a new battery (largest cranking amp and size I could buy) and installed last night. I am taking it to my normal mechanic to have them take a look at any error codes and check to see if anything is using power while turned off.[&o]

 

Best of luck, Man. Hope he can figure it out for you, and quickly.
Electrical problems are usually the toughest for most.