To avoid having to break or cut that plastic covering the ribbon cable: 1. Skip unplugging the wires at the very back of the silver radio module like he does at 2:05, just slide the radio out a bit. 2. Get underneath the radio and unscrew the two phillips head screws underneath the screen holding it to the metal bracket. We will need to unscrew two more screws, but first... 3. Disconnect the wires from the main radio module to the screen. One is white and one is brown. You can see them at 2:22. They have clips you have to squeeze to safely disconnect them. 4. Behind the screen there will be two more phillips head screws holding it to that metal bracket. Take these out and the screen is free of the bracket. 5. Undo the two tiny screws at the corners of the back of the screen. 6. Now the entire plastic shell on the back of the screen can be separated from the screen by gently prying around the edges. Boom, free access to the ribbon cable. Flip the tiny black latch up off of where the ribbon cable attaches, unplug it, and fold the ribbon out of the way. Then just squeeze the screen back together and reassemble in reverse.
Thanks for the video. To not tear up the plastic peice is only six more Philip head screws. And you can pry the screen out of the plastic housing. Way easier. Then just detach the ribbon cable. I did it this morning. Hopefully this fixes the ghost touches. It's really annoying this isn't a recall yet.
I can't wait to do this... Tackling it tomorrow. Ours is so bad it's made the car awful to drive. It won't even hold a radio station without randomly changing channels every time the car slows down. Mazda should be fixing this.
Really appreciate your video. Worked flawlessly and only took 30 minutes. I went with the other route people talked about by removing the ribbon versus cutting it. No more ghost touching. I honestly never even used the touch screen anyways.
Just completed this fix along with the Android Auto/Apple Carplay upgrade. Your video really helped me complete this without any issues. Was far easier then I thought! I ended up cutting the ribbon with some small scissors and finally no more ghost touch! I do wonder if I should have maybe gone Gyll's method of just removing the ribbon, but it looked like I had to open the back of the screen up to get to that area which I wasn't comfortable doing. Just wanted to say thank you very much for the video and for helping us fix the damn ghost issues. Now if only Mazda would fix this themselves.
Thank you for the video. My car is acting crazy too. I will definitely do this too. I never used the touch and I appreciate you sharing this so I can save that money.
My 2016 CX5 has had this problem for several years; now I know what the problem is called (ghost touch!). I have watched several other youtube videos now also on how to fix mazda ghost touch without buying an expensive new screen. Those others remove more parts to access the connection to pull rather than cutting BTW. (A new screen might have the same issue anyway since the vendor who makes it and Mazda neither have done a recall & this is a fairly common problem across several models and years.) Thank you for posting this.
Thank you so much! This walked me right through the fix. I spent 10-15 more minutes to take the screen out and took the plastic case off to avoid having to cut that plastic piece to unplug the screen digitizer wire. If you have a good trim tool it is as easy as the rest of this. The hardest part for me was sliding the info unit back in but I was able to do the whole project in 1.25 hours and I moved slow. Thanks!!!!
Mine started doing this on my Mazda6 (2017.5), so thank you for the guidance! Wish Mazda would enable a feature in the firmware that would disable touch so we could disable right from a menu screen option (settings?).
I was afraid of ending up with an infotainment lobotomy, but it worked perfectly! $1200 saved; took me less than 30 minutes. Thank you for the great step-by-step!
Replacing the screen wouldn't help anyway. I opted for a new screen and within 5 days, the ghost touch had returned and is worse than it was with the original.
Thanks for this video! A couple people have asked something specific, but you haven't answered. Maybe it's obvious, but I think it would help everyone's peace of mind if you can confirm this for us based on your experience: Once we disable the touchscreen following this method, will we still have full functionality of the radio, joystick knob and menu buttons near the gear shift? Or, are other things adversely affected? **UPDATE** I just followed MOST of this method and can confirm that selector knob, FM radio and console buttons are all fully functional! I will say that I absolutely did not drill or cut the ribbon. If you ever want to sell your car, I’d recommend you also do not cut the ribbon. Once you pull the head unit out, there were maybe 4 additional screws and a couple of additional ribbons to uninstall, and I was able to easily access the chip. At this point, I used a pair of tweezers (or tiny flathead screwdriver) to lift the black connector securing the yellow touchscreen ribbon to the circuit board. Take pictures as you go, but everything can only be screwed back in one way, so you’ll never have to wonder if you put everything back together appropriately. This additional step took about 15 minutes or so extra. Also, when pushing the head unit back into the chassis, make sure you apply some light pressure to the metal tab covered in black rubber at the bottom of the head unit. This is what took me the longest. A few tries and everything seemed lopsided, but applying some light pressure here, and pushing the top of the head unit tabs into their holes - BAZINGA! Total process should take you no more than 1.5 hours, if you’re a complete beginner, like I am! HAPPY REPAIRING! Thanks again for making this video!
Sorry I never replied but yes the knobs still work, that’s how you control the radio manually, just as if you are driving the touchscreen is disabled and can only use the knob.
Guys you can buy the replacement screen (a newer fixed version) for around $200 (Part # K1Y3-61-1JZA), not $1000 the dealer is asking for in this video. Honestly this is about the same amount of work if you do this method. You don't have to cut any wires and you keep the touch function.
Thank you, it is easier than what it seems. I skipped cutting the plastic piece and the hardest part was to cut the ribbon with a extra small scissor. Excellent results!
Thanks for this video. Extremely helpful. I went the extra step and removed the screen from the mount to disconnect the ribbon vs cutting but this video got me 95% of the way there.
Thank you. This worked! We dismantled the touch screen to get to the ribbon so we didn’t need to cut the plastic. The ribbon was much wider than I anticipated.
Thank you for this video! I also have a 2017 Mazda CX-5 and it’s doing the same thing. I will definitely pull the dash apart this weekend. Do you recommend connecting the Apple car play before disabling anything or it doesn’t matter? Also once I disable the touch, will everything else still function properly, such as the radio and gps by using the joy stick knobs?
Well there is alot more to it, your firmware must be up to date, and I added Apple car play in my car myself and updated the firmware and then when the ghost touch happened I did this process to stop the ghost touch
What year is this vehicle. I have a 2021 CX5 w Bose system, no touchscreen. I actually love the knob now. Got use to it real fast. Great job. I’d be a nervous wreck pulling the dash off ugh. Great job. Great video
Mazda knowing the ghost touch problem, stopped installing the touch screen. I think from the 2020 model it's already gone. Mine CX-5 2019 makes me crazy every time I drive ...
@@Natalia1125 2020 has the touch screen, mine just started the ghost touch about 8 months ago. I don't know that I have the nerve to dismantle everything and do this. But Mazda won't do anything about it.
I followed your video. Nice job and TY. However I went one step further. I actually took apart the screen and unplugged the cable without cutting it. Just removed the 6 extra screws from the screen backing and using the flat edge screwdriver or the console tool, separated the screen from the backing and unplugged the ribbon. An extra 10 minutes, but so much easier.
Alternatively, if you genuinely don’t care about ever reconnecting it, you can just snip part of the ribbon cable also. I’d love to say I chose to do that but I actually just tore it a bit trying to disconnect it, haha. Worked out the same tho. We had been getting run around by our local dealer (only one) for 20k plus miles now. Clean this, update that, none of which worked at all. Of course, now that it’s out of warranty, they’re only too happy to replace the screen.
That is true 😅😅 because I wanted to update the firmware and I couldn’t cause I snipped of the ribbon but like I said in the video if you don’t want to mess the ribbon up use a Dremel tool, but not need to update if you have Apple car play 😅
What’s happening is the front panel is micro peeling off the screen. So when this is happening it’s registered as a touch, so thus “ghost touching”. It’s a bad design by Mazda, since this unit is out in the open and the constant heat and cold causes the digitizer to peel off. I removed the cable, you don’t need to crack the plastic off, took my 15 minutes total time and $7 bucks in tools from Amazon.
Mazda are a disgrace for not covering this issue. They have lost me. By the way this is not really a fix, you’ve lost the touchscreen. But I’m sure you’re happier now. I looked at some Mazdas at the dealership a few days ago, but they’re not going to be getting my 50k.
I think Mazda should be on the hook for all of these defective screens. There are plenty of TSBs. Maybe time for someone to file a class action lawsuit. My family has three newer Mazdas (2020 and 2018) and ALL THREE have ghost touch. Terrible!
Hey good vid. Do you think it’s necessary to cut the plastic as you did to reach the ribbon? I took a look at it today and im thinking of cutting it with small scissors. How wide is the ribbon? From first view it seems about less than an inch…
Sorry for the late response, I’m not sure if cutting a piece will do it reason why I did the whole ribbon, but if you do want to keep the ribbon can unscrew the whole radio
Okay so i gota 2019 cx5 GT. Im having ghost touch but basically seems to be scrolling towards the right. So lets say on the home screen, it touches the system setting icon then from there everything to the right bottom. Would this be the touch issue as well or something to do with the knob? Becus i understand out touch doesnt work while in drive. PLEASE REPLY. Thanks
I was puchase 10 usd spare CX5 touch panel from taobao. It really very difficult for swap with old one. But for only accurate disconnect TP cable need just 5 minutes :) New TP anyway has ghost touch. Probably need calibration. Probably old panel can be fixed by calibtation without hardware works. If anyone wants repeat, there external glass, tp glass, medium glass, screen panel. Optical glue stay weak if heat up to 60C, then rests of optical glue can be removed by IPA. New TP can be fixed only by side scotch tape.
I can’t believe this is not a recall. It adds an element of danger when the infotainment system starts going berserk while I’m driving. Especially while using navigation.
replacement is a bad idea since lots of mazda models & years have this problem so a new screen might end up having the same problem. They should have recalled these.
I was having the same ghost touch problem. Used your method and eliminated it. Only problem is that I dropped a screw between the open air vents and the temp controls. It went all the way down. Occasionally, when I turn a corner, I can hear it roll to one side or the other. How do I get to the area in the console below the dash?
Wow I was afraid of doing that too! Sorry to hear that but I’m not sure how to get to the screw but I’m sure there is a way. Might have to remove the whole dash
I think you have to take more of the trim off.. not sure where your screw ended up. Search for some of the tutorials on how to install carplay/android auto retrofit (you have to take a lot of trim off). Maybe using those you can get to the screw.
I just had a ghost touch issue and then it stopped and my odometer is reading a lot more mileage than I've done😩. Also the gas mileage amount is way off.
That is what my mazda dealer said for me to try - I did that several times but it had nothing to do with this specific problem. That is a separate problem.
This worked out for me!!!! 🙌🏾🙌🏾🙌🏾🙌🏾 Edited: 9/13/22 My system started back jumping again while hooked to the usb chord so cutting the ribbon did not help in this case…
A Mazda dealership can install it for you. It takes about 2 hours. I’d call to get a quote from your local dealership (mine said it was $400). There’s also DIY Apple Car Play Install videos too, if you feel savvy/confident enough.
