My son was driving the car last night on a gravel road ,when he got on the asphalt the power steering started cutting out and the car started missing. This morning car wouldn't crank and when jumped off it ran real bad. I gave him my best trouble shooting tips over the phone and he didn't find anything obvious. Where should i start looking past electrical connections? Bad battery,alternator,fuses,relays , muffler bearing?
Any help much appreciated!
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Oct. 21, 2011 12:14 p.m. TRoglodyte HalfDork
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Oct. 21, 2011 12:23 p.m. jrw1621 SuperDork
TRoglodyte wrote:
When on this gravel road did the name Ken Block ever enter the conversation?My son was driving the car last night on a gravel road...
Could be bad ground on battery. -
Oct. 21, 2011 12:29 p.m. TRoglodyte HalfDork
jrw1621 wrote:
Said he wasn't flogging the car and I believe him. He isn't a hoondog like his old man, not real mechanically inclined eitherTRoglodyte wrote:
When on this gravel road did the name Ken Block ever enter the conversation?My son was driving the car last night on a gravel road...
Could be bad ground on battery.
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Oct. 21, 2011 12:52 p.m. Autolex HalfDork
Battery, Alternator, Ground... check those (in that order!
)
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Oct. 21, 2011 12:55 p.m. TRoglodyte HalfDork
He says the lights are bright and battery is hot. I'm about two hours away and trying to get my ducks in a row before i go look. Thanks for the input!
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Oct. 21, 2011 1:17 p.m. AngryCorvair SuperDork
TRoglodyte wrote:
He says the lights are bright and battery is hot. I'm about two hours away and trying to get my ducks in a row before i go look. Thanks for the input!
hmmm, voltage regulator took a dump, which is overcharging the batt (leading to hot batt) and causing the ECM to flake out because the supply voltage is outside operating range?
is it throwing a CEL?
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Oct. 21, 2011 1:35 p.m. TRoglodyte HalfDork
Yup, has a CEL Where is the voltage regulator? Saddling up now to try to see whats what. These newfangled computer operated cars has me in a state of bumfuzzlement though! Thanx for the help. Will update later.
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Oct. 21, 2011 2:35 p.m. AngryCorvair SuperDork
TRoglodyte wrote:
Yup, has a CEL Where is the voltage regulator? Saddling up now to try to see whats what. These newfangled computer operated cars has me in a state of bumfuzzlement though! Thanx for the help. Will update later.
VR is integral to alternator
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Oct. 21, 2011 2:49 p.m. jstein77 Dork
"the power steering started cutting out"
Did he check the belt? Is it the same belt that runs the alternator?
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Oct. 21, 2011 3:04 p.m. 4g63t HalfDork
Electric Power Steering and there is a recall.
Call the Mazda dealer with the VIN.
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Oct. 21, 2011 5:07 p.m. RexSeven SuperDork
The recall only covers the 2007-2009 Mazda3 non-Speed models. However, the electronics on a Mazda3 tend to act weird as the battery or alternator dies, so I wouldn't be surprised if either of those was the cause.
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Oct. 21, 2011 7:43 p.m. 4g63t HalfDork
In reply to RexSeven: Thanks Rex. Did a bunch of them didn't remember the years.
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Oct. 21, 2011 7:51 p.m. JtspellS Reader
A quick replacement of the alternator should help you out (VR's are usually part of the alternators now) hope the best for you.
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Oct. 21, 2011 8:24 p.m. TRoglodyte HalfDork
Update: car would start with a jumpbox but would die when I unhooked jumpbox .I fogot DC voltmeter so took battery to WallyWorld for testing. Battery checks low of charge but is outside test parameters so we get a free replacement!(Thanks Wally!) Batter light is still on so now I think bad alternator
, drive car to FLAPS for alternator test and alternator shows bad on test machine. Long stoy short I unhooked positive cable on battery and unplugged smallwires to alternator. Light goes out. We go back to FLAPS and have alternator tested again, this time it shows good! Mystery is, connector looked good ,terminals clean and tight. Would unplugging wire reset something in the computer?All seems well for now, Thanks for the help!
