Dying Alternator, or what?

Well, tonight took the car out after installing the Randal Cowl intake. Drove the car around for a few minutes to warm her up, and then floored her. At which point (WOT, 50mph) she stuttered, the battery light came on and the car died... I coasted for a bit, then dropped it into 2nd and popped the clutch. She started again and drove for a bit. Heading home, leaving from a stop she almost did the same thing again. Drove around the neighborhood for another 15 minutes, but couldn't get it to replicate.

I had similar issues on the ZX2 as the alternator was dying, so I'm leaning that way.... any other opinions?

My experience with the alternator dying was that the battery drained down and the car stumbled, the battery light came on. Kept the car going a little longer, the alternator kicked back in and juice came back and things were fine again. It did that 2 to 3 times and totally dead. The parts stores can check that for you if you can risk being stranded in between. If I were you I wouldl take along one of those portable jumper battery, if you have or can borrow one. That was what I did to get my son's car home from Dallas to Rowlett last year.

That's pretty much what happened to me, except i don't know if the battery was dead.... 20 year old alternator failing... what kind of crap parts does mazda make... pshhh

I do also know that my battery has very little life remaining. If the car sits for more than a week, it has to be jumped, or if the running lights are accidentally left on for about an hour ... that said, i think the battery is almost 9 years old too.... so might be time to replace that too :/



Why couldn't the alternator have died before the car was apart to do the timing belt *facepalm*

FWIW I had a similar thing happen in the Element. Could have swore it was the alternator, but it tested fine. Turns out the battery was so dead the engine would die with any load.

Replaced the battery and not a single issue since, That was over 3 years ago.

If you install the alternator yourself, make sure you check out the long bottom bolt. You may need to get a nut and washer for it or you will end up stranded again. Sometimes you cannot get the bottom bolt tight because the replacement alternator will not hold the bolt tight. Gabkwong and I have both had this issue with replacement alternators.

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Originally Posted by sxk122

I do also know that my battery has very little life remaining. If the car sits for more than a week, it has to be jumped, or if the running lights are accidentally left on for about an hour ... that said, i think the battery is almost 9 years old too.... so might be time to replace that too

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I'm thinking it is the battery.

Do you have a meter have you checked the alternator??

You got a multi-meter? Check the battery with the car off, then again with it running. Make sure the alternator's not charging before you replace it.

Also double-check the battery cables. I've had badly corroded battery cables/terminals cause the exact same symptoms.

Here is a nice video on how to check the battery & alternator. Keep in mind your battery is in the trunk! ;)

lol, thanks pos.

I did check the connections first... always check the easy stuff. I don't have a multi-meter, in fact i still have very few tools. Haven't replaced much since they were stolen.

Might go buy a multimeter this weekend. Car can sit for now. grrr....

"Basic Multimeters are about $25"

Where the hell does that guy shop??? ::Banana::

Harbor Freight was giving away free ones for a while. Now I think they're $3.99. That's all you need for checking your alternator and doing stuff around the house.

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Originally Posted by trickyrix

Harbor Freight was giving away free ones for a while. Now I think they're $3.99. That's all you need for checking your alternator and doing stuff around the house.

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Harbor Freight for the win I got 4 of the TCB meters! They are awesome!

So, why buy 4 cheap meters instead of 1 nice one? :)

FYI - I bought a used fluke from a pawn shop for $20. They might ask more, but cash talks.

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Originally Posted by OZMDD

So, why buy 4 cheap meters instead of 1 nice one? :)

FYI - I bought a used fluke from a pawn shop for $20. They might ask more, but cash talks.

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The Harbor Freight ones were free! ::Banana::

I got a nice Fluke here at the world headquarters I haven't used it in a while....

I'm not a name dropping multimeter snob. ;)

It seems it would have been nice had Mazda included a volt meter with the other gauges. Wal-Mart sells a half-way decent digital volt meter (digital read-out and also three lights, green, yellow and red) that plugs into a power socket. Since the Miata socket isn't powered when the ignition is off, I just leave it plugged in until I need to charge the cell phone.

i was at HF sunday picking up a hole saw to install the randal cowl intake (miata firewall 1, harbor freight hole saw 0 by the way) I should just go get a cheapie from there..... return the mangled hole saw and say it was defective.....

Harbor freight hole saw fail... made 3/4 of one hole in the firewall
http://img163.imageshack.us/img163/6...to0528t.th.jpg

Ended up using my ryobi bits in my HF drill (it's still alive!!!!... it even tries to eat appendages-- it's a beast, ask rick, lol) to drill lots of tiny holes and then just used a coping saw to connect the dots. Smoothed it out with my $1 Harbor freight flat file, and finished the hole of with a dab of paint. Covered the edge with a bit of tubing to make it look a bit more finished

Can't say on performance increase yet due to the car not wanting to co-operate.
http://img413.imageshack.us/img413/4...o0529yw.th.jpg

http://img14.imageshack.us/img14/690...o0530jn.th.jpg


The car already feels a bit faster anyways, just got it back from a timing belt job at Track Dog. Turns out the belt was off a tooth, so free performance gain, lol.

Wow! Carbon Fiber! How TCB unfriendly it is?

not bad.... got it very lightly used on clubroadster for $125 shipped

i also killed the TCB status with this find......


http://clubroadster.net/vb_forum/att...8&d=1297814464

http://clubroadster.net/vb_forum/att...5&d=1297814464

I've killed the budget here at Team Kuonen Headquarters... cowl intake, track dog maintenance, and the exhaust...... lets hope whatever is wrong is a cheap fix, lol or i won't get to enjoy my parts till next month

I hate electrical problems. That's why my car has a voltmeter. $5 at HF. I need a new battery too, the one I bought at Vatozone lasted 14 months. Maybe I should start the car more than once a month?

I vote battery on yours.

my wonderful fiance picked me up a multimeter this afternoon when she was near harbor freight. i'll go play tomorrow....

How you been doing paul, haven't heard from you in ages!