[Miata] Battery dead then live again??

[Butch Garcia]

Thanks John. 

I doubt if it is the ignition switch because the interior lights which 
aren't dependent on it didn't work.  What made me try to crank the 
engine with the old battery when I had the new battery in the box beside 
the car, was the fact that I accidentally shorted the battery on the 
positive terminal with another wire (careless but I thought the battery 
was dead) and it sparked.  The starter turned over very slowly but the 
engine caught on.  It was ok thereafter.  The cranking speed was slow.  
So was it the starter?  but again, I mention the interior lights and 
radio and the buzzer when the ignition was turned on.... all these 
didn't work. The negative terminal is firmly anchored to the body and 
both terminals on the battery have good and clean and tight contacts.  
The only thing I can think of is the wiring on the positive side to 
where ever it is connected to.. i.e. starter?  This might be loose or 
something to that effect.  But that'll have to wait till the weekend... 
hopefully.

Butch

John Freas wrote:
> Previously on Battery, Butch Garcia <butchgarcia at earthlink.net 
> <mailto:butchgarcia at earthlink.net>> said...
>
>     I left my miata parked for two days.  Well my battery died (no
>     lights, no radio, battery terminals tight-- it is an autozone
>     battery which seems to have been made by WestCo), and so I jump
>     started it according to the procedures outlined in Miata.net.  I
>     drove around for about 1/2 hr and then killed the engine when I
>     got some gas. It wouldn't turn over.  I was pushed started and all
>     was fine.  Drove the car and let it idle for about 1/2 hour more. 
>     Came home turned off the engine, and tried to start it; it
>     wouldn't turn.  So I ordered a WestCo battery.  The battery
>     arrived a day after and I didn't get to try to install the battery
>     'till a day later or two days after I parked the car.  I tried to
>     start it once more with the old battery and it started, and has
>     been working well since.  Has this happened to anyone else?  Do
>     you have an explanation for this?  Should I be looking for
>     something else?
>
>
> Your description of what you did to the battery is a bit confusing.  
> If you followed the directions on miata.net <http://miata.net> then 
> you didn't jumpstart the battery or car, you put a 2 amp charge on it 
> for 24 to 48 hours to fully charge it.  Jump starting the car will do 
> _nothing_ for a flat AGM battery.
>
> If you indeed jump started the car and then let it idle for a half 
> hour (or hour, or day, or year) it did absolutely nothing to charge 
> the battery.
>
> If you actually charged the battery at 2 amps for 24+ hours and it 
> still behaved as you describe, then something else is up.  It is 
> possible that you have a loose connection somewhere.  I cannot explain 
> why it would suddenly start working again on its own unless there was 
> a problem with a connection somewhere, maybe in the key switch; that's 
> a common failure point especially if you have a bunch of keys on a 
> ring.  The Mazda ignition switch isn't known for it's robustness and 
> the weight from a keyring can cause it to fail, at first intermittently.
>
> If have another "dead battery"  issue in the future, especially if 
> there is no obvious cause (lights left on, etc.) then I'd start by 
> checking the voltage at the battery with a meter.  If it shows normal 
> voltage then something else is up.  You might try wiggling the 
> ignition switch a few times and/or turning it on and off repeatedly to 
> see if that has any effect.  I'd also take the car key off the ring if 
> it's on one, but that's just me.
>
>     -John
> ------------------------------------------------------------------------
> John Freas <mailto:%20john7690 at comcast.net>
> 1992 *YELLOW* "Sting 
> <http://john.freas.home.comcast.net/pix/sting/sting.html>"
> 1995 Black R Package "Spike 
> <http://www.geocities.com/clash_girl/Spike_Scrapbook.html>"
> Elizabethtown, Indiana
> - Standard Disclaimer 
> <http://john.freas.home.comcast.net/disclaimer.html> Applies -
> Team LS1,2, SP, the Gap...
> I love my Miata girl 
> <http://www.geocities.com/clash_girl/Spike_Scrapbook.html> and my 
> Miata Baby
> "I have no idea what those dimple things on the windshield frame are 
> for."

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