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Hey all..

I have a 99' NB8A which has power -- by that I mean when I turn the key one click the auxiliaries turn on, dash lights up, lights work, stereo etc all work -- but it won't crank over. When I turn the key to the "engine start position nothing happens.

Thinking the battery might be the culprit, I tried putting jumper leads on the battery and that did nothing. I popped the bonnet and heard a faint click when the key was turned?

My car was parked in town so I roll started it and drove home (10 min drive max) then I left it idelling in the drive way for 10mins more before I turned it off. I then left it for about 30 secs.. turned the key.. and the car started normally.

The car then sat for the rest of the evening and the next day, then I tried to start it in the evening and it was dead again.. same issue

I'd really appreciate some ideas on where I should place my attention to find a resolve.. battery? Solenoid? Starter motor?

Thanks

B

Now Im totally confused.. car has been sitting overnight, as mentioned it didnt start yesterday arvo.. woke up this morning, turned the key and it started fine. So it's an intermittent issue.

I hope that helps in diagnosing the problem.

Cheers

B

I had a similar problem with my Integra which also had a very rough idle when cold. Occassionally it would crank, and occassionally wouldn't even turn over.

Issue was worse the longer I left it undriven for a week or two, and I did think it was the battery. However, when I did get it started, it would keep cranking over subsequently so obviously wasn't the battery.

The cue for me was the rough idle and occassional stalling (might have also been ECU tune) but I changed the spark plug leads and it's pretty much solved the problem. Car seems to run smoother as well, doesn't smell as rich on startup etc.

Battery maintenance 101. Disconnect the battery leads, clean the battery posts and clamps, wipe some grease on he posts, reconnect the leads and make sure they're tight.

If the problem continues then take the car to a good battery shop. It should take them about 1 minute to do a free test of the battery, the charging current and the dark current.

ignition barrel. The copper terminals get corroded and/or the plug might be loose.

Do as manga blue suggests, even if it doesn't help, it's good maintenance anyway.


So the car has power? and teh starter relay clicks?
But the starter doesn't turn the engine over?


It could be a sticky starter solenoid (or whatever it's called the makes the starter gear pop out)
I remember Pam's starter developed that issue.



It could also be to do with an immobiliser (I think NB8A has one from factory)
Perhaps it's not recognising the key and is stopping the starter?

As others have suggested your battery could be on the way out. This cold winter weather could be amplifying the problem.


from here

If above doesn't sort it, then a couple of common problems with the NB8A are EGI relay & coilpacks. However, with the coilpack it's usually the other way around, ie sometimes won't start when hot, but usually cranks ok, then starts when it cools down. So 'EGI' relay's a possible as the NA6 'Fuel Inj' relay, which was subject of a Mazda Technical Service Bulletin in the early 1990s, used to have the same symptom, ie wouldn't crank, when it failed.

My $0.02:

If you're NOT hearing rapid clicking when you turn the ignition, the starter motor's solenoid is stuffed or the battery is too flat.

If you're only hearing rapid clicking when you turn the ignition, the starter motor's solenoid is OK so either the battery is too flat to turn the starter motor, the starter motor is stuck or stuffed.



I had similar issues when I picked up my car from Dann and the battery was "on its way out" (managed to get 36km away from home, then had it towed the rest of the way ).

I bought a new battery and made sure it was charged to 13.8V but that didn't help so I triple-checked all fuses which were OK.

After doing some Googling, one of the suggestions was to give the starter motor a few whacks since it may be sticking.
I then went all "Jeremy Clarkson" on it with progressively harder taps using a spanner and it worked on the 4th try. I've tried around 20 starts since then and it's fine so I'm speculating that the initial jump start I got on the Pacific Highway, where it almost started, left the starter motor in a screwy state.


This was posted on the mazda-speed.com forum and provides some very useful info that may help: https://docs.google.com/file/d/0B1P63nzyHOkYMjcyYzE4NjktM2FiZS00MTE3LWI2YmQtNmEwMmNjZGNkZGE0/edit?pli=1

Ideally you'd just remove the starter, put a bit of grease on the shaft and it should stop sticking.


but then you sort of think, well, I've gone through the effort of removing teh starter, I may as well replace it.

Ah ... brings back memories of the 'ol days of hammering the starter to get it to turn over ... so many use to jam ...

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Thanks very much for the advice and apologies for the late follow up.

I think the general consensus is to get the battery checked first which I'll do this weekend.. if that doesn't end up being the issue I'll get a new starter motor.

I'll give the starter a bit of a bash before I yoink the battery out, just to see if that has any effect.

Will report back once I've tried a few things.

Thanks for narrowing it down guys.. I wouldn't have suspected the battery otherwise due to the dash and interior lights working. On my other car, a 74' Capella, when the batteries flat it's pretty obvious ;)

Cheers

B

1buck80? Is that you? Sorry couldn't resist.