Well, I did the Home Depot rebuild on the OMP (which seems to be holding well enough until I can get ahold of Lowe Performance - best 1.25 I've spent on my FB so far...) and its no longer leaking on the edges. Need a new block gasket, but that'll wait until next week. But... as part of the testing (and because I was stressed after work) I took the RX out for a spin around town.

Everything was going pretty well, the gauge lights were kinda acting up on me, and I didn't think anything of it. My voltmeter has been dead for I don't know how long... I no longer pay attention to it.

So anyway, cruising down the freeway home at 75mph... and I notice my oil pressure at 3k is reading around 25psi. Now that I note as wierd (used to oil leaving my engine quick...) and do a quick look at my guages. Well, its really dim, so I turn up the lighting... and its at max. I get off at my exit, and my Stop Lamp light goes on. Well, at this point I'm starting to get kinda freaked, so I turn on my hazard lights.

Nothing happens...

Pull off at the nearest shopping center because my engine starts to run erratically, and I check the brightness of all my lights... they're all dim. To make a long story short, by the time I get the car into my little stall, its barely able to do anything other then idle, my lights are near dead, my windshield wipers barely move, and the horn and blinkers won't even work. To top it off, when I turn the lights off, only *one* headlamp goes down. The other doesn't even register as moving according to my headlamp idiot light.

Now for the fun part... when I got the car (which was almost a year-ish ago) it had a new reman alternator on it. Well, I've checked the charging and starting system before, and it all runs strong. This is the first time I've taken the RX out in the rain... and the symptons I've gotten would be the kind I'd put down to alternator failure...

Anyone else had this kind of thing happen and it wasn't the alternator? That's a part I don't think I can afford to replace right now. >.< I'll be taking it in on monday for a diagnostic (if it will start and run again... I can hope) but I don't know what I can do to recharge the battery... as I don't have an outlet nearby or a battery charger.

Thoughts?

 

Sounds like you may have run the battery down. Check the alt. belt first, then the batt. terminal connections. If the battery is too down to start, jump it.

When you get it started, see if it is charging. If it isn't, get the alt. and batt. checked.

Make sure all of your connections are tight and corrosion free.

 

Check out this site http://bart.ccis.com/home/mnemeth/12...lt.htm#testing and read how you should test your state-of-charge on your battery. This is a simple way to test your battery at home without bringing it somewhere, assuming you have a battery charger to produce a load first. Nice information to know.

With this information you'll be able to either pinpoint your battery being the source or move on to something else like the alternator, bad grounds, cables etc. If you can get your car running, you can check the voltage coming right out of the alternator or the battery, which should be a strong 13.5volts.

 

For the voltmeter, there is a wire that connects to the starter (next to the main + cable).

Where did you buy that alternator? IMHO, Pep-Boys, Kragen and Autozone are low quality. Lifetime warranty but how many times do you have to change it. Either get it rebuilt from a reputable shop OR get one from junkyard 2nd gen or other Mazda's such as MX-6 etc, but be sure to get the ones with green stator. While youre at it, get the 2nd gen fusebox.

 

I took the battery in to Sears (where I work - ech) and threw it on the powerlogic. It recharged it and gave the battery a clean bill of health. I then took the car in to class, through a voltmeter on the alternator... and got under 12.4 volts... 11.8 to be exact. Battery was showing a little higher voltage, but definately not enough to charge anything.

So I suppose it'll be off to the junkyards for me... I'll try that whole thing with the 2nd gen Alt and Fuse Box... although I have to admit having no idea what to do with the fusebox and I don't think I can afford the trip right now anyway...

Left a big oil splotch... once I get a new alt, time to degrease the engine totally and figure out where I'm puking oil from... and get more oil for when I pull the pan gasket and replace it. >.<

The alternator picked a good time to die on me, my RX is going to be out of commission for at least 3 weeks now waiting for a new one...