I don't own a mazda... well not yet, but i've been seeing alot of post with people who are having electrical problem. My car had this same issue, complete loss of electricity, i tried switch batteries, checked all the fuses, etc.. still nothing.

But what i did find was that the connectors to the battery had an acid build up on them.. and it was preventing the electricity from flowing to the battery nipples to the cables. After cleaning them, everything started working just find.

I thought i'd post this out there to everybody else that are having electrical problems that they can't solve.

-Matt

 

I had the exact problem before and my car lost alot of power... My battery cable corroded straight through and must of taken out the ignitor when the power surged. You should really change the battery cables, it takes about 30 minutes tops and is deffinatly worth it.

Check out this write up, its even got a list of the supplys needed!
http://www.jimrothe.com/mazda/battery_cables.html

 

Hey Dan S young, I've been looking at doing that for a while, do you know if those part numbers work for a carbed 12a? It looks like it was written for a 13b setup.

Thanks,

Alvin

 

well I followed the list for my car and it all turned out well except 50" for the one top post was too long by about 8 inchs or so...

 

The wiring for the charging and starting systems are the same. So yes, the same parts would apply.

You don't need to bother with the part numbers, just stop into your local auto parts store and go to the battery accessories section and you'll see the lengths of cables you need. It's a cheap project--maybe $25.

 

Yeah, when you're getting corrosion on your battery terminals and connectors, it is usually a sign that your main battery cables should be changed. You'll be amazed at the change in cranking speed, the renewed pep and the brightness of the console. It really is quite a difference.

We made a set of battery cables for Eric's 12a and I'll be making myself a set this week. I'll try to take pictures, but basically what we did was this:

We took off his old battery cables and brought them to the local autoparts store. We got wires as close to the size of the originals as possible, without going smaller (if they're a little bigger, that's fine). We basically ended up with 50" of both thicknesses of cables. That's a couple of inches more than you need so it gives you a little room to screw up, or room to elongate cables to route them differently if you want.

Once we got the cables, we headed to the rack of connectors. We basically looked for the section with connectors which fit the cables we were looking for, then looked at the size of the holes on the connectors with respect to the size of the holes on the original connectors.

Since it's almost impossible to find that funky connector that grounds the negative (-) cable to the strut tower and continues, we actually did that cable in two parts. Part one has the battery terminal clamp on one end, and a copper connector crimped to the other end at the strut tower. The second end starts at the strut tower with a copper connector, and ends on the engine block IIRC (or maybe it's the transmission bellhousing...) with another copper connector. When choosing copper connectors, find screw holes that are as close to being the size you need without being smaller. A little play can be tolerated by tightening the bolt, and isn't a problem as long as the hole in the connector is much smaller than the head of the bolt.

For the positive wire, it was just one long wire from the battery terminal clamp to the copper connector at the starter. We ran a second, small wire from the battery terminal clamp to the fusible link box, since it was easiest that way. We held the two together at the terminal with electrical tape, and made sure that we cut the outer sheath off the wires just short enough so that the clamps could grip on to the sheath, but the inside of the clamp had good contact with the wire.

It's extremely easy. There's no real electrical skill required for this at all, just a little common sense (don't touch positive to anything grounded, and don't start by hooking up at the battery). I actually made the cables while sitting in the basement, comparing lengths to the original cables in order to make them the right length.

So go do it! Maybe if I remember this thread and remember to take pictures when making my battery cables, the pics will end up here.

Jon