nizzan1984

Ok so im hoping someone can help me out with a few issues I'm having with the 7.

First off, all the idiot lights are on, acting like the alternator isn't working. The alternator is brand new, and its reading 12v when the car is on. For a few minutes earlier today, the lights did shut off and it was reading 14v. Is there any other causes for the lights to go off like that?

Another problem I'm having is with the headlights. I was putting a new starter in the car, and the starter wasn't working right, so when I put the battery cables back on the battery, for some reason the headlights popped up. Put the old starter back on and they haven't went down since. The 30A fuse is good, and it is my understanding that the S5's have integrated relays in the retractors. Hopefully that starter didn't fry anything...

Any insight on either problem would be greatly appreciated!

-Alex

no_luck

iTrader: (3)

umm... you prolly pressed the head light switch to keep them on all the time ..by mistake.try pressing that button again.
as far as your idiot lights are you sure your alternators putting out the right amps and volts? if so then your cold solder points might have something to do with it. go on fc3pro and check it out.

RotaryRocket88

iTrader: (7)

Is this a reman alternator? Don't assume a new reman will work. I've bought 2 new alternators that had bad regulators right out of the box. From what I've seen, you have to stick to the higher-end remans from Mazda or NAPA auto for example. A loose B-post connection can also cause charging problems, so be sure it's tight before replacing the alternator.

no_luck

iTrader: (3)

hey rotaryrocket88 do you kno if the cpu controls your top going up and down?

idont kno if you saw one my electrical post but i hooked up a battery wrong and my top wont go down niether will my defroster work. the light just stays on all the time.
sorry to thread jack just dont see the point on starting a new thread

nizzan1984

The alternator is a brand new unit, not a reman. I had it tested at autozone, and it was working fine. I was driving to school this morning, and once again when I first fired the car up, the lights weren't on. I drove for a few mins, and the idiot lights came on. '

And about the headlights, the switch to keep the headlights is down but they won't go down.

Is it possible that the faulty starter i put in could've damaged the ecu? When I plugged the battery in after the starter install, the lights popped up and the power terminal was sparking like crazy.

no_luck

iTrader: (3)

this is interesting
do you have a fsm for a S5?
i would check a few things
relays
switch
connections
i think the head lights are controlled by the cpu on the driver side kick panel.
on my s4 the relays for the head lights are on the front of the car..the cubby hole in front of the radiator.
here let me get you the fsm

no_luck

iTrader: (3)

http://www.cochran-racing.com/FSM/s5/index.html (thats for everything)
and
i think this is the section you wanna look in
http://www.cochran-racing.com/FSM/s5...cal_System.pdf

also when you installed the starter did you have the battery disconnected?
and when you took it to autozone did they test it for amps or volts.? the reason why i ask is they have a stupid machine that they hook it up to and press a button and if that arrow goes above a point they say its ok.

ive seen monday alternators BRAND NEW that are f up. cause you need volts but you need the amps to push the volts to the there target. you can have all the volts you want but if you dont have amps to get there your battery will basically die slowly. it will take longer then running with out a alternator because you have something getting back to the battery eventually you understand me ?

does anyone agree with my line of thinking ?

satch

iTrader: (1)

Outside of the 3rd generation alternators, I don't believe you could source a brand new 2nd gen out of the box alternator. The price you paid for is a telling factor. Heck, even the dealerships sell remanufactured units as opposed to new units. Either your's is rebuilt or remanufactured. The ECU is not a contributing factor to your current dilemma and the problem lies elsewhere. Refer to the link below for more insight.

https://www.rx7club.com/showthread.p...ernator+lights

RotaryRocket88

iTrader: (7)

^ This.

I don't think there is anywhere to buy an alternator that hasn't been rebuilt or remanufactured. From what I've seen, and as satch said, Mazda is not making them new anymore. Price is a good measure of the quality. ~5 years ago I paid about $180 for a NAPA reman alternator after two cheap Kragen remans failed. One of these worked for a short time before eventually draining my battery. The regulators died in both.

no_luck, your explanation is a little off. You cannot "have all the volts you want" and not have a corresponding change in current. The voltage regulator's job is just that: to keep voltage constant depending on current draw from the system and pulley speed.

Nizzan1984, here's what you can do. Start the engine and get a voltmeter/multimeter. Place one probe on the B-post of the alternator and the other on the negative battery terminal. Ideally you should see about 14.1 to 14.4 volts regardless of idle speed. You can't measure amps with your average multimeter (an ammeter is needed for this), but it doesn't matter anyhow. Voltage and current are directly proportional according to Ohm's Law (V = IR). Resistance (R) is fixed, so the alternator simply provides more current (I) when needed, which keeps voltage (V) stable. If you see a drop in voltage, that corresponds to a drop in current. Too little current feeding the accessories and the battery will soon lead to a dead battery.

Your starter is most likely not related to anything unless you had the battery connected while changing it out (which could have lead to a short against the chassis). And in that case, you would have some fuses blow as well.

I think it is routed through the CPU, since there is a safety feature that prevents you from using the top while the e-brake is off. Check the FSM wiring diagrams to be sure.

nizzan1984

Ok I get what you're saying, but can a bad alternator work when you turn the car on and then stop working after driving it a little? And the other starter I put in was a new one, but it wasn't working right and I did think it blew some fuses because my horn and dome light aren't working along with the headlight retractors. Everything on this car worked perfectly fine before I tried putting the other starter in. I will get a voltmeter tomorrow to test the alternator.

nizzan1984

Ok, today I did a little test that might be helpful to figure out whats wrong with this car.

I took the 30a headlight retractor fuse out and manually lowered the headlights, I put the fuse back in and the lights pop up instantly regardless of what position the headlight switch is on. I also disconnected the positive side of the battery with the fuse out and put it back on, every time I connect the positive side there is a clicking noise coming from around where the headlights are. That could explain why the battery keeps dying, but does anyone have a wiring diagram I could look at?

Also the gauge cluster lights are very dim now when the lights are on. There's just so many electrical issues with this car, is it possible it could be the ecu?

satch

iTrader: (1)

What happens to the headlight position when you turn the small **** above the headlight switch. This would be the **** that pops the headlights up and down w/o turning the lights on. Also, take a volt meter and check the Red/Blue wire that connects to the headlight retractor. This wire should only have voltage when the lights are in the up position. I'm going to guess that you have voltage on these wires (both retractors) all the time and if so this would be one cause for the lights always being in the up position. Also, when the lights are always up are the lights always on as well. Another thing you could do is to disconnect the light switch in the cluster and see if there is any change. When the switch is disconnected either the lights will stay up or they will go down. If the lights go down you can take a jumper wire and focus on the Red wire and the Red/Blue wire in the wiring harness and jumper these two wires and the lights should pop up. Then remove the jumper wire from the R/L spot while leaving the other end connected to the Red wire and place the other end of the jumper wire into the Red/Yellow wire and the lights should go down. If the lights go down when the plug is disconnected and the jumper wiring technique can control whether the light go up or down would leave one to believe the relay within the light switch is the cause for the problem.