so i drove my 91 n/a for a few months, and starting this week it's been draining the battery

so first off, none of my idiot cluster lights up, no beeps, nothing

put in a new battery, started up fine! drove it that day, nooo problems, left it overnight, next morning, it's dead again

so obviously it has to be something with constant power that's draining it.

i have the stock alarm if that makes any difference

Pleeaassseee help me, i want to drive my car again

any ideas or suggestions are more than appreciated. if you want to come down and help me, that would be great too i can buy you lunch or something =p

Oh! and also, my running lights, taillights, and cluster don't light up when i turn the running lights on. Any ideas for that?

Thanks guys

-Garrett

 

just testing the alternator

 

Get a multimeter. Place it in the AMP setting. Put it in line between the battery + and the battery + cable. Record reading.

Pull fuses one at a time until reading goes DOWN ALOT... Report the fuse and associated circuit back here. Hailers will do the rest..

 

battery, battery, and cable? huh?

 

It may just be the alternator. A multimeter connected to the alternator post and the negative battery terminal will give you an instant answer. With the engine running, it should be putting out around 13.5 - 14V.

If you can't do this yourself, auto parts stores will usually be able to do it for you.

I've been down this road before, and even dealt with defective "new" alternators, so stick with quality replacement parts from Mazda or Napa.

 

dope dope, i'll check that, i have a volt ohm meter.

 

Hailers is the ****.

 

what/ who is hailers? lol sorry =p

 

Hailers = Bad ***. Check your fuses, for the dash lights and of course alternator if your idiots light don't come up.

 

fuses are fine, dash lights still don't work. where do i put the positive lead on the alternator?

 

so ya, i put the positive lead to the red arrow, on the little bolt, got 13.7 V something.

took out the plug for the blue arrow, and if you're looking at the engine bay as in this picture, i put it on the left prong of the connector, read 14.5 V something.


any ideas? did i do it wrong?

 

Front and rear side lights and combination meter lights not working are probably because the elect plug on the light switch is shorted at the plug. Pull that plug off and look for burnt pins/wires in the ELECT PLUG.

Make sure the fuses are good first.

At the end of each day make sure the key is fully OFF. Make sure the clock isn't illuminated when you remove the key to prove the key is indeed to OFF.

If the key is truly to OFF, then the fuses on the busses called IG1/IG2 and ACC have no power going to them therefore they can't drain the battery.

The upper fuses on the BATTERY bus can still drain the battery if one of those items is ON. So I guess you could pull all the BATT bus fuses and see what happens the next morning.

If it still drains then any of the fuses in the engine bay could possibly be the bad actor. The EGI goes directly to the alternator. So you might try pulling that one over night and see what happens the next day. Got me.

 

dude, i love you <33 (no homo)

not only did you make it detailed and thorough, but you explained it in such a way to where i understand it!

thank you thank you

so basically, make sure car is off, then probably the easiest thing to do first is to pull the EGI plug since it's easy and quick? if battery still drains, then go do all of the others? or should i take steps the way you explained?


either way! i will follow what you said, thank you soooo much!! =) =) =)

-Garrett

 

hey think im having the same problem ... i think my problem is alternator because once car is on i disconnect the positve or neg from battery and it dies

 

Read this thread: https://www.rx7club.com/showthread.p...t=LIGHT+SWITCH

Pay attention to what Icemark says in that thread and I also posted about the problem and attached jpgs.

It's not impossible the light problem is related to your dead battery problems. As in the green/white wire in the headlight switch being shorted to gnd or????

Never idle a engine and pull off either cable to the battery to see if the engine will stay running. Kills alternators. Wouldn't it be easier to have a cheap digital meter and just probe the battery or alt cable to see if it's putting out? Yes is the answer. The cheapest volgage regulator I've seen for these cars cost approx 24 bucks and that's if you DIY.

If your tired of dead batterys in the morning........then just pull the positive cable off the battery at the end of the day. Then fix the problem when you have time later in the week/month.

Yeah, I meant you should pull the EGI fuse out in the engine bay at the end of the day and see if the battery is good the next morning or not. If the battery is still charged, it makes one suspect that the alternator has a blown diode and that is draining the battery overnight. IF the batt is still dead in the morning with the EGI pulled overnight, then press on to something else causing the problem.

I'd take care of that light switch problem and see it that's connected to the batt drain. Also make SURE the key is OFF at the end of the day. IF the clock goes off then the key is most likely in the complete OFF position. If the clock stays on, then the key isn't all the way off.

 

Or, as mentioned in the earlier posts above, you could find the problem by doing as the attached jpg suggests. You'd need a meter to do that.