I'm going to try to make a long story short here.

I live in Columbus, GA and went to visit my girlfriend in Calhoun, GA (roughly 2 and a half hours away). The day that I left I got my oil changed and checked the coolant level. Before I filled up the gas I added a little more premix than normal to be safe.

The add coolant light was on for a while (i would say half of the trip), but the level was fine and the temp was below half.

I get to the exit I need to take and stop at the gas station to meet my gf and use the bathroom. A couple minutes before she got there I tried to start it up and got nothing!

I thought maybe the cd player that was put in earlier in the day may have drained the battery or something. I check the batt and the cables are tight. The volts were a little low so I took it to Advance and they charged it for me. I went back to the car and it made no difference.

Now I don't know what the problem could be. I checked out the troubleshooting section in the Haynes manual and it listed stuff like loose battery conn, bad starter, bad alt, and something about the eccentric shaft.

What else should I look for? Any help would be appreciated. I would also be willing to pay a forum member to help me fix whatever the problem is.

Thanks,
Craig

 

Does it turn over at all?

 

No, you can here the starter engage but thats it. It doesn't even try to start. The car is still in calhoun by the way.

 

The Hayes manual is lightweight. Ignore and get a FSM (Factory Service Manual).

Was it running smoothly before you shut it off the last time?

Sounds electrical or the starter. If you added a cd player maybe you shorted something. Could be a bitch to figure out.

I hope you didn't leave it out on the street. At least have it towed to the local Mazda dealership, or even to a repair shop, so it's behind a locked gate until you figure it out. Good luck.

 

Yea, this whole thing happened on Thursday. The car has stayed at the gas station the whole time. My girlfriend's parents are having a mechanic check it out tomorrow and if he can't figure it out they will tow it to their house. The cd player was re-wired earlier in the day and I shut it off and restarted the car a couple times before I left for Calhoun. The car felt fine the whole way up there. Nothing unusual about the way it ran the whole way up there.

 

What does *I could hear the starter engage* MEAN?????? Does that mean you heard it click OR does that mean it spun but the engine did not try to start????

If it went click, did the volts on the gauge drop down, waaaay down, when you hold the key to START??? If that was the case, I'd say the starter solenoid/starter is corrupt(I just know you checked to make sure the batt cables were on good so I won't ask about that). If that was the case....I'd a let that good ole girl get out and push that puppy and drop the clutch when she got it up to speed. It shoulda started like that. Or if it just clicked, and I KNEW the batt cables were on good, I'd get the tire iron out and reach under there and whack that starter a couple of times to make the brushes fall back into place and then get in and start the car up. Piece of cake. Ain't no way I'd leave my car to a mechanic that needs money for his boat payment.

And I just love this remark **I added a little more premix than
normal to be safe. ****

Just gotta love those premixers out there.

 

Sorry i was a little vague with that comment. I heard it click. I didn't hear the starter actually spin though. The volts dropped a little (but what it read after dropping, it still should have started). Apparently the mechanic mentioned something to my gf's mom about the starter so i'm assuming that will be one of the first things he checks. I would have attempted to push start it or jack it up, but it was already late and I "went to calhoun to visit my gf not work on my car".

Yea about the premix... My brother made me promise him when he sold me the car that i would pre-mix. Since I also have a slight oil leak I figured adding a little bit more wouldn't hurt.

 

yup, sounds liek starter is out. Get new charcoals for it... should be fine

 

yup, sounds liek the starter is out. Get new charcoals for it... should work fine. You should try tapping the starter a few times with a hammer or something. It may have one or two more uses before it's completely gone.

 

Thanks you all for your help. I will let you know how things turn out in a few days.

Craig

 

UPDATE:

I FINALLY got my car back! All I could understand from the mechanic (redneck talk) was something about a bad wire. It only cost me $30 (towing from the gas station to his shop). I'm so glad the whole thing is over. I was getting really damned tired of driving my mom's 4-door Focus. Once again, thanks for all of your help.

Craig

 

I had that problem on my '70 torino. The starter's ground would be loose and the car wound't start. Real annoying to figure out though....