BrettCYM93

Background: Bought car about 9 months ago. On test drive car started fine, was driven two hours, no probs. Shipped home. Only driven it maybe 300 miles after that total. Spent 3 months swapping aftermarket back to stock for CA smog, then put all the fun stuff back in. Had it serviced by Rick's Rotary: they fixed several things for me, gas leak, a few broken solenoids in the engine, full inspection, etc.

Honestly can't recall if I had the starting issue before or after taking it to the shop as I had only driven it a few times.

I put in a brand new Optima battery.

Car has a lot of mods, pettit blueprinted and ported engine and turbos, intercooler, pullys, downpipe, cat-back, radiator, oil coolers, battery located in trunk, air pump bypass, turbo timer, boost controller, digital temp guage, fan switch.

Current Issue: Since May, I've driven the car maybe 6 times (its my for fun car). Every time I went to start it I would crank it 3 to 5 times. Each time, the lights on the dash come on, but the engine just clicks. Then it would crank several times but not turn over. Sometimes it would take 3 or more cranks to start.

Two weeks ago I went to start it and nothing. Battery dead. Jumpped it, car started fine. Disconnected battery while car was on, car ran fine for 15 minutes. Turned it off.

Charged battery to 60% with quick charger, started fine, drove car for 20 minutes. Turned it off, tried to restart, nothing. Jumpped it fine, drove it home.

Took battery to shop, was totally dead. They charged it, load tested and volt tested said it was fine. Put it back in car, started up on first key turn. Drove for 30 minutes. Shut off, disconnected battery. Over night I disconnected the positive cable to the battery, left the negative on.

Next day, reconnected battery, took me 6 key turns before start. On each key turn, dash lights go on, engine just clicks once. Car had to crank several times before it turned over.

Totally at a loss. Have not checked battery charge yet, but no clue why it would loose charge from just sitting with only the negative lead connected to the chassis.

theorie

iTrader: (31)

have you checked this:

https://www.rx7club.com/3rd-generation-specific-1993-2002-16/one-possible-fix-click-click-start-problem-remove-oem-security-relay-872841/

MazdaSpeedDan

iTrader: (4)

Damn you disconnected the battery while the car was running? Isnt that bad?

Edit-I I think you mean you disconnected the jumper cables.

theorie

iTrader: (31)

Yeah, you can...but you shouldn't.
http://www.troubleshooters.com/dont_...ct_battery.htm

sc_frontier

iTrader: (3)

When you say turn over and crank, these mean the same thing. Is the starter clicking? Does the engine spin and just not start? I would get a volt meter. Resting charged battery should be 12-13 volts. Running car, battery voltage should be 13-14. If you hook up your battery to a dead car, volts should not fall to approx < 11.5 If they fall too much, you have something draining the battery.