Mahjik

iTrader: (1)

Ok, last week, I began to do some cleanup work on the car. Here are a list of the things I did in order:

1. I was going to remove the cluster A/C panel and repaint it, so I removed the cover underneath the steering column, the cover around the steering column and the vent cover on the side of the dash. Once I realized I needed to get to the larger bolts underneath the dash, I left it alone.

2. I removed the bracket that holds the fan relays so I could sand off the corrosion and repaint it.

3. I then removed the driver side interior door panel for repainting.

4. Next was the taillights. I removed those to send off for the 99-JSpec conversion.

Last night, I put the bracket for the fan relay back in the car, next I put the covers for the dash/steering column back in. Then I put the driver side door interior parts back into the car. I'm picking up the lights today from the post office but they are not back on the car yet.

At this moment, the car has no electrical power at all. Nothing. No lights, can't pop the headlights up, no radio, nothing when I just turn the key to AC.

I pulled the battery and hooked it up to a charger. The charger reports that the battery is fully charged (plus the battery is only about 2 months old). I checked the fuses and they all appear to be ok.

Any ideas what I could have knocked loose or done for this to happen? Could I have knocked something lose messing with the dash to cause this?

Thanks for any help...

Mahjik

iTrader: (1)

^BUMP

skunks

are you sure you checked all the fuses, the ones inside the engine bay and the ones in the under the dash? you might wanna check the negative ground cable and or the positive one, sand them down a little to make sure they have good contact. it seems kinda odd that the entire car would lose power like that though. i personally think that its a contact (from the cable to the battery) or grounding (negative) issue. thats the only way you would lose all the eletrical instead of just a specific part.


good luck

Mahjik

iTrader: (1)

Thanks.. I checked out the battery connections. Did a little sanding to make sure there wasn't any corrosion there...

Checked the fuses again, nothing... I'm at a lose...

Is there any connections/wires in the dash or door that could cause something like this?

Those are the only parts I can think of that I messed with without having the car radio playing (I had the car radio playing while I was removing the fan relay bracket under the hood so I know everything was fine then).

Damn, this sucks, Ryan did a hell of a job on the taillights and I was hoping to be out driving it this weekend.

Mahjik

iTrader: (1)

^BUMP

Flybye

Did you check the alternator cable?
Check the cables going from the battery again to the fuse box and coming out again from the fuse box and into the harness. There is NOTHING in the dash area where you were at that would prevent the entire car from losing power. You might have to open up the fuse box and check the connections under it.

Mahjik

iTrader: (1)

Crap....

Yea, I checked the fuse boxes and conncections (again) to the best of my ability, but no joy...

I'm at a loss, so I guess I'll wait until Monday and have it towed to someone who knows a heck of a lot more than me about automobiles..

Thanks for everyones help and suggestions. When/if it gets fixed, I'll post what it was in case someone else runs into the same problem.

Flybye

Unless someone posts something, when I get home, I'll look at my FD. Honestly, I can't think of any places right now of where to check. I'm hardly under my hood. I have the most reliable FD on the planet Wait, let me go find a block of wood the size of my house to knock on

skunks

have you tried checking the other end of the negative cable? the part that attaches to the car/chassie. try running a very thick cable from the negative terminal to the body and see if that does anything.

Mahjik

iTrader: (1)

Hehe, thanks Flybye. I have a friend stopping by tomorrow to take a look at it before I tow it somewhere Monday. He doesn't know much about rotary engines, but this really isn't rotary related so hopefully he can help out.


Here's the thing, nothing was touched on that side of the engine. I checked the cables (and fuses) and they all appear fine. I know it could just be coincidence that there's a problem with the cables and I was doing this work, but I don't think so.

I'm thinking more along the lines of the alternator. I did some cleaning up, but I didn't think I was that close. I'm going to take a look at it in the morning and reverify the connection. I guess while I'm there I could go ahead an install my pulleys.. Oh heck no, let me get the car working again first.

Flybye

I got home late, BUT I've been looking through the electrical manual....

Out of the positive terminal, the cable splits into 4 different ways:
1) Starter
2) 30A Fuse going into the Alternator
3) 40A Fuse going into the ignition switch
4) 120A Main Fuse which is then conected to the 40A fuse with the larger Relay and fuse Block, and from there it goes into the ignition box

Now, if you say you have checked ALL of these fuses, then I recommend you start checking for power at these connectors. It is possible somewhere underneath the entire fuseblock that a cable has become loose. Really, you should get a voltimeter and start probing around the different fuses. If there is power at the fuses, then you need to start tracing the wires. Somewhere along the line, someone is disconnected, and it aint the ground since you said you have already checked that.

7-sins

Isn't there a 120A main wire running through the ignition column. Maybe something came loose around there? Kinda a far out guess but something to check.

Mahjik

iTrader: (1)

Yea, that's the main problem is that I don't have the tools to do the proper testing.

Does anyone have the PDF of the '93 Wiring Manual? Unforuntately I didn't purchase that one with the regular manual as I thought I would never need it (go figure).

The http://www.iluvmyrx7.com/ site appears to be down, so I can't grab it from there (ironic).

The last thing I can remember messing with was trying to get the dash out. I was wondering if that's what cause the problem.

MOSTIN

Try exchanging the battery, if you checked everything the battery might have a bad cell.

Mahjik

iTrader: (1)

BTW, I gave up and the car is at Mazda now (I know, a dealer, but this one is actually decent).

I'll post what the problem was/is, however I think it's a ground that I missed.

Also, lowering springs + big exhaust makes tow trucks evil... My exhaust can scraped a little bit getting it off the truck... sigh....

djantlive

Checking the battery with a charger doesn't work. The battery charger can say it's fully charged but it may be defective. I know it's 2 mo new but it could still be defective.

A voltimeter can help you better determine if your battery is holding the charge/power.

Mahjik

iTrader: (1)

BTW, it was a short in one of the battery cables...

It did zap the battery, but Mazda did some tests after the fixing the cable and recharging the battery... Everything was fine.... sigh of relief...

They also tested a few other things while they had it just to make sure there were no extra drains on the car with and without the car running. Everything was good.

Thanks for all the help, I'm back on the road.