Alright so I was ready to start up the car after about 6 months today. When I turn the key...nothing. No clicking, nothing at all. Only thing that happens is my circuit breaker trips on my battery in the back storage bin. So it is obviously drawing a rediculous amount of current.


With power on, my PFC reads voltage is about 12.0V-12.1V. Plently of voltage I would imagine. My starter was strong before the car went down for modification. So I didn't assume that was the problem.

I'm not to sure what I should be looking for here and could use some advice. I do know I removed a turbo timer that was connected to the car when I bought it. They had spliced into some wires.

 

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Pull the spark plugs to make sure a fuel leak does'nt have you hydro-locked.

 

Try Cleaning or tighting Positive + and negative - battery terminals!

 

if its not doing anything at all its the battery ...
do you have lights ??
and like he said disconnect the battery terminals and clean both of them (ive seen some weird things with dirty battery terminals)
if your tripping a breaker , also trace the the battery wire make sure wire isnt exposed ,grounding anywhere...

 

well the battery and the terminals are brand new. ill check to see if it grounding out. Any chance it may be a solenoid problem? I do have power to the lights and everything in the car. Voltage on the PFC is 12.1 with lights off, about 11.7 with brights on. Tough to figure

 

Okay, heres what we did today.

Checked all fuses.
Made sure the terminals were okay.
Battery has plently of voltage.
Nothing is grounding out.
Tested the starter, seemed to be functioning fine out of the car.

We tried removing the trailing plugs and turning over the engine putting breaker bar to the main pulley, but we could not get it to turn. In fact the bolt actually broke loose.

I'm guessing there is either really bad carbon build up, or the starter doesn't work under load. When testing it, it seemed to function perfectly fine.

Need some help here, any advice would be appreciated.

 

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i had a similar problem with mine, it was ticking over but wouldnt start, now the problem i had was that my engine was flooded so i had to tow start it!
a friend of mine who also has an fd, has an after market alarm on his (clifford) and his wouldnt start at all he had it checked and it was something to do with the starter motor immobilizer.
also check the fuel pump and fuel pump fuse!

 

Take the starter down to napa or shcucks or autozone or whatever, theyll test it under load for free.

 

my guess is that if the engine isnt turning,then it cant be the starter,even if it was weak.You couldnt even get the thing to turn with a bar!Honestly,I dont know about 3rd gens,but on the 12a's,we just give it a bath with oil,and work it from there.Either which way,good luck.

 

i dont know about the other places but when napa tests a starter it is NOT tested under load. I actually just had this kinda problem with my jeep. tested fine at NAPA w/o load, I question it and go ahead and get another one....jeep fires up on first turn of the key..bad starter.... SO maybe it is the starter, but I would maybe check the wiring where you disconected the turbo timer, check all wires assoc with aftermarket alarm, then maybe last resort get a new starter and just try it...

 

You need to be carefull here because removing that bolt on the main pulley could damage the thrust bearing... http://www.mazdatrix.com/faq/pulley.htm

 

Is there any know security system where the factory alarm locks up the engine or any wiring that may affect the engine for turning? Possibily something with the transmission?

Honestly the only thing I can believe is carbon build up seeing how the engine does not even turn over with a breaker bar. Keep in mind the car has been down for 5-6months. And all these components im now questioning worked fine when I put the car in for modding.

If it were flooded it should still turn, not to mention there was little to no fuel smell when removing the never before used plugs.

As far as the main pulley bolt goes, we did not remove it, but it did break loose when trying to rotate the engine. What are the odds the seal was broke loose?

I'll have the starter tested under load, but really I the starter puts on less torque than using a breaker bar does.

 

Well Kyle, Chuck and I torn down my engine this past weekend and as suspected it was carbon lock. I mean rediclious amounts of carbon. Heres some pictures of the process.


















more to come

 

what have some of you guys done to rid the rust in the coolant passages?

 

I was wondering what some of the gurus think about the cleaned up parts. From my examination, everything seems to be in pretty good condition minus the rotor and stat gear bearings. Just want some other opinions.