Stupid Newbie Question I'll Probably be Flamed For
 

Ok, appologize in advance - I just want some input. I need to know the symptoms of a dying battery (as opposed to something else). My car was having trouble starting today, and was turning over pretty slow. I drove it into the garage and tried to start it again, but it was too sluggish to start, and the lights and everything were really dim.....just wondering if this is the probable cause, or if I might have some other expensive problem. I have no idea how old the battery is - it was there when I bought the car a year ago, and looked kind of old then.

Again, sorry......also, I have noticed a faint-mild smell of gasoline sometimes when I accelerate...not sure if it is a major problem, if I am imagining it, or if it is even coming from my car. Please, any advice would be helpful.

Well, the cheapest place to start is the battery. :) Before mine died, it was tuff to turn over, but after it ran for a while, it would charge the battery fine. After a while the charge would last less and less... Eventually not charging at all..

Sounds battery-ish!

Takes longer and longer to start. Makes weeyoo, eerrerrr, rruuhh sound before slowly cranking. I believe Sears will test the battery for you for free. If it uses water, then it could be low or empty. I don't recomend those (water filled), even the sears maintenance free one unless maybe you have all the stock parts that cool the battery.

Thank you for being kind

Give yourself a little credit man, I think you diagnosed this one right on the nose. If not, then we're both wrong.

Frank

New battery is cheaper to replace than new alternator...

Try the cheapest first.

Yep, sounds like a new battery is in order.

As far as the gas smell, you are probably not imagining things. This is a very common issue with FD's. Sounds like injector seals are leaking or even missing. You may also have a leaking fuel pulsation damper or fuel hose. Don't ignore it, or you will eventually be posting about you unfortunate engine fire. We don't want to hear another one of those.

Good luck.

Jeff

My only advice is: Try to wrap up the problem description in the subject line so people who are surfing along can easily understand what the content of the thread consists of...

LOL! Sounds like the Mazda dealership screwed you again! You better track down that fuel problem before your FD goes up in flames. If the fuel smell is only under acceleration, you are probably not in any immediate danger. I had the same problem a while ago; do a search for my name and 'fuel' or something like that to find the threads. If you can't find anything let me know.

Is the fuel smell at hard acceleration or just any acceleration? If hard, I would suspect a blown LIM gasket along the secondary intake runner, especially if your car still has the paper gasket.

Frank

Get a battery tester from Radio shack for ~$10 and test the battery with the car on and off to see if the Alt. is ok.
My friend Mild7 just replaced his fuel pulsation dampener after a slight fuel smell which turned into a full on drip. $50 part buried deep under the rats nest :(

as long as you see over 12 volts at idle with the lights on...you should be fine. if its lower than that its probably the alternator not keeping up....13 volts or higher is nominal....just check across the battery terminals with a volt meter(battery tester, ohm meter, DVOM, whatever you wanna call it..lol)..if theres enough voltage to charge and still losing charge....then load test the battery to see if its holding a charge....and finally....if all else comes up clean but still no dice....then focus your attention towards the car....good luck!

Pull the battery and go to the auto parts store with it. They can test it. If it bad, buy a new one and hand over the old one for a "core refund" Save your self one tirp.