MikeD

I went out to my car today, sat down and tried to start the car and absolutely nothing happened. Jumping the car had no positive results. The interior lights come on and the radio backlight was faint, but I noticed that the clicking of the starter was non-existent which led me to believe the problem to be more than a possible dead battery. I went so far as to check the main fuses and all are intact.

I have a couple possible causes in mind (namely the starter as I alluded to above, and the ignition coil), but thought I'd ask some of you who may have experienced the same problem. The search function yielded no helpful results.

Can anyone say it is definitely the starter based on experience? I'm pretty sure my assumption about it is right, but not 100% positive since I've never had to replace it (120k miles on the original). Before I go buck and buy parts, thought I'd get a second, third...etc opinion.

Lastly, should I replace the coil for good measure? I know there's no performance gain to be had from this.

5SpeedP5

well i dunno if your car is a manual.... but i sure hope so in this case!

have you tried doing a rolling start yet?? if that wont start it, than something sure is fucked!

MikeD

Actually, it is an auto.....otherwise the roll the car and pop the clutch technique would have been something I tried. Thanks though for the suggestion.

mazdaspeedwest

have you tried bypassing your alarm starter kill relay, if so equiped? another thing to check, since it's an auto, is the neutral safety switch.

MazdaspeedDX

my car is a 1994 protege that was driven about 400 miles a week, then my dad bought a new protege and gave me his old one, i dont have my license yet so we just parked it. i would start it everyweek and let it run for awhile. but i went to do it one time, and it would turn over but not start and then start clicking, but i think the problem is that the battery is the original from 1994 and it would run everyday and charge, but now that its parked it doesnt start, we are gonna jump it tomorrow hopefully it will work.

p.s. it is a stick shift, so if that doesnt work ill try to do a rolling start

Funky Buddha

Could be that little switch by the shifter...if that's called the neutral safety switch (don't know). Had that happen to me beforee...I was freakin out cause I was installing my deck and tripped it somehow..

mazdaspeedwest

the little switch by the shifter is the "shift lock relese" so you can move the shifter without the key being on and hitting the brakes. Thats not the "neutral safety switch" i was refering to. I'm not sure where it is, but when that fails, the silence when starting sympton is what it will do.

mazdaspeedwest

well acording to my electrical FSM, the "Inhibitor switch" as Mazda calls it, it right on top of the tranny...large harness and connector. There is also a 10amp main fuse that may have blown. It's in the engine bay fusebox.

MikeD

Thanks for all the help guys. I did check all the fuses/switches etc and they were all fine. It turns out the battery was beyond dead. I went for the easiest fix and bought a new battery and it seemed to be right on. I've had batteries die, but not to the point that the starter wouldn't at least click. I'll have to check the charging system ASAP to be sure it is operating as it should.

islandpro

Glad to hear your up and running again. i have had one battery that was completely dead. when i got my car last year it still had the factory battery in it. for a week it did fine. until i let it sit over a weekend with driving it. came out monday morning and nothing. Yeah check your charging system. but it just could have been the battery was shot.