My 2002 P5 died?
 

My 2002.5 (5spd Pr5) is a week from its first birthday. Last night I went to start it, and nothing. Not a thing. The Mazda roadside plan towtruck couldn't start it. This morning, another towtruck came by and managed to start it by sending some power to the other side of the main starter/alternator fuse (the 100A fuse), which was blown. But since that fuse brought power to the alternator, it wouldn't stay running.

Anyway, I had it towed to the dealer, who first said the fuse must have been blown by the jumpstarts.

My question is, any idea how the car could have died? The battery seemed dead, but I have no idea why. I left it for over a week, granted, but this has never been a problem before (could it be the rain we've had?). Was the dealer correct that the fuse blew when the trucks tried to jump it (incorrectly?)? Should I worry about the battery and alternator now, even if it was just the fuse? Has this happened to anyone else? thanks

No idea myself. But if the work done by the truck drivers did cause the damage I dont see how you could be liable for paying for it. Especially if the trucks were dispatched by the Mazda suppport people.

you left your lights on?

The lights are an obvious one, but I didn't leave the headlights on. I am near certain I didn't leave any interior lights on, but it's hard to check with a completely dead battery.

Yeah, the service guy's first reaction was to tell me to go to the parts counter and buy a new fuse. I said basically "I don't think so" since either the Mazda roadside guys did the damage, or it was defective. I'm sure he won't ask again. thanks

Do you have any aftermarket things in your car?

Stereo? Amplifier(s)? Alarm? Lighting? Anything at all?

All it would take is wiring something wrong, and you could drain your battery very easily.

~HH

I have had a similar problem. My P5 is not even 6 months old and every now and again it does not want to start. The last straw was about 1 month ago on a Saturday it took 15 min.s to start ending in a finale of thick blue and black smoke and a stammering idle. My problem seemed like the car was not getting enough fuel or possibly a spark problem. (Goddamn coil packs) I took it right to the dealer shortly after and they said it was probably a knock sensor or one of the sensors and they wuld check to see if it threw a fault code. After driving it for 15 miles and doing diagnostic work they found absloutley nothing wrong! I became superstitious and felt it may be the gas station I was going to and so I switched to one Mobil farther down town and now it has been trouble free. Again, I know my problem is aluittle different and if you are blowing afuse there may be a faulty harness somewhere. Go to a different dealer and get a second opinion. But wait to see if it happens again first. The dealers need for something to be broken upon arival before they can fix it. If it is something that happens periodically and isn't not happening when you bring the car in, then they will tell you its fine.

Thanks to all.

Well, the dealer fixed the blown fuse, charged the battery, and said they could find nothing else wrong. We'll see. I still have no idea how it happened, but it must have been some power drain I overlooked. I have NO aftermarket anything -- completely stock. So I'll pay attention to all the dome lights.

i was away for a couple weeks at x-mas but during that time my alarm went nuts and went off something like 3 times randomly my landlord tells me...anyways it killed my battery...ya got an alarm?