mx5 going flat
Discussion
my 92 mx5 goes flat on me all the time. it has a brand new battery but somthing still seems to drain it completly. I no longer use the alarm cuz i think thats one of the problems but my lights have stayed on a few times while they have been down draining it also. I now leave my lights up when its parked so i can see that they are off but yet every now and again its flat again leaving me stuck at work. Any help would be great.
ps i don't know any thing about cars i just drive them!
ps i don't know any thing about cars i just drive them!
MX-5 Lazza said:
Is your lights stalk a bit loose? Sometimes they can get a bit worn so that the don't switch off properly or switch themselves on. If so it's easy enough to replace the stalk assembly.
This is why mine kept draining the battery. Get the switch fitted so the lights pop up when they're on.Also, it had a "wet" cell battery, which didn't like being sloshed about. If I did just standard journeys around town it was fine, but always ran down after a hoon. The battery was losing its charge as the water in it sloshed about. Replaced it with the proper gel battery and it was fine.
bubbles260 said:
im deff gona check out everything and see if i can solve the problem so that i can take my lil girl out of the shed with out worring that i get stuck somewhere
I'd check the lights first. Autolink fitted me an auto switchy thing that made the lights pop up when they were on. Turns out it was a lot. After that I drove around with the arm pushed forward.If not that, then check the battery itself.
5harp3y said:
check your stereo too
Could you elaborate please?I'm having a battery problem as well. Used to have a problem with the stereo earthing which I cured but thinking back that (may) be the turning point where my battery started to drain quickly. It's a Panasonic about 3 - 4 years old. Car doesn't get too much use and I'm trying to talk myself out of getting a new battery....
skinny said:
ah, i have never seen that happening! what's it down to, bad wiring?
Loose wiring in the "flasher" bit on the stalk. Causes it to flash and remain on even with the lights down. Autolink can supply and fit an inexpensive solution to make the lights pop up on activating the "flasher". This has the bonus side affect of meaning you can flash people with the main beams and they pop up. I started letting a lot more people out of junctions just to do my pop up lights!
Hi,
There are two things to check the alternator output and excessive draw on the battery. You only need a multimeter to check both. If your battery is in good condition the fault will be found checking the above.
Alternator: first check, does the red battery light come on when you switch the ignition on? And does it go out completely when the engines running?
Secondly using a basic multimeter measure the alternator output voltage. An alternator needs to generate between 13v and 15v to charge a 12v battery.
Excessive battery draw: Disconnect the positive lead from the battery, set your mutlimeter to amp/current setting and connect one probe to the battery positive terminal and the other to the lead you disconnected. Generally you will see a draw of around 20ma, this is things like clock, radio & ECU etc. If you have a reading any higher than around 20ma you've found your problem. To actually find out what's drawing start pulling out fuses until the reading falls, then you've found the circuit causing the problem.
Hope this helps
Matt
There are two things to check the alternator output and excessive draw on the battery. You only need a multimeter to check both. If your battery is in good condition the fault will be found checking the above.
Alternator: first check, does the red battery light come on when you switch the ignition on? And does it go out completely when the engines running?
Secondly using a basic multimeter measure the alternator output voltage. An alternator needs to generate between 13v and 15v to charge a 12v battery.
Excessive battery draw: Disconnect the positive lead from the battery, set your mutlimeter to amp/current setting and connect one probe to the battery positive terminal and the other to the lead you disconnected. Generally you will see a draw of around 20ma, this is things like clock, radio & ECU etc. If you have a reading any higher than around 20ma you've found your problem. To actually find out what's drawing start pulling out fuses until the reading falls, then you've found the circuit causing the problem.
Hope this helps
Matt
Edited by mmaatt25 on Tuesday 24th May 21:26
Thanks for the diagnosis - it appears we have the same problem on our mk1 with the main beam staying on.
Does anyone have a link to a part number? Presumably I don't have to buy the full stalk assembly like this?!
http://www.mx5parts.co.uk/product_info.php/product...
Does anyone have a link to a part number? Presumably I don't have to buy the full stalk assembly like this?!
http://www.mx5parts.co.uk/product_info.php/product...
heckler said:
Thanks for the diagnosis - it appears we have the same problem on our mk1 with the main beam staying on.
Does anyone have a link to a part number? Presumably I don't have to buy the full stalk assembly like this?!
http://www.mx5parts.co.uk/product_info.php/product...
Yep, that's what you need if you really want to fix it. Alternatively, just push the stalk forward when not using the lights.Does anyone have a link to a part number? Presumably I don't have to buy the full stalk assembly like this?!
http://www.mx5parts.co.uk/product_info.php/product...
My wifes MX5 has had this problem recently and it turned out to be the interior light being left on by having the switch to the left, the reason it was not spotted is the fact that the switch was not reliable and needed a good "using" as the light did not always come on.
We hope its cured for good.
We hope its cured for good.
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