Protege Electrical Problem - Tilted Forum Project Discussion Community

Melraidin · 10-11-2003, 09:56 PM

My friend is having a problem with her '95 Mazda Protege. We put a CD player in it about a year ago and everything was fine for awhile. Over the past 4 months or so anytime that she leaves the car and doesn't start it for more than a few days the battery dies.

She has taken it to a garage, where they said the stereo was wired improperly. She had it disconnected and didn't have any problems for awhile, but during this time she always had the car running at least a couple times a day.

Just the other day I went to jump her car after she had been away about 5 days. The next day it was dead again, jumped it and pulled the radio. The day after that it was dead again.

This is leading me to the obvious conclusion: the radio isn't the primary cause of her problems. I don't believe it was hooked up wrong when we installed it, but even if it were it's not what's causing her problems now.

I believe it's simply a battery that's absolutely killed, and if she were to put a new battery in it would fix things. Does this seem reasonable?

Does anyone have any suggestions for other possible causes, or ways to diagnose her problem?

lt1s10 · 10-12-2003, 01:22 AM

Looks like you're going to have to get a new battery if it's been drained as many times as you say. Most non deep cycle batteries don't take well to being completely discharged and charged very many times.

After you replace the battery check current draw from the battery with everything off. Should only be a few milliamps at most if you only have to power small things like an alarm, clock, etc. If current draw seems high start checking wires.

First start with the leads for the radio. Did you pull 12V line from a constant source that's always on even when the car is off. If you did and the radio stays on even while car is off there's your problem. Or maybe you crimped some of the factory wires differently to create a complete circuit that is drawing power.

If that doesn't solve anything or radio is completely disconnected and all wires capped so they don't short or ground against each other the problem is more hidden. Start at the fuse box and try to identify the circuits that are drawing power then check to see if they should be drawing power while the car is off. Something could have shorted when the radio was installed.

Could also be if she only makes a lot of short trips. There could not be enough time for the battery to charge while the car is running. A new battery will fair better but an older battery will probably die before it's normal life is up.

10-11-2003, 09:56 PM	#1 (permalink)
Melraidin Upright	Protege Electrical Problem My friend is having a problem with her '95 Mazda Protege. We put a CD player in it about a year ago and everything was fine for awhile. Over the past 4 months or so anytime that she leaves the car and doesn't start it for more than a few days the battery dies. She has taken it to a garage, where they said the stereo was wired improperly. She had it disconnected and didn't have any problems for awhile, but during this time she always had the car running at least a couple times a day. Just the other day I went to jump her car after she had been away about 5 days. The next day it was dead again, jumped it and pulled the radio. The day after that it was dead again. This is leading me to the obvious conclusion: the radio isn't the primary cause of her problems. I don't believe it was hooked up wrong when we installed it, but even if it were it's not what's causing her problems now. I believe it's simply a battery that's absolutely killed, and if she were to put a new battery in it would fix things. Does this seem reasonable? Does anyone have any suggestions for other possible causes, or ways to diagnose her problem?

10-12-2003, 01:22 AM	#2 (permalink)
lt1s10 Crazy	Looks like you're going to have to get a new battery if it's been drained as many times as you say. Most non deep cycle batteries don't take well to being completely discharged and charged very many times. After you replace the battery check current draw from the battery with everything off. Should only be a few milliamps at most if you only have to power small things like an alarm, clock, etc. If current draw seems high start checking wires. First start with the leads for the radio. Did you pull 12V line from a constant source that's always on even when the car is off. If you did and the radio stays on even while car is off there's your problem. Or maybe you crimped some of the factory wires differently to create a complete circuit that is drawing power. If that doesn't solve anything or radio is completely disconnected and all wires capped so they don't short or ground against each other the problem is more hidden. Start at the fuse box and try to identify the circuits that are drawing power then check to see if they should be drawing power while the car is off. Something could have shorted when the radio was installed. Could also be if she only makes a lot of short trips. There could not be enough time for the battery to charge while the car is running. A new battery will fair better but an older battery will probably die before it's normal life is up.