Dear forum,

First off I am in tech school for the USAF and I DO NOT have my car here with me. It is currently sitting in my dad's garage until I get to Langley. I also don't have enough time to search the vast reaches of this forum for someone with the same exact problem as me.
The car is an 04mt with 80000ish miles on it. I replaced the plugs, wires, coils and battery about 3 months ago (right before I left). And I have the old starter, but have never had an issue with it. My dad said he drove it about every other day just so it didn't just sit there... honestly I don't blame him, I would rather drive an 8 over a Ford Five Hundred any day. As far as his driving habits, it varies from grandpa to thinking he is in Gran Turismo. Just depends on the day I guess. He also never turns the car off cold. He knows that much.
So his exact words were "the battery is dead. When I go to jump it, it turns but never turns over. He says he'll charge the battery for 15 minutes or so too sometimes. Everything lights up when he goes to jump it, it just never starts.
Any info would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,
Rich

 

It couldn't hurt to have him take the battery to an auto parts store that will charge and test the battery for free. If you trust your dad working on your car, you could have him take the starter with him and have the auto parts store check that too. Another easy thing to do is to clean the Eccentric Shaft Sensor. Since they're magnetic they pick up all kinds of junk from the road and make the car do weird stuff when they're dirty.

Good call on replacing the plugs, coils, and wires. Those seem to be trouble areas with the 8.

Worst case, on one of the Gran Turismo days your dad blew the seals and you need an engine rebuild. Easy to check by a compression test. But, I've heard only the dealer and a few repair shops have the ability to test the compression on a rotary.

Good luck and Thank You for your service!

 

You might also check out Mazda Service Bulletin 01-015/08 titled "Engine Cranks No Start". It gives some things your dad could do before you have the car towed to a repair shop or dealership.