dug06824

I am having RX8 problems again after having the second battery replaced on my 05, in service date April 17,2006 ,I had the heat control module replaced as well about a week ago along with the new battery that died in 10 or 11 months. this morning after starting the battery warning light stayed on. after a three mile round trip including idling while getting coffee , I came out and now all instrument warning lights were on ,yet car was still running. had poor power steering but managed to drive thew 1.7 miles home ,Im guessing either a short all along that has not been addressed or alturnator ,on car less than 19k on it...any thoughts

dealer has to inspect first(they had car last week when they installed battery and module. shouldnt they have checked alternater then..

any easy tests with out having any meters ie disconnect battery while car is idling to see if it still runs

love the car when it runs , it runs now but something is wrong

Jedi54

iTrader: (7)

update: I plugged in my new fancy schmancy 'over kill' battery charger last night and found the battery was at only about 30%. Left it charging over night and used the alternator tester this morning.

battery % dropped like a rock after starting the car and the machine gave me a big fat RED light. (red = alternator not performing as intended)

New Alternator being ordered today for the low bargain price of $350. (pays to know peeps @ Ford Motor Co)
I'll check connections, etc tonight when I get home but all signs still point to a bad alternator and like Jeff said: the rebuild kit is just as much as a new one. Looks like I know what I'll be doing for X-mas.

Jedi54

iTrader: (7)

dug06824: sorry to hear about your problems, that sounds pretty unusual for a car with only 19,000 miles on it.

what you described is exactly what happened to me. When the power starts dropping, the car will being disabling certain things. With me, the DSC / TC was first to go, then the Power Steering, then finally the entire center Radio display.
Have the dealership check the alternator, I'm pretty confident you'll end up getting a new one under warranty

Jedi54

iTrader: (7)

update: The RX-8 is ALIVE!!!

I threw in the new alternator and the car fired right up. I was monitoring the battery voltage via my AP and it was holding steady at 14.4
I then turned on the headlights and cranked the stereo to 26. (subwoofers were pounding) and still the voltage stayed constant at 14.4 / 14.3

My guess is the voltage regulator kicked the bucket but since that guy alone is around $250, I figured a new OEM was in order. Either way, I'll probably find time to take apart the old one and do some tests on it down the road. If I can get it fixed, it'll be nice to have a spare lying around.
Zoom: do you know if they made a revision to the alternator? The one I got was identical with the exception of the part number ending in "B". Original ended in "A"

P.S. Alternator replacement isn't very difficult, it's just a pain in the *** to get the damn thing out. I ended up removing the intake rubber tube and sliding it out that way. be CAREFUL when taking off the rubber hoses from the intake, those damn plastic adapters break VERY easily! (ask me how I know )

MazdaManiac

iTrader: (3)

Good to hear.
Bad alternators are unusual.
There was a revision about half-way into the 2004 production run. I can't remember what it was about.
I have a "B" alternator in the car now and an "A" sitting on the bench. They look the same to me.

Jedi54

iTrader: (7)

yeah, A and B look identical to me. voltage / amps are the same.
who knows what mazda is up to, I'm just glad to have a car again. Driving my Explorer was getting awfully boring

Easy_E1

iTrader: (2)

About time you got that thing fixed.

Jedi54

iTrader: (7)

I technically fixed it on Sunday but my buddy Tim decided it would be a GREAT idea to break one of those plastic adapters into a million little pieces. Swung by the dealership yesterday and plugged the hose back in today.

9krpmrx8

iTrader: (46)

I'm glad you got this fixed. I had these same issues but my first factory alternator was actually overcharging an screwed my ABS system and two batteries to the tune of $2500. I had that one rebuilt for $100.00 and it worked for another year or so and then it died (undercharging). The current one is working like a champ but thank god I had the Scanguage II because I saw the voltage dropping and I was able to pull into the Mazda dealer. When I was looking I couldn't find one new under $450.00.

Jedi54

iTrader: (7)

yeah, these are expensive little suckers. Sorry to hear you had so many issues with yours, that's a lot of $$$ in repairs thanks to an alternator.

Carputer is next on my mod list and you bet it'll be monitoring voltage.

Mazurfer

If/when you open the old one up, assuming it's like alternators of old........it's usually one(maybe two) of the diodes that crapped out. You can check those with a multimeter. Should be four of them if I'm not mistaken. Now you know why I have voltage displayed!

Razz1

One is marked "A"

One is marked "B"



Mu ha ha................

zoom44

thats actually true sometimes- often a revision in the part number means they just sourced it from somewhere else or are using it elsewhere so change the number so it reflects in literature that the part is for multiple vehicles

9krpmrx8

iTrader: (46)

yeah, my issues sucked because the idiots at one dealer (World Car Mazda in SA, Stay Away) did not find the problem yet a hole in the wall alternator place (Serrano's - Great guys!) figured it out in a minute. Thanks god for the extended warranty because it covered most of the damage caused by the overcharging. But I went through two new batteries.

Potentiated

Is there ever a burnt smell when an alternator goes?

I was driving on the fwy 24 hours ago and smelled a burnt, smoke smell that went away quickly. Stopped at the gym at about 10 PM and left gym at about 12 midnight. Car started fine, but back on the fwy smelled the same burnt smell that went away quickly again. Went home. Did not restart my car again until tonight (roughly 24 hours) and battery completely dead. Radio, interior lights, headlights, everything turns on strong when put keys in. But trying to start engine, no cranking at all. Used Black and Decker jump starter but surprisingly took 4 extended tries to get cranking. First 2 tries, wasn't really turning over. Drove on fwy for about 30 min and everything looked good. Came back home, stopped the car, and upon trying to restart, would not turn over at all just like before.

Battery is almost exactly 1 year old. No cels. No warning lights.

What do you guys think?

ZumnRx8

u know its said to check ur water level in ur battery every 3 mo. HELLO. If not ur battery charge can slowly weaken and eventually kill ur Alternator.

Potentiated

Apparently burnt smell was unrelated. Autozone tested and I needed to replace the battery. Within the warranty so I got a brand new battery for free. No problems now.

shaunv74

I just threw a cel for this today as well the crank sensor. I reset the sensor and plugged in my AP. CEL light has not come back yet. I am getting 13.5 at idle with my alternator. do you know what min spec. is for idle voltage?

Jedi54

iTrader: (7)

Shaun: I don't know the minnimum spec off the top of my head but I'd keep a close eye on it.

EDZRIDE

iTrader: (1)

14.25

shaunv74

oooh. Not good.

ReV-FoX

See i had the same exact problems, so i got my alternator changed. Then the charging system light came back on after the DEALER installed the alternator. So currently i'm hunting down heads of these jerks to fix my car..

laythor

and they replaced the battery?

sebarx8

iTrader: (4)

WAIT WHAT !!!!!! AL YOU WHAT ???? NO THIS IS TOO MUCH FOR ME HAHAHAHHA

SO THE 8 DOESN'T HAVE A YELLOW LIGHT IN THE INSTRUMENT PANEL LIKE THIS HEY BRO IS NO GAS IN HERE OH MAN

nycgps

iTrader: (1)

hmm ... you just quote a msg from like 2 yrs ago ...