Battery Life ND

Technical Area Electrics & ICE
2

Here’s a tale to tell.  I used my ND RF on the Summer Bank Holiday for a reasonably long run and then went on holiday the next day returning 20 days later.  My RF was left behind the house out of sight for that period.  On my return I needed to re-arrange my car parking and needed to move the RF.  It would not unlock!! Ah says I must be something wrong so unlocked the car using the key from the fob.  Still no power ergo…dead battery!!! This was a Sunday evening so I called Mazda Assist, the RF only being a few month old.  Out came the breakdown vehicle with his booster charger and started the cat.  I have never seen so many flashing lights and warning messages in my life along with a very lumpy steering wheel.  I immediately shut the car down not knowing what was happening and neither did the breakdown man!  You need a recovery says he!  OK lets leave it till the morning when the local dealership will be open (only 12 miles away).

Next morning different guy comes out without booster/charger and we sit and wait another 45mins for one to arrive.  He starts the car leaves it running for a while then drives it down to the breakdown truck.

Once at the dealership ‘You have a flat battery’ they say and it will take a couple of days to charge it.  It should be OK then.  Why I ask did the battery discharge?  Is there a fault somewhere with a high current demand? ‘Modern motors have a large drain on a battery so if you are going away for a couple of weeks or more, take these fuses out’ (they show me 2 fuses one of which is called ‘HOME’

I suggested that this cannot be right and that the battery should last longer than 20 days without being used! No comparison but I do have a 2015 estate car that started first time and that gets less use than the MX!

I wrote to Mazda UK and asked advice and their replay is copied here:

Dear Mr Scott

Thank you for the e-mail and the letter.

 We are very sorry to hear the battery in the MX-5 had drained whilst parked on the drive and note the comments about battery charge expectancy.

 The MX-5 battery is quite small and modern cars draw around three times as much electrical current due to the demands for power hungry ‘creature comforts’ installed, as well as the alarm system and keyless entry system. It takes longer to fully charge a modern car battery than people realise and if the car constantly does small journeys it will have an effect on the longevity in which it will hold a charge.

 We would not recommend removing the fuse as this would stop the alarm from sounding (although the immobilizer would still work) For the periods of time when the vehicle is not being used we would recommended to using a generic battery optimizer/ conditioner for a 12V lead acid car battery. This will trickle charge the battery when needed. Dealerships use these for their showroom vehicles which stand around for periods of time not being driven. A battery optimiser is readily available to purchase whether it be a solar powered or mains controlled is the customers personal choice. This will keep the battery in good condition, extend its life and give reassurance the car will start. Additionally regular long runs in the car could double the battery’s life.

 As mentioned about being parked at an airport for a number of days, maybe a solar trickle charger would be the best option?

 If there is any additional information required, feel free to call us on 03457 48 48 48. We are here between 9.00am to 6.00pm Monday to Friday.

 Yours sincerely

Adele Marshall

 

Customer Relations Manager
 So the message to all ND owners is that if going away for a long time and not using the MX then you need a battery optimizer!! I still don't believe that this should be the case and that they have seriously underrated the battery!

I never had this issue with my Mk3.75 or any other car but there you are!

Any comment!

3

Our ND battery does not last long when not in use. After 2 weeks the voltage is down to 12.3. It does start at that voltage but the drop on starting is BIG so I make sure it is topped up.

I was a little surprised myself but accept that modern vehicles have a continuous drain and top up the charge every 2 weeks. I have a ‘conditioning’ type charger but being old school I prefer to do it my way.

I have not checked the amp/hrs of the Mazda battery but have experience of Caterham batteries that are under 30a/h. These also need careful treatment if not used on a weekly basis.

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4

Mine seems ok, never had any problems in over a year.  Was away on several occasions for a week or more, ND started first turn when getting home.  There was a thread some weeks ago about the 3 position boot switch, One is off, one is on and the other is on when boot open and out when closed. If the switch is in the on position the light will still be on when the boot is closed.

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5

Had a similar problem early in ownership.  Short journeys, not enough time to replace power used to start car, run systems etc., = flat battery.  Got an Optimate, fitted permanent connector and plug in car after (nearly) every run.  No flat battery since.

6

Not entirely a modern car problem, back in the 90’s my VW Corrado 2.9 VR6 when parked at

airports for 7/14 days regularly need VW Assist to start the flat battery.

VW eventually traced the problem to the electric windows & fixed it, I cannot remember how.

Wonderful car especially once it was supercharged!

7

Thanks for the warning Scottie.  I guess the battery must be c. 40Ah which is on the small side but not unusually so.  As to being underrated, maybe the issue is more the rate at which the battery discharges while the car is parked, or possibly even the size of the alternator?

Batteries are of course heavy - even a 40Ah one is about 12kg.  Weight was presumably the reason for the puny Panasonic batteries in the older models. 

Fortunately I have a CTEK that I used to (had to) connect to my Mk2 so I’ll make sure I use it over the winter when the car will be much less used.

 

8

My car mk3 is just over 10 years old and is still on the original battery which is permanently connected to a Numax battery conditioner.
After arriving home at 7pm after yesterdays rally in the rain and a little tired i put the car in the garage wet through without connecting the conditioner, which played on my mind a bit with it being over 10 years old, this afternoon i checked the voltage of the battery before trying to start the car and it was showing 13.1v.
I have a volt meter tapped into the boot light loom which i can turn on or off as i wish.

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I have had my ND over 18 months now, and it is regularly tucked up in the garage for 4-6 weeks without being used.

Fortunately it has started first time, every time for me - I sincerely hope that this continues!

 

10

check my rf today and found battery dead have not had it out for a month its six months old not good me thinks

11

Try driving it; works for me and no problem with the battery. 

12

My previous MK3.5 would stand for weeks at a time over the winter and always start first time, i’m now wondering about my recently purchased ND.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

13

yes, if its like my ctek charger it will come with a plug on leads you can fix to the battery permanently, so all you then have to do is connect the plug on the charger to the plug on the car… simples.  I’ve had my NB connecte up permanently when in the garage for many years now.

Just to clarify this topic is specifically about battery issues with the ND and more specifically some recent issues with the RF so please read the first post and comment accordingly to keep it on topic… 

 

 

14

My ND is purely a toy, I drive it when I want to not when I need to, so its regularly sitting in the garage unused.  I’ve not had any problems so far but coming into the winter months now it is likely to be used even less. 

15

There have been times when I haven’t used to the car for 10-15 days on a few of occasions with no problems with starting.

16

Well it appears that I am not the only 1 with a battery drain issue.  I do note that many of the above replies indicate the NC, which I have never had any trouble with but what I would really like to know is if this issue is with the RF version of the ND (Mk4).

I know that a couple of the responses are for the ‘drop top’ and Fredcool (in a private message) suggests that the USA are also having issues with battery drainage!

Interesting! I wonder if it is just the RF and why?

17

Well… I would imagine that the sophisticated roof ballet sucks up a lot of energy 

18

I had exactly the symptoms described in the first post with my ND Rf a few weeks after buying it.

 

I had used the car regularly and for some reasonably long journeys for about three weeks but then I kept it in the garage for three weeks while I was away.  Going into the garage afterwards, I tried the keyless entry - nothing.  I used the physical key and got in but everything was dead, not even the interior light worked.  I have rarely seen a battery as dead as this was.  I had a booster handy so I connected it and the car fired up but, just like in the first post, there were more lights than a Christmas tree.  I guessed that they were due to the extremely low charge and took the car on a gentle, safe run on a quiet road.  If the revs were above a certain level, the car was fine but if I slowed down, the steering got lumpy (presumably power steering not working) and ABS and other lights came on. 

 

I ran the car for a bit and these problems went away so I left it on charge over night and everything was fine in the morning.  Now I keep the car attached to my Opti-Mate charger whenever I put it in the garage.  I did call my local dealer and got a response very similar to that in the earlier post.

 

I acknowledge what Mazda say about modern cars but, frankly, that’s just nonsense and they are attempting to cover their backsides IMO.  I currently have other modern cars and a couple of not-so modern cars that I can leave for much longer with no issue.  I am aware that the following extreme example really isn’t like-for-like because the car in question had an engine stop-start system (and so had a more robust charging and battery system than average) but I had a Nissan Juke which also had all sorts of electrical “creature comforts” - as Mazda UK might say (even more than the ND) and I once left it in my garage for almost 6 months after which it started right on the button without a hiccup.

 

My impression? Mazda have given the ND a small, lightweight (in every sense of the word) battery to keep weight, cost and whatever down and it isn’t up to the job of keeping a charge for a suitable length of time.  Either that or they have messed up elsewhere and the car draws too much current when it’s switched off. Either way, it’s far from ideal; particularly in a car that many people will have as a second car to use on “high days and holidays” rather than a daily driver.

To me their official line about “creature comforts” etc is just flat out denial to avoid having to deal with the real issue.  It’s not like a car manufacturer to do that though eh?

 

While their suggestion of a trickle/maintenance charger is a good one for cars likely to be laid up for a while, it shouldn’t be necessary when leaving a car for 2 - 3 weeks (e.g. a summer holiday’s duration, especially if this might be in an airport car park or similar).  IMO all they are doing there is abdicating responsibility and passing the buck for their design flaw to the owner. It’s not like a car manufacturer to do that either though eh?

 

I probably sound grumpier about the issue than I am.  Now that I know it exists, I just keep my car on the Opti-Mate and it doesn’t affect me massively.  However, I really do feel that Mazda have made a mistake here and are adopting the old sloped-shoulders “nothing to do with me mate” defence rather than tackling it properly.  And that does bug me.

19

 

  I’ve never had that problem in my ND soft top.  Sounds really worrying if that’s an RF feature!

My ND has a 45Ah battery, if the RF has the same maybe that could be at least part of the problem.

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I think it was simply that the battery was so flat that when the revs dropped to idling kind of levels, the alternator wasn’t providing enough charge to have everything running as it should be and so the power steering wasn’t working properly.

 

I have experienced a similar feeling on another car entirely with a very low battery and it hasn’t happened again with my Rf since I’ve kept the battery topped up so I’m assuming that’s all it was.