Hello everyone.
I’m a long term MX-5 owner, rather embarrassed to only now be joining the group - I’m not brill at social stuff I’m afraid.
My first 5 was a 1999 mk 2 which I used as my daily commute and hill climbed at the weekend. It converted me both to MX5s and convertibles in general.
When the running/repair costs became unsustainable in 2016 I gathered my savings and treated myself to a brand new mark 4. I love Nigel to bits, he’s a joy to drive and always puts a smile on my face - I even enjoy (the end result of) washing him.
For a while he was my daily commute, but since I retired he gets used about once a week.
Which brings me to the disillusionment …
Something is vampiring the battery - it can’t even hold a charge for a week now.
We replaced the battery with a new, Bosch one. No improvement.
I asked the garage to check during annual service - they basically patted me on the head and said the battery was fine (I knew that!)
I stopped doing short trips.
During last weekend we drove from Cheltenham to Bath on the motorway, from Bath to Corsham and Corsham back to Cheltenham - three 1-2 hour runs on consecutive days. As always the runs were sheer pleasure.
Being busy at home all the following week meant he sat on the drive for 6 days. This morning, just enough power to open the door, not enough to turn the engine over or even raise a small cough.
Is this a recognised fault? (Can’t see anything obvious on the forums)
I really don’t want to get rid of him, but is it time to cut my losses do you think?
(Sorry if this is a bit of a rant for my first post!)
Hi
My car is a 2019 model,battery is original and seems perfect,although I try to use it even in the winter at least once every 3 weeks it holds the charge perfect,as your car is so new and still under warranty I would take it back to your Mazda dealer to check it out,and offer you some advice and his views,I feel if yours is going flat in a week something is def very wrong with the car.
All best Simon
i dont think you need to change cars. its probably something really silly and simple thats draining like the boot light staying on even when the lid is closed or something like that.
its just a case of finding the what ever it is thats draining it.
as its under warranty just keep on at your dealership and make such a nuisance of yourself that they fix it to get rid of you! i find that always works!
My bad, put the wrong date in (now corrected) - not under warranty any more sadly. Very useful to know that yours is still fine even after 3 weeks though!
My bad, put the wrong date in (now corrected) - not under warranty any more sadly.
We’ve tried checking the boot light (leave a mobile phone inside on camera mode) and it seems fine.
I may still try being a nuisance at Johnsons though!
I would suggest that you purchase a smart charger so you know that it will start. They are available from £20 upwards and would make the perfect Christmas present.
Haven’t left a bluetooth OBD2 reader plugged in to the diagnostic port have you?
I don’t know how much those take; probably not a lot but it’s a thought.
Is the battery drain in cold weather or in Summer too?
I had battery failure with my ND in Winter - so dug out the old motorhome C-TEK 5 battery conditioner and keep it attached it to the battery when the car is in the garage over the Winter, which keeps it fettled and means it starts when I want to go out through the cold months - even if I haven’t fired it up for a couple of weeks. Still have the original 2016 OE one, which is fine at holding the charge in warmer weather.
Many thanks for all the suggestions and ideas.
We’ve checked out some of them already - I’ve never used the cruise control so unlikely I think, and we can’t find anything plugged in that shouldn’t be, and we’ve checked the boot light. This is a relatively recent phenomenon but started in the summer (though I suspect winter is exacerbating it).
Next step is probably the auto-electrician, or putting pressure on the main dealer to look again.
It could be a leaky/dodgy earth. I have had this in the past on cars and recently on my wife’s Fiat 500.
Disconnect the battery earth lead and clean the terminal and earth clamp thoroughly. Then trace the earth lead to the next point it attaches to. Possibly the gearbox or chassis/engine bay earth point and clean these thoroughly too.
Sometimes manufacturers take the earth from the battery and connect it to the gearbox casing then use another jumper lead to make a follow-on earth connection the bodywork/chassis. Clean these also.
Not sure how its done on an ND but worth checking.
Okay so there can be a fault with the bluetooth module that drains the battery …
This post is form 2013 but ‘feels’ relevant:
In summary:
“This fault with the faulty Bluetooth module discharging battery while parked, has occurred in other MX’s according to dealer feedback ,so worth considering, if you or anyone else has similar problem”
Ford ka and fiat 500 can have the same fault. However their mileage indicator flashes constantly to highlight the fault.
Its a shame there is no such fault indicator on the mx5.
Do you use one of those solar power chargers that plug in to the accessory socket when the car is not in use? I had one it worked ok for 2years then I started experiencing similar issues to what you described, at first I thought oh battery has gone so got a new one, same thing happened new battery went very weak in about 2weeks so I put I on a smart charger. In the meantime I lent the solar charger to my daughter as her car was going to sit for about a week it did the same to her battery completely dead the charger would not even try to charge it just threw an error back.
Must have developed a short circuit I suspect not had problem since stopped using it
Well on the fiats and ka’s the bluetooth module has a permanent live connection an faults to earth So whether on or off it will still draw fault current even when the ignition is off. The only cure is to either replace the module and sync it or to get to it and unplug it efectively doing away with bluetooth
