My Mazda Died :(

[joshb003]

Well had my first problem with my Mazda 2, died in the middle of an intersection today.

I had a full tank of gas, (filled 2 days ago) and after driving approx 25 miles to work, I stopped at a stoplight, started accelerating and then she died on me. Wouldn't start and just clicks when the ignition is turned. Had to get her towed to the dealership who is looking at it tonight.

Any ideas what this could be? It has me extremely confused :/. Glad it's under warranty though.... hopefully this ends up being a warranty issue.
I'll keep ya guys updated.

**also the dealership told me that we don't get free rental cars. Is that true? I thought that when warranty issues arise, we always get free rental cars? (He ended up giving me free "just to be nice" he said)

 

[Macabe]

Could be a bad alternator. My buddies car has a bad alternator and he can unplug the battery terminal which causes the car to die.

 

[OrangeVirus1]

if it was just clicking.. dead battery. I got a free rental car every time my car was in the shop. that is bs. I got a free car for like a week hah.

sounds alot like dead battery, dead alternator

 

[joshb003]

I hope it is something easy to fix such as that!
Kind of sucks having the car towed etc :/ (the tow was free)

As long as it's covered under warranty I won't be too mad about any repairs, glad to have it happen now instead of later. And the new mazda 3 skyactive I have for a rental is awesome haha.

 

[Macabe]

I got a rental for for almost a month for free. Car was sold with a defect that blew the motor.

 

[joshb003]

Also, just to clarify there was an issue with the car prior to bringing it in. I hadn't drove it for 4 days (out of state) and when I came back, it was cold in MN (from 80 to 35), and my TPMS light came on.

I checked tire pressure and was at 28 instead of 32 in one tire. I was heading to discount tire before work when this happen. I know that it's totally unrelated, but I figured I'd share that just in case.

Oddly.. the TPMS light went off before the car died -.-, I was like sweet just have just been the cold. Then about 2 miles later boom dead haha.

 

[Macabe]

I don't think that would cause it to die. Unless that's one insane monitoring system.

 

[joshb003]

haha, indeed. Just thought I'd note it.

One dude on the phone asked me if I accidentally put E85 or diesel into it, and I said no.
Don't think that could have happened. I filled up on Sunday, and I drove the car yesterday and Sunday with no issues, so I doubt it's bad gas. What's your opinion of that theory?
*I'd assume for bad gas it would die slowly or sputter etc, this scenario was a stop, accelerate, and dead.

 

[OrangeVirus1]

putting E85 in it wouldn't cause that. I have ran full E85 before on my car ( turbo ) but when I took it off I still had half a gas of E. it ran like s*** but ran. Diesel...IDK.. but it wouldn't just click it would still crank

 

[o0n8]

diesel would make it smoke bad until the plugs got to fouled up to spark. Everyone in a 1 mile radius would know something was wrong with your car. I would guess alt unless some how it popped a fuse. A dead battery usually doesn't get you until you try to start the car, not while it's running but I wouldn't completely rule it out.

 

[Macabe]

Sounds like a bad alternator. If the alternator is bad it won't recharge the battery and your car will die running or not. Hopefully that's the problem.

 

[joshb003]

That makes sense! Thanks for the suggestions. I should find out more tomorrow, and will update this thread when I do.

 

[Ryno666]

Stock batteries suck probably that.

 

[DrWebster]

**also the dealership told me that we don't get free rental cars. Is that true? I thought that when warranty issues arise, we always get free rental cars? (He ended up giving me free "just to be nice" he said)

My understanding is that they're supposed to give you a loaner if they need to keep your car overnight.

 

[ScorpioGTX1]

haha, indeed. Just thought I'd note it.

One dude on the phone asked me if I accidentally put E85 or diesel into it, and I said no.
Don't think that could have happened. I filled up on Sunday, and I drove the car yesterday and Sunday with no issues, so I doubt it's bad gas. What's your opinion of that theory?
*I'd assume for bad gas it would die slowly or sputter etc, this scenario was a stop, accelerate, and dead.

You can't even physically put diesel into most gas-powered cars. The nozzles for diesel pumps are significantly wider and thus do not fit.

 

[PGTBrow]

Yea no matter what fuel is in there it would have at least tried to crank had it been getting voltage. But as a side note, DO NOT PUT E85 in a vehicle that is NOT flex fuel as it reacts with the coatings in the fuel lines. I've worked a few insurance claims with the same issue....

 

[joshb003]

Well found out what's wrong!

It's the fuel pump. They've ordered one and should be installed tomorrow. I wonder why the heck that went wrong lol... but no worries, it ended up being free

 

[genericmoniker]

My fuel pump went as well. But that happened at the same time my PCM went. Whether it was the cause, or was affected by the PCM no-one will ever know. As by the time the dealer got the problem sourced the PCM, battery & fuel pump were all dead.

 

[joshb003]

Well I'm hoping I don't end up having the same trouble as you!

Crossing my fingers that this will be the only fix that I require haha.

 

[genericmoniker]

Yeah, it put quite a hamper on my mood, but hey! It was free. Best of luck with the proceedings, I haven't had a problem since.