2007mazda5
Member
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- 2007 mazda5 sport
The facts:
2007 Mazda5
31k miles
Automatic Transmission
About 14 months ago I started having this problem when I would go a short distance....like taking the kids to school. I dropped them off and went back to the car and it wouldn't start. It was still very cold...maybe last March or April. I tried everything I could think of, shifting into and out of gear, rolling the car back and forth,changing the battery in the fob... etc, etc. Finally I had it towed to the mechanic as it was already past warranty. He called me a couple hours later and said it must have been a simple problem with the security system and it was all set now. He said he went out and it started right up.
All set it was.............NOT! It started doing this more and more often. The second time (about a week later)I had it towed home. The next morning, low and behold it started! I mad an appontment with the dealer I had bought the car from, brought it in and they took a look. They came back and said they could not replicate the failure.(It rarely happens if you drive any distance over say 10 miles.) They did tell me one cell of my battery was "really low"and reccomended that I replace and that would probably take care of the problem. I grudgeingly accepted and paid (overpayed really) for a battery I determined later that I didn't even need. (Another story altogether...they actually gave me my money back for that battery). I left, and wouldn't you guess within a week it was doing it all over again. I called an booked another appontment to bring the car back in. But not before I did some serious wire jiggling under the hood. I was actually trying to locate the starter which is kind of hidden. In the chaos under the hood I did locate the alternator and a real mess of wires at the front of the engine compartment. Wires of various gauges and with various connectors. I figured at least one of these MUST be connected to the starter or some component thereof. I later determined I was correct. One time when it happened again I actually reached in and jiggled some of these wires/connections around and without waiting the seemingly required 2-12 hours....IT STARTED!!! Thinking this MUST be the root of the problem when I arrived for my appointment with the dealer, I went back with them into the service bay and told them about my "jiggle the wire technique" and offered that whatever I was jiggling may be part of the problem and in turn I deftly demonstrated my technique for the technician.
They actually agreed sort of. They replaced an s-cable and sent me on my way thinking they had solved the problem. Although all it looked like they did to the car was splice a small piece of wire in there and wrap it with electrical tape. Indeed it seemed that whatever they had done worked because it didn't start doing it again for about 9 months. Only now it was the middle of winter. What can I say? I have jiggled and jiggled and twisted and scratched my arms and hands all up. I've walked miles.....up hill..... with my kids in tow...... twice.
So in a nutshell I am wondering if anyone has had a similar issue.
The symptoms are:
After starting the car COLD and driving a short distance and shutting the car off...it won't restart.
It doesn't even click when I turn the key.
The dashboard lights up perfectly.
The alarm/security system is working fine.
Shifting the lever doen't help.
Jiggling some random wires under the hood used to seem to help and now it seems not to......it just makes me wait for an hour or 2 before decinding to turn over.
So whaddya think?
Is there a starter relay?
Could it be the starter?
Alternator?
What does the mysterious s-cable connect to? and why did it work for the better part of a year?
HELP PLEASE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
2007 Mazda5
31k miles
Automatic Transmission
About 14 months ago I started having this problem when I would go a short distance....like taking the kids to school. I dropped them off and went back to the car and it wouldn't start. It was still very cold...maybe last March or April. I tried everything I could think of, shifting into and out of gear, rolling the car back and forth,changing the battery in the fob... etc, etc. Finally I had it towed to the mechanic as it was already past warranty. He called me a couple hours later and said it must have been a simple problem with the security system and it was all set now. He said he went out and it started right up.
All set it was.............NOT! It started doing this more and more often. The second time (about a week later)I had it towed home. The next morning, low and behold it started! I mad an appontment with the dealer I had bought the car from, brought it in and they took a look. They came back and said they could not replicate the failure.(It rarely happens if you drive any distance over say 10 miles.) They did tell me one cell of my battery was "really low"and reccomended that I replace and that would probably take care of the problem. I grudgeingly accepted and paid (overpayed really) for a battery I determined later that I didn't even need. (Another story altogether...they actually gave me my money back for that battery). I left, and wouldn't you guess within a week it was doing it all over again. I called an booked another appontment to bring the car back in. But not before I did some serious wire jiggling under the hood. I was actually trying to locate the starter which is kind of hidden. In the chaos under the hood I did locate the alternator and a real mess of wires at the front of the engine compartment. Wires of various gauges and with various connectors. I figured at least one of these MUST be connected to the starter or some component thereof. I later determined I was correct. One time when it happened again I actually reached in and jiggled some of these wires/connections around and without waiting the seemingly required 2-12 hours....IT STARTED!!! Thinking this MUST be the root of the problem when I arrived for my appointment with the dealer, I went back with them into the service bay and told them about my "jiggle the wire technique" and offered that whatever I was jiggling may be part of the problem and in turn I deftly demonstrated my technique for the technician.
They actually agreed sort of. They replaced an s-cable and sent me on my way thinking they had solved the problem. Although all it looked like they did to the car was splice a small piece of wire in there and wrap it with electrical tape. Indeed it seemed that whatever they had done worked because it didn't start doing it again for about 9 months. Only now it was the middle of winter. What can I say? I have jiggled and jiggled and twisted and scratched my arms and hands all up. I've walked miles.....up hill..... with my kids in tow...... twice.
So in a nutshell I am wondering if anyone has had a similar issue.
The symptoms are:
After starting the car COLD and driving a short distance and shutting the car off...it won't restart.
It doesn't even click when I turn the key.
The dashboard lights up perfectly.
The alarm/security system is working fine.
Shifting the lever doen't help.
Jiggling some random wires under the hood used to seem to help and now it seems not to......it just makes me wait for an hour or 2 before decinding to turn over.
So whaddya think?
Is there a starter relay?
Could it be the starter?
Alternator?
What does the mysterious s-cable connect to? and why did it work for the better part of a year?
HELP PLEASE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
