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96 mazda miata, 1.8l, manual trans. My problem seems somewhat simple but I can't seem to pinpoint it. I purchased the car about a year ago and after doing a considerable amount of work to it, it hasn't been driven much. A couple months ago I went to crnk the car after it had been sitting for about 2 months, needless to say I wasn't surprised that I needed to jump it off to get it started. Once cranked I drove it about 30 miles to charge up the battery enough to get it recrankable. When I got it back home I cut it off and tried to restart it immediatly. dim interior lights, weak door buzzer, and a few clicks from the starter were all I got. I repeated the jumping off and drove it some more to see if it corrected the problem. I did this a total of 3 times with the same response. I figured the battery was bad so I ordered a new one (glassmat type). Put the new battery in and it fired right up. Drove it a few times over the week and then it sat. I went to crank it the other day and it was totally dead. Figured parasitic drain. Jumped it off, drove it 60 miles, came home tried to recrank and got nothing. not even dim interior lights. Figured I burned up the alternator trying to recharge the battery so many times. Removed the alternator, disassembled it, everything checked out ok. Did replace brushes and cleaned a few things up while I had it out. Retested after reassembly and the alternator is fine, and was working sufficiently before anything was ever done to it.
Did I just get a bad battery or what else could be up? All cables are tight. Haven't reinstalled the alternator. I know I should have checked a little more in depth before I started changing parts I just figured were worn out. Anyone have any ideas?
This is a glassmat type battery and I do know that it takes a much slower charge to get it up to par. One amp max. Its cold and rainy out, one of the reasons I just replaced parts rather than digging in.
Did I just get a bad battery or what else could be up? All cables are tight. Haven't reinstalled the alternator. I know I should have checked a little more in depth before I started changing parts I just figured were worn out. Anyone have any ideas?
This is a glassmat type battery and I do know that it takes a much slower charge to get it up to par. One amp max. Its cold and rainy out, one of the reasons I just replaced parts rather than digging in.