Car kept dying, now won't crank over.
 

I was driving to a friends place tonight and the car died when I was in 3rd gear just cruising. I thought this was very strange, because it had never happened before... put it in neutral and started it back up.

Left my friends place later that night and it died on my way home. This time it wouldn't start back up. It tried to turn over, but it sounded like it just didn't have enough juice. I put on my hazards and got out and tried to push start it.
Got the car going about 5-7 mph and "tried" to jump in.

.... I ended up running over my foot, shoe fell off, and worst of all the car did not start. I pulled the car back up close to the curb, got out and grabbed my foot, and then limped back to get my shoe.

I tried again, this time being more careful when jumping in and it still didn't start. I called my friend to come get me and when he got there we tried to push start it. We couldn't get it started, so we pushed it into a side street. He dropped me off at home, and then I came back with my brother and some cables.

I tried to jump it, using all different places for grounds but it wouldn't turn over. What do y'all think this is? The battery could just be done? Maybe the distributor? The car is about 5 minutes from my house in a neighborhood side street.

Let me know what you guys think.

P.S. when I was driving today, I punched it in 3rd to get around a car and I heard a loud "pssst" (no it wasn't the BOV).... I knew the piping came off somewhere between the turbo and IC. (It happened the other day). I pulled the car off the highway into a discount tire. I checked in the same spot the piping came out the other day(which was right near the IC connection) and it looked fine. I looked around some more and noticed the piping came off right where it connects to the turbo.

It was a pain in the @$$ to get it back on, due to the lack of tools, shade, and I had to disconnect my power steering pump because the hose to the reservoir was in the way. (A lot of the fluid got everywhere). I looked around at the connections of the piping and they all seem to be good. One of them looks like it is going to come off soon, but figured I would readjust it tomorrow.

check your alternator belt tension and all pulleys. Sounds like your alternator is either bad or the belt is not tight enough to turn the pulley. If the battery is drained bad enough it might need to be charged for a little while so it can give enough nice to turn the motor over.

definitely the distributor :giggle:

+1 ,,Maybe you need to adjust the points

dye

Lol guys, he was probably referring to the coil pack. I talked to him on the phone and told him the basics already. Check for fuel/spark.

Possibly timing belt? Ecu problem? The car is running a Hydra.

Hes no genius with cars, but hes not a complete moron either.

Doug, update us on this after you check for those- hopefully we can get your car fixed buddy.

Being a smartass just comes so naturally for me though.

It won't turn over, or will turn over but wont start?

Ok.... get this. I went back to fiddle with the car yesterday. When I first got there I tried to start the car and nothing happened. I popped the hood and checked the fuse box. Fuses looked good...then just checked for any loose wires. Didn't see anything wrong.

I got back in the car and tried to start it again... go figure, it starts. :confused: By now, I have no idea what the heck is going on. I'm not sure how long it is going to be running, so I decided to leave the car I came in and try and get the miata home. Made it home alright and tried to restart it a few times and it did everytime.

So I have no idea what the deal is...

Thanks

I pretty much told you what the problem was, you just need to go fix it.

I checked the belts, they seemed pretty taut. If the battery was drained, shouldn't it be able to be push started still? Also if it were drained, how would it just start the next day? I never charged the battery, so it still had the same amount of juice or less than the day before.

Doug, i would charge the battery now that you have it home.. but i dont see why that or the alternator belt tension would be the problem. It cranks the same every time, but only starts some time? Maybe the starter finally went out, or is too weak to turn the motor over enough to start it? Since it failed so randomly, and still starts sometimes now... id look at replacing the starter (even if it doesnt end up being the problem, you know that car has a weak starter anyways). Also go ahead and check the belt tension, and throw the battery on charge.


GL, let me know whats up with it.

Hey bro, I just picked up my 2000 miata in Feb. Bone stock I had a problem where I couldn't find the fault. My motor would stumble and not hold idle. It would die out over and over again. If I picked the RPM up to 1500 or more then it would run fine. Not only did this happen off and on for about a week I wouldn't throw a code either. I traced it down to the crank angle sensor. When you call up mazda they'll ask upper or lower. It was the lower one. Cost me $99 and 10 min to replace but solved the problem. I don't know why they call the other sensor an upper crank angle sensor because it's truly a cam angle sensor. Oh well. Anyway bro, if you can, get yourself a diagnostic tool that can graph while the car is running. I picked up random timing marks from the back of the lower sensor and that's why I chose to replace it. With out one of these sensors the ECU believes that the motor is stopped and it shuts down your fuel and igintion. Good luck on your problem.

Just my two cents. If it was the starter it wouldn't die in third gear. Slow starting could be a lack of charge, bad starter, Or the starter getting hot. Sounds like the car may be getting hot. Have you checked your antifreeze. If air gets trapped buy the sensor it won't read hot. Ask me how I know.
Or was you running it hard earlier. It is just hot outside anyways.

If your battery was bad it wouldn't be good today. So It sounds like you are not getting fuel or... charge. or too much heat..... FI cars have to have 12 volts to the ecu before you can even push start.

I haven't messed with fuel lines on the miata much. Does it have a inline fuel filter. These will sometimes stop up. Enough fuel gets through to run 15 mins or miles. Then it Dies. You can't get it to start. You go for help. You come back the particals settle in the filter, and it runs for another 15 mins. These filters are tipical to do that. Check and see if it has one. It should be cheap to replace.

Check that belt too.
Hope that might help. I didn't have much detail to go by.

If your hazards are bright, or the car is turning over well, Your battery is charged and the altenator is working. Always turn you headlights on breifly to check brightness, if you are woundering about battery. And to figure out if your battery or altenator is out. Jump start the dead battery car and if it stays running after you take the jumper cables off, the battery is dead. But If it dies the second you take the jumper cables off it is the altenator. If it does this, take the ground off the battery after you jump it just to make sure it isn't a shorted battery,
And if it still dies as soon as you take the jumpers off. The altenator is dead.

But it sounds like a fuel, heat, or electrical problem (ECU, wiring, don't know) to me anyway.

Thanks! When it died the first time in 3rd I had romped the car a little bit, but it was at night so I don't think the car was getting too hot. I think it is a fuel or spark issue. I am going to take it in the shop soon to have it retuned anyways. Guess I'll limp around until then.
Thanks for the input guys, appreciate it.