Bad ground(s)?
#1
Bad ground(s)?
My apologies in advance for this long post, but I'm at my wit's end.
I have a 2003 Mazda protege. I inherited it from my dad after he put a battery in with the terminals backwards, fried a bunch of stuff, and now it doesn't start reliably, particularly when it's really cold (<20 degrees fahrenheit). Here's the symptoms:
When I turn the key, the engine turns over very, very slowly, almost like the battery is dead. I have eliminated the alternator and battery from the problem by testing/charging/replacing them. The starter has also been eliminated from the equation by replacement. Similarly, so have the plugs/wires.
Recently, it took me nearly 15 minutes and jumper cables to get it started. Interesting, the check engine light came on, so I got a code reader and here's what I got:
P0340 - Camshaft position sensor A circuit (bank 1 or single sensor)
- Using an ohmmeter, I tested the camshaft position sensor and confirmed that it was within normal range.
P0090 - Fuel pressure regulator 1 control circuit
- Not sure what this means. I need to spend some time on Google looking this up.
P0660 - Intake manifold tuning valve control circuit / open bank 1
- Again, not sure what this one means because I haven't looked it up yet.
Now here comes my "car voodoo". I've noticed that if I turn off ALL of the accessories (dome light, blower motor, cruise control, and especially the rear window defroster), the car is about 65% more likely to start.
I suspect that there is a bad ground that got fried in one or more wiring harnesses when my father's battery incident happened. I bought a Haynes repair manual, hoping I could images of the wiring harnesses like I've seen in so many other repair manuals, but unfortunately, they don't seem to have them.
Does anyone know where I can get a FSM without paying $300 for it? Alternatively, pictures highlighting the wiring harnesses and grounds would be great.
Thanks in advance, and thanks for reading my long post. I've been troubleshooting this for 2 years now.
Cheers,
Rick
I have a 2003 Mazda protege. I inherited it from my dad after he put a battery in with the terminals backwards, fried a bunch of stuff, and now it doesn't start reliably, particularly when it's really cold (<20 degrees fahrenheit). Here's the symptoms:
When I turn the key, the engine turns over very, very slowly, almost like the battery is dead. I have eliminated the alternator and battery from the problem by testing/charging/replacing them. The starter has also been eliminated from the equation by replacement. Similarly, so have the plugs/wires.
Recently, it took me nearly 15 minutes and jumper cables to get it started. Interesting, the check engine light came on, so I got a code reader and here's what I got:
P0340 - Camshaft position sensor A circuit (bank 1 or single sensor)
- Using an ohmmeter, I tested the camshaft position sensor and confirmed that it was within normal range.
P0090 - Fuel pressure regulator 1 control circuit
- Not sure what this means. I need to spend some time on Google looking this up.
P0660 - Intake manifold tuning valve control circuit / open bank 1
- Again, not sure what this one means because I haven't looked it up yet.
Now here comes my "car voodoo". I've noticed that if I turn off ALL of the accessories (dome light, blower motor, cruise control, and especially the rear window defroster), the car is about 65% more likely to start.
I suspect that there is a bad ground that got fried in one or more wiring harnesses when my father's battery incident happened. I bought a Haynes repair manual, hoping I could images of the wiring harnesses like I've seen in so many other repair manuals, but unfortunately, they don't seem to have them.
Does anyone know where I can get a FSM without paying $300 for it? Alternatively, pictures highlighting the wiring harnesses and grounds would be great.
Thanks in advance, and thanks for reading my long post. I've been troubleshooting this for 2 years now.
Cheers,
Rick
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Jerrythewhale
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11-28-2016 06:09 AM