Today we drove our 2014 CX-5 with 15k miles on it for 40 minutes then parked it for breakfast. After 1 1/2 hours we go back to our car and it's dead. FOB does not work, door locks, Emergency flasher all non-working. walk through troubleshooting procedure with Service Dept. over the phone, but it did not help. Dome lights work, but they were not as bright as normal. My wife mentioned today, that this has happened off and on about 5 times previously, which I did not know about.

The Mazda service guy recommended I call Mazda Roadside Service. They came out about 1 hour later. He hooked up the portable battery and bingo the car started beeping and instantly started. He said the batteries being installed in new cars are very cheap (as-in $15 Mazda cost).

We drove straight to the Mazda dealer. They looked at the car for over an hour but did not find any issues, presently or stored in the code reader. We just had the car in for its 15k maintenance check 2 weeks ago to the same dealer. I mentioned I had read stuff online (while waiting for the Roadside service guy) that a number of owners had the same problem we were experiencing. He played dumb.

No accessories were turned on. The outside temp is 50F. You could leave the headlights on for the 1 1/2 hours without issue most of the time. And remember we had just driven it for 40 minutes before turning it off. So it should have been "juiced up". It is now sitting at the dealer for overnight evaluation. They did provide a free loaner.

I worked in a service dept. for a major electronics company for 35 years. If a customer sends in a unit ($50k item) with what seems like a legit complaint, and we found no problem (cannot duplicate it on command), we would have to change out one of the usual suspects. If the same unit came in again, we would try the next suspect. We couldn't just do nothing and return the unit to the owner.

 

UPDATE APRIL 20, 2015

After having the car overnight, they could not find any thing wrong. So we made an appointment with the dealer we bought it from (1 hour away). We drove our CX-5there today. They did the same tests and found no issues. Got a call from Mazda HQ about my issue two days ago. They would call this dealer while the car was there. They said there was not much they could do since the failure could not be repeated on demand by this dealer either.

My only option at this point is to get a wiring diagram and troubleshoot it myself. There has to be something (big relay?) between the battery and the system devices that makes it appear the battery is dead, but in reality is not allowing full battery current to reach even the basic features like the dome light, locks, and flashers.

 

We have a 2014 Grand Touring CX5 with 19,000 miles. The only time I've had battery trouble was when we first got it. I had pushed the Start/Stop switch, to turn car off, without putting the transmission in Park (it was in neutral). Therefore the electronics were still "active." It was cycling thru: radio on/off, windshield wipers on/off, heater on/off etc. I would hope that they would re-engineer the car so you can't push the stop button without putting it in Park first!

 

We have done that before with no issues. You'll hear the engine stop with a different sound, kind of a "thunk". We then usually put it in park, restart it, then stop it again. I don't know if that made any difference with our car.

I was able to find some wiring diagrams online that I could print out. When I get some time I'll poke around with my multimeter for some clues while it's working OK.

 

Brand new car haven't made my first note yet. The battery was dead and had to charge it. Nothing was left on. I've read some of the forums about not putting it in park when you turn the car off. On this occasion I did not have it in park. So I'll see if this is my issue. Read comments on how this was not everybody's issue. I will give an update if this battery issue happens again.

 

If the battery is dead can you move the shift? I'll have to try it with the car off to see. I don't think we had it in something other than Park.

If you can drain battery power just because it's in Park, I think it's a flaw that needs to be fixed.

 

Yes with my foot on the brake I was able to take it out of drive and put it in park. But from what I have read leaving it in any other mode besides park is what is draining the battery. I never left the car in drive in any other car I've owned I think not having a key is throwing me off because I have done this several times since I bought this car. And I agree if leaving the shift in drive drains the battery that's definitely a flaw.

 

I can't stress this enough, The number 1 thing you must do with these cars is lock the vehicle, with the remote, when not in use.

It doesn't matter where you park your car, it must be kept locked.

 

Grim-reaper, does locking the car with FOB do some sort of system clear or reset to put everything in standby mode?

Why is locking the car with the FOB different than using the buttons on the door?

 

It basically talks to all the modules ( computers ) & checks everything is ok .It wont lock unless the car is in park ( if its a auto ) & the ignition switch is fully off.

Also only when the car is locked will the modules go to sleep, otherwise they can stay in standby mode and rapidly ( over a few days ) deplete the battery.