I'm a newbie here and don't know much about cars so I'm hoping for a few words of wisdom. I just bought a used 03 LX Protege a month ago with less than 30000 miles on it. Twice now it has died on me; the first time it happened I was in a traffic jam and was doing a lot of stop and go movement. All of a sudden the engine completely cut off and would not start or even crank. I got it towed to my house, but the next morning I tried starting it and it started up and ran like a champ. The second time happened the other night; I was in long line at a drive thru, stop and go, and the engine cut off again and would not start or even crank. Same thing happened, towed it home, tried it the next morning and it started and drove fine. I'm still under factory warranty, but I tried calling the Mazda dealership about the problem and I was told that if it runs fine now, there's nothing they can do unless it was not running or somtihing was actually broken. They offered to do a diagnostic, but that is not covered under warranty so I would have to pay over a hundred bucks for them to do that. Does anyone know what would cause this to happen? And could it be something as simple as a weak battery?

 

I'd check your ground cable for the battery. Sounds like an intermittent ground. Take a look at the battery end of the wire and see if there is any corrosion there or if the cable is loose. Then trace that cable down to where it attaches to the body, then same thing. Both ends need to be fairly corrosion free to give a good ground for the electrical system.

No ground, no spark....then no crank.

 

Would this explain why the engine cut off? I understand that without a good connection, the engine will not spark or crank but would that also cause an engine to stop while idleing in stop and go traffic? Thanks for the reply and if anyone else has input, it is greatly appreciated.

 

When the engine stalled and were trying to start up and would not even crank over what did the dash warning lights do? Come on at all? Normal brightness or did they dim considerable when turning key to crank position? Same with headlights if they were on and you remember. Sounds like a possible internally shorting battery. Your car battery is basically composed of 6 individual 2.1 volt batteries wired in series to create a 12.6 volt battery. Much like installing 4 AA batteries in a flashlight. Each battery is only 1.5 volts but when you put four together they put out 6 volts for the lamp to run. If two cells or your car battery short together then available voltage drops to only 8.4 or less which is just not enough voltage to create a good spark let alone to crank over the engine. A good load check of the battery and also cables and connections as sstlaure suggested would be a good thing to start with.

 

If I remember correctly, the dash lights came on to full brightness with the key in ready position, but when I tried to crank the engine, they did dim as did the radio display. From both replies I've recieved, it sounds like the battery is the problem. I'll bring it in and see what happens. Is the battery actually covered by the original factory warranty? Some of my friends have said no. Thanks for your input.

 

It is covered under normal warranty but at a pro-rated amount.
For the first year is covered 100% parts and labor.
During year #2 Mazda pays for labor and 50% of battery price.
Year 3 Mazda pays labor and only 25% of battery price.
If your warranty also covers for 4 years as a 2003 model should then during year #4 Mazda pays labor and only 15% of battery price. You end up paying remainder of battery cost in each case. Replacement battery from dealer will probably be around $85.
Many parts stores will do a free battery test so might not be a bad idea to get a few different checks done.

 

Just got my battery checked and the guy said that it was bad. replaced the battery for $60 with a 2-year warranty. connections looked good, no corrosion. hopefully that was the problem and I won't be stalling out in line at the Taco Bell drive thru anymore. Thanks a bunch for all your help babyhuey and sstlaure. If I have anymore problems, I'll post again.

Actually, I haven't looked around in these forums yet, but does anyone know off-hand how much it would typically cost to install a spoiler on my car?

Thanks again for all the help.

 

Well here's hoping that the battery was the cause of all of your stalling problems

A rear wing spoiler from Mazda will run you around $350 for the part and labor should be 1 1/2 - 2 hours labor. Not sure what labor rate is in your area. Can get the OE spoiler for about $70 less at www.onlinemazdaparts.com.