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- - Help Please (https://www.mazdaforum.com/forum/mazda-protege-23/help-please-2067/)

Okay I have a 2000 Mazda protege, and I thought maybe one of you could help. I just got a new battery for the car about 3 months ago. Well I took it in to get the wheels fixed the other week, I get it back and my car dies. I find out my alternator must of went, so we replaced it. Then the battery light wouldn't go off, and it died again. So we replaced that new battery with a new one. Now it's been fixed for a little bit over a week and the battery light came on again the other day. I would just like to know what it is, I have a new alternator and a new battery, please could someone help. I'm not good with cars at all!

It's possible the new alternator you got was a dud. I'd try to put a charge to the battery first. If it won't take any change, pull the battery and alternator and have them checked at an autoparts store. (Hopefully you saved the receipt from the alternator, it should have some kind of warranty.) It's possible you might have an electrical short somewhere causing a drain to the battery. Try and follow each wire harness to make sure there aren't any exposed wires.

I would not think it is a brand new alternator, probably a remanufactured unit. If the alternator was purchased at one of these big chain stores with the "lifetime" warranty, I would bet that is the problem. They are not known for a quality rebuild and commonly fail very fast. The purpose of the "lifetime" warranty is to keep you coming back to the store to buy more items while you are there. I worked for one many years ago and during the training they told us this fact straight out, it a marketing thing. They don't care if it is an inconvenience to you. Enough of my rant. Anyways, long as there is no damage to the wiring and connections are tight, that is most likely the problem. As stated above charge the battery first. Most people do not know that the battery light means a charging system problem, they usually rush out and buy a battery and the light is still on.