MAZDA MAYHEM: Jumped car--> Put in Park/Reverse --> Car stalls!

Maintenance/Repairs
1

Hi there,

quite frustrated by now:

  1. Didnt drive car whole of sunday

  2. CAr wouldn’t start on monday, jumped car, let it idle for 20min. Put in Drive = car stalls.

  3. Jump car again, let idle for 10min, drive around the block a few times, Put in Park = car stalls.

  4. Get car jumped yet once again, didn’t let it idle for too long, then put in reverse = car stalls.

With the engine off I get 12.5V on the multimeter, and 14.5V with the engine running --> so the alternator works.

The battery terminals are relatively tight. But there is a voltage drop of 0.5 from positive post to positive terminal.

What is happening when I put the car into park./drive/reverse that is causing it to die?

Only experienced mechanics reply, and no useless troll replies please (this is a serious issue)

Had to bus in the freezing cold to work today.

Thank you for the sincere replies.

Mazda Protege 1.6L

2

If you’re that desperate, why don’t you include the year of this Mazda?

Tester

3

2000 if it makes any difference.

Now do you have any idea what the problem could be?

4

Me thinks we are getting close to finding out how much longer this car will last . As one the OP’s other threads asks.

4 Likes
5

Not necessarily, just because it’s putting out voltage doesn’t mean it’s putting out enough amps.

But are they clean and shiny?

6

can we stick to useful replies on my thread please.

7

Yes I scrubbed them. Starting to think its less of an issue.

8

Im also thinking the cold weather has something to do with it?

9

It sounds like you are trying to operate the engine with a failed battery. If you need to jump start the engine each time it stalls the battery doesn’t have much charge or has failed. If the battery has no internal resistance the system voltage will be unstable and the engine will stall.

4 Likes
10

Thank you for for trying.

So if the car stalls when being shifted into REverse/ Drive …this is because of a weak battery?

11

Honestly I recently ( a week ago) sprayed them with terminal anti corrosion spray.

12

If the battery has no power the engine may stall, voltage spikes from the alternator will cause the PCM to shut down. When moving a vehicle with a failed battery from the parking lot to the shop we leave the jumper pack connected so the engine doesn’t stall.

13

But the wierd thing is that I let the car idle for 20 minutes! and drove it around the block…so this should definitely be ample time for the alternator to charge the battery (the lights got gradually brighter has the car was idling).

So this means the battery isn’t holding a charge?

14

In your original post you stated that you had to jump start the car twice after letting the engine run for 20 minutes, does that sound like a good battery?

Did you remove the battery terminals from the battery when you cleaned the battery posts and clamps?

3 Likes
15

Not an experienced mechanic, just a diyer, but concur, seems like a battery problem of some kind or the other. The stalling problem could be that the ecm needs to re-learn the engine parameters. It may have lost them when the battery went dead. If I had that problem after I knew I had a good battery properly installed and no check engine light or diagnostic codes I’d just drive the car a few more days and see if the stalling problem seems to be resolving itself. May take a couple weeks or more of learning before it returns to normal.

16

Did it stall when you shifted to reverse OR when you stepped on the brakes and turned on the brake lights before shifting to reverse?

Everything so far in this thread is pointing to a bad battery or alternator .
A bad battery will overwork the alternator and burn it up.
A bad alternator will drain a battery down and kill it, or overcharge and cook it. Car batteries can’t take either kind of abuse.

If you figure out which one it is soon enough, you can usually avoid the other.
If you wait to long you’ll have both.

17

Yes I did, but the cleaning of the terminals was a week prior to the stalling saga

18

Stalled after I shifted, not when I braked…why what is the difference?

I heard that when you shift, the idle drops?

19

The brake lights used up to much of your electricity.

20

Thanks for the post.

Relearn?

How come in the past, like last week, when I disconnected the terminals to clean them, and reconnected them I did not have this issue (when the weather was warmer)

I tend to have battery issues when the weather drops more frequently.

I think I will go to walmart get battery keep receipt lol.