When the ignition is turn on, it does not turn over. After 45 minutes, it starts without a hickup. This has been going on for a few days.
This is a black Mazda6 V6 Sport edition. She has had one other problem in the past, where the whole car quit running while on the interstate at 65mph. She barely got it pulled over and it would not start. She had it towed but was able to start it once it was at the repair shop. The code mentioned a transmission issue, but didn’t offer any clarity to the dealership mechanics. They never solved the problem, but that did not happen again.
I mention both of these because they may or may not be related. There has been several months between the issues.
There were burn marks on the starter, so the dealership replaced it, thinking that was the issue. $600 later, the symptoms remain. Its not the battery because it starts eventually. The codes on the computer were supposedly “random garble,” so they have not done anything further and do not know how to fix it. Does anyone have experience with this issue or have any suggestions?
Thank you so much!
Just making sure before we make assumptions:
With “turning over”, do you mean that when you turn the key there’s no starting action? IOW, the starter does not turn?
Hey there! (I’m the “She” that he was referring to in the first post)
With no “turning over,” the car is dead silent - no click of the ignition engaging like you normally hear with a low battery. We’ve tested the battery with a volt meter, and had it tested by the dealership - it comes out fine at 12V. We’ve replaced the starter, and the dealership has tested the battery cables and re-flashed the abs.
We’re still holding trying to replicate the problem, and hoping the abs reboot will fix it. Sadly, from the last time we went through this, we may be seeing the same problems a few months down the road.
What year is it and does it have a vehicle inhibitor feature in its alarm?
If you don’t even hear the ‘click’ of the starter when you turn the key, it isn’t getting power. On simple cars, that voltage is usually controlled either directly by the ignition switch or a relay that’s controlled by the ignition switch.
An alarm’s vehicle inhibitor feature can be wired a million ways from Tuesday but a common way is to put another relay in series with the ignition switch, not letting a signal get to the starter or whatever is past the ignition switch to make the car start.
If your system is wired that way, that relay could very well be your problem so I’d ask them how the alarm is wired and what it does when it thinks it is broken into – and then start looking in that direction.
A factory installed alarm may very well have this extra relay in the fuse box under the hood. It may very well be marked as such. Check your manual on a description of your fuse box.
Since this problem is intermittent and if you have that inhibitor relay installed there, I’d just replace it myself. They are easy to get to and replace - they are also cheap.