Mazda :: 1988 - Red Lights Come On The Dash And Then Fade Out To Black
Nov 7, 2013
Deliver mail so make many starts and stops throughout the day. I drive a 1988 Mazda 323 manual transmission. Recently, it has had trouble starting in the rain (like it isn't turning over). When it isn't going to start, the red lights come on the dash and then fade out to black.
The first time I noticed it, I was running the lights, windshield wipers, radio, rear window defogger and the a/c on and off to clear up the front window. It eventually started. The mechanic replaced the battery.
The next time it wouldn't start, I had accidentally killed it and was running the lights and windshield wipers and radio. It eventually started. The mechanic replaced the alternator.
The next time it wouldn't start, I only had the the lights and windshield wiper on. It eventually started. The mechanic replaced the distributor cap and wires.
Now today, it wouldn't start again but eventually did. I had the lights and windshield wipers and radio on. I turned off the radio before trying to start it the second time and it started.
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I'm a rural mail carrier driving an '88 Mazda, manual transmission. Recently noticed that sometimes the car won't start. Didn't have it looked at yet, because it always starts for the mechanic. One of the times I tried to start it and it didn't start on the first try. It did start on the second try and then the keys fell out onto my feet. I put them back in and kept delivering mail. Previous to that incident, I thought the keys were "loose" in the ignition.
So, I switched to a different keyring with only that key on it. Still have incidences of the car not starting. All the lights come on the dashboard when I try it but it doesn't make any noise at all, not even the ding ding ding, you're seatbelt's not on.
I think maybe it might be the battery. It seems like that was it the last time when all the lights came on but it didn't make any noise. However, I don't think a low battery should make the keys fall out. That's not normal, is it?
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I have battery on charger now. I assume the BCM is the regulator by feeding current back to the field? If so could the growling be the BCM feeding back a huge field and the rectifier bridge growing? And the BCM fuse blew because too much current to alternator field coils? Will it start with a charged battery with the BCM dead? I need it to run to get to the parts place. Which fuses do I need to check? Then, how do I check the alternator, wiring, BCM regulator to find original problem?
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I have just bought a 1988 740gl turbo and I was driving it the other day and when i came to a set of lights just as i stopped the car stalled on me then wouldn't start...
I left it for a hour or so came back and it started and i drove away and only went a few kms home.... what would this be I haven't driven it since!!
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So I just purchased a 2011 F350 6.7 this week...I've had absolutely no problems until I drove it to the dealer just to get it detailed...I give the salesman my key and he comes back and says it won't start...we tried numerous time to start it...put jump boxes on both batteries and nothing...had full power to all accessories but when attempting to crank it would black out on the dash screen and give me a "stop vehicle" warning....does this deal with security?....also after hassling to get rental for a hour or so,we tried agian and it fired right up?!?...also it started double honking when locking. ..is that due to the hood being up?
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I"m getting a tapping sound coming from the dash. It happens every time I start the car(hot or cold engine) and lasts for about 10 seconds. It also happens when I adjust the fan speed for the heater/AC, NOT when I first turn the blower motor on. The noise was completely gone after I removed the heater fuse.
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1997 Plymouth Grand Voyager SE 180K 3.3L
I read other threads about the connections under the hood, both sides, which I unplugged and replugged. I also pulled the IOD fuse for a little bit. Then I removed the cluster and looked it over. Looked good to me.
Got code P1698 for manufacturers assembly control or something to that effect. Thought I checked all the usual culprits. The dash lights work fine, so does everything else. The dash gauges just don't work. This is something that has been an intermittent problem with the dash gauges going out periodically when hitting a bump. It leads me to believe a connection. But I checked all those.
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Today i blacked out my tail lights and reflectors in my bumper using dia-wyde spray. Here are the results of this...
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My 2006 Prius wouldn't start yesterday. The dash lights blinked on & off and the fob was locked in the dash. About 5 mins. later it came out. I was able to jump start the car with no prob. I drove to the dlr. & they checked the bat. & charging system. They found no problems, but said I might want to R & R the bat. as it's 5 yrs. I want to stick with the stock bat. Aalso stated that the bat. was fully charged & when I went home I plugged in my battery tender. The car was wired for the tender already although I haven't had the need to use it until now.
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I drive a 2002 Mazda Protege and it's been great to me until this past weekend. I had a 4.5-5 hour trip ahead of me and Google Maps told me a more direct route (i.e. not using the interstates) would save time. It must have erroneously assumed that the highway comprising basically the entire trip would be speed limit 55-65 the entire way. Instead, I found myself slowing down to stoplights and stop signs in small villages between 15-minute sprints. At some point, the interior heat stops - the air being pulled in from outside is not being warmed at all, no matter what settings I fiddle with. Not long thereafter I notice a rattling noise behind the dash. From inside the car it sounds almost like an animal skittering around in the chassis - irregular, short and clipped. With the hood up and an ear to the engine, it sounds like a piece of plastic fluttering in the wind, but with a faint electric "crackling" quality. Soon thereafter the check-engine light illuminates.
Before long the engine overheats and I pull over to the side of the road. Nothing appears to be leaking, and the crackling sound is the only thing noticable. Being in the middle of nowhere, I jumped back in and proceeded to drive at about 35-40, which was warm on the engine but enough to get me to a small town. At this point I checked the coolant reservoir and it was empty. Bought some from Wal-mart, poured it in, and headed out. Things looked fine at first since the engine had sat cold while I was running errands, but pretty soon it was overheating again at speeds as low as 30mph. After getting it towed to my destination, I took it to a garage the next morning. They couldn't find anything wrong with it, and indeed when I drove it back to the hotel that morning the engine behaved normally, the check-engine light was off, and the interior heating was functioning properly.
The next morning, when it was time to depart (but again after an entire night of sitting in the cold), a 20 minute drive to breakfast was smooth as before. Thinking that the mechanic had either waved a magic wand or I'd gotten extremely lucky, I hit the highway and did 65 for a good 20 minutes until the engine began to overheat again. Slowing down to 45 bought a few more minutes to find an exit, but eventually I had to pull over. Popping the hood, I notice the coolant in the reservoir is bubbling to the top! Thinking the mechanic might have added more and overfilled it, I cursed him in absentia. After a good fifteen minutes of cooling off, the coolant settled and in fact drained the reservoir entirely; I refilled it to the line and, again being in rural snowtopia with few options, decided to hit the road again. Not wanting to tempt fate, I stuck to 55mph and the car ran fine for an hour and a half (with the interior heat blasting, per a friend's advice). I stopped once to check the coolant and all was as it should have been - just below the line I'd filled it to earlier. Closer to a city, I decided to experiment again and took the speed up to 60mph.
This was great for 20-30 minutes but eventually the engine began overheating ever-so-slowly and I had to pull over, let it cool off, and replace another full reservoir's worth of coolant that had disappeared before I kept going. I drove the rest of the way home going no faster than 55mph and stopping on occasion to check the coolant. It overheated once even while doing 55mph, but a 15 minute break + coolant refill bought it the rest of the trip. In summary: Although not 100% correlated, going faster than 55mph seems to trigger the engine overheating, at which point the rattling noise appears and the coolant begins to bubble its way back up the reservoir (like it's boiling?!). I'm not sure how the coolant is disappearing because I'm unable to find any leak, nor is there any extra exhaust that would suggest it's burning.
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In a recent show a listener described the exact problem I just started to have - the dash hand brake light pops on when i go over bumps or up my driveway . It was a fluid level problem but I don't remember which it was. Was it brake fluid or power steering fluid or something else?
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2003 F150 Super Crew. I replaced a dead battery and now notice the climate control quits working (blacks out) after a few seconds, and a battery light comes on the dash. If I turn the truck off and wait a moment and then restart, the climate control will light up and work but after a few seconds, same thing, it blacks out and quits, battery light on the dash.
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Have a 2005 Mercury Mariner Premier, 108k miles, 3.0L engine. Was driving last week and the ABS light came on. Then slowly the dashboard lights dimmed to black and lost electricity. All this within a couple miles of driving. Limped home and tested the battery - dead. Recharged and tested the next morning - still fully charged. Put another known good battery in and drove about an hour out and on the way home same thing happened.
I suspect the alternator, but on testing, the alternator is pushing 14.3 volts on a good battery. My fear now is the tear down necessary to change the alternator if it is not actually bad. Anything else I should look for / test before I start pulling the alternator out? Any other tests of the alternator that I can do while it's still installed?
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