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1990 Mazda MX-5 Miata – Complete power loss on crank

Home Forums Stay Dirty Lounge Service and Repair Questions Answered Here 1990 Mazda MX-5 Miata – Complete power loss on crank

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  • #895117
    Jasper de LaatJasper de Laat
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      PLEASE NOTE: I already managed to fix this issue, but I can’t seem to figure out why it fixed the problem, maybe one of you can help me find the reason in order to improve my understanding of vehicle electrics.

      The car in question is a 1990 Mazda MX-5 Miata with a 5-speed manual transmission and a 1.6L engine, completely stock.

      Back in August this year, I had three occasions where upon starting the car, it would (attempt to) start to crank and completely lose power. By losing power I mean that the starter, instrument cluster, HVAC, radio, power windows (basically, everthing) permanently lost power. The power would fully restore after reconnecting the negative battery cable. I first took my battery to a repair shop for a load test, and it still was in good condition. After the third time of this happening, I cleaned up both battery posts and it has not happened again ever since.

      I’m quite glad I managed to get it fixed with such an easy fix, but up to today I have questions on why I fixed it, and hopefully someone here can help enlighten me. The main question that is still stuck in me: Assuming I had a bad battery post connection, how can all my car’s electric systems stay completely out until I reconnect the battery post? Permanently lowered voltage? Something else?

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    • #895118
      Nightflyr *Richard Kirshy
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        Poor battery connection at the post is quite common.
        Excessive high resistance will limit / prevent current flow.
        My guess is due to the poor connection, when attempting to start the car would cause an arc and break what little contact you had.
        By removing the terminal and reattaching (without cleaning ) you managed to gain a slightly better connection that would ultimately fail again.

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