hello all

i think i may be running into a problem. i have had my 8 stored away for the winter and have religiously been starting it up once a week, letting the temp warm up and even rev the engine a couple times up to 3 or 4000 rpms. i have drivin in a few times just around the block for about a mile or so. However, the past couple times i have started it, the car has really struggled when trying to start. i am afraid now of flooding the engine. is my battery really going dead? i thought that starting it up once a week would prevent the battery from going dead on me.
also, how will i know if i flood my engine? will the car not start at all? if i need a new battery will mazda replace this for me?

pls help me out

 

Yes mazda will replace it for you. I had similiar problems, battery wouldn't stay charged enough to start the car for more than a couple days. They put in a nice juicy battery, think it was 680CCA 800 CA!


Just went into the dealer, said my battery was sick, they said "no problem, there is a campain to replace these, they are too small." Next day they installed, works just fine. My buy date was 7/18/03.

Good luck.

 

A couple of things. First, the OEM battery is not up to the task, so if you can get the dealer to replace it with the Mazda-recommended Interstate MTP-35, go for it. If not, you might consider purchasing one.

Second, IMO you are better off not just starting the car and driving it for such short distances/times, presumably to just charge the battery. The engine and spark plugs will not get hot enough to burn all the accumulating carbon off the center insulator/electrode and in time the plugs will fail when trying to start the car. You'd be better off purchasing a trickle charger with a maintenance function and periodically charging the battery.