So after 58k+ miles of nearly perfect operation, my car wouldn't start this evening. problem started when i put the key in, and turned it to the 'on' position. Normally in the 'on' position, all the gauge dummy lights, as well as the gauges and the speedometer would light up, kinda like at a pre-flight electronic check. Well this evening, when i put it in the 'on' position, no gauge lights turned on, only the security key light and the seat belt light were on, but instead of a solid light, both were flickering like it's running low on electricity, and the blue 'background light' around the 3 gauge rings were also flickering. As soon as I pull the key out, all the gauge needles started sweeping through its full range and the interior lights started blinking.

anybody know wtf is wrong with my car???? i suspect dead battery, but dead battery (which was only replaced 2 years ago via the starter/plug/battery recall) on such a new car also means something's wrong with the charging system. I'm gonna pull the battery and take it to Advance Auto to have it tested out, I hope that's all it is...

 

oh forgot to mention, when i tried to start the engine, nothing moved, as if there's no electricity to turn the starter, which is a sympton I recall when I had a FC that also had a dead battery, hence my suspicion that the battery is dead...

 

dead battery. check the bat leads.. make sure they were tight.

beers

 

well damn! they just weren't tight enough....







... yes the battery leaked and literally melted off my positive terminal.... and to think I actually drove to CT with the terminal looking like this *shudder*

time to order a brand new whole positive terminal assembly (yes the battery acid melted parts of the plastic of the terminal as well)

 

Oooops!
Wow............by the looks of that battery, tightening ain't gonna help!
BTW.................nothing to do with your issue..........how long you had that Revi intake? Clean the filter yet?

 

i cleaned it at 30k IIRC, now car is at 58k+...

 

smart like pizza... glad it was an easy fix..

beers

 

replacement lead and battery installed, and here's the requisite old vs new pic, guys please inspect your battery leads regularly, you never know when yer battery's gonna start leaking and ruin things like it did mine!!

yes the clamp piece on the old one was completely melted away by the battery acid lol

 

$48 list, I got for $24 via a friend that works at a Mazda dealership nearby

 

ewwwwwh,,,,

that is bad.. you should suffer more.. i at least got the bugs off my car on the same day..

beers

 

Good thing the battery didn't blowup. Still sucks that it did that damage and you had to pay for it.

 

I'm surprised it cranked the engine as long as it did. That is serious crud.

 

WoW ....

*Going to clean my battery terminal on monday*

 

Just documenting this for anyone that came across this thread on google as I did.

Just took my 2010 out of storage. It had been sitting for over a year. Battery had crusted both terminals over. After a new fully charged battery I had the symptoms described in the OP.

I took a wire brush to both terminals and scrubbed as much of the crystalized battery out of the interior of each terminal. Then I re-installed and tightened them quite hard. I was able to get the motor started just fine.