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Fans = Dead Battery

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Old Sep 19, 2007 | 05:18 PM
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From: Des Moines, Ia
Fans = Dead Battery

About a week ago i installed the Mazsport cooling mod and noticed no problems. A few days after the install i noticed the fans turned on when i shut off the car ... the first time since i installed the mod. Later on i went to start the vehicle and the car barely turned over. did not think much of it untill two days later i noticed the fans turning on again after the car was jsus shut off... not a big deal used to always happen. I went out to start the car later on and the battery was dead. Just the normal dead battery click ya get. so i got a jump and everything was fine. does anyone else have this problem with the cooling mod?... if so is there anything i can do so this thing does not kill my battery when it turns itself on after the car has stopped and been shut off. One of my friends offered me a turbo timer he had laying around but i think its kinda odd/rediculous to have a turbo timer on a car just for the cooling fans. any suggestions and or help would be appreciated... thanks guys
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Old Sep 19, 2007 | 05:33 PM
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We have cheap low power batteries.

How old is the car.

Get a good battery.
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Old Sep 19, 2007 | 05:35 PM
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could be that your battery is weak already and the cooling mod has highlighted this ......
either that or you have it wired up so that it is constantly draining the battery .
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Old Sep 19, 2007 | 05:43 PM
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its on 05 so battery is not extremely old... and not much to wire really ... everythign is prewired, jsut the ground was ran. it only kills the battery when the fans start after the car is shut off. if i turn the car off and the fan is already running it does not kill the batt. but if noone else is having this problem i might look into replacing the batt. anyway . although the stock one should last longer then this correct?
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Old Sep 19, 2007 | 05:44 PM
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sounds like a fan control module common problem that is causing your battery to drain....if its still under warranty its a covered item
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Old Sep 19, 2007 | 05:45 PM
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batteries usually last a minimum of 3 yrs .
How long do the fans stay on for ?
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Old Sep 19, 2007 | 05:50 PM
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i am not sure since i installed the mod... but i know that before the mod it seemed like they stayed on forever... i will have to check it out next time they come on. if the fans come on and off correctly while the car is running then shouldnt it do the same if the car is shut off?
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Old Sep 19, 2007 | 06:01 PM
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pretty sure the reason they start is that coolant temp does go up after shutting the car down and because the water is not circulating it takes an age for the water around the thermostat to cool to below the trigger point .
I've never had this (fan turning on after motor is off) thing happen to me but I live in a cool climate .
You could email Mazsport direct on this ....
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Old Sep 19, 2007 | 06:03 PM
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it happens right after is hut the car off... like i shut if off.. open my door and as i walk past the hood i hear the fans kick on ... before the mod they stayed on for up to and or around 5 min .. never really timed it just a guesstimate... but i will send and email to mazsport also
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Old Sep 19, 2007 | 06:06 PM
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I would also get your battery checked . It should handle 5 mins without being drained .
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Old Sep 19, 2007 | 06:14 PM
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i totally agree about the battery being able to handle five minutes, and it handled it before the mod with no problem ... ... i will look into it and have it checkd. thanks for the help
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Old Sep 21, 2007 | 05:22 PM
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went to mazda today ... had an oil change... had them check the battery .... they told me that the battery was still good... so if the batt. is good what could it be now... and i also emaild mazsport... no reply yet
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Old Sep 21, 2007 | 06:10 PM
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you need to check the current draw on the battery when the key is off to make sure nothing is slowly draining it .
Hopefully Mazsport will have come across similar problems and be able to help .
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Old Sep 21, 2007 | 06:53 PM
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but when the car sits and the fans do not turn on ... the car starts perfectly fine. then battery does not drain .. so i dunno ... i will seee what mazsport says if they reply and might just replace the battery anyway
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Old Sep 21, 2007 | 07:04 PM
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. Your fans seem to be turning on more than for other 8 owners and now that your switch point is lower with the mod - the problem has worsened .

Switching of the fans is controlled by a temperature switch. It has an on temp and a lower off temp . This switch could be out of spec. causing the fans to come on too early and stay on for too long .

Just had a thought - can you take a picture of where you inserted the Mazsport temp sender unit .

Last edited by Brettus; Sep 21, 2007 at 07:13 PM.
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Old Sep 22, 2007 | 02:24 AM
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ok so earlier today i got my oil changed at mazda and they were supposed to have checked the battery .. which they said checked out fine... well tonight i stopped at a wendys ... went in got food ate came out and whala my battery was dead again ... so i was like ok ... maybe the mazda techs never really checked it ... so i pulled into advance auto and have them thow a tester on my car... battery checks out bad.... so i swap it out with a yellow top optima... drive to a friends house about 10 miles away and when i get out of the car ... i hear the fan turn on ... i think this is the perfect time to see if it was the battery ... i timed the fans .. ran for seven minutes.... after they shut off i tried the car and it started right up. later on in the night i parked the car and the fans kicked on when i got out ... ran for eight minutes. went to leave ... car started right up. so now i am assuming that the battery really was the problem and that mazda never really checked it ... just said they did but we will see as time goes on if things really have changed . thanks for the ideas and info though. Its always better when you have a different perspective on things.
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Old Sep 22, 2007 | 03:26 AM
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yep,

and next time when in doubt. put the stock relays back in... you dont have to remove the sensor..

just swap out the relays..

beers
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Old Sep 23, 2007 | 04:13 PM
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since the new battery is installed starts every time .... but now it has died coasting to a stop at a light with the clutch pressed in ... that just the coputer relearining because of the battery disconnect right?... or is this the making of another problem?
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Old Sep 23, 2007 | 04:30 PM
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could be like you say - give it a couple of days ........
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Old Sep 23, 2007 | 04:44 PM
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good deal thats what i was assuming ... i also just ordered new plugs, plug wires, and the AP pully so i want to make sure everyting is in good workin order before i put the pully on so i do not have an issue with one thing and think its another. (just like i thought it was the cooling mod and it really was the battery)
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Old Sep 23, 2007 | 06:12 PM
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Note to self: Battery may die after 3 years.

I live in Phoenix, and and I just put a PC in the car. So a new battery may be in order.

Can you share what model Optima the yellow top was?
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Old Sep 23, 2007 | 06:20 PM
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Well, you could've just go to some autoparts store like Autozone or Pepboys, go there, park, pull ur battery out, bring it in and like hey can u guys test it.

Thats all.

but battery usually *dies* after 3 years of use. die even faster if its under extreme heat or cold.

My battery is about 1 and 1/2 year old, Im planning to change it to maybe red top next year.
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Old Sep 23, 2007 | 06:37 PM
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i went to advance auto parts... they have a machiene that they bring outside to test it that way you do not need to take the battery out of the car. They looked up the make and model of the car to determine the battery that was appropriate... out of the list i sprung for the yellow top optima .. it was 180 with taxes and all. model D35 if that helps. its 650 cold cranking amps compared to the stock 550 i believe. also they installed it for free so i just had to stand there and watch ..
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Old Sep 23, 2007 | 06:45 PM
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I think my bro got the same thing for his Altima SE-R

My battery seems fine for now, just gonna use it for another year b4 I dump it.
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Old Apr 20, 2008 | 08:16 AM
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No Mod, Fans Still Stayed On

I have an stock cooling system. The other day, I got out of the car, and turned off the car, the fans stayed on. As far as I know, nothing in the car has a mod. It was around 90 outside, I figured it was just because it was hot out. But i didnt want to leave it, so i turned the key to accessory and they turned off.
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