car starting issue - resolved

[goodduck]

the car in question is a mazda protege 5. it has other names in other markets
Mazda Familia
Mazda Allegro
Ford Activa
Ford Lynx

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mazda_323#1999

so here is the story: last night i was driving with the family back home from an event, and we stopped to get some groceries etc. my brother and i waited in the car for about 10 minutes with the radio and some use of the power windows. when it came time to go the car wouldnt start. it was behaving like a dead battery. the power locks and a few other electrical items worked though. luckily we werent that far from home so i was able to go get another car to pick everyone up. then this morning i went back to see if it would start and it started fine. it is weird because it hasnt had any problems and we had just started it 15 minutes earlier in the evening to leave the event to get home. is it a weak / dead battery, something fishy in the electrics? any help would be appreciated. i am going to take it to be seen today but wanted to find some info first.

[brembo]

Electrical issues like this can be hard to find a reason for, but if you are low on batteries it might do that, and after it have rested it might be enough to start it....

measure the voltage on the battery and measure how much it it charges if both those are fine you are in trouble....

Well good luck, duck Im out of here going to a new years party....

[ARMAN]

I am no expert but I had unscrued terminal on battery so it had very bad contact

[MIHALS]

could be too low voltage of the battery, so it can turn the lights on, lock and unlock lockers, move windows, but it can't get the engine go. then try to clean the contacts on the battery, maybe measure the liquid in the battery, if it's not weak (if you don't have maintenance-free battery)

today I wanted to buy a movie on dvd, so I left my car with the engine on (keys in ignition, laptop on the seat, iPod playing), locked it by second remote. when I came back to my car, I found, that the battery in the remote is dead
so I had to run home (about 500meters) for another key to get into the car...

[MartinR]

I think it's near impossible to pinpoint the issue like this. The best thing to do would be to take it to a shop, let them run some tests to see what's wrong.

[goodduck]

thanks for the responses. its helpful to get as much info as possible on these matters before going to go get ripped off.

after reading the replies, i went and got the battery tested and sure enough it was "gone". got a new one for $60 so that should be the end of it.

thanks

[sameerrao]

thanks for the responses. its helpful to get as much info as possible on these matters before going to go get ripped off.

after reading the replies, i went and got the battery tested and sure enough it was "gone". got a new one for $60 so that should be the end of it.

thanks

Batteries have a real low lifespan given all the electrical load it is subjected to nowadays. I think the best you can expect is about 4 years.

If you park in a garage, I would recommend getting a cheap battery tender from Sears or Walmart. Use it frequently - maybe once a week to keep your battery topped up.