2010 Intermittent Electrical Issues

[r4BBiT]

So my 2010 Mazda 3 sedan has developed (about three days ago) some electrical issue and I hope someone here has some ideas. I'm driving along and all of sudden the radio cuts of and the "Hello" sign comes on. Next time the same things happends the power steering cuts off, another time power steering cuts off and hand brake and cruise control lights come one. It almost seems like the ignition switch is turned off. Couple of times it almost felt like the engine was stalling and the headlights were definitely dimming. I was thinking that it happens at lower speeds while turning, but it seems some random.

I have ELM adapter and Torque app and I was monitoring voltage and it drops to 9V when that happens. The adapter voltage seems to be some weird number though and adapter keeps complaining about getting errors, which was not happening before.

I checked three ground points that were easy to access (I didn't do the one by the headlight) and they all looked secure and not corroded. I also went to Parts Source and they did charging system check and the charging seems okay, but he said that battery is good (12.5V 420CCa out of 620), but low on charge. He suggested to charge it first. I don't see that being the cause but maybe I'm completely wrong here; I have a year old yellowtop Optima and drive very short trips usually so who knows?

Also one time it happened just sitting in the driveway with engine off, but only the radio went off and "Hello" sign came one. My father-in-law is convinced that is is an alternator, but I don't know after this time without engine running.

Is there some sort of voltage regulator I can check? or what about ignition switch?

I have an appointment at Mazda, but it is on Friday so it's a bit of a wait and the car is not the safest to drive right now.

Any ideas?

[Jackal]

I put an Optima Yellowtop in mine. Didn’t last long. It could be that the battery is going. I had to keep it charged with a trickle battery charger over the weekend because I didn’t drive it. I got a new higher cca rated one and it starts great. I can leave it for a week and it starts fine.

Replace with a higher CCA rated battery maybe? You may find yourself stranded in the winter when you can’t start it. Anyway I am not a fan of Optima batteries. Good luck with your issue. Let us know what the issue is/was.


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[r4BBiT]

I put an Optima Yellowtop in mine. Didn’t last long. It could be that the battery is going. I had to keep it charged with a trickle battery charger over the weekend because I didn’t drive it. I got a new higher cca rated one and it starts great. I can leave it for a week and it starts fine.

Replace with a higher CCA rated battery maybe? You may find yourself stranded in the winter when you can’t start it. Anyway I am not a fan of Optima batteries. Good luck with your issue. Let us know what the issue is/was.


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I dont have a problem starting the car, it starts fine every time. Optima is year old and i never had issues with it, but i guess it could be bad.

I was sort of able to reproduce it, by revving a bit and then pressing brake pedal. Then i moved the car and it wasn't doing that anymore. This is super bizzare.

https://youtu.be/LzMdejNLT_w

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[r4BBiT]

Could this be caused by accessory belt slipping?

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[2012mazda3hatch]

Could this be caused by accessory belt slipping?

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This could be the problem as I had all those problems when my accessory belt broke.

[morganc]

If it happened with the engine off, it could be a thermally intermittent battery or intermittent fuse, connector etc.

[r4BBiT]

You might be onto something here. I checked some related fuses and they had some yellow film build up. I cleaned them up and so far it hasn't happened again (for one day).

I will update this thread if there are any changes. Thank you for all the help

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