Ok so this may seem like an easy problem to most people but I can't figure this out for the life of me. I recently took back an Optima battery after less than 2 years because it died in my car. So, I replaced the battery with a Motomaster (Canadian Tire) battery that has plenty of power and easily better than a red-top.



Today I installed the battery. Now when I go to start the car it powers on the accessories fine and beeps but when I turn the key, the car clicks a couple of times and then shuts off. Then I can't even power on the accessories anymore and it seems like a fuse blew or something...I get nothing. The weird thing is, after I leave it for about 10 mins, I can put the key back in and I get the same thing. So naturally I thought that maybe there just wasn't enough power in the battery. So, I tried jumping the battery with another car's...and it does the exact same thing.



Does anyone have any ideas? I checked the fuse box attached to the battery as well as the larger box near there under the hood. I also checked the fuse box near the pedals. Are there more to check? I have absolutely no idea what could be wrong. Before the other battery died the car was working fine (well as good as any 3rd gen can lol)



Thanks for any help or ideas!!

 

What does the battery voltage drop to when you try to start it ? I doubt it's a blown fuse as they don't tend to fix themselves after sitting for any amount of time. Sounds to me like you may have an extreme current draw on some thing or a bad battery, (just cause it's new doesn't mean it's good). Check voltage at rest and under load.

 

check the battery terminals. my cables get kinda crusty sometmes and does the same thing.



take them off and sand both the terminals adn the insides of the things that go on them.

 

Thanks for the help guys. It turns out it was the battery after all. I guess it had no charge at all when I bought it and when I jumped it, the other vehicle's battery wasn't strong enough (which is odd because it's usually fine for jumping). I switched to another vehicle to use as a jumper, after checking and re-checking everything and surprisingly it started-up fine!



Thanks!

 

ok new post, same problem lol



So, I can jump the car and it starts. But it will not restart. There seems to be minimal voltage coming from the battery after I drove it forever. So, this leads me to a couple of ideas. I thought maybe it was the terminals on the battery but I read a post in the past that mentioned about disconnecting the negative terminal while the car runs and if the car dies, it's the alternator.



So, I do this test and the car keeps running....that is until I touched the brake and the car immediately shut off. So, what does this mean? Is it my alternator?



Thanks for any help as usual!

 

Although it's Not a RX7 that I had it happen on ..I had a Alternator problem(oldsmobile) that Also Took out the battery With it..maybe your alternator is Pooched too/..take it off and get it bench tested at a PepBoys??(Not real familiar with Stateside Auto stores,sorry)..or a place that Does it Free...alot of place do do it Free,because they Expect that you will buy the Alternator There!..Good Luck.

 

Thanks, I will try to get the alternator tested this week and see what's going on. I hope that's the problem!

 

Alternator is my bet too, had the same problem on my old FC, new one fixed it right up.

 

If not the alternator, check engine and chassis grounds. Clean, replace if necessary and maybe even add a few....battery to chassis, battery to engine and engine to chassis.

One other outside possibility is the clutch safety switch, under the dash. Occasionally they wear out and give similar symtoms.

 

check the starter solenoid, connected to the starter motor.



if its clicking flick the key back and forward a few times and it will fire straight up. When my starter solenoid was fuxxored it would click as well, a few flicks of the key and it would fire up perfectly.



i removed the solenoid and cleaned it up a bit and it works perfect now.