Tian

i decided to bring my FD out for a bath and get a few more decent pics. I tried to start the car and everything appeared to be dead. Then I realized that i must forget to unplug battery wire before it was sent back to the garage during winter.
so I jump start the car and let it run for like 10 mins. Shut it down again, unfortunately it didn't start no more><;

so how long am I supposed to let the car keep running after a push start?
it's also possible that something is wrong with the battery, how i gonna know that for sure? in case i need a new battery, what brand/type should i pick up from CanadianTire?

many thx.

Tian

btw, i have a pretty new alternator...shouldn't be the problem.

misterstyx69

iTrader: (142)

try to get it onto a Charger,or Trickle charger,for a Good Charging(24 hours).Using the Car's alternator to charge a Dead battery can Be Harmful to the Alternator.if the battery Is Stone Dead,or has a Bad cell it may take out your New alternator...another Suggestion..If you Have an FD..then Canadian Tire Shouldn't be IN your Vocabulary..at all!..good luck.

Manntis

+ 1 for trickle charges. An alternator can recharge a battery in about 30 mins, but alternators are meant to top up batteries not speed charge them and it's pretty hard on both alt and batt doing it that way.

surprisingly, the stock Mazda batteries are very good. If you love your FD you don't winter drive it anyhow, so no need for deep CCA Motomaster stuff.

Winter beater? Hells yeah - Canadian Tire batteries are great.
Summer sportscar? Not so much.

soulja77

you can always remove the battery, take it to canadian tire, get them to check it and charge it. Its free!

coldfire

iTrader: (1)

i have some standard Motomaster Eliminator battery (forget exactly which one) and it seems to be good enough.
actually i don't even unplug the battery over winter and i haven't had problems starting the car (yet) when spring comes.
you probably just need a new battery. less likely you have some sort of power leak in the car's wiring.
i guess stock Mazda battery is good also if you can get it, since it looks stock in the engine bay.

Tian

lesson learned, bunch of thx.

Tian

yes, sir...i will bring it to Canadian tire, see what happened

dradon03

iTrader: (2)

On a side note Costco sells Optima batteries. Never would have thought Costco would be good for Rx-7 parts either. All they had was Blue tops when I went though.

I think the big thing with "cheap" batteries is weight. Most of those suckers weigh around 36lbs. Has an Interstate in my last car and was happy with it. If I had a chance I would get my hands on an Optima though.

orion84gsl

iTrader: (5)

If you start your car periodically through the storage and just let it warm up, you should have no problem, mine has only been run twice since november and its firing up fine, i do however need to adjust my idle speed, she dies as soon as the choke pops in, and shes always idled low, i just never knew how to do it til now.

coldfire

iTrader: (1)

took my car out of storage a few days ago. i put it away end of October. i didn't even unplug the battery. the car started up right away, no need to jump start. just a standard motomaster eliminator battery.

that said though, i'm looking to get a smaller battery this summer. anyone have suggestions for smaller batteries?

Aaron Cake

iTrader: (1)

If you are starting a car, then it's not in storage. Periodically starting a car is bad for the whole car, including the battery.

Proper storage techniques:
http://www.aaroncake.net/rx-7/storage.htm

If you are storing a car, remove the battery and bring it inside. Charge it fully and then check it every 6 months to make sure it's still topped up.

coldfire

iTrader: (1)

Aaron what is a good small dry cell (AGM) battery that you recommend?
i was looking at the Odyssey PC680. it's small and 680cca seems to be enough (i don't have an after-market sound system or anything). but the low reserve time might be an issue.

classicauto

iTrader: (3)

And put it on wood, not directly on the floor.

Aaron Cake

iTrader: (1)

Honestly I don't know as I'm not a big fan of small batteries in street cars. They have such low AH capacity that if you flood the car, you're screwed if you need to crank it more then a few times. If I had to recommend a name, it would be Deka. I've been using their batteries for a few years now and had no issues.

I've heard people say that before, and have asked "why?". The best explanation I get is that it insulates the bottom of the battery from a colder concrete floor, thus being more thermally friendly. Personally, I don't buy it. Mainly because none of the data sheets mention the need to store a battery off the cold floor, and that the battery wholesaler I buy from keeps thousands of batteries directly on their concrete warehouse floor. I've also never bothered to elevate any of my batteries (and I have a lot of them...) off of the floor.

Edit...I just looked through my battery notes about the myth of the concrete floor. Apparently it stems from when battery cases were made of natural rubber. Not being a perfect insulator, natural rubber would actually form a dielectric between the battery and concrete, causing discharge. If the concrete was wet it would be a bigger problem. Modern batteries all use plastic cases (rubber has not been used for 50 years at least) so this is not an issue.