Dead Battery How to open hood?

boberpboberp Member Posts: 3
edited March 2014 in Mazda
Hi All,

I have a 1996 Mazda Milenia/L with a dead battery. Looking through the owners manual, I could find NO way to open the hood without power. Makes it difficult to charge the battery! (:>(

I haven't had the car long enough to even discover all the bells and whistles, but I'm learning. I will be calling an auto repair shop in the morning to get it fixed. I'm posting here in the hopes someone has a fix for this in case I have a problem with the repair shop.

Any fix will be logged into my owners manual. Appreciate any and all help.

Regards, Bob
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Comments

  • swschradswschrad Member Posts: 2,171
    how, exactly, depends on where your factory pull lead comes in from whatever Bowden cable and/or solenoid rig. have the mechanic show you when he gets it open, and diagram that in.

    IMHO, pinheaded move to have automated this. backwards. mooZ, mooZ
  • boberpboberp Member Posts: 3
    Hi swschrad,

    I want to thank you for the prompt reply. I figured it had to be something like that, for I can't imagine disconnecting and removing the body to get to the battery. {:>)

    It'll be interesting to see if the mechanic has any kind of special tool for this type problem. At any rate, I'll be watching him closely to learn what I can.

    Thanks again.

    Regards, Bob
  • tbonertboner Member Posts: 402
    inexpensive car to car jumpers that goes through the cigar lighter. If you know which is + and which is - you could rig one up on your own and probably generate enough juice from a batt charger or the replacement battery to pop open the hood.

    TB
  • boberpboberp Member Posts: 3
    Hi TB,

    I thought of this, but I needed my auto ASAP as I only have the one. I will have to do a little more research to see if your suggestion is feasable for use on my model car, and if so, I will track down a cig lighter adapter of some kind that can be used auto to auto or from a spare battery. Who knows, I may be able to help myself or someone else having the same problem in the future.

    Thanks for the input.

    Regards, Bob
  • fleetwoodsimcafleetwoodsimca Member Posts: 1,518
    You may want to consider "building" a tool to keep in the car, for yanking the latch under no-power circumstances. It might not be any more complicated than a stiff piece of bailing wire with a crook bent into one end, and a handle bent into the other.
  • badgerfanbadgerfan Member Posts: 1,565
    Who in their right mind would design an electric hood release? This is just beyond my ability to comprehend. Management that approved or requested a design like that should be stranded at the North Pole in January with a Mazda Millenia and a dead battery! Sounds like a good cartoon script for Dilbert!
  • andre1969andre1969 Member Posts: 25,861
    ...when I was in the market for a newer used car (my '68 Dart was my transporation at the time, so just about anything would be newer!) one of the cars I checked out was a '76 Chrysler Newport 4-door hardtop. It had an inside hood release, but it was broken. Someone had tied a cable to it, poking out through the grille, that you could just barely get a grip on, to open the hood.

    I'm with you, Badger...who in their right mind would design a hood release like that?!
  • kinleykinley Member Posts: 854
    A friend jump started his wife's Lexus, but at the Chrysler end of the cable was some kind of "port" the jumper cable plugged into. Attaching to the Chrylser battery wasn't the way to do it. How long has this feature been around? I like it.
  • alcanalcan Member Posts: 2,550
    It's been around since they decided to put the LS battery inside the left front wheel opening, behind the inner fender.
  • fleetwoodsimcafleetwoodsimca Member Posts: 1,518
    VW beetles with batteries inside the passenger compartment, underneath the back seat cushion. This new Chrysler location-- is that a suicidal gesture by the corporation, or is the battery accessible, somehow? Is a lug wrench the first tool used to get to it?
  • jgmilbergjgmilberg Member Posts: 872
    GM has also relocated from the engine bay to under the passenger side rear seat cushion. At least the Buick LeSabre and Park Ave., Cadillac Deville, and Seville.

    Never ever heard of an electric hood release on any make or model. Usually a lever on the drivers side kick panel at the bottom next to the park brake pedal, or possibly on the bottom of the dash on the drivers side.

    Bob did you get the hood open? Was it infact a power opener?
  • kinleykinley Member Posts: 854
  • bigfurbigfur Member Posts: 649
    not sure if mazda does it but i know some GMs do it...the aurora (sp?) for sure. the battery isnt even under the hood. its in the back seat under the bench part of the seat. check the owners manual to see if the battery is even UNDER the hood. just a thought for you all (or for those of you in the south thats ya'll)
  • swschradswschrad Member Posts: 2,171
    I philosophically do NOT like this placement. not in the least. it's evil and murderous and Saddam is behind it.
  • Mr_ShiftrightMr_Shiftright Member Posts: 64,481
    I remember when VWs and Audis would catch fire from batteries back there. Hopefully they've come to the conclusion that some shielding from the seat springs would help.
  • fleetwoodsimcafleetwoodsimca Member Posts: 1,518
    Somehow, sitting on enough electrical power to really harm you seems a bit testy. Are we to presume the back seat battery is an indication that there absolutely is not enough room for the battery under the hood, or elsewhere near the engine?
  • mullins87mullins87 Member Posts: 959
    in the "Stupid Engineer Tricks" thread.
  • alcanalcan Member Posts: 2,550
    The battery's under the rear seat cushion for the same reason the hood's aluminum, to achieve better front/rear weight distribution. Ditto BMW trunk mounted batteries, ditto Chrysler fwd with longitudinal mounted engines. The original battery's been under the rear seat of my '96 Riv for 7 years and 60,000 miles and seems happy enough there.
  • andre1969andre1969 Member Posts: 25,861
    ...is that battery terminals corrode over time, and tend to make a mess and start to eat away at their surroundings. It's bad enough when it's just eating at that tray it sits on under hood, but I don't know if I'd be too thrilled about something like that inside the car with me!

    Didn't Lincoln used to put the battery under the floorboards back in the '50's? I seem to recall Consumer Reports mentioning it in an old road test. I think you had to pull up the carpet, and go through an access panel to get to it. If not Lincoln, I'm pretty sure there was some car where they did this stupid trick!

    I think it's a good idea to put the battery further back from the front of the car, like maybe up against the firewall, but inside the car just seems like trouble, and in the trunk is for demolition derbies!
  • swschradswschrad Member Posts: 2,171
    batteries belong in the engine compartment.

    in the case of hybrids, of course, it's another issue, you are riding on the engine compartment ;) due to HV, they do have some stout construction around them.

    but it's still bass-ackwards engineering to put a battery in the passenger/cargo areas. not quite as bad as putting the gasoline in the ash tray, but getting there....
  • Mr_ShiftrightMr_Shiftright Member Posts: 64,481
    Better weight distribution? For what, the next Lemans?
  • andre1969andre1969 Member Posts: 25,861
    maybe 30-35 lb? I guess if you want to get picky, moving the battery from the front to the back on a typical 3000-3500 lb car then, could change the front/rear distribution by 1%. Add in enough little weight savings and changes here and there, and it just might make a difference.
  • swschradswschrad Member Posts: 2,171
    and jes' chock-full o'power thar. gassing hydrogen on charge or heavy discharge, high-point technical grade sulfuric acid electrolyte, moderately thin plastic case walls, and capable of enough point current if the terminals are shorted to start a submarine diesel engine. the lead is a hazard that is under control, unless you short the terminals long enough to start a battery fire, in which case your tailbone is grass from toxic inhalation in a couple of gasps.

    no, in my book, that is something you don't want between your legs or under your fanny, when the contrivance of 2000-4000 pounds is accelerated to 70 mph or higher, and held there. that's a tubload of kinetic energy, and direct a portion of that at a car battery, and many ugly possibilities suggest themselves. that should be walled away, like, say, across the firewall and under the hood, with a big old massive engine as a shock-block.

    just like Detroit does (generally.)
  • fleetwoodsimcafleetwoodsimca Member Posts: 1,518
    It can come after you when you tag an object that thunders down your forward momentum. The engine in your lap pins you down so that the battery coming out from under the rear seat tears your head off. This vile description comes to you as a release of emotion, after my spending a half day working on income tax forms!
    Considering a sack of Portland cement weighs 90 lbs., and I'm quite familiar with that weight, I must say that I''ve never seen an SUV automotive battery that weighs 80 lbs. How about half that?
  • alcanalcan Member Posts: 2,550
    Might not be a bad idea to look where and how the battery is located in underseat installations. It sits in a well with a bulkhead forward of it. I suppose it might come loose if someone turned the car upside down and shook it hard and long enough, but by then there's be more pressing issues.
  • rotarykidrotarykid Member Posts: 191
    I removed my battery and replaced it with 96 "D" cell batteries which I ran in a series and placed in the rocker panels so the positioning adds to the low center of gravity. The empty space under the hood turned out to be the perfect spot to keep the food in my lunch box warm.
  • mullins87mullins87 Member Posts: 959
  • swschradswschrad Member Posts: 2,171
    lots of batteries to change at every stop ;)
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