Did you recently rush to buy a new vehicle before tariff-related price hikes? A reporter is looking to speak with shoppers who felt pressure to act quickly due to expected cost increases; please reach out to PR@Edmunds.com for more details by 4/24.
Mazda 6 took many revolutions to start, otherwise normal
This might be moot at this point but I am not sure yet so I thought I would get some feedback.
A 2004 Mazda 6, sorry I am not sure of the mileage but it is not a lot, and I will guess 30,000 miles. Recently it began taking many revolutions to start. Rather than 2-3 it would take, I guess 10 or 12, by the sound, enough where I begin to be concerned about the heating of the starter. We took it to the mechanic, timed right for a tuneup anyway, and he could not duplicate the issue. It was doing it each time my wife got in the car! While it is winter here, it did it for us while cold or when it warmed to 50°F. But not for the mechanic even after he left it overnight.
So, the mechanic proceeded to do the yearly tune up. I am not sure of everything but I know he changed the oil, plugs, and cleaned the throttle body.
Of course the car starts immediately when we got it back.
My mechanic does a massive volume of cars. Throw any car or problem at him and he can spout what is most likely wrong. He has not seen this particular problem with the Mazda 6.
I wondered if the plugs had some issue and required some compression to clean them off? Maybe the new ones solved the issue, we will see.
When I charged my car battery (I am a motorcyclist and have a tender), I measured the battery voltage in the 6. I forget the measurement but it was after the car had sat for a day, and the voltage was in the upper range, maybe 12.7V. My wife's trips, unlike my current 1 mile commute, tend to be significant, and keep the battery charged. Despite the test, I now wonder if the battery has a certain condition that caused this problem?
We got the car back last night and of course we will see if the problem reproduces itself. But if you have seen this, please let me know!
A 2004 Mazda 6, sorry I am not sure of the mileage but it is not a lot, and I will guess 30,000 miles. Recently it began taking many revolutions to start. Rather than 2-3 it would take, I guess 10 or 12, by the sound, enough where I begin to be concerned about the heating of the starter. We took it to the mechanic, timed right for a tuneup anyway, and he could not duplicate the issue. It was doing it each time my wife got in the car! While it is winter here, it did it for us while cold or when it warmed to 50°F. But not for the mechanic even after he left it overnight.
So, the mechanic proceeded to do the yearly tune up. I am not sure of everything but I know he changed the oil, plugs, and cleaned the throttle body.
Of course the car starts immediately when we got it back.
My mechanic does a massive volume of cars. Throw any car or problem at him and he can spout what is most likely wrong. He has not seen this particular problem with the Mazda 6.
I wondered if the plugs had some issue and required some compression to clean them off? Maybe the new ones solved the issue, we will see.
When I charged my car battery (I am a motorcyclist and have a tender), I measured the battery voltage in the 6. I forget the measurement but it was after the car had sat for a day, and the voltage was in the upper range, maybe 12.7V. My wife's trips, unlike my current 1 mile commute, tend to be significant, and keep the battery charged. Despite the test, I now wonder if the battery has a certain condition that caused this problem?
We got the car back last night and of course we will see if the problem reproduces itself. But if you have seen this, please let me know!
0
Comments
The battery is two years old.
All of the starts have been good since my last post.
When picking up the car, the mechanic asked my wife about her fuel source and she replied "Sunoco." He was satisfied that this was good gas. She also has not filled up with fresh gas since the maintenance so nothing has changed there.
Might be a good idea to perform a voltage drop test on both battery cables, and especially the one going to the starter.
Frequency: Well the problem existed, we had it serviced, although the mechanic never reproduced the issue before touching the car, and since then there was just one start which was longer than normal.
If the problem starts up I will add the voltage drop test to the list, if the mechanic hasn't done it. The long turnovers did not *sound* slow, if that means anything.