What the F@$^%& is wrong with my car?

[Pink Flea]

My battery died, I jumped it and noticed ALOT of corrosion, so much the positive terminal was soaking wet with acid. I went to advance and bought a new battery. The next day I didnt drive the car. The 3rd day I went to leave and the car would not turn over. It tried turning over but would not start. It is making a high pitched whine from the alternator (from what I can tell) even after you stop turning it over it wheezes and whinds down. I tried seeing if it needed a jump and there was acid coming out of the positive terminal, again it was soaking wet. It would not jump start at all. I took the new battery back to advance, it tested bad at 1 day old so bought a $200 optima battery brought it home and it is still doing the same thing. I assumed its the alternator along with a few others who say the same. One guy is telling me that dosent make sense and that if the pulley is turning then its probably just flooded. I never heard this kind of sound from a flooding. Could it be a fault in my positive terminal? The fuse going to it is fine but why would it be sucking acid out of the battery? Im at a loss!! Im praying it is the alternator since I have a new one on the way. Maybe the starter but I doubt it because of the sound its making.

[Phoenix7]

It's pink. Fix the color, fix the problem. :lol:

Is your car OVERCHARGING? How's your alternator? Have you tested to make sure the voltage regulator is still functioning right?


Edit: I just realized it's about your 8. Your 8 isn't pink, right?

[AHarada]

Can you get the car to run? If it does run, put a volt meter on the battery posts. This will tell you the charging voltage which should be 13-14 volts. Out of those voltages and you have a charging system problem (alternator, voltage regulator).

Notice any ground wires bad/disconnected?

[alnielsen]

Have you had any service done recently? Did your original battery have removable caps on it?
I could be that acid boiled out the top due to over charging. Or, if it had the removable caps, someone put too much water in while topping it off.

[Pink Flea]

Yeah, the 8 is black, lol.. Just has touches of pink on it which it told me where acceptable.
I cant get the car to run at all. No work done recently, batteries never had water added to them. I guess I can take the alternator off to have it tested? I will go do that today. I did just have the alternator put in in Feburary which is irritating but I bought it off a friend and he shipped me another one today along with the coils that are hopefuly the issue with my 7 (that and the fact that its pink) :)
Im getting alot of slack from everyone around here with 2 rotaries sitting in my yard not running!!

[Whizbang]

pssh, FCs come with a set jack stands factory.

[Phoenix7]

well, as an example: I went through 3 alternators in 6-7 months because my electrical system kept killing the voltage regulator. I wish we had a good write-up on how to properly test the entire electrical system step-by-step.

Good luck and go get the alternator checked.

[TehMonkay]

If the engine isn't running yet how is it the alternator?

I would test how many amps the starter is drawing, sounds like that is the issue.

[Herblenny]

I'm not trying to be a smart ass... But make sure its hooked up correctly.. Make sure negative is ground and positive.. is well, positive.

it also sounds like you have a possible short somewhere and draining the battery and over heating the battery.. I would double check all your wires and fuses..

[Pink Flea]

Will do. Not smart ass at all. Im completely at a lose so Im willing to try anything at this point!
I have apparently convienced D4w1n to come over Saturday after begging him to come look at the 7. Guess he was just waiting for the 8 to go to so he could kill 2 birds with one stone. I figure he can probably look at both cars in 5 minutes and have them running or they can sit for months while I stand there and scratch my head! I swear, Im gonna go into labor and have to walk to the damn hospital!

[alnielsen]

Long ago, I actually had a battery melt due to over charging. It was my future (now) wife's Ford Fiesta and we were on our way to get our wedding license. We smelled cooking tomatoes first, then whiffs of smoke came from under the hood.

[Pink Flea]

Ok so I replaced the terminals and put the alternator on. Put the new optima battery in and same thing. So it fried the optima, 3rd battery this week. I can understand people thinking its the starter or flooded but what the hell is frying all the batteries, charging or no charging?! I took the optima back and it was fried so they replaced it. Rather than let me try to figure out what else could be the cause my boyfriend put it in the car saying he thinks it will work this time... Of course it didnt, so Im sure this optima is fried as well.
So Im assuming between 2 alternators and 4 batteries the issue is somewhere else. I know the sound of the air pumo your talking about RR and I guess that makes sense that that is the noise it just sounds more high pitched and whinier than usual.
Should I replace the fuse on the positive terminal maybe? It looks ok but at this point Im willing to do back flips to get this thing running!

[Pink Flea]

And... I cant get the car to start, jump or no jump...
I will try to see if we can push start it tomorrow..

I also replaced the wires, plugs, and coils on the 7 and... it wont start either! I start a new job Monday and now have 3 cars sitting here that wont start, of course his car is a ford so I can understand that but hell his is only the water pump. At least with that piece of crap we know what it is and can fix it right away. I swear Im gonna go into premature labor!

[Phoenix7]

bad short somewhere?

Have you donr anything with the electrical system or any new additions to the car?

[Phoenix7]

I have been wanting to learn more about this and I found this:
http://www.autoshop101.com/forms/elec15.pdf

Hope it helps.

[Phoenix7]

I post whore.

[Nutsid]

I was going to come in here and tell you that it sounded like a short, but that doesn't explain anything about the boiling acid.

[Pink Flea]

I will have him try that thanks. The guy who came over to fix his car listened to mine today. He said it sounded like it was double timing? I think... He said something about the timing. I told him from my knowledge it dosent have a timing belt right? Plus even so, what would that have to do with batteries frying. He said he dosent know about rotary engines but if I wanted to buy a book he would look at it. I will stick with help from the boards for now. :)
The FC just wont run! I replaced the battery, coils, plugs, wires... It will turn over but not start. I had someone test it for spark and he said it is sparking so figured it was before the plugs which is why I replaced the coils. I have taken out the EGI fuse .... Im guessing this would be a deflooding procedure? Ive tried push starting it... It sounds completely normal, just wont start.
John got his stupid ford running today so of course Im hearing shit about my cars not running even though it was my car that got his butt back and forth to work the past month while his was sitting there. I blame him for wear and tear on my car! LOL

[Pink Flea]

The plugs are new in the FC. I replaced them along with the coils, wires and the battery. I have even done the unflood procedure on it.
As for the 8. If its the grounds I cant tell, I dont know what to look for and noone else is willing to take the time to look at the car for me. Someone mentioned the computer which reminded me that when I took the car to Mazda last time to have them look at my starter, they updated my computer which threw it all of wack and p!$$@* me off. Shortly after that my door remote went out I have tried several times to reset the code and it wont set and now this has happened. I dont know if Mazda messed up the computer when they updated it or what but I know they wont take the blame either way so Im screwed.
I think at this point Im going to have the 8 towed to Mazda to see whats wrong with it. As much as I hate to do that even my friend who owns a shop that specializes in rotaries has no clue whats going on. As for the 7 it will just have to wait, it is just for fun and with a kid on the way I need the 8 running more than the 7.

[Pink Flea]

So its been a while since I been on, Been kinda busy << See avatar :)
So the 8 was just flooded WTF, but I got it taken care of, however the poor FC is sitting in my yard still not running. After having a few people look at it and tear the entire interior out I have had 2 people look at it and tell me the same thing, its either the relay for the fuel pump or the fuel pump itself. Im gonna have them both checked out this week to see which one needs to be replaced and cross my fingers.
I may sell her if I can get her running again :( Im moving to Virginia and with a midget now I dont have time for much car fun(or anywhere to put him). So yes Phoenix, to answer your post in another thread, I WAS expecting. :) McCartney was born March 4th and he is already a rotarhead. I have been behaving too! I havent had a speeding ticket in over a year and no accidents!! Amazing how a midget can calm you down so quick.

[Rotary Related]

I was going to come in here and tell you that it sounded like a short, but that doesn't explain anything about the boiling acid.

Actually a short explains everything about boiling acid. i know this is an old post but I'd figure I'd clarify this. If there's a big enough short to kill the battery right away then yes the acid will come out as it discharges maximum amperage possible all at one time. It's amazing the battery did not explode!

What ever came of the FC? If its a S4 check the airflow meter. I know that sounds basic but these suckers are getting old and I've seen lots of airflow meter problems lately. Hopefully someone has already fixed the problem since this post is like 2 years old.

If I was in NC I would fix it for you but you'd have to bring it to TX lol! There has to be someone that knows how to fix these problems in your area. Perhaps a shop that specializes in automotive electrical.

[speedjunkie]

I don't think Janna has had a lot of time to work on the cars, she's kinda in family mode right now if I'm not mistaken haha.

[89fc3s]

pssh, FCs come with a set jack stands factory.

they do!?!?!?!?!?!? Where's mine??