Miata battery
Asked by Lynne888g Feb 04, 2017 at 04:36 AM about the 2002 Mazda MX-5 Miata SE
Question type: Maintenance & Repair
I have a 2002 miata. I live in Las Vegas. For some
reason if I don't drive my car for 3 or more days, my
battery dies. I bought it at autozone and have had
to replace it every year! I have had the car looked at
and nothing in the car is causing it (alternator,
starter, etc.)
Should I be buying a battery from a different
murchant?
4 Answers
If you are finding nothing wrong, such as any shorts, if you had the battery tested and a load test done on the alternator and it checks out good than the anwser is yes, get a sears battery if you have one close...
I would check it for parasitic draw. Perhaps an under hood or glove box light is remaining on. If none found I would put a battery maintainer on it. My guess is that when you drive it it is not very far and perhaps the battery is not getting a full charge.
well, the Miata NA originally came from the factory with a special Panasonic AGM style battery. NOT A LEAD ACID that all those battery parts stores stock and try to shove down your throat for nearly the same cost as a AGM now a days. Most original owners reported their OEM battery to last over 12 years. Anyways, disconnect negative term on your battery, then with a volt meter set to DC volts, touch one lead to the neg term of the battery and the other to ground. Do this with EVERYTHING OFF, even the trunk and door lights. this will show how much of a parasitic drain you are having. So if you noticed, the miata battery is in the trunk. then the trunk is not in any way, sealed off from the cabin. In fact, you can reach you arms deep in and be at the back of the passenger seat if you have a roll bar or cage installed. Why this is mentioned is that with lead acid batteries especially, gases need to be vented during normal usage, this would shoot them into the cabin essentially and not be good for you. So, next time you go to an autozone or where ever and ask for a battery for you miata and they present you a lead acid one, kick them in the balls and say, "you want me breathin in that acid gas?!?! no way! get me the correct battery!" Besides, AGMs are far superior to lead acid, can be mounted in any position, even upside down and every single one I have ever seen has a significant power output increase over their lead acid counterpart. Furthermore, the standard AGM battery is designed to be depleted to 5 volts and recovered back to 12 volts about 400 times in its lifetime. Ever do that with a lead acid battery? you would be lucky to do that 2 times with a lead acid and still have it hold a charge. This is the normal AGM too, not the ones specifically designed to deep cycle.
