My 2010 Mazda 6 battery keeps dying. I suspect a drain from somewhere, any suggestions of likely possibilities?

Asked by StuckAtHome Nov 26, 2014 at 05:17 PM about the 2010 Mazda MAZDA6 i Touring Plus

Question type: Maintenance & Repair

My dead battery issue has been an on going problem since I bought the car 2 years ago.  
The battery and charging system has been checked twice, and all check out.  It can go
months without an issue, then all of a sudden I try to start it and its dead.  I've checked
everything I can think of to make sure there's nothing left on upon leaving my car to no
avail.  Ive been finding my car dead more often then not lately, meaning it seems to be
getting worst.  Any suggestions?

13 Answers

210

I have the same problem with my 2010 Mazda6 i Sport... any answers??

21 people found this helpful.
60

I have the same problem with my 2008 Mazda 6. I just put battery #4 in it and my car is 6 years old. The AC has acted funny since I bought it (new) and now the compressor isn't working. If I find out if this is all related, I'll update.

6 people found this helpful.
80

I wonder if there is a fault with the 2010 model. Mine goes flat even if left for one week. I've had the battery replaced and alternator checked by Mazda, yet it still does it. I keep a jump starter kit in the car now and try not to leave it for more than a few days. Disappointing MAzda!

7 people found this helpful.
30

OMG, I have had my Mazda6 for two years and have had 3 batteries and called roadside over 20 times for a jump! Dealership can't figure it out. Three times they thought they had and most recently spent $300 on repair that assured me was the issue, three days later it was dead again!! Currently in the shop once more with little hope of them figuring it out! I am an honest person so can't sell it without letting buyer know so probably won't be able to sell it!!

3 people found this helpful.
20

Did anyone ever find out what the issue was? Mine has started doing this. I charged the battery, drove it around, and it started doing the car-starting chime and saying "Hello". Also, the door open light turns off and on when I'm on the highway. It's like it's possessed.

2 people found this helpful.

I have the same problem. I explained the symptoms to a mechanic I know and he thinks it's a parasitic draw. Could be cheap or expensive. I'm just selling it.

140

My Mazda 6 diesel, 2009 year model has the same problem as many other Mazda 3, Mazda 6 etc have. But I have now overcome the problem. It would drain the battery after 3-4 days during this winter ((below freezing outside) and could then not start. I have had this problem for a couple of years and couldn´t understand why. I thought it might have been related to me swapping out the incredibly bad radio and speaker system that was installed in the car from new. I also suspected the aftermarket alarm system that was installed from new. But apparently it had nothing to do with any of that. As I bought a very good new battery last year and the alternator gives plenty of power, it was something else that was the problem. After reading many internet posts on the subject, I connected an Ampere-meter between the earth cable and the negative pole on the battery to check the current drain. Then I closed the car with the remote key (drivers door and bonnet kept open but manually pushing the lock in the door side with a screwdriver and placing a wrench on the magnet contact underneath the bonnet to fool the car that it was totally closed. Then I waited for an hour to be sure the car had gone into "deep sleep" mode. The current draw with fuse 15 in place was 150-200 mA. (above 30-40 mA is not acceptable) As many people had indicated, the drain would disappear when you pulled out the ”Room fuse”. In my car, fuse number 15 is inside the car, underneath the steering wheel. After pulling out fuse number 15, the current drain was zero. My fix to overcome the drain problem was to take a spare fuse (of any reading), cut the internal fuse link (as if it would have been blown), solder a cable on the two contacts on the fuse and then reinsert the now open fuse with its cable attached to the room fuse holder. I then inserted a 15A fuse holder in series with the cable and attached an on/off switch at the end of it. The switch and fuse holder is now placed in the small compartment beside the steering wheel (I guess this compartment was meant for small parking coins or something else small). So when I leave the car, I click on my contact to the OFF position and then lock the door physically with the key in the door, because the remote locking won´t work without the ”room fuse” operative. Neither will the interial light, boot light, radio, alarm etc that is under fuse 15 work. When I want to take a drive, I open with physically turning the key in the door, click on my contact to the ON position and everything works as it should. For two weeks now at around zero degrees Celsius (freezing point in Europe) I have had no problems. Battery reading 12.5 Volt after two days standing still. The drawback ? I now have to live without a functional theft alarm for the car. I can live with that. The criminals are not so interested in stealing a 12 year old Mazda 6. As long as I don´t leave any valuables in the car that would attract them. What next ? I have made a very simple fix to overcome the problem, but not solved the underlying issue. A couple of posts in various forums suggest that the Body Control Module (BCM) behind the fuse box is to blame. As a new one is around 300 USD plus installation and programming charges, it is in my opinion not worth the money. When spring comes and the temperature is a bit warmer, I could possibly try just to disconnect the BCM, take it out and clean all its contacts and hope that will solve the problem. Or just forget it all and make sure that I never forget to turn the switch off before I park the car for a couple of days. Conclusion: This is apparently a quite common problem for all kinds of Mazdas, from Mazda 3, Mazda 6, CX5, MX5 etc. So be sure to discuss fuse nbr 15 or whatever the number of the ”room fuse” may have in your model of Mazda when you leave the car for service. In best case they will fix it for you for a hefty fee, or they will take the easy way out and install a new battery although that may not be the real problem. Alternatively, if you have a soldering iron, a pair of pliers and are technically able/interested, then you can install my little fix and always remember to turn on/off the ”room fuse”. Bengt in Sweden

14 people found this helpful.
80

You are a super smart legend. I cant wait to try this

1 people found this helpful.

Thank you so much for this post , Mine is having the same issue i got nothing to lose so i will try this ,

Bengt in Sweden: Good post. I certainly sounds more reasonable than anything I've found. I'll try it. Thanks, Dale

Bengt. Your solution is a solution , however not user friendly and you are compromising security. Sure you might think nobody will misuse it, but the fact that it can, is already another stress indicator in life, even though u dont care, still there is a part of your brain thinking what if? Plus doing stuff manually with a switch each time you exit the vehicle also another hassle thus stress indicator in your life. Losing remote lock also is. Id be fukkin pussed if i had to turn on and off the locks with inserting the key like its 1980.So for such small thing big loss on comfort. You should have approached it like this, how can i have a solution without compromising ?

The proper solution would be to start at the remote. When you press lock button , your doors are locked and alarm engaged. At this point a signal should go to a switch that is connect to fuse 15. Switch off means no power through fuse 15. When you press unlock doors and disengage alarm, a signal goes to the same switch to let power through fuse 15. Now i dont know excactly how this signal should reach this switch, that would need some more deeper look at it, but you get the point. First i would look at the central locking unit, if the cables that go to the locks in the doors, are suitable to draw signal to the switch. . Another way is to intercept the alarm ON signal and route it to the switch.

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