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I have a 5-6 years old Mazda 6 2010, 2.5L engine. My car simply won't start. I had this issue yesterday, so I called roadside assistance and they were able to jump start my car. I drove straight to autozone thinking that I needed a new battery. There, the person did some diagnostics testing and told me that my battery was ok, but my alternator was bad. I asked him if he was sure, and he said that he was fully certain of it. So, I went ahead and got my alternator replaced. And guess what, my car doesn't start again. Any suggestions?

I have certain other peculiar things going on in my car. My power windows don't work. They stopped working in conjunction with the battery problem. First, the windows would roll up extremely slowly, and now they have stopped working entirely. This is just with my front windows, my back windows work fine though. Also, for the past week, my car would not start immediately. It would make sound for a while before it would finally start. I could feel that something was dying.

Pls help.

3 Answers 3

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Your symptoms definitely shows issue with the Alternator or the battery.

You can follow the below steps to make sure the Alternator is working fine.

  • Take a multimeter and connect to battery terminal
  • If your battery is good it should read between 13.5 to 14.5 volts
  • Start the Car
  • Ask someone to give the car some gas.
  • On giving gas the voltage should read between 14.2 and 14.6 volts if its anything below 14 volts then your alternator might be having issue.
  • If its going over 14.8 volts then your new alternator might be overcharging the battery.

If you are positive that the alternator is working fine but still your car is not starting up then there might be issue with the starter motor (which i am sure the mechanic must have noticed)

On turning key if starter clicks but does not turn then solenoid might have burned out.

There can also be wiring issues or earthing issue or parasitic battery drain. This link should help you DIY

Note: You can always take the car back to the shop and tell them the issue , I am pretty sure they will look into it, free of charge.

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After I replace mine I realize that the problem was my battery fuse. My alternator had burnt it to bits

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The simplest (hopeful) cause is the battery works, but isn't charged. If you can get a jump, then do about an hour drive, that should charge the battery. If after that the car starts, then it's just that the battery wasn't charged.

You can test the battery before / after charge with a multimeter. Detailed instructions

Shobin's also right about talking to the shop again too.

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