Help please ..?Battery ?Starter Motor ? What...1993 mx5 NA

[carspath]

I would appreciate some help with diagnosing where the problem might lie :

-About 7 days ago , I turned the ignition key in the barrel , and there was a sinle click , and then nothing .

-I went to the battery , and literally touched the batterycut off switch (a screw type device --which importantly was fully screwed in ) for 2 seconds , and when I tried turning the ignition key again , the car started almost immediately , albeit maybe a tiny bit more slowly than usual

- I then parked up the car , and yesterday tried starting the car again.
This time there was not even a click

- I attached my CTEK battery tender , and the CTEK only showed 1 orange lights , ( rather than the 6 orange and 1 green light which indicates a fully charged battery ) and after about 2 minutes , a turn of the ignition key, gave a little turn of the motor , but not enough to start the engine .

-******* I then left the CTEK on for another 2 minutes ,BUT RATHER THAN DISCONNECTING THE CTEK FROM THE MAINS BEFORE TURNING THE IGNITION KEY , I LEFT THE CTEK CONNECTED .
The car started immediately and with vigour *******



MY CONCLUSION FROM THIS WAS THAT I NEEDED A NEW BATTERY
BUT WHAT HAPPENED TODAY , MAKES ME WONDER IF IT IS THE BATTERY THAT IS AT FAULT , OR WHETHER IT IS SOMETHING ELSE .




So what happened today is this :

- i connected up the CTEK , and 3 orange lights lit up

-I charged the battery for 7 hours , and was delighted that the CTEK , lit up all 6 of its orange light and the 1 green light ----all brightly lit

-***** DELIGHTED , I DISCONNECTED THE CTEK , AND THEN TURNED THE IGNITION KEY , AND ABSOLUTELY NOTHING -- NOT EVEN A CLICK *******

-Dispirited , I reattached the CTEK ( which was still connected to the mains ) to the battery , and the car started immediately and with vigour .

- I have since removed the CTEK from the battery , and the car still starts immediately when I twist the ignition key



The two steps that I have marked ******* , make me wonder if it is something other than the battery that is at fault

Help please ---what do you think is at fault , should I do next ?

Thank you in anticipation for any constructive advice

[Ilovejapcrap]

sounds battery to be honest.

Easy way to find out connect via jump leads to another car (not running) with a good batt and see if mazda starts as per normal

[carspath]

Thank you -- that's a good idea

I don't want to spend on a new battery if the problem lies elsewhere ---eg the starter motor .

Any idea what else it could be ?


Thank you

[drgoatboy]

I would check all the earth straps if i were you. Take them off and give thecontact points a good clean.

[ThirtyBeef]

My mk1 did this, turned out to be the connection from the battery to the dead switch, batteries don't work intermittently, they just work or don't.

[carspath]

Please could you tell me where the
1) dead switch

) earth straps

Are please

[ThirtyBeef]

The dead switch as I call it is a big red switch in the boot, that is where my issue was,
As for the earth strap I'm not too sure about it's location on the na, the nb has a white block bolted to the body under the drivers headlight.