[Nashaw]

It seemed to happen while slowing down or breaking. The headlights would flicker, the power steering would turn off and the radio would cut off. I pulled over and popped the hood and all the connections looked good. I turned the car off and waited a couple minutes and turned the car back on. Thinking maybe the battery was dying I turned the ac off, the radio off and fog lights off. It drove fine and I turned everything back on and it drove good as new. Does anyone have idea what happened, I don't think this will be the last time...
Also I do have a 1000 watt amp hooked up to the battery if that might do anything. But i had it for months and it was fine
2010 mazda 3 2.5

 

[stevar]

Bad ground connection is a usual culprit. Can you take pictures of your amp wire connections and post them here? That might help. Even if you had no issues for months, problems do eventually show up over time. As you now know.

 

[Nashaw]

So a bad ground from the amp would effect the lights and power steering? I can post pictures tomorrow

 

[Ridge]

Happened to me last week. The stereo and gauges dropped for a second, and then I lost power steering until I came to a full stop. The negative battery terminal had come loose. Tightened it down again and all is well.

 

[mekanick]

I remember a thread where something similar happened and it ended up being a ground by the power steering pump(behind the right headlight) that was the culprit. Maybe look there and even if its tight take it off and clean everything up to make sure it has a really good connection. Emery cloth works great or any kind of sandpaper you have laying around should work to scuff up the metal to make sure it has a good contact surface

 

[stevar]

I remember a thread where something similar happened and it ended up being a ground by the power steering pump(behind the right headlight) that was the culprit. Maybe look there and even if its tight take it off and clean everything up to make sure it has a really good connection. Emery cloth works great or any kind of sandpaper you have laying around should work to scuff up the metal to make sure it has a good contact surface

I doubt that would cut the power to the radio and headlights at the same time. Negative post on batteries usually have an immediate ground to chassis close to the battery. I'd check that one for sure by the symptoms you mention. It may not be tightened all the way down and corrosion got in between the contacts. I'm still interested in this Amplifier install. When something is installed after the car is bought you have to wonder if that's not the culprit. Process of elimination.

I had "professionals" install a power amp in a car in the past because I wanted it wired correctly and my car was still under warranty. My car ended up dead on the side of the road because they decided to place the amp connector underneath my battery connectors (screw on types). It ripped the battery connector right off the side of my battery. A plastic protruding part on the battery caused the tension to build when they tightened it on. They really should of seen that coming. But apparently they do this daily.

This is why I wanted to see pictures.

 

[mekanick]

I doubt that would cut the power to the radio and headlights at the same time. Negative post on batteries usually have an immediate ground to chassis close to the battery. I'd check that one for sure by the symptoms you mention. It may not be tightened all the way down and corrosion got in between the contacts. I'm still interested in this Amplifier install. When something is installed after the car is bought you have to wonder if that's not the culprit. Process of elimination.

Bad grounds can affect anything and everything. If there is a bad connection there how is it gonna get back to the ground on the battery? The headlights are probably grounded there as well as other devices that may interfere with communication so its not a bad place to start especially since others have had problems there. I do this for a living and I still get my ass kicked once in a while by electrical problems that make no sense.
Theory is fine and dandy but in the real world electricity makes no sense lol

I do agree that you should check that amp install though. Ive seen aftermarket add ons be the cause of all kinds of electrical problems due to half assed installations way too many times

 

[melody81774]

I have this exact same issue with my 2010 mazda3. Did anyone successfully resolve this issue?

 

[XCNuse]

I have this exact same issue with my 2010 mazda3. Did anyone successfully resolve this issue?

Check the connections to your battery; that's really the only source of occurrence for anything like this is a loose battery terminal.
With that; some audio setup I don't know, because half the time those things are wired by middleschoolers it seems, and that can usually answer the issue as well.

 

[melody81774]

So we checked the connections, cleaned them and it randomly happened again. We changed the battery and the alternator checks out fine. The only other thing is we bought the car used and the previous owner had a GPS system hooked up. We asked him to remove it so there is nothing installed now but I'm wondering if the previous install could have screwed things up some how?

 

[jared dodge]

Have you checked the alternator ? I've had the same problem with my neon when I was driving to a concert from nh first the head lights dimmed and then my radio shut off then lost power stearing when we got into town but that was like years ago lucky for me there was a shop in town so my car was fixed befor the concert was over

 

[melody81774]

Yup alternator checks out fine. It doesn't happen consistently either.. it happened 9 months ago, stopped then just resurfaced again. It does seem to happen when I'm driving at a lower speed and gets worse when I make a turn. Not sure if that's coincidence or not because once it flashes on and off I tend to pull over, so I don't know if it's the turning that causes the engine to turn off or it happens to be dying anyways when I am turning.

 

[XCNuse]

It does seem to happen when I'm driving at a lower speed and gets worse when I make a turn. Not sure if that's coincidence or not because once it flashes on and off I tend to pull over, so I don't know if it's the turning that causes the engine to turn off or it happens to be dying anyways when I am turning.

Increased battery load at lower speeds; particularly when turning (electric powered power steering)

I'm thinking it's something stupid and right under our nose...
You said you changed the battery? To a new one?

 

[melody81774]

Yup - brand new battery!

 

[Daciarankin]

Anyone figure out the actual issue?? Mine did this about 6 months ago stopped and starting doing it again today. First time it happened I took it to mechanic and they couldn't find anything wrong. I have all stock parts but did have to replace battery over a year ago. Help please!

 

[Mazerbeyond]

Mine Also

I have a 2010 mazda 3 hatchback and the same problem has been happening. everything appears to die and then comes back up, does the little tune like i just started it. its happening intermit. I also noticed that the accessory port has not been charging anything either.

 

[chrisjamess]

This sounds similar to an issue I am currently having! I don't want to make a new post so here's my story. ANY assistance would be greatly appreciated!:

A few months ago my battery suddenly died when I came out of the grocery store. I got it jumped and it was dead again when leaving work that same day. A couple things I noticed: the power steering would stick when turning occasionally and the dash lights would flicker when using my windows or hitting a turn signal. So, I got jumped again and went straight to get the battery and alternator tested. I was told they were ok. After leaving the local shop my car started running just fine with no issues.

This morning, three months later, it all started happening again. The same exact thing only my battery hasn't fully died on me. I haven't had a single issue since that day in July. I've heard there was a power steering recall on some of these cars and I am not sure if this would cause the power issues my car is having.

My knowledge of cars is minimal at best and I'm just trying to find a good place to start with getting this remedied. Hoping someone has heard of a similar problem or might be able to provide any other insight on this problem. I can't really afford to just dump it off to be diagnosed and repaired by the dealer or shop.

 

[mcqueena]

This is also happening to me. 2010 Mazda 3 Sedan. It's intermittent but happens about once a week for me. A few times it's been pretty dangerous, because of the loss of power steering. Usually at low speeds, breaking, or break to gas. The mechanic couldn't find anything. I also have an aftermarket stereo with amplifier. Looking for a solution like the others in this thread.

 

[mcqueena]

I found another forum that mentioned that the problem was a broken motor mount.

 

[tduffs]

2005 Mazda 3 - Power Steering / Radio Light Problems

I have a 2005 Mazda 3 Hatchback with still under 100km and this morning and yesterday morning my power steering stopped working while I was driving (about 50km/hr), the power steering light lit up on the dash, and the stock radio dash shut on and off. The power steering came back on once I was stopped at the next red light after about a 60 seconds and then everything was back to normal. I've had the radio turn on and off a few times before its turns back on right away but it hasn't happened for months.

I had an auxiliary chord installed into my stock radio and my steering wheel button options can change the modes from "FM", "AM", "CD", and "EX" for my auxiliary option. I don't know if it's my battery (which has a bit of corrosion and I know I need to replace it soon regardless) or if it's an electrical issue starting to occur from the auxiliary installation (which is still under warranty). I haven't had any other problems otherwise.

Have any of you with the same problem managed to figure out if it was your battery or the wiring issues from aftermarket installations?