mazda electrical(i think) problems, please help!

[redlinedeath]

so i have a 98 mazda 626 v6 w 189k on it. it runs perfectly... well it did.

last week, the car wouldnt start, and the battery started bubling when i hooked it to a trickly charger. so i picked up a new battery. no problems.

changed the pcv valve, and had the option to either buy a 15 dollar air filter, or use a k&N cone filter i had laying around, so i cleaned and re-oiled the filter, did some straight intake pipe from the MAF, attached the air temp sensor, and it worked fine, and sounded kind of neat. worked fine! AND the horrible hits of no power in second gear at mid throttle and above dissapear, so it cleanly pulls with no sharp hits of hesitation! yay!

then the starter started sticking. couple of light taps with a small hammer on the solenoid, and it fired right up, no issues since with the starter.

i start my car at the gas station and turn on the headlight about an hour ago. i hear loud intermiten(sp?) popping, like a mid tom on a drumset, along with loud clicking and a buzzing sound that was going on and on, high pitched buzz that was almost beeping, and everytime it beeped/buzzed, the lights would dim. alot. then the passanger light turned off. pulled the relay and swapped with the horn, its the same relay, still the same problem, but the horn works fine with the old headlight relay! sounds like poping is comeing from the intake tract, but it still does it under load! tap the hell out of the relay with my knuckle one time, and it stops! when the radiator fan kicks on it does the popping sound also. i show my roomate, and it stops, he walks away, and 5 min later it does it again!

someone please help!i cant drive around here with one flashing headlight at night, ill get pulled over within 3 or 4 blocks!

[Trevor]

In order to assist you from afar, facts are required, rather than a rather jumbled story of strife.

You have a 98 Mazda 626 V6 which has done 189K and normally runs perfectly.

Car would not start. Battery removed and put on trickle charge and as a result battery started bubbling.

Purchased new battery which we assume was fitted with no problems.

Fixed an unrelated problem and car ran OK.

Next time car used starter sticking, but cured with couple of light taps.

Car started after stop at gas station. Loud intermittent (sp) [Sound system Speaker???] popping noise. Also a high pitched buzz (from where???) and lights dimmed. (All lights, one headlight or both???) (N.B. What is the situation when the lights are not switched on.????)
Exchanged (one headlight???) relay, with horn relay with no result, but horn works with the exchanged relay.

(If there is a second headlight relay, exchange that with the now exchanged horn relay and advise result. ????)

“sounds like pooping is coming from the intake tract, but it still does it under load.” ?????????????)

Noise stops when (presume headlight) relay tapped once. ( Which relay, and if a headlight relay, do lights become bright???)

“when the radiator fan kicks on it does the popping sound also.”
The fan, the relay or the speaker, i.e. presuming the intake tract is ruled out.???

“i show my roomate, and it stops, he walks away, and 5 min later it does it again:”
It is presumed the car was stopped and started during this time???

Diagnosis ----

Battery problem not involved.

Problem started shortly, but not directly after repairs to another engine unrelated problem.

Relay in itself not likely to be faulty.

Presume popping noise from sound system speaker. High pitched buzzing but from where?

Popping noise when fan starts. Presume from speaker. But is high pitched buzz also audible at the same time???

It would appear that a quite heavy audible frequency oscillating load is being applied to the battery circuit. Alternatively a similar partial short circuit is occurring.

Lighting circuit seems involved but does problem only exist with lights energised?????????

Conclusion. --- More details required.

P.S. Does switching on and off your audio system have any effect???? Do you run a high power amplifier and possibly a back up capacitor bank. ???


Please answer all queries marked --- ??? .

[redlinedeath]

at the moment, i cant check anything, but ill try to remember what i can. the sounds were not coming from the speaker, but from the engine bay with my head under the hood. theres only one headlight relay, and i didnt try to turn the lights on with the car off. ill give that a shot.

when it did make all the loud buzzing/beeping sounds, if you put your finger on the headlight relay and that one only, you could FEEL the sounds very clearly coming through the relay, but if you touched any of the surrounding relays, you could lightly feel everything you heard. the only one that didnt seem to be coming out of that area was the loud poping that happened when the radiator switched on. i also noticed that whenever you turned the lights on it would do it. ill figure more out, but im heading to work. ill try to get a clearer description tonight. thanks for the help

[redlinedeath]

no sterEo system or anything like that, im more of a loud clarity type guy, and the stock system sounds GREAT!

[Trevor]

Originally Posted by redlinedeath

no sterEo system or anything like that, im more of a loud clarity type guy, and the stock system sounds GREAT!

You confirm that you are a person with intelligence. We will sort it out.