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- Texas
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- 2019 MX-5 Miata
2020 CX-5 mysterious battery draw
- Thread starter Trygg
- Start date
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- Plano, Texas, USA
Wow, dropped to 3.414 volts overnight! I guess your post on Friday really jinxed it. Yep your battery is totally dead! In fact, if I were you I’d show them the voltage and try to get a new battery when I get to the Mazda dealer for SSP C2.
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- Texas
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- 2019 MX-5 Miata
Agreed! I can only assume the battery was fully charged around 6pm Sunday which was the last time the vehicle was driven. 12 hours later, it was dead as a doornail. Given a capacity of 60 AH, something had to draw about 5 amps (60 watts) continuously overnight to suck it dry.
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- Plano, Texas, USA
Or the battery doesn’t up to the specified capacity of 60AH, and that’s why you should try to get the battery replaced.
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- 2018 CX-5 Sport
That battery is shot. Even if it takes a charge, its life will be greatly reduced having been drained so low.
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- Texas
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- 2019 MX-5 Miata
Put a 1.25A Battery Tender on it for 12 hours. No-load voltage was 12.5 volts after disconnecting charger this morning. Reconnected battery and the vehicle started normally. Dropped it off at the dealer. Battery tests "okay", so they won't replace it. PLG unit not in stock so it has to be ordered and won't be here until Friday. They have no loaners, but took me to work - now I have to figure out how to get home. They said I could drive it, but not to let it sit for more than three days without being driven. I pointed out that it went from fully charged to 3.4 volts in less than a day, but I might as well have been speaking Klingon. 
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- 2019 CX-5 GTR
for a second there I thought you actually spoke Klingon.. how cool... but I might as well have been speaking Klingon.
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So they didn't suggest disconnecting the battery as an option for you to do?
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- Texas
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- 2019 MX-5 Miata
No, but that's something to consider that I didn't think of - or pull the PLG fuse(s)!
Obviously not a very good long-term solution, but that'll keep me from having to drive my year-old Miata in the rain for the first time. #FirstWorldProblems
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Now I have to laugh at myself, because that was my first thought as well. But then I just figured they probably drove the PLG off the BCM, just like with so many other things. But after you posted, I decided to take a look, and sure enough there is a dedicated PLG fuse in the passenger box! Just another reminder to never assume anything.
So we've collectively come up with by far the best temporary solution to this problem, because you will only need to reinstall the fuse if the hatch needs to be opened. And considering this further, why didn't Mazda mention this option in the campaign doc as something for owners to use as an interim solution, while waiting for the PLG units to arrive? And that would serve a dual purpose of teaching the majority of owners what fuses are and where they are located. I guess they just didn't want to get into anything so technically complex as pulling a fuse
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- Texas
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- 2019 MX-5 Miata
Well, don't laugh at yourself too hard just yet...
I don't have access to Mazda service information and mcx5.org doesn't appear to have information on the PLG (I ASSume it applies to the 2017 year model before the PLG became available - not sure what year that was).
I knew there was a dedicated PLG unit and fuse, but didn't (and still don't) know if that is the only source of power to the PLG unit (and the circuit responsible for the battery drain).
If the PLG unit has only once source of power, then I ASSume that power source is constant and that all commands (sleep/wake/open/close) are just packets of data and removing the PLG fuse would indeed be a temporary solution. That would be a lot more elegant than popping the hood and disconnecting and reconnecting the battery in months-old vehicle every time I parked it.
I don't have access to Mazda service information and mcx5.org doesn't appear to have information on the PLG (I ASSume it applies to the 2017 year model before the PLG became available - not sure what year that was).
I knew there was a dedicated PLG unit and fuse, but didn't (and still don't) know if that is the only source of power to the PLG unit (and the circuit responsible for the battery drain).
If the PLG unit has only once source of power, then I ASSume that power source is constant and that all commands (sleep/wake/open/close) are just packets of data and removing the PLG fuse would indeed be a temporary solution. That would be a lot more elegant than popping the hood and disconnecting and reconnecting the battery in months-old vehicle every time I parked it.
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Hopefully a solid test of that is to just pull the fuse and test the battery periodically to see if the voltage is going down or holding steady.
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- Texas
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- 2019 MX-5 Miata
Given the extremely intermittent nature of this issue (and the fact that it took 6,884 miles for it to completely drain my battery), I may never see it again during my ownership (I tend to trade vehicles every year, but I really like the CX-5, so this may be one of the very rare exceptions). Or, it may happen tonight! Either way, it's highly unlikely that it'll happen again before I get a new PLG unit Friday.
UPDATE: I really hate to be "that guy" and I understand if a dealer doesn't have any loaners then they don't have any loaners. But, I noticed the notification from Mazda said, "Mazda will provide alternate transportation, if needed, when your vehicle is at an authorized Mazda dealer for a SSP repair." So, I called the number on the notification and explained that the dealer doesn't have any loaners. The rep immediately called the Mazda dealer and told them to put me in a car from a local rental agency. We'll see what, if anything, I end up with in the next couple of hours.
UPDATE 2: Despite Mazda's specific direction to the dealer to get me a rental from a local agency and get reimbursed by Mazda if they didn't have any loaners available, the dealer refused (nothing but laziness on their part). The dealer is "fairly sure" they have a loaner coming back in at 5:45 PM (they close at 6:00 PM and it's 4:00 PM right now). A co-worker will drop me off at 5:30 PM and I'll wait. If I don't update this thread in a few hours, then I'm either sleeping in their showroom or in jail.
UPDATE 3: I'm in a new Jetta SLE for the week. I'll be glad to get my CX-5 back! The Jetta is slow, but has a neat multi-color ambient lighting system.
UPDATE: I really hate to be "that guy" and I understand if a dealer doesn't have any loaners then they don't have any loaners. But, I noticed the notification from Mazda said, "Mazda will provide alternate transportation, if needed, when your vehicle is at an authorized Mazda dealer for a SSP repair." So, I called the number on the notification and explained that the dealer doesn't have any loaners. The rep immediately called the Mazda dealer and told them to put me in a car from a local rental agency. We'll see what, if anything, I end up with in the next couple of hours.
UPDATE 2: Despite Mazda's specific direction to the dealer to get me a rental from a local agency and get reimbursed by Mazda if they didn't have any loaners available, the dealer refused (nothing but laziness on their part). The dealer is "fairly sure" they have a loaner coming back in at 5:45 PM (they close at 6:00 PM and it's 4:00 PM right now). A co-worker will drop me off at 5:30 PM and I'll wait. If I don't update this thread in a few hours, then I'm either sleeping in their showroom or in jail.
UPDATE 3: I'm in a new Jetta SLE for the week. I'll be glad to get my CX-5 back! The Jetta is slow, but has a neat multi-color ambient lighting system.
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- Europe
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- 2020 cx-5 GT
Here's the todays report, I dropped the car yesterday and now I'm only waiting for a new battery, the PLG module has been replaced 
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- Plano, Texas, USA
VW Jetta used to be a driver’s car. I bought a 5-speed manual Jetta GLI new back in 1985, and I enjoyed driving it all the time.
Unfortunately not like goodedward19’s experience your Mazda dealer refused to give you a new battery even though your battery was totally dead. In addition to the loaner car, may be you should talk to Mazda North American Operations again about the dead battery showing him / her the voltage readout for a new battery.
Here's the todays report, I dropped the car yesterday and now I'm only waiting for a new battery, the PLG module has been replaced
View attachment 233118View attachment 233119
Way to go! The wheel that squeaks gets the grease.
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- Texas
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- 2019 MX-5 Miata
This Jetta is far to slow, softly-sprung, and boring to be a driver's car.
The interior quality is top-notch as VW interiors have been for many years. It's very comfortable and easy to drive and offers a lot of features for the price.I'm not terribly worried about a dead battery - this is a walk in the park compared to what I went through with my recent Hondas.
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- Plano, Texas, USA
The invoice I got for warranty service from my Mazda dealer shows all $0’s for price information.All done. Curiously, the receipt appears to disclose the dealer's actual cost for parts and labor. Oops.
View attachment 233216
Anyone in Canada successfully got it replaced?
