I own a very clean 2003 “Mazda” B3000 with the 3.0 engine. Maintenance is up to date, owned it for months now with no issues. However, today I went to go for a ride, and suddenly with zero warning, the entire truck had a major problem. Check engine light comes on, battery light comes on, I mean it looked like a Christmas tree. Since I always carry a code scanner with me, I went to pull into a lot only to find out that my power steering was gone as well as my brakes were suddenly to the floor, too! Before I can shift into park, the engine just stalls and dies. Managed to get it started again and then plugged in the scanner with it running, Zero codes. Nothing!

the only thing I noticed before this spontaneous issue was a slight squeaking noise coming from under the hood. Sounded like a rotating noise. Not like a belt noise, maybe a bearing of some kind.

I did the basics and checked the battery, (which is only two weeks old btw). Running at about 14.6. I then checked the belt, looking good, that’s actually newer as well. I didn’t smell coolant, no visible leaks, I checked the fuses and nothing looks burnt out. Had the truck towed home anyways.

One hour later I decided to start the truck up again. Ran perfectly fine like it always has. No battery light, no CEL, power steering feels good like it has before.

so, what was this freak accident? My only guess is the alternator, but if the alternator was in fact bad, wouldn’t it STAY bad? Like nothing just magically repairs itself again. I had two mechanic friends check it out after it was towed but of course the truck was well behaved and nothing happened again.

I have a few mechanic friends who have never heard of such a thing from Rangers/Mazda B series trucks. That’s why I made an account here. Any help would be appreciated, and has this happened to you? What should I do?

A/C compressor maybe locked up.

Were your tests at home with HVAC system off ?

A/C and Fan was off. No heater, nothing. My friend and I did try turning the AC back on while it was running again, as well as the other accessories. Nothing changed.

For the battery light and CEL to come on the engine has to be off and key on, also you lose power steering and power brakes(a bit) with engine off

So are you SURE that the engine was actually running as you pulled off the road?? its important

If other dash lights also came on(xmas tree) then ignition switch(under steering column) had to lose power momentarily, that caused another "bulb test", which happens each time you turn on the key, watch for it, all dash lights come on for a second or two, the bulb test, and then most go off, CEL and battery light will stay on if engine is off

All ignition switch power, key on power, comes from one fuse in engine bay fuse box, fuse 11, 50amp, pull it and check it for corrosion
Also move around the ignition key while engine is running to see if you can duplicate what happened

Long shot is something stopped the fan belt from turning while engine was running, the "noise" you heard, CEL wouldn't come on but battery light would, but no other lights(i.e. bulb test), but power steering would be gone, but wouldn't effect brakes


Only thing that really fits all the symptoms is ignition switch lost power, which stalled the engine(like turning off the key), and then got power back so all lights came back on

I sure as hell wasn’t accelerating. I’ll have to test that out or something. Thanks for the advice on the fuses, though. That’s what I’ll check first when I get home. Thanks a bunch!