Car woes

[S-Line]

Well I've just started to get my car back on the road. For the past 6 months its been sitting. A few weeks ago I tried to start the car up and no luck. So I thought maybe the battery was no good. I swapped w/ a new yellow top and still nothing. So I went to the next obvious problem, the alternator. I switched the old one a/ a new alternator. The car started up fine. So I thought problem solved.

After that was all said and done I decided to take the car for a spin. In the process the brake light and battery light start blinking at the same time. I'm like WTF. I keep driving and notice that my voltage gauge goes back and forth b/w 12-14 Volts. On top of that the car shuts off. So I'm back to square one trying to figure out whats going on. I figured out why the car kept shutting off, due to a bad throttle body sensor. I took the car to mitsubishi and let them service the car since i'm coming up on 60k mile service. I got new plugs, new plug wires, fresh oil, new rotors and pads etc. I get the car back and it runs as smooth as it can. Mitsubishi said the car has a slow charge but to drive around and let it run every day if i don't drive it. I was like no problem.

A week goes by and I drove the car about 4x during that week. Today I go outside to start the car and nothing. Its completely dead. I can't even use the alarm to unlock the doors. I jump start the car and it starts up right away. I let it run for about 30 mins but couldn't take it out since I had things to do. After 30 mins the volt meter showed 11 (not the most accurate but just something to go by). I turn the car off and let it sit for about 15 mins. Come back out to start it again and it won't start. I think it still might be the alternator. Maybe I got a lemon, who knows. Ill take it back to Mitsu, I would do it myself but I've got a busy week at the office and need the car running.

Any suggestions?

[guynlidia2006]

well once you jump the car to start it take off the neg cable and if it dosent turn off it should be good... I know at jiffy lube you can get them to do a batt check for free and their machine can check the alt too...

[Stewi]

Yeah I dont think its the alternator. I had this happen to me on my old 8g and the problem was I had a power wire that was grounding itself and draining the battery. Check the battery terminals and ground terminals. Do you have a sound system in the car? Check the power cables and make sure it didnt get cut somewhere like going thru the firewall and make sure its not grounding out.

Like said above, jump start the car and disconnect the negative battery cable, if it still runs, the alternator is good. Being that you had this problem happen again after you installed the yellow top, the yellow top might have been drained too low and now its not taking a charge. I had this happen to my red top, I recharged it on a special battery charger for an entire day, it worked for a week and then did the same shit, it turned out that the redtop was bad, even though it was only 3 weeks old, I brought it back and they replaced it with a brand new red top, never had that problem again.

I let the car sit for another 5 months, this passed friday I went to start it, fired right up.

[pinoyesv6]

well once you jump the car to start it take off the neg cable and if it dosent turn off it should be good.

please don't do that. that might work with older cars but doing that could be bad for newer cars with all its electronics.

[S-Line]

I won't try taking off the negative cable. I do have a system in the car. I've had it in the car since I've had it. Bothers me that now it would have this problem. I unhooked the system when i had the problem originally and once I thought it was fixed I hooked it back up. That is also a possibility. I can also try swapping the battery w/ another new one and see if that helps. I can see this is going to be fun.

[pinoyesv6]

maybe the system is draining power even when the car is off?

[dwjp90]

turn the car off and searchfor any grounded wires, and make sure the system is not draining power

[Reelax]

if the yellow top is totally drained you gotta get it charged overnight at autozone or the like... they do not drain as fast as regular batteries... but the downside is they do not charge as fast either... 30 minutes idling w/ a dead yellow top will not charge it like a normal battery; it needs to be charged overnight (8-12 hours+). i had this same issue w/ my deep cycle yellow and blue tops. if the battery is dead and needs to be charged, that is why car is failing to fire up after shutoff to restart. most likely your alternator is fine. go get the yellow top tested and charged by a shop or store that sells them and knows that they are not "normal" batteries and have the correct equipment to do this.

[S-Line]

I'm going to shut all power going to the amps and see if that helps. Also ill get the battery tested. I'll keep you guys updated.

[S-Line]

well for shits and giggles i installed a fresh battery today. took off the power cable running to the stereo system. well the car started up fine of course and volt meter showed 14 1/2 volts. Normal for a new battery. Then once the alternator kicks in it dropped to 12. That sucks.....i took out the new batter and put the old one back in since i don't want nothing draining it. Back to mitsubishi I guess.

[unlimited6986]

Chris when i had the carpc in my car i was reading 12 volts the whole time. It might be the battery cables or just a faulty wire somewhere.

[Stewi]

im at about 12. volts all the time running just the alternator at idle. You have to understand that idling the alternator doesnt make enough power to charge the car, you need to rev it to like 4000 and hold it there and see what the volts are, then they should be above 12.

[S-Line]

yea it does go above 12 when i rev i should have mentioned that. and i do remember car idleing at around 12 volts or so before. I still need to get the yellow top charged. I used a battery that a friend had which is 2 big for my car. Maybe I'll drop it off tomorrow if I get a chance.

[kbeast]

Man im having big problems like you S line. But i found out it was dumb stuff like halos and amp