My girl has a mitsubishi.. the car has run without issue (it is like a 2003) here is the following scenario.. help please..

 

* car is just about stone dead the second you turn it off..

* car will NOT start one or two solid clicks then nothing

* if jump started car starts in literally a few seconds

* if I leave interior lights on.. or try to start it on its own the car seems VERY weak (lights and other electric dies pretty quickly)

Battery most likely, Autozone or the like will test it for free.

jump it if it stays runnning most likely battery. if you can jump it and take the cables off and and car dies lean towards alternator probably. im not a mechanic but i know a lil about alot.

Either the battery or the terminals. You can jam a flat blade in the battery terminals to see if it helps. If the vehicle is 5+ years old it's most likely just a bad battery.

My girl has a mitsubishi.. the car has run without issue (it is like a 2003) here is the following scenario.. help please..

 

* car is just about stone dead the second you turn it off..

* car will NOT start one or two solid clicks then nothing

* if jump started car starts in literally a few seconds

* if I leave interior lights on.. or try to start it on its own the car seems VERY weak (lights and other electric dies pretty quickly)

 

Moe than likely if is just cropped up it's probably a battery going on you. One thing to check first is the battery connections, especially the neg side, make sure the connections are clean and tight, also the ground connection off the battery.

 

Also before you go and start thinking about replacing anything other than the battery get our your meter, see what the battery has with the car off, then check with the car running, if is at 14.2 to about 14.8 that;s good, below that or above that and you could have an under or over charging situation and a new battery wouldn't last long any way.

 

One more thin you can do and this is also free to do like my first check, is a load check at an auto parts place, 99.9999% of them do it for free and that will really tell you if the battery is good or not.

 

Keep us posted and let us know how you make out.

 

Harry

One more thing, these days a lot of battery's are maintains free, well that what they say but if you remove the covers you can still see if any cells are low on fluid, you can top that off with distilled water and see if that works, but also if the battery is 5 year old or more than it could be going anyway, all the advice I gave is free to do, the cheapest way to isolate issues, you can get methodical after that. <G>

 

Harry

ok well a little update.. since I mess with cars and kind of understand them I went out and got some more info.. see if this confirms anything..

 

also may be worth noting... I went to clean up the negative terminal since the corrosion was caked up so much that I could likely fill half a shot glass with the powdery residue... and when I did so I noticed the inside of the terminal was totally oxidized.. when I went to clean that up it all fell apart in my hand.. so the terminal is definitely bad and needs to be replaced..

 

took a test light...

 

clip on negative battery terminal ~ probe on positive side = nice bright light

 

clip on positive probe on chassis ~ probe on positive while holding remnants of ground to negative = questionable dim light but then again I was trying to hold a lot of things at once..

 

thanks a lot for all the help.. you guys are definitely helpful..

get the battery tested.

 

Had similar symptoms on the Mazda, replaced battery twice in 5 years. Or how old is the battery? Still has warranty?

To anyone that wants to check the fluid level inside their maintenance free batteries, BE VERY, VERY CAREFUL! One slip and you are not going to like what will happen next, trust me!

get the battery tested.

 

Had similar symptoms on the Mazda, replaced battery twice in 5 years. Or how old is the battery? Still has warranty?

 

 

based on your question I am going to replace the battery as teh answer would shock you.. I would be very surprised if this was NOT the original battery the car came with.. LOL

ok well a little update.. since I mess with cars and kind of understand them I went out and got some more info.. see if this confirms anything..

 

also may be worth noting... I went to clean up the negative terminal since the corrosion was caked up so much that I could likely fill half a shot glass with the powdery residue... and when I did so I noticed the inside of the terminal was totally oxidized.. when I went to clean that up it all fell apart in my hand.. so the terminal is definitely bad and needs to be replaced..

 

took a test light...

 

clip on negative battery terminal ~ probe on positive side = nice bright light

 

clip on positive probe on chassis ~ probe on positive while holding remnants of ground to negative = questionable dim light but then again I was trying to hold a lot of things at once..

 

thanks a lot for all the help.. you guys are definitely helpful..

First thing is to get a new terminal connector, then check all the other connections, such as the ground wire to the frame. These will definitely cause problems if they are loose or corroded, if that doesn't take care of it, then look at replacing the battery, especially if it's old.

Anthony you should know better!! Surprised you didn't have the batter tested before this, and didn't do the good old alternator check.

Grab a packet of the terminal grease/protectant on your way out the door too. Helps to prevent the battery from corroding in the future

+1s to the rest of you tomorrow (I ran out for the day.. LOL)

 

you all hit it right on the head.. it took longer to drive to get the battery than it did to fix it.. thanks a bunch!!!!!

 

replaced terminal and battery..

I'm tempted to post this up on CC

I'm tempted to post this up on CC

 

 

I already did and want to know the amazing part...

 

* there I got ONE reply since I posted this here.. in the same time here... look at the info NJGF provided..

* you are a moderator there and I posted it in general tech and you did not even notice.. LOL

 

but in all seriousness.. yeah I get it.. bad battery bad cable.. guess what I dont know everything and since it was a car I am generally unfamiliar with I figured I would ask.. I did not come on here asking if my ECU was shot.. I obviously had a pretty good idea of what it was.. but 5.. 10.... 15.. heads.. are better than one.. and I appreciate the help.. it made a simple solution even easier..

* you are a moderator there and I posted it in general tech and you did not even notice.. LOL

I told you I've been busy .....

 

I'm just busting your balls anyway.

Glad you got it goin Vlad. I do that for a living and I'm local so next time you have an issue give a shout...

 

I'm just busting your balls anyway.

 

 

me to..