Mxpx1484

I took my 2008 Evo GSR into the dealer this week to have the drive belt recall done. One of the pulleys was squealing, so the dealer replaced the pulley on the alternator, as well as the idler.
I'm driving it home yesterday evening and the battery/charging system service light comes on. I check it today and the voltage across the battery terminals reads 10.5V when the car is off, and about the same when running. I thought it might be a bad cell, since the car still started fine. I popped out the battery and took it to Advance Auto, their reader indicated that a cell is bad ( they couldn't measure amperage since the voltage was so low, apparently).
Anyway, I buy a new battery and the light doesn't go away. I take it back to Advance to have the whole system checked, and it shows that the alternator is putting out 0A. I returned the battery I bought and put my old one back in. I tried to make it back to the dealer, but got every warning light the Evo has about a mile down the road.

I'm gonna call the service department when they open tomorrow morning to have it towed in, but my car is out of warranty and I don't exactly trust this center. To me, it seems like its either one hell of an unlucky coincidence, or they somehow didn't engage the new alternator pulley with the actual alternator. What do you guys think? I want to try to get a little more info on what could have gone wrong before I get bent over tomorrow.

Red_06_EvoRS

I agree that it sounds like a mighty big coincidence, Good luck.

Mxpx1484

Thanks man, yea I drove literally like 2 miles from the dealer before the battery light came on...which seems like maybe the time it would take to run the battery voltage down. The pulley seems like it's spinning, but maybe they forgot to install the keyway to connect the shaft and pulley?

obake214

Yeah defiantly odd.. you dont have to take anything besides the coolant reservoir off so if the belt is on then not sure it them that did something. make sure its plugged in and can also make sure its getting power and ground.. alternator could have been on its way out and maybe clutch inside dumped once they did the belt. Im late on this one so let us know what the dealer found

hoobastnk90

Yea the dealer messed something up.. and i would make them give you a new battery as well..

caduprado

Well, it probably wasn't (just) the battery, as it should read more when the alternator is charging it than when it isn't.

Good luck

EVO-Or-Bust

Any update on what the outcome was here. I think you should have turned around as soon as the light came on and went straight back to the service dept that just worked on it.

Mxpx1484

The dealer didn't want to hear anything other than the alternator went bad. 900 bucks later and they installed a new alternator, which did fix the problem. I asked them to save me the old alternator so I could check it myself and agreed to pay the core charge. I was on travel the week my car was ready and of course they had gotten rid of the old alternator by the time I got back. I've had my fill of mitsubishi service. Time to sell the car and never buy a mitsubishi again.

vbturbo2

Sounds like lack of communication, there is often on all mitsu starters and alt's a core charge. The parts guy probly didn't get the message to save the core and shipped it back. Mitsu has changed the Alt to have a slipping clutch instead of like an on or off switch that might be hard for someone like advance to check correct operation.


Albert
Daytona Mitsubishi
Parts Manager