Alternator/Battery Issue
Feb 16, 2009, 09:34 PM
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Alternator/Battery Issue
Hi guys,
Yesterday as I was driving home at night, the battery light and park brake light were both lit, which at first I was hoping would be the battery (previous owner still had the original mitsu battery since 2004). The car really struggled home, I had no electricals working, so no headlights or inidicators and had to drive for a good 20 minutes like this (i know how dangerous it sounds, but I just wanted to get the car home safe in my garage).
I also noticed that the revs on idle were sitting around 2K, and the car just was not driving as normal (it would struggle up a hill in 2nd, and felt like it was really gonna die on me)
So I managed to get home (thank god, imagine a cop car found me) and left the car in the garage til the next day. I wasnt so surprised that the battery would be dead in the morning, and was hoping that it would just need a new battery.
I then replaced the battery with an Optima D51R this morning, and got the car started all good, but the battery and park brake lights are still lit.
Im now convinced the alternator is stuffed. What do you guys think?
It only has 19,000KM, and was tested at BEL garage before I bought it a month ago.
Im now considering taking it to Mitsu to get it all checked out.
Yesterday as I was driving home at night, the battery light and park brake light were both lit, which at first I was hoping would be the battery (previous owner still had the original mitsu battery since 2004). The car really struggled home, I had no electricals working, so no headlights or inidicators and had to drive for a good 20 minutes like this (i know how dangerous it sounds, but I just wanted to get the car home safe in my garage).
I also noticed that the revs on idle were sitting around 2K, and the car just was not driving as normal (it would struggle up a hill in 2nd, and felt like it was really gonna die on me)
So I managed to get home (thank god, imagine a cop car found me) and left the car in the garage til the next day. I wasnt so surprised that the battery would be dead in the morning, and was hoping that it would just need a new battery.
I then replaced the battery with an Optima D51R this morning, and got the car started all good, but the battery and park brake lights are still lit.
Im now convinced the alternator is stuffed. What do you guys think?
It only has 19,000KM, and was tested at BEL garage before I bought it a month ago.
Im now considering taking it to Mitsu to get it all checked out.
Feb 16, 2009, 09:39 PM
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Get a multimeter to check the voltage on your battery while the car is on. It should be around 14.5VDC if the alternator is working. If you're not sure disconnect the ground terminal from the battery while the car is on. The car should stay on with your battery disconnected. If it dies, more likely it's the alternator.
Feb 16, 2009, 10:46 PM
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Get a multimeter to check the voltage on your battery while the car is on. It should be around 14.5VDC if the alternator is working. If you're not sure disconnect the ground terminal from the battery while the car is on. The car should stay on with your battery disconnected. If it dies, more likely it's the alternator.
Havnt tried the 2nd test of disconnecting the ground terminal whilst the car is running.
A poster on a different forum suggested getting the ECU reset, as it may be turning off on me and causing the dramas I had last night....what do you guys reckon?
Last edited by nsimao; Feb 16, 2009 at 10:54 PM.
Feb 17, 2009, 02:25 AM
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I took it for a drive, went ok but something still felt wrong, got it back to the garage but once I turned off the ignition it wouldnt come back on again.
One thing I forgot to mention, last night and just now all three ACD light were lit up at the same time, including the battery and park brake.
I managed to get it jump started, so looks like I will need to take it to Mitsu to get it fixed.
One thing I forgot to mention, last night and just now all three ACD light were lit up at the same time, including the battery and park brake.
I managed to get it jump started, so looks like I will need to take it to Mitsu to get it fixed.
Feb 17, 2009, 04:17 AM
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Get a multimeter to check the voltage on your battery while the car is on. It should be around 14.5VDC if the alternator is working. If you're not sure disconnect the ground terminal from the battery while the car is on. The car should stay on with your battery disconnected. If it dies, more likely it's the alternator.
Feb 17, 2009, 04:41 PM
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who adude 25.6v?!? it should be at most 15.0 v voltage regulator in alternator took a crap on you.... your car is only setup for 12v system so what is happening is the car is on overload and trying to kill car cause everything has too much voltage... hope this helps... i am an a.s.e. cert master tech
Feb 17, 2009, 05:54 PM
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Tested it this morning and it started all fine, with no CEL's lit up and only the tarmac ACD light was on as normal....im really confused now.
did another multimeter reading, and now its readign some stupid like 30V. Its only a really cheap multimeter, and when I take a reading of a 1.5V battery...it reads 2.6V...
I just need to take it to the experts to get it checked out.
I wanna take it to mitsu but scared to drive it now, dont wanna blow my ECU or do any further damage.
did another multimeter reading, and now its readign some stupid like 30V. Its only a really cheap multimeter, and when I take a reading of a 1.5V battery...it reads 2.6V...
I just need to take it to the experts to get it checked out.
I wanna take it to mitsu but scared to drive it now, dont wanna blow my ECU or do any further damage.
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Feb 17, 2009, 10:53 PM
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ok.....bought a NEW multimeter, an engine analyser one and it now reads correctly at 14.5VDC....PHEW!!!
CEL's were good until I took it for a drive and the battery and Brake CEL came on solid. Drove ok i guess and then I stalled it in my driveway, at which stage it wouldnt startup again.
No point me playing around with it anymore, just gonna take it into mitsu.
Thanks for all your help guys.
CEL's were good until I took it for a drive and the battery and Brake CEL came on solid. Drove ok i guess and then I stalled it in my driveway, at which stage it wouldnt startup again.
No point me playing around with it anymore, just gonna take it into mitsu.
Thanks for all your help guys.
Last edited by nsimao; Feb 18, 2009 at 01:54 AM.
Feb 26, 2009, 06:20 PM
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Check the voltage on the battery when the battery and brake come on solid. NEVER take the negitive terminal off of the battery when the car is running it can fry the voltage regulator on most cars.....
Mar 1, 2009, 11:44 PM
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I called the auto electrician which has been looking at my car and they said the alternator is burnt out, so they are looking for parts now.....
Im kinda curious as to how the alternator would just fry on me like that, the car only has 19,100KM and is mostly stock. When it was imported from Japan it had a double din Kenwood deck which is gonna get ripped out soon. Then previous aussie owner put in a rhino sms paging alarm system himself, which I may be considering upgrading.
A mate reckons it could have been that the previous owner didnt drive the car much....*shrugs*
Looks i gotta play the waiting game now
Im kinda curious as to how the alternator would just fry on me like that, the car only has 19,100KM and is mostly stock. When it was imported from Japan it had a double din Kenwood deck which is gonna get ripped out soon. Then previous aussie owner put in a rhino sms paging alarm system himself, which I may be considering upgrading.
A mate reckons it could have been that the previous owner didnt drive the car much....*shrugs*
Looks i gotta play the waiting game now
