Evo won't start unless battery is COMPLETELY charged (12.6 volts)
 

I've got a MAP 2.4L LR FP red evo 8 and this thing is driving me nuts. The car has a brand new battery, previous owner told me the starter was just recently replaced.

Whenever i check the voltage the battery is around 12.2-12.6 volts but the car generally needs to be jumped if voltages is below 12.6. The battery is rated for 1000 cranking amps at 32f so it should be more than sufficient. Battery is in the trunk and I just recently reran the positive line with a high quality 2 gauge braided copper wire just in case that was the issue.

Does anyone have any idea what is going on? Do I need a special starter?

Any help anyone could give would be much appreciated, I'm going nuts with this thing. Thanks!!!


Jon

First thing I would try is to move the same battery back up front (even temporarily) just to test if it's the relocation that's killing you.
If that doesn't work, borrow a battery from a friend and hook it up under the hood and that will tell you if it's the battery itself that's bad.
If that doesn't work, test the starter relay.
If that doesn't work, check the starter and make sure the connections are good and tight and free of debris and dirt.

test voltage at the starter while cranking. How much does it drop?

Hey thanks for the replies! It's definitely not the battery, I've had this issue for years and I've tested multiple batteries.

I just did some tests, I checked voltage up at the engine bay where the battery relocation connects and it's identical to direct battery voltage.

I checked voltage at the front of the engine at startup. It went from 12.5 down to high 9's/10 as I turned her over.

I then hopped under the car and hooked the multimeter up directly to the starter and checked, voltage was same as before, 12.5 but when I turned the engine over it dipped to between 0 and 2 volts. Is this normal? I've never checked voltage at the starter while cranking over.

:helpme: Thanks for any help anyone can give! {thumbup}

No that's not normal. You need to inspect the harness.

Evo won't start unless battery is COMPLETELY charged (12.6 volts)
 

Check out this thread: https://www.evolutionm.net/forums/ev...ied-fixed.html

I can't definitively say something is wrong but after replacing every electrical part my no start situation was solved by adding a relay as suggested by OP TED B. Edit: post 148, page10