Hey everyone I have come across an opportunity I just can NOT pass up! I recently had to sell my first evo beginning of this year due to family problems. Ot was my baby i did everything i wanted to accomplish with it. I found an evo that is 12 hours away from me. I have talked to the guy and he just dumped a lot of money into maintence and now he says it just started randomly dying and he is absolutely done with it due to him having to get an suv and no time to spend on it. He says it will start and then die in about 5 seconds. I'm going to have him send me a video. My biggest concern is that it could have lost compression. He swears its just a bad battery because its a mini battery and old and also the altanator is bad. I understand it could be a crank sensor or wiring/fuse issue or grounding problem. I just want it to be something managable to be fixed all thoughts and ideas are welcome I'm planning on trailering it home so its not like I have to fix it and drive it home. God bless everyone and thanks for any opinions and help

 

If the car starts and runs it should continue to run with a bad battery and bad alternator as long as you have a charger or jumper cables connected. Something doesn't add up. Do a compression test before you spend dime one on it. There must be a way to have a mechanic local to the car look at it before you spend the 24 hour round trip for nothing.

 

Yeah that's what I figured :/ so with a bad battery and alternator the car will run if there are cables hooked up to it. So possibly a fuel pump? I could listen to see if it kicks on then shuts off right?

 

I can't hear mine run.

 

Its only a good deal if you can figure it out with some kind of certainty before you leave. Or you just bought yourself someone else's problem-- Personally when it come to electrical issues, I walk because its representative of the kind of maintenance and neglect from the previous owner talking short cuts to get a job done. my .02 Good Luck

 

I would definitely pay to have someone go out there and look at the car before you go out there.

 

Damn :/

 

Man if you're getting a really good deal on it, what's a $100 bucks to pay someone to check it out?

If it works out to be a cheap fix, then you scored. If the car is f***ed, then it saved you tons of money/time/headache. Not to mention a 24hr round trip.

The hard part will be finding someone that will go to the car, not the other way around since it can't really move.


ETA: I have had some mint sounding low mileage VIIIs and IXs fail compression tests more times then I've found ones that pass while looking for an Evo and thats on running, mildly modded or stock cars. I would DEF have a car that can't run checked...

 

Where is the car at? Maybe another member on here is close enough to look at it for you.

But on the end of the vehicle concern, I would bring EVO scan or something to log to see why its stalling. Also, if you suspect a battery/alternator, it should stay running with the jumper cables on it.

Check for any codes. There could be cam/crank/MAF codes setting to give you a good indication on why its stalling.

The basics to make a motor run are spark, fuel and compression. These should all be checked before you buy any car.

 

It will not run with a bad alternator. Mine wouldnt start up or anything when mine went out.

Definitely agreeing with everyone saying to get a compression test on it. Better safe than sorry!

 

Wrong. Please read the other posts.

 

Lol I guess when mine went out and left me stranded 40miles from home that was a bad dream. My bad. I read the other posts and experienced otherwise...

Yes it will start if hooked up to a charger or something but if the alternator is bad the car will not run unless otherwise powered.


edit: I guess this was otherwise clarified. Just reiterating.

 

It depends on the type of cables used. If they r a cheap thin jumper set then they will not transfer enough power quickly enough to keep it running. Same with charger, most chargers now day are only about 12 amps from what I've used lately so if the power draw from the car is more than that it will eventually shut off this is why most alternators are 90-110 amps on vehicles. If you can hook up a thick set of jumper cables(0-4ga maybe a little thinner will work but that's wut mine are) to the car then the alternator of the donor car should be able to power the vehicle. If not then the problem lies outside of the battery/alt. but without a compression test the fact that it even runs at all makes me think that it has fuel, spark and timing enough to start it but no power to continue to run.

 

With a decent jumper pack it should stay running for a while. I probably wouldn't drive off to far but it should stay running for a few minutes.


If the owner of that car has given up on it then I doubt it would be as simple as a battery otherwise why wouldn't he have tried that already. Sounds like he isn't given you the full story.

Fwiw I knew of a car that had a bad oil pump, and the only complaint in its early stages was that it was cranking slow and would die. long story short, oil pump was never working and the engine ran until it completely seized up.

 

The car will run indefinitely with a bad alternator with jumpers attached once it's running.
The reason the evo 8 & 9 have 90 amp alternators is to run rear defrosters, cooling fans, blower motors, AC compressor clutches, windshield wipers front and rear, headlights, horn, electric windows, sound systems, ignition coils, fuel pumps, turn signals and do them all at the same time.