1G mitsubishi noob having electrical issues please help?

[easternpiro]

Hi all, ive been meaning to join an eclipse site for a while, finally got around to it.

i have a question concerning my 1g 1994. ive been having alternator issues recently and if you'll bear with me i'll explain best i can (not too good with the electrical aspect of cars)


i have been having difficulty running power in my car (a/c radio etc) without draining the battery

all signs point toward bad alternator (which is only ONE year old after being replaced) so i get another one at no charge

2 weeks later getting basically same problems again (try to a/c on radio goes out, or turn lights on, radio goes out as if its not getting enough power. (this is all while the car is running sitting still or in motion)

im thinking alternator not charging battery so i get it tested find out my battery is basically kaput.

get new battery yesterday, but new/same problem arrises, but THIS time power to my headlights slowly decreases, car wont accelerate and eventually car cuts off completely (while im driving).

had to jump my car several times on the way while limping it back to a friends house.

anybody know what may be the problem? i checked my grounds from negative terminal, everythings seems to be attatched at the alternator.

when i had it tested @ advance, guy says its a wiring issue (because machine is reading 0.0 coming from alternator.

sorry if this was too long, i appreciate any help/ suggestions!

CHEERS!

 

[luckynumber5]

Broken wires are a possibility, if the alternator is not charging at all trace that positive wire back to the battery. It should have power directly from the battery. If the wire is good look at the other wires going to the alternator, see if theres a problem with one of them.

 

[LiquidX]

Do a drain test. Also were these alternators from AutoZone or the like? I was having issues as well and it turned out o be a bad alternator, got an AutoZone one put on again and same stuff. Basically went through 3 in a week until I got a good one that is lasting. One of them also failed their test right off the shelf as well.

 

[easternpiro]

thanks lucky! i will trace them again, im thinking that that may be the case as well (though i sure hope not) my shocks are blown and the front bounces around a bit which led me to belive it shook something loose (which was the case concerning the battery terminals the first time). I dont quite have the $ right now to fix the shocks so i been tryin to take it easy.


liquid: thanks as well, i did get both alternators from autozone (one last year, and this one 2 weeks ago) when i replace the battery (which i bought monday 8/23) i will do a drain test again to figure out whats going on. the guy at advance did the drain test initally and said the alternator wasnt charging at all (which was later re-confirmed) my friend said he had the same issue with autozone alternators (damn bastitches)

a friend of mine made a suggestion WAAAAAY from left field said it was the fuel pump somehow now granted while the car was fading away last night, i did smell a slight odor, but it didnt smell quite like gas but maybe a combination... but i doubt its that highly

 

[Calloflunacy]

I would say you have a bad ground, look up all the ground points in the vehicle and inspect them. Make sure they are clean, and that none of the bolts are loose. That could easily cause a lot of those issues. It may be worth your while to take the ground connections apart and clean them with some scotchbrite or a wire brush and some kind of solvent and put them back together.

 

[steve]

And don't forget to check the alternator fuse with a multimeter, visual doesn't count.
You should be seeing 13.6v or more at the battery when the car is idling.