This weekend I fell of the roof of my g/f's house and pretty much locked both my elbows up which caused lots of swelling, long story short I can't lift anything over 20lbs. Well I was getting gas and saw someone at the station who needed a jump start, I wasn't going to do anything till he asked me if I could jump start him. I let him know that I have cables but couldn't do it myself since I had some injuries that prevent me from lifting things.

Well he was much obliged, and started to hook up the cables, but then he touched the positive cable that was connected to the dead battery to mine which caused it to arc and killed the power in the car. It started back up but was acting odd, I just thought the polarity on the battery was reversed but it seems to be more.

After I got the new battery, I tried to start the car and nothing, not even a click, but the internal lights come on, gauge cluster lights up etc. I am at work right now and have no way to test anything out. But I was wondering if anyone knows what could be the issue. I checked the fuses and they all appear to be "fine" but I'm seriously thinking that one of them is blown. But I can't go out to look at it till my next break. Is there anything else that could be wrong? I have help tonight, but checker closes soon and I don't have many options to fix this so I can get home....

So to recap since I know my writing style is hard to follow this is what I know.

Vehicle: 1997 Mitsubishi Eclipse RS manual transmission

Old battery was bad, it exploded
New Battery has a charge and holds it
Accessories come on
No click when turning the key
Alarm is active
All wires appear good on the outside
Fuses Appear to be good but have not pulled them out yet to examine.
Car was running before I turned it off.

I did do a search and found a few articles that I printed out to check but I am still wanting to know if anyone else has any additional information.

someone had a fuse tester, I tested all the fuses and they all checked out good, so now I'm thinking it could be the dreaded alternator dieing which is fine because I have one at home only bad thing is I don't have a pulley on it. Anyone know any way to get the wheel off when you don't have a hub puller?

I should also add that I was able to start the car so it looks like it might be a either a wire somewhere or the alternator...

alright sorry guys, I'm kinda loopy my pain meds wore off and the pain is just making me feel like I've been on a trip to never never land :( but I should add, I put in a new battery and the car started but the second I turned on the lights the battery started dieing. I'm stupefied at the moment mostly cuz of mentioned pain. But would this mean that the alt. is just dead or are there other causes?

Originally posted by corivus
But would this mean that the alt. is just dead or are there other causes?

Either the alternator is bad or the ECU circuit that regulates voltage is burnt up.

Just a suggestion, check the 30A motor fuse in the fusebox under the hood. It should be the first one bottom left corner if you are facing the front of the car. IIRC.

checked the 30a fuse last nite it was all peachy keen happy

Originally posted by DarkOne

Originally posted by corivus But would this mean that the alt. is just dead or are there other causes?

Either the alternator is bad or the ECU circuit that regulates voltage is burnt up.

where's that circuit? is it on the ecu itself or is it elsewhere?

Originally posted by corivus
where's that circuit? is it on the ecu itself or is it elsewhere?

It's inside the ECU. If that circuit is bad you'll need to source another ECU. You could always try another ECU if you have a local friend or someone with the same drivetrain/year as you.

Alright, this is Corivus's friend Troy. I was fiddling and have noticed that the accessory lights come on with the key in the ignition but when I turn on the headlights everything goes real dim, the headlights are very low as well. Also, we were hearing a buzzing noise, turns out its the accessories beeper with too low of juice to actually beep, so it justs growls at you lol. We checked the fuses, they all seemed fine but I'm checking them again to make sure.

I cleaned the connections for the battery terminal to make sure there wasn't any resistance from corrosion or anything like that, and when I was checking the leads I found that the starter's cable has a burnt up red cover! This isn't my car so I don't know if that was already there but it looks to have had some really bad arching to cause that much burn. As well, when the car IS running the positive connection to the battery gets warm, and when corivous drove it home last night the new battery boiled over so there is definitely some resistance or even a short...either from the alternator, starter, or from what someone posted, the ECU.

Oh and go figure, when trying to start the car it wont crank over UNLESS you have the headlights on... so at this point I have no idea what to do and I'm going to retreat to my Nissan (which corivous already killed) and drive home, pick up some more tools, and then check back here to see what you enlightened few post. Thank you :)

~Troy

quick question to you guys, when putting the ohm meter to the postive and ground cables without the battery hooked up, what should it read? I'm getting .01 ohms dun think this is right.... it went up from -.02 when the stereo was completely unhooked

I would *start* with replacing that main line to the starter. With a terminal block, they run about $30 or so at Autozone.

As for the starter only engaging when the headlights are on, I have no idea. That's the sort of problem only corivus could fall into. :P

hahaha yeah tested the starter wire and it was happy but I'll replace it tomorrow just to be sure. Also posted on az2gnt I think I'm going to take it to the dealer on Monday