URGENT: Help... Car cannot start.

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jeremywe
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Post by jeremywe »

twistea wrote:my guess is that you have damaged the solenoid on the starter motor. if your battery was low on voltage then the solenoid would have been drawing a lot more current from the battery and hence you probably fried it.
But the thing now is that, everything is working fine. no weird noise, starting the car is normal...

You reckon something is damaged? I'm still comptempleting if i should bring it from a check... Or delay it till my next scheduled servicing which is about 2 months from now.
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G1
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Post by G1 »

happened to my dad's maxima recently too, gave the starter motor a few taps and its been fine since... so i guess it could be on its way out hey?
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payaya
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Post by payaya »

jeremywe wrote:Thanks papaya for that info. quite helpful...

The drive before it "broke down", i was blasting my ICE extra loud... you think it could be because of that?

Just a few Qs.

you said
Case 1: "If its click click click click, not enough voltage
Case 2: If its crank, crank, slower crank, then no crank, its the battery. "

Does "click click click" mean that its the battery as well? Isnt case 2 the battery as well, but how come engine cranks?

Pardon my ignorance, but what does the stepper motor do?

Thanks!
yes both mean its youtr battery.

Sometimes interior lights stereo work fine when your battery is dying, but nbot enough to properly crank over the engine.
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payaya
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Post by payaya »

jeremywe wrote:
twistea wrote:my guess is that you have damaged the solenoid on the starter motor. if your battery was low on voltage then the solenoid would have been drawing a lot more current from the battery and hence you probably fried it.
But the thing now is that, everything is working fine. no weird noise, starting the car is normal...

You reckon something is damaged? I'm still comptempleting if i should bring it from a check... Or delay it till my next scheduled servicing which is about 2 months from now.
starter motors sometimes work sometimes dont, when they are going. Next time if your car doesnt start, give it a few firm taps while having someone start the car. If it starts, its the starter motor.

But going by your symtoms, i have not enough info really to judge with prob it is.
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jeremywe
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Post by jeremywe »

Hi guys,

That problem came again, but on the 3rd attempt, the car started.
The symtoms changed: This time, when i tried to start the engine, no sound at all. When i twisted the key back of OFF, i heard intermiten clicks.
Any idea when the symtoms changed?

just got a few questions this time.

1) Pardon my ignorance... But where is the started motor, and how does it look like exactly? what color is it? Which part should i tap on?

2) Can i just bring it to any workshop like those at the servos? How much would i expect to pay, and how long will it take?
Do i have to tell them the exact part number? Or is there one from another mitsubshi car that uses the same starter motor... (Would a reconditioned one or new one be recommended?)

Thanks a million!
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payaya
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Post by payaya »

just take i to the mechanics mate. No matter what you have to get it fixed sooner or later anyway, and most likely would cost the same price.
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jeremywe
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Post by jeremywe »

payaya wrote:just take i to the mechanics mate. No matter what you have to get it fixed sooner or later anyway, and most likely would cost the same price.
Yup, i definatly will bring it, but it'll be good if i knew an approximate price for it so i wont get ripped off without knowing, and i cant afford to drive the car around to several places to check prices and have it break down on me at random.

Also, just in case it happens to want to break down on me... thats why i'm asking where the starter motor is, and i'll know where to give a knock if the problem occurs again.

Cheers.
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payaya
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Post by payaya »

its under the engine. Do you know where the oil filter is? If so its about 15 cm below that.

The motor is easy to see when under the car, its about 10cm wide.

Its in a easy location to give it a few taps with a hammer.

a brand new starter motor from camskill uk, is 150 pounds. So its not cheap i think thats about 400 bucks.

Or a chaper option is to get it from kempys in NZ, they would have secondhand ones in stock.
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jeremywe
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Post by jeremywe »

payaya wrote:its under the engine. Do you know where the oil filter is? If so its about 15 cm below that.

The motor is easy to see when under the car, its about 10cm wide.

Its in a easy location to give it a few taps with a hammer.

a brand new starter motor from camskill uk, is 150 pounds. So its not cheap i think thats about 400 bucks.

Or a chaper option is to get it from kempys in NZ, they would have secondhand ones in stock.
Alrightie.. Thanks.
Guess i'll check out kempys or wreakers who have fto fronts.
(At kempys, its starter motor. Do they mean the starter motor we are talking about here?)
You reckon starter motors from other locally made mitsu are compatible?
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payaya
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Post by payaya »

ask kempys for a FTO starter motor.

I have no idea which aussie mitsubishi's have the same starter motor, but i guess there would be.

Just look up the mitsu starter product codes, for FTO's and other mitsubishis and see thaqt way.
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smorison
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Post by smorison »

believe it or not the starter motor is used on the misti mirage ck6a. dunno if this is available in australia as i don't track mirage car codes.... anyway the starter motor part is: md320576.


you can probably get yours reco'd anyways
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jeremywe
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Post by jeremywe »

Thanks for the replies guys...

I looked under the car, and i concluded that the starter motor is the one that is silver in color and like a small cylinder... Is that right?

Will be ordering the starter motor when i come back from my vacation in about a months time. But meanwhile, i was wondering if i should ask my mate to warm up the car for me once ever few days, or just unplug the battery totally(Should i just unplug 1 side anyway?) and just leave it.
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gmawter
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Post by gmawter »

8O had alt prob with my fto battery didnt hold charge if volts drop below about 7 car cuts out
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