2001 Eclipse battery replacement

You can buy after market. There is nothing special about the battery. Here are the Specs (from a 2003 service manual);

Cold cranking power 525 Amps (this is a minimum value, bigger is better) Reserve capacity 90 minutes (this is staying power, bigger is better, but not that important) Application rating, BCI Group size 86 (this defines the physical size ratio of the battery )

Also include, just in case;

The physical size of the battery, go outside and measure it. Note the location of the power connection posts and their polarity.

Present this information to your favorite auto store clerk and tell him to go get you a battery Remember this is from a 2003 service manual, but it should be the same for you (engine size wasn't mentioned in the manual)

Having said all that, what I do when I have to replace a battery, is I get the highest capacity (cold cranking) battery I can find, that physically fits in the box I have. The colder it gets the less power your battery can produce.

Thanks Nirodac and Simpleton. I had tried a Sams Club as there's one two miles from my house. I think there's a Costco on the other side of town - I'll try there tomorrow lunchtime.

It's an 86 series battery, Autozone sells 'em for a good price, the 26 series will also fit, although a bit smaller case. The Autozone silver battery meets the requirements moreso, and it's a direct fit.

OK, got a battery at Autozone today - Ill fit it tomorrow.

While I was there, I had them read my ECU for a check engine light that came on a few weeks ago. They found a single code - cylinder mis-fire.

This car's been running like crap pretty much since new. The dealer's given me the runaround since day one. The last time I was in there, about six months ago they found the same code, reflashed the ECU, and the car drove like new for about two or three days, before resorting to its old self. Now here we are again with exactly the same problem. I changed the plugs and wires recently, hoping that might help, but there was no difference. I went back to the dealer tonight and told them what Autozone had found. The service manager was pretty condescending. He told me to come back tomorrow morning and they'd take a look. Does this sound like there may be a problem with the ECU itself? If so, this should be covered under warranty, correct? I want to go in tomorrow with as much 'ammo' as possible.

Thanks

Dave White

Depending when you bought it in 2001 (assuming three year warranty) I would think the problem should be covered by Mitsu, and you shouldn't have to do anything except bring the car to them. Did the code save which cylinder misfired. Code P0301 is cylinder 1, P0302 is cylinder 2, P0303 is cylinder 3, etc.

I've got an '01 eclipse spyder, I had the same issue a while ago, but this happened to me while I was 3000 feet up, the car was fine on the drive up, it sat for a week, started up, ran like crud, light came on, drove around for 10 minutes and the engine started to sound better, (computer compensated for the cleaner/thinner air) and it stayed on for 3 days then on the way home it went out. Only the codes didn't specify which cylinder, just that it detected it. I'm still on the original plugs at 45k. The code hasn't come back, I tossed in a bottle of injector cleaner just in case, I'm going back up to the same spot, we'll see what happens!

my wife wanted to goto mitsu and they wanted to run a full diagnostic (for a fee), even though the light was on and is now off. so much for a warranty, they don't like me at all, they can't push me around like the did her...

as for the battery, this Eclipse uses a group size 86, and is a direct exact fit. I have an Autozone Duralast silver in the car now, and it's been perfect.

It didn't say which cylinder. I had the plugs changed about six months ago, at 50K; not by Mitsu, who wanted nearly $600, but by my local Amoco station, who've always done a good job on my other cars. When I took it to the dealer yesterday, they told me that because Amoco had used Champion plugs, they would have to replace them with NGK, as the factory reccomends, before they'd investigate further. They charged me $90 to tell me that, and want to charge another $560 to change out six month old plugs - and if that doesn't cure it, that's just tuff, they'll try something else, and I pay for everything until they find the problem!! You can imagine my reaction to that. My biggest contention here is that this rough running was happening before the plugs were changed - I changed them, with the cables, in the hope of narrowing the fault down. I will never, never, buy Mitsu again.

Problem now is I'm stuck between a rock and a hard place. Do I bite the bullet, pay the $560 and hope that they can find the problem - or do I drive my Eclipse off a cliff?

Anybody know any cheap, easy causes of a misfire that I can meybe try myself before throwing my money at the dealer?

Regards

Dave White

Which engine, 4 or 6 cylinder?

Different technology here. 4 cylinder is direct firing from the ECU, and has two coils. 6 cylinder has a distributor, while the coil is fired by the ECU, there is only 1 coil.

Do you have an ohm meter?

You can do some quick tests, which will show weather the coils work or not. If you have an intermittent, that can be a real bitch to find.

.

It's a 6 cylinder. I do have a multimeter, and know how to use it (I'm actually an engineer, but I work on scientific instruments, not cars). Electronic troubleshooting doesn't worry me, but although I can rip a half million dollar high resolution mass spectrometer to bits and rebuild it, I'm a complete novice with cars - if I can get pointed in the right direction, I can work through it. The good thing about this fault is that it isn't intermittent - it's VERY consistent.

Thanks for any help

Do not fear the beast. you are probably more knowledgeable about the cars electronics (based on your training and profession) than some of the older mechanics, who don't understand computers. I'm not saying that it's an ECU issue at this point, but it's something you'll be able to test for.

You might want to check for recalls or TSB's

There are some here that refer to ignition module issues, and I though I saw one (can't remember which year) that referred to a fuel line pressure issue. Didn't have a lot of time to view all the TSB's.

Do you have the service manual?

OK, so you'll have one pulse stream going to the ignition coil, built into the base of the distributor. If you have a scope, you'd be able to watch this. You could also see which cylinder had a problem. It's basically a drive to the base of a transistor, which grounds the primary of the coil at the appropriate time. The inputs to the ecu that determine the spark timing are; Air flow,intake air temp,Barometric pressure, coolant temp,crankpostion sensor,vehicle speed sensor, ignition switch position and knock sensor The service manual actually shows you what the scope waveform looks like, both good and bad.

In there you will find the information you need to test the coil and other ignition circuits using only a multi meter and a 1.5 volt battery, if you don't have access to a scope.

If you don't, I might be able to scan in the required sections for you.

I don't have a service manual, but I do have a scope. I usually buy a manual whenever I get a new car, but couldn't find one for my Mitsu - any idea where I can get one?

Thanks again, it sounds like you know your stuff.

I recommend the manufacturers service manual. Mitsu sells them. They are over 3000pg long. I've also seen links on these news groups to third parties selling service manuals. And you could try e-bay. I'll send you the relevant section from my manual, but remember it's for a

2003 Eclipse. It should be very similar.

Need to know where to send the email with the ignition testing info

Sent in private e-mail.

Champion plugs are actually recommended IN THE OWNERS MANUAL! They list Champion and NGK numbers. You do need to use the Champion double plats however, not a big deal there. The copper's should be fine, they just won't last as long as the plats. champion plugs run very very well in Chrysler products, and mitu's (as they have chrysler parts in them as it is anyway). I have a Haynes book on the '01 Eclipse, it recommends Champion plugs and gives the part #.

the dealer just wants to make excuses so they can rip you off, they also would probably swap plugs and figure out the problem just to throw it in your face because you didn't waste your time going to them first. I'll tell ya, with mitsubishi possibly going bankrupt and not making or selling cars anymore, I'm not gonna even think about them anymore. My wife bought this before we met, otherwise I would had a say in it. The car is fun to a point the point being the cost of parts (a lot of which aren't in the aftermarket yet) to repair it.