Hi all,

Today my 2006 380 VR-X took two goes to start, instead of the normal one. After I got it going and drove a few hundred metres, the orange engine warning light came on, and then as I started to accelerate it seemed like it was revving and unable to change gears, then it was ok again. I made it home. Turned off the car, and again it took two goes to start, and the engine warning light came back on.

Has anyone had this issue before and know what it is? Will it be safe to drive until I can get it booked in and checked?

Cheers,
Zolt

Is it the original battery?

A failing battery can cause these symptoms... enough power to crank and start the car, but unable to maintain a good voltage during the start upsets the ECU and throws a check engine light (generally for crank angle sensor) and makes it hard to start.

Maybe find another member from the ACT with an OBD scanner to check your code?

I have a similar problem every now and then, I just disconnect the battery for 15 minutes and reset the computer and all good....

If your a member of nrma call them out , most will have a scanner on board , it might be worth the call and see if faults have been logged and retained in the ecu memory
I fear thou you may have a trans oil pump on its way if you lost drive .

replace the battery and it will go away

Dont bother with other crap just replace the battery

After my post last night, I searched the forums and found a lot of references to the battery being at fault. So I went to a battery place today (also a work mate has a 380 and has had the same problem). The guy checked my battery and said it definitely needed replacing, but was very puzzled when I mentioned the engine warning light.

Anyway I got a 600CCA put in, but the engine warning light stayed on. So then I drove around to the Mitsubishi service centre and asked if they could quickly check if my warning light was because of another problem. Once I got passed the admin people asking a million questions and having no idea, I was able to talk to a mechanic, and soon as I said battery, he was like, yep common problem just need to reset the warning.

Anyway he reset the warning light to get rid of it, and said that would have been my problem and it should be ok now.

No idea how old my old battery was, but I did notice it was also a 600CCA.

Cheers,
Zolt

I would love to know what code was logged perhaps some one else knows , my guess would be immoibliser / key bye disconnecting the battery you would be resetting the bcm of codes any thoughts from some one ?

Im ammused to why there was no drive when this happened battery causing no drive ? Hard starting i can understand .

The mechanic said after a certain number of failed starts, the engine warning light will stay on until it is cleared. In terms of the revving limit thing, I think I was having the same problem as Anthony describes here:

http://www.aussiemagna.com/forums/showthread.php?t=94058&highlight=engine+light

Kind of like engine safe mode or something? Not sure how true that is.

The mechanic said after a certain number of failed starts, the engine warning light will stay on until it is cleared. In terms of the revving limit thing, I think I was having the same problem as Anthony describes here:

http://www.aussiemagna.com/forums/showthread.php?t=94058&highlight=engine+light

Kind of like engine safe mode or something? Not sure how true that is.

Yep, that's exactly what it is. Called 'limp home mode' in Mitsu speak. Severely restricts spark & timing so it won't rev much over 2,000 rpm. Designed to prevent engine damage.
Any money you CEL fault was recorded as 'crank angle sensor malfunction', as that's the most common one that automatically chucks it into limp home mode.

'crank angle sensor malfunction'

Almost undoubtedly would have been this code.

My 2007 battery must be living on borrowed time... although I have been diligent topping it up with distilled water, probably why it has lasted so long - even though I do lots of short, stop start drives.

Anyone else got more than 5 years from the OEM battery?

Yes, mine was built 10/06, first reg in 01/07. I feel it hasn't got long to go though.

The 380, when there is a starting issue coupled with a low battery will go into fail safe mode, this will limit the engine revs and as the voltage drops more otehr systems will slowly shut down.

This is partly to prevent you cruising down the freeway and all of a sudden you have no throttle as the fly by wire has not enough power to open the throttle plate, on the SX etc it even brings up a warning on the centre display to advise systems are being shut down due to low voltage.

In this case, the non start would have been the battery, the ECU logged this and assumed that you were having charging issues thus limited systems until the issue was fixed

Yes, mine was built 10/06, first reg in 01/07. I feel it hasn't got long to go though.

Same here... something tells me it's not got much left.

I had about 5 1/2 years on mine, but none of those symptons; it just became harder and harder to start - and then wouldn't start at all.
I wouldn't put too much water in the battery; I did that too, and when the NRMA guy took the battery out there was a heap of corrosion under the battery, on the shelf it sits on and under it a bit.

This is partly to prevent you cruising down the freeway and all of a sudden you have no throttle as the fly by wire has not enough power to open the throttle plate, on the SX etc it even brings up a warning on the centre display to advise systems are being shut down due to low voltage.


Which is exactly what happened to me last year. Alternator had failed due welding on the car and there was no warning lamp (bad, Mitsubishi! No one knows why). First my airbag warning light came on rapidly followed by others including ABS etc. Finally the car intermittently started to lose throttle as the power died until engine cutout.

I wouldn't put too much water in the battery;

No, that's not a good idea. Only top it up to the top of the plates.

Also, don't tip them when handling... saw someone get some fairly nasty acid burns on their stomach by doing that when carrying one.

My battery shit its self yesterday before our Bathurst cruise, got a jump start and it was fine all day, no light indicating anything was wrong either, got to the meet point and someone had a volt meter, got a reading of about 12.6 which is pretty low. Needless to say it didnt start today so i had to resort public transport. I'll be getting a yellow top battery this week i think!