scotslad Posted January 4, 2016 Report Share Posted January 4, 2016 Alright folks Bit of a simple problem turned innto something more?? Long story short drove my pick up (03 plate L200) about all day Thurs, all fine but fan belts started to squel a wee bit, so persumed a slack belt. Anyway that night went to a hogmany party about 13ish mile away, noticed half way there volt meter was not where it should be and down about 12V and sometimes lower as low as 10v. Got there and had to jump start it to get home about 2am, managed to get home ok althou pulled into layby a few times if V got to low, to let battery charge a bit , with lights/heater/radio turned off. Luckily only a 6 month old battery Just gor my spanners back and got time to tighten belts, expected it to be all ok, just needing a jump. But try to start it and starter motor just turning over constantly as soon as key in, but just a constant click click click as battery too flat. I gave solinod a wee tap, but still the same. Any ideas wots going on? Have i fried some ECU somewhere with running it at low Volts?? Or is it just the sloenod stuck out? Would the low volts cause it? Usually a pretty good starter and runner Should i just charge battery on charger? Or jump motor and see if it resets solenod when running?? Scared it will keep turning over when running and damge starter motor Cheers Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
subsonicnat Posted January 4, 2016 Report Share Posted January 4, 2016 (edited) You need to BOOST The Battery again, give it charge till its FULL. You are running the engine and lights off the almost dead battery.. Charge it Fully,Then check with a meter to see if alternator is throwing out about 13.8 volts with engine running,, if it is below 13volts, or, 14volts, Your alternator is Duff.. Replace it if this is the case. Too high is just as bad as not enough..ATB. Sorry about edit.. Is your battery Man Enough,Anything below 90amp hour,will not take it, Lights heaters electric stuff running, it will not keep up onthis large engine And ancillarys.. ATB. Edited January 4, 2016 by subsonicnat Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scotslad Posted January 4, 2016 Author Report Share Posted January 4, 2016 Cheers but if i charge the battery will i still have the starter problem? Tthe problems not it won't start but constantly trying to turn over even thou key not 'turned on enough' if that makes sense I should add to make clear i'm not actually turning the engine over only key to 'ON' position and should still be another turn to actually turn the engine over. At moment got battery disconnected and left key in ON i just have to touch the Neg terminal onto battery for it to turn over/well start clicking again. That is wot is confusing me? I expected it to just turn over and make clicking noise till it was charged, just confused why its trying to turn over constantly like the key is stuck to far on. Only thing i can think of to cause it is running at low volts unless starter has just broke at same time by co-incidence/bad luck? Battery been fine up to now, like i said only 6 month old which awas a good job as would not of got me home otherwise Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Royboy Posted January 4, 2016 Report Share Posted January 4, 2016 (edited) Could be a faulty ignition switch, your probably best getting a auto elec to check it out. There will probably still be a fault with the alternator as well. Edited January 4, 2016 by Royboy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scotslad Posted January 4, 2016 Author Report Share Posted January 4, 2016 (edited) Cheers roy, when u turn the igntion switch it feels ok and normal. I should say the fan belts were pretty slack so i hope that explains/solves that problem and hoping battery alternator should be fine. When i drove home and stopped with all electrics off according to V dial it was charging the battery back up to around the 14ish V but just dropped pretty quickly when lights were on, just used dipped beams all way home with heaters/radio off too. Just found it strange how this problem comes at same time and wondered if 1 had caused the other somehow? Edited January 4, 2016 by scotslad Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Royboy Posted January 4, 2016 Report Share Posted January 4, 2016 Cheers roy, when u turn the igntion switch it feels ok and normal. I should say the fan belts were pretty slack so i hope that explains/solves that problem and hoping battery alternator should be fine. When i drove home and stopped with all electrics off according to V dial it was charging the battery back up to around the 14ish V but just dropped pretty quickly when lights were on, just used dipped beams all way home with heaters/radio off too. Just found it strange how this problem comes at same time and wondered if 1 had caused the other somehow? Its a hard one without looking at it my self, you've not put jump leads in wrong way round then ? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
subsonicnat Posted January 4, 2016 Report Share Posted January 4, 2016 Bit better explanation this ,as Roy has said,either SWITCH,or Starter motor sticking. ATB. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scotslad Posted January 4, 2016 Author Report Share Posted January 4, 2016 Cheers folks, appreciate hard with my poor description. Is there any way to isolate 1 over the other? I'm hopin starter motor anyway to unstick it? Would shorting the starter help any? Used to have a car i had to start that way (turned out it had a ignition kil switch i never knew about) and started a few tractors that way. I take it pure co-incidence its happened same time as flat battery? Finally i take it if ignition away its a real PITA now with modern chips/imobilisers? Can remeber helping my dad to change them quite easily back in the day. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Glenlivet Posted January 5, 2016 Report Share Posted January 5, 2016 Cheers folks, appreciate hard with my poor description. Is there any way to isolate 1 over the other? I'm hopin starter motor anyway to unstick it? Would shorting the starter help any? Used to have a car i had to start that way (turned out it had a ignition kil switch i never knew about) and started a few tractors that way. I take it pure co-incidence its happened same time as flat battery? Finally i take it if ignition away its a real PITA now with modern chips/imobilisers? Can remeber helping my dad to change them quite easily back in the day. Recently had the same problem with my transit except that I could actually take the key out of the ignition and the starter continued running. Knackered solenoid the problem, new starter motor cured the problem. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Twistedsanity Posted January 5, 2016 Report Share Posted January 5, 2016 Loose connection somewhere maybe, poss when the new batt was fitted Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
walshie Posted January 5, 2016 Report Share Posted January 5, 2016 First (cheapest) things first. Fully charge the battery, put it in and see what happens. Then take it from there if no joy. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scotslad Posted January 5, 2016 Author Report Share Posted January 5, 2016 Cheers folks, battery is sitting charging as we speak so will see wot happens. Mibee complicating things by connectting the 2, just worried not a mechanical issue but fried/broke some ECU/circuit board with running at low volts? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bad Monkey Posted January 5, 2016 Report Share Posted January 5, 2016 Cheers folks, battery is sitting charging as we speak so will see wot happens. Mibee complicating things by connectting the 2, just worried not a mechanical issue but fried/broke some ECU/circuit board with running at low volts? You cannot damage a control unit with low voltage At the risk of stating the obvious, you have power to the starter motor when you shouldn't have.....this could be a short to power or a short to ground depending on circuit layout.....this could be in the wiring, ign switch, a relay or the starter solenoid. It is also possible you may have a bad ground on the starting/charging circuit. Without the vehicle and a wiring diagram I cannot make an accurate diagnosis. I would suggest seeking the services of a REPUTABLE diagnostic specialist or auto electrician, 80% of electrical faults tend to be in the wiring, so throwing parts at a problem can be an expensive frustration. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scotslad Posted January 6, 2016 Author Report Share Posted January 6, 2016 Cheers bad monkey, wjile i'm not great mechanically i'm evem wosre auto electrically and hate modern electrical engines far too fancy and too much to go wrong u never know if mechanical or some poxy sensor/ecu. An update i have absolutely no idea wot was wrong with it, put the charged battery in and starting completley normally Still can't get my head round the logic of wots happened or why it was doing that, like i said ran fine up till that night where i have obviously drained the battery due to the slack belts. But really just can't explain why it would be turning over with uout the key on 'start' and could not figure out why/how the low volts had triggered it?? Everything writtern above makes sense and was exactly wot i was thinking/worried about, althou hoping there was going to be an easy cheap fix Anyway a happy bunny now so thaks for all the advice Cheers again I mibee should of just took the batery of and charged it straight away (but originaly planned to just jump it and leave it running) mibee i should of had more faith in the old bus as usually quite reliable (touch wood ) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
walshie Posted January 6, 2016 Report Share Posted January 6, 2016 Don't get bogged down with the whys and hows. It works now. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Royboy Posted January 6, 2016 Report Share Posted January 6, 2016 You sure it wasn't just relays clicking with ignition on and flat battery ? It's running that's the main thing ! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cannon Posted January 6, 2016 Report Share Posted January 6, 2016 Sounds like a defective voltage regulator in the alternator. Low battery voltage can play havoc with vehicles. Most starter motors have a constant battery voltage supply at all times, even with the ignition off. Corroded or contaminated earth cables can also cause similar issues to what you have experienced. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scotslad Posted January 6, 2016 Author Report Share Posted January 6, 2016 God knows but ts working now Was defo coming from starter motor as at 1 point left the key in 'ON' position while i connected/unconnected battery terminal and was coming from starter. U could be right Cannon, could be something random/strange like that. Not sure if L200's are the same but never realised until recently u needed a charge in the batery to run the engine, my wee combi work van broke down going to the garage to get a new alternator on it, jumped no problem but only got a few hundred m's before it cut out but a imanaged to keep bumping it to get it going again for another short distance, ended up in the middle of a narrow bridge in a hallow and had to wait to get towed f the road. Prob lucky to get home that nite. Hopefully that's it now ()touch wood Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cannon Posted January 7, 2016 Report Share Posted January 7, 2016 All modern vehicles need a charge in the battery if they are to run. Having skimmed over the thread again, it seems you had some sort of parasitic drain from the starter motor. This in turn was causing your battery to go flat. If it happens again, I would be inclined to think that the starter solenoid is intermittently shorting out. The starter motor solenoids on these Mitsubishi's are known to give bother. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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