1995 Eclipse GS dies on highway - most likely electrical problem?

[TyroneEh]

I was driving on the highway a couple of days ago in my '95 Eclipse GS 2.0 DOHC Manual and all of a sudden the car died. RPMs dropped to zero and all the electronics turned off.

I pulled to the curb and tried to start the engine - no luck. No lights are on on the dashboard and I figured it might be something with the battery, which I recently changed. I took the (-) negative clamp off, and saw that when I put it back on there was a small spark - a general good sign for the battery itself.

Now, after this short procedure I noticed that I can turn the key once and get the radio (coupled with a sub) to come on and work just fine. Just when I turn the hazards on - the battery seems to die completely. I open the door and see how the "opened door" light on the dashboard slowly comes on to the point when it lights up normally.

I tried starting the car again, and the battery seems to die instantly, all lights and radio off. I called the wrecker and they towed the car to my house. I replaced the battery, installed it, turned the key and it seemed like the car attempted to start but instantly died, getting me to the same point as before with all the electronics in it.

What might be the issue? Is it a possible cable shorting something or something worse?

[FishFind]

Yes it is possible. I would check fuses for the ignition in car and under hood. After that I would be looking at your ignition switch and multi function switch.

[TyroneEh]

Originally Posted by FishFind

Yes it is possible. I would check fuses for the ignition in car and under hood. After that I would be looking at your ignition switch and multi function switch.

If I think about starting the car, those might be the first things to check, thanks for the suggestion! I will look at those tomorrow morning. I am not sure - could those also be the reason why the car died all of a sudden?

[ned032002]

My 1st impression may have been a bad alternator but I'm not so sure if the last thing you did was put in another new battery and it did the same thing. Am I understanding you correctly?

[TyroneEh]

Originally Posted by ned032002

My 1st impression may have been a bad alternator but I'm not so sure if the last thing you did was put in another new battery and it did the same thing. Am I understanding you correctly?

Yep. Put a new battery in and it seemed to kick it once, and die again. I will have a mechanic check the alternator just in case.

[SilvrEclipse]

Sounds like a grounding issue to me, if a brand new battery is acting dead after one start something has to be wrong with the car. I would look at all the grounding for the battery and the engine grounding. Make sure the wires arent broken and they all have good connections.

[TyroneEh]

Originally Posted by SilvrEclipse

Sounds like a grounding issue to me, if a brand new battery is acting dead after one start something has to be wrong with the car. I would look at all the grounding for the battery and the engine grounding. Make sure the wires arent broken and they all have good connections.

I did a visual check of the wires and it seems to be that everything is connected fine. I replaced the short grounding wire (from neg to body) since there was some damage on it, but it didn't seem to help.

I should mention that I recently just changed the battery terminals - those seemed to work fine for the couple of days before the car broke down.

I checked the ignition fuse - it is intact. After the car stayed for a day with the battery terminals detached, I connected those back and when I tried to start the car - once again, a single engine click and everything dies afterwards.

Is there any particular way to make sure that everything is grounded properly?

[SilvrEclipse]

The next thing I would do is check the voltage at the battery when trying to crank, and then check the voltage at the starter when trying to crank the car. I would also jump the solenoid on the starter to see if it will turn the motor over then. The starter could be bad

[TyroneEh]

Originally Posted by SilvrEclipse

The next thing I would do is check the voltage at the battery when trying to crank, and then check the voltage at the starter when trying to crank the car. I would also jump the solenoid on the starter to see if it will turn the motor over then. The starter could be bad

Tested the voltage both on the battery and the starter solenoid - solid 12.7 ~ 12.58 in stationary and cranking positions. I'm guessing this is a sign that the wiring is good.

Interesting thing - when I turn the hazards on now, I can hear that noise when something seems to be shorting.

[SilvrEclipse]

So when you try to start the car it clicks and you still have 12.5v at the starter? That is pretty weird. Did you try to jump the starter solenoid to see if that will turn the engine over? Can you also verify that the trans has a grounding wire going to the chassis. I think mine was coming off one of the starter bolts.

[TyroneEh]

Originally Posted by SilvrEclipse

So when you try to start the car it clicks and you still have 12.5v at the starter? That is pretty weird. Did you try to jump the starter solenoid to see if that will turn the engine over? Can you also verify that the trans has a grounding wire going to the chassis. I think mine was coming off one of the starter bolts.

Haven't jumped the solenoid yet - given it is a somewhat risky operation, I am trying to eliminate any other possible issues before doing that Being somewhat of a novice, where is the trans grounding wire located?

[SilvrEclipse]

Jumping the solenoid is not risky as long as you dont ground anything out. It can be easily done with a screw driver. There should be a ground wire somewhere on the bellhousing that goes to the chassis.

Here is where im going with this... Electrical issues can cause tons of problems from gauges not working to lights flickering. The hazard light circuit does not pull enough power to make the battery act like its dead nor will it keep the car from turning the engine over. I would figure out why the car will not turn the motor over first and then see if you still have other issues.

[ned032002]

You can try pulling off the negative cable and try using a test light between the post and the cable and see if the light comes on. Only do this when the key is in the off position. This may tell you if you have a huge power draw somewhere. But for it to not have the power to start is very odd.

Seems as if something is restricting the car from starting or the starter from turning. The starter may have something wrong with it.

Like Jason said, jump the solenoid and see what happens!

[billybarnhart]

did yu ever figure this out? my 95 gs is doin the samething!?