Hey guys,

I just joined today because I'm having some big problems with my 2007 Mitsubishi Outlander XLS. The car is awesome, in great shape, and has 40k miles on it. it is a salvage title (water damage, but is currently in top shape), i am the third owner

I started my car this past weekend and the battery light came on. I let the car idle and I couldn't hear anything wrong so I thought it might've still been safe to drive. I make it about a mile before my ABS light comes on, quickly followed by the words ASC OFF, the radio cut off, I quickly pulled over and turned my car off. Tried starting it, no luck. Later that night I came back with a friends car to jump it. After jumping the car, I could only make it 3 or 4 blocks before the ABS light came back on along with ASC OFF and the radio cutting off. had to jump the car 3 times to get it back into my neighborhood.

I talked to my Dad who is overseas right now and he believes it's the alternator. He says if he's right it isn't an expensive fix. Has anyone else delt with this before? Any advice? I have a great, great mechanic I usually go to but his shop is 20 miles away and there's no way I can get the car to make it there.

 

It's the alternator for sure, or wiring to the alternator is corroded. Same thing happened in my first car(VW Jetta). You can charge the battery and that'll run it for a few minutes before it dies again because the alternator isn't charging it. The reason the ASC lights and radio turns off is because different modules need different minimum voltages to stay turned on. Some need 11.2v, some need 10.9v etc...... So as your voltage drops while using your battery, modules start to shut off 1 by 1. Your ECU is usually the last to die because it needs to operate while cold cranking, so it's designed for as low a voltage as possible, but even that dies once your battery is low enough.