Hi everyone,

New to the site here and wanted to see if anyone has thoughts on my issue with the cluster. So here is what I am seeing...randomly if I stand outside my car with it locked when I grab the handle it will normally open however it seems power is not getting to the right place. So I might stand outside for 30 seconds before it actually lets me in. Even hitting the unlcok button on the remote won't work. Now I could manually use the key but then the alarm goes off if I do.

Second and included in the video you can see the lights for sensors flickering on and off and it even makes the check engine light come on as well once in a while. Granted it clears itself later on when it reaches the next cycle. Now sometimes there are a lot more sensors flickering on and off and you can hear the relays clicking on and off. I looked at some diagrams for relays and couldn't see anything that stood out to me as the issue. Relays really don't go bad intermittently they usually work or they don't.

Also in the video it did not show it this time but the RPM goes from zero to above 1K RPM at idle and back down again. It doesn't always do this but sometimes usually in the morning

What I thought was the issue was a bad battery since sometimes clusters can do those kinds of things but that didn't solve the problem. Any advice would be greatly appreciated .

 

Do you have your key fob in the same pocket as your phone? I have had serious signal issues and trouble with my FAST system when I do this. If so put it on the other side.

If you use the key to unlock the doors and the fob isn't in range (or not detected) the alarm WILL go off, this is normal. You have to have the fob in range OR use the unlock button successfully to disarm the alarm.

As for your main problem...

Anything aftermarket in there?

Does the RPM thing actually change the RPM of the car (do you hear the engine changing speed?) or is it just the tach that's mis-reading?

What year is it? Did you check for recalls? I know some have a bad ETACS which can cause tons of weird things to happen.

I'm assuming your replaced the battery based on what you said, did you also check the voltages running and not to make sure the alternator isn't over charging? (and that your battery isn't getting too low)

Another thing to check is the main ground wire from the battery to the chassis/block. Make sure the cable is in good shape and that there's no corrosion.

Did you clean your battery cable clamps when you changed the battery?

 

My outlander is an 08 and nothing aftermarket, everything is stock. I did check for recalls and I did see anything for my VIN and I used Mitsubishi's recall page on their website. I keep my phone and key fob for the FAST in different pockets so I don't think that is the issue. I checked the negative and positive cables and they both seem good, I can see the negative tied to the chassis and I moved it around a bit to ensure it wasn't a loose connection. I have not checked the voltages to make sure the alternator is not overcharging that is a good thought although wouldn't that always cause those lights to flicker? Also once I start the car (usually) there are no issues until I leave it sit for several hours and then it (might) do it again or maybe it just works like normal. Even after I have been at work all day, I can get right in to the car and it starts up without any lights. I think based on all of that it is a connection of some sort that is loose, but I cannot seem to find the source.

 

OK the 08's don't seem to have the ETACS recall.

Is the battery in your FAST key fresh? Just want to make sure you don't have 2 different issues.

You should also do a voltage drop test across your ground, make sure the wire is intact.
Do you ever have problems starting or does your engine ever show signs of any problem?

I would definitely check the voltages on your battery both running, stopped and after sitting for a while.

It's possible the voltage is going to high or dipping to low some of the time, ideally if you can measure the voltage while the problem is happening it would provide more useful information.

I still wouldn't rule out a faulty ETACS computer but I'm not really sure how you could diagnose that particularly when it's being intermittent.


What all lights are flashing there?

 

Well it depends on the lights, usually the TPMS, the MMCS resets in sync with it, the daytime lights also and headlights if they are on. The battery light, temperature light, check engine light, auto traction control indicator (ACS). Pretty much most of the sensor lights come on and off depending on how it feels when I start the car.

I do have a fresh battery in the FAST key fob, I did have problems starting once where I turned the key and nothing happened I actually had to put in the manual key to get it started a couple of times.

 

ETACS shouldn't have anything to do with the MMCS restarting...

Next time it happens try jiggling or whacking the ignition switch.. Maybe something in there is going wonky, though that wouldn't explain the FAST not working from outside..

You've never had a slow crank or a bad/rough idle though?

If nothing happens at all it could be the immobilizer (did you get a no key message when that happened)..

Sounds kinda like an under-voltage problem or a bad/intermittent ground... I'm having a tough time correlating this to one system though.

There are probably multiple grounds in the cabin, if you flick on a map light does it flicker on and off too?

What about opening a window while it's happening, does it slow down and speed up?

 

Yes the cabin lights dim on and off, wipers stop for a quick second and keep going, haven't tired the windows but I would imagine it is the same issue, the blower motor turns on and off too if I have that on. I think pretty much anything like that which might run off 12V is affected. Performance on the car isn't an issue, no rough idling or bad crank to start or even trouble starting. and I don't experience any issues while driving, once in a while after I drive for a few minutes one indicator randomly might come one once and then turn off, but those are very one off. 99% of the time it all happens when after I start the car. Except for the issues where the car won't unlock.

 

I'm still interested to hear some voltage readings.

I'd get under the driver and passenger seats with a flashlight and look for anything funny down there.

I once had a a harness pop out in my Mazda when I kicked it by accident in the passenger seat and I lost half my electrical stuff in the cabin.

You could have a loose connector or something down there...It's another thing worth checking.

Also if you can find where the grounding points are inside the cabin, maybe something is broken there though I would expect a lot of independent grounds to the frame...

Check by the drivers/passanger kick panel or around the fuse box as well for grounding points and connectors.

 

Sorry it took me a few days to get some time to check out the voltages. So I checked the battery across the terminals and it was 12.5 VDC, when the car is running I am getting 13.5 or 14 VDC at the terminals which I believe is pretty normal. I also checked all the connectors as well under the kick plate area and couldn't find any loose connections. When I was looking this up it said to check the CAN Bus lines which is really going to be a pain to get to the one connector.

 

OK Voltages are normal then...

All the CAN bus lines run to the OBD2 connector under the steering wheel...

What did they say to check about the can bus lines? and I still can't relate this to the MMCS rebooting...