not ducati related but i dont feel like joining a car msg board today....

changed spark plugs in my car this morning..
turn key to accessory, radio goes on and off and on and off.. then stays on.. turn on lights, radio goes off.. turn key to start, nothing.. hissing from battery, take out battery, clean off connections, reinstall.. no change.. battery has 12.33 volts.. checked fuse box, everything looks fine.. any ideas?

sounds like something related to the electrical system and not the spark plugs b/c the problems occur before you even try to start the damn thing.. of course, with all the new computer chips in cars these days who knows, it's a 1999 mitsu eclipse.. i've changed the plugs before on many cars (but not this one) and this has never happened..

disconnect the batt. and leave it like that for an hour or so, let the ECU flush..

start looking for a short somewhere

The ECU should need to be re-"flashed" as soon as the pos battery lead is disconnected. It may be that the car needs to be actually started after reconnecting the battery; switching to acc may make the ECU "think" a diagnostic is being performed.

Try disconnecting the pos lead, leave it off for a few minutes, then reconnect, make sure your negative lead is secure and that you didn't disturb any grounds, and start the car. It may stumble and stall the first time as the ECU relearns the signals coming from all the sensors; just start it again.

I'd be really surprised if you developed a short or some other problem at the exact same time as replacing the plugs; it's gotta be electronic.

Let us know what happens...


Modified by DesmoBob at 7:28 PM 1/8/2005

What spawn said

disconnected.... will let you know...

It may show 12.3v, but the battery may not have enough amps to crank or run accessories. Is it an old battery?
The ECU probably has nothing to do with this. ECU doesn't control the radio or the headlights (only engine management). The radio & lights are also independant of each other on the fuse block, so my suggestion would be either

a) bad battery
b) loose battery connection somewhere
c) improperly grounded electrical device

Follow each battery lead to see where it goes and make sure the connection to the block or chassis are tight and not corroded. If all of that checks out, I'd say bad battery.

Also, have you double checked all of your spark plug wire leads? This problem seems really odd to me because having the key in the accessory position wouldn't send spark through the wires, but since the plugs are the only thing you changed, I'd suspect that you may have inadvertantly bumped or moved something with the electrical system. As I said before, ECU is probably NOT the issue here.

-DanB

http://www.benferperformance.com

edited for not reading the original post. lol

I did the same to an old 98 Taurus I had....the LX model.
I had the neg terminal off for some time and the car did crazy shit and started hard as hell after some required maintenance.
It didnt act up after that so I aint got a diagnosis.
Just wwent away.

Oh, last last thought... Did you have your battery connected while you changed the plugs? Were you listening to the radio? Could you have done something to drain your battery?

When batteries are low, electrical components tend to "fight" over whatever current they can draw. Are you headlights on but dim?

i think it's a loose negative lead on the battery..

reconnected the positive and nothing worked.. turned on lights and moved neg lead around and they came on.. tried to start.. everything died.. fuse box started ticking.. off to the store to get a new lead i guess

put on new negative terminal cap - interior lights work - doesnt start.. at this point i figure battery has to be dead.. pull out the jumper, starts right up.. although at 12.33v it's probably only running at 65% so it's about time for a new one.. but running for now! wooo! i think when i cleaned off the terminal this morning it must have knocked loose and then all the trying to start it wore the battery down.. thanks guys

well.. let it run for a while to charge.. turned it off.. nothing at all, like the battery isnt even there, jumped again, off to autozone, new battery installed.. nothing, but the battery hisses, explosive gasses releasing, polarity probably reversed, must be a short in the system, advised not to jump as sparks may cause explosion, probably a short in the system somewhere, towed to dealership, guess im riding the bike til it's fixed.. the ducati saves the day again