How Many Techs....

How many IT techs does it take to take a starter out of a 2001 Mitsubishi Eclipse?

Apparently 2 - 1 to hold the flashlight and one to bash his hand on every hose clamp under the hood repeatedly.

About a week ago, I replaced the brakes in my car, as I had worn all the way through one of the brake pads. We replaced the front Brake Calipers, Rotors and Pads. 3 days later, I parked the car and Mary went to take it out. It wouldn't start.

I spent some time troubleshooting and decided to start with the battery. I took the battery out and had it tested. It was good. In fact - it was better than good. 12.7 Volts. The tech that tested the battery stated that it is most likely my starter. I asked him if it could be a bad battery cable, and he said that it is not possible or likely.

A few days later, Nick and I began the process of removing the starter. Now, on most cars this is pretty simple, but on the Eclipse, the starter is under the exhaust manifold, making it IMPOSSIBLE to reach by most standard methods.

2 hours later, and several times through the instructional video on YouTube, we finally got the starter removed. We took it in to the shop, and they hooked it up for testing. This also came out positive. The starter was perfectly healthy. I asked again if the issue could be the battery cable, and was given the same answer - no. This time I was told that it would be the ignition switch that was the cause.

Last night I decided that I would replace the battery cable while on a 3-day wait for the ignition switch. I ended up having to cut the battery cable off. i took it in and bought a new one. Once I got the new one installed, I inserted the key into my ignition and turned.

Low and behold, the car made no effort to fight me, and started almost immediately.

Let this be a lesson, just because someone who knows more about you on a subject does not mean they are always right. Battery cables in a car CAN and WILL go bad.