Delica Canada | Mitsubishi Van Club

Hi Robert from PR
I found you on the internet trying to resolve an electrical problem with my van. The battery is slowly discharging even though the alternator is good. It turns on fast with a new battery but with time it discharges and starts to backfire. I can't find the manual for the 1989 mitsubishi van wagon. There is no service center in Puerto Rico. I know your club is for delica but I hope you can help me.

Hi Robert, We will all help you, but we need more information first. Please post a photo of your van, as we don't have a van called a Wago in Canada, but with a photo maybe we can help. Is yours gasoline, and do you know if it the model that was sold all over USA in 1988 and 1989. I saw one of them in Canada, the engine and drive train are almost same as our L300 but in gas, and is not 4 wheel drive.

To find a "drain" on your battery might be hard, but I list some commons problems. Have you made any changes recently, how long have you had it. Short circuit where any wire is touching the metal frame is very hard to trace. Fancy stereo systems can drain battery to store memory for channels. Interior lights left on at night, or front doors not closed properly which leaves the little inside door light on. Alarm system malfunction. Have you headlight problems, sometimes the old connections get loose and touch the metal vehicle frame. If you have an inverter or portable battery charger or phone charger sometimes they still draw power when not in use. If yours is the USA version, there is a dimmer knob for the dashboard lights, just beside the front cigarette lighter.

Can you get an electronics friend to put an electrical meter on your battery to check for battery drain with engine off and all door and lights off and closed.

Your battery drain and backfires make me think of glowplugs and fuel injectors, but is yours diesel or gasoline?

Just write with anything you have tried, or things you wonder about, maybe something you write will give one of the people on this site an idea.

Regards, Christine.

1989? Van Wagon? In Puerto Rico? Sounds like the stripped-down gasser model sold in the States for a couple of years in the late 80's.

As for the possible problem, everything Christine said, and the alternator. If the diodes in the alternator are shot, it could be draining the battery as well. Also, since it's a gasser, the backfiring can also be explained due to lack of proper/consistent charging voltage from a dying alternator.

There is no Mitsubishi dealer in PR? According to their website, check with a Chrysler dealer (if my Spanish is not too far off). http://www.mitsubishicarspr.com/home.aspx