Hard starting due to battery change?

[DFBonnett]

My daughter has a '00 Mirage. She got new tires and a new battery
today. Tech had a hard time starting it after new battery installed.
Said it was because the computer "forgot" settings and that Mitsus are
known for this. I've had the cables off each year to clean the
terminals and this never happened before. Could it be that the
battery was disconnected for a longer period that this occurred? I've
had batteries out of my wife's Camry and my Eldo for longer periods
with nothing more than the radio and clock losing settings.
Is this something peculiar to Mitsus as the tech stated?
TIA
DFB

[evoryda]

thats BS. thats not because of mitsu its probably the battery. YES mitsu computers reset after about 5 or 10 mins as do most some take longer but that has nothin to do with it not starting right, when it resets, it resets the SES light(any problems) and codes that it has fixed any problems with and the tranny computer (if its automatic), thats why it takes longer to get into gears after reset, never once have i had that happen, with mine or 2 other local mirages that i work on. ****try a battery with higher cold cranking amps thats more than likely the problem

[DFBonnett]

Thanks for the confirmation. Tomorrow I'll get the chance to check it out myself. You'd think it would be simple enough to get a battery changed without complications. I guess if you want it done right you have to do it yourself.
Again, thanks for the obviously well informed opinion.

[usedcarwise]

Originally Posted by DFBonnett

My daughter has a '00 Mirage. She got new tires and a new battery
today. Tech had a hard time starting it after new battery installed.
Said it was because the computer "forgot" settings and that Mitsus are
known for this. I've had the cables off each year to clean the
terminals and this never happened before. Could it be that the
battery was disconnected for a longer period that this occurred? I've
had batteries out of my wife's Camry and my Eldo for longer periods
with nothing more than the radio and clock losing settings.
Is this something peculiar to Mitsus as the tech stated?
TIA
DFB

Is it that it starts and then dies at idle?

If it is, heres what happened--when the battery was disconnected it lost the memory settings for the Idle Air Control valve, these settings are computer controlled and adjusted based on the position of the throttle plate in the throttle body.

Clean the throttle body and this should resolve the issue, it is possible that the IAC will have to be reset to the min air rate if it doesn't slove the issue.

This is a common issue, it doesn't happen every time, but it's still fairly common.

If you don't know how to clean, let me know and I'll give you more details.

[DFBonnett]

Thanks for the response. The issue seemingly resolved itself on the second and subsequent startups with no further manifestation of the problem.
Apparently the battery was not even disconnected long enough to lose the radio settings. I'll follow your advice and clean the TB to be sure. I've done it on my car and understand the procedure.
Again, many thanks.

[evoryda]

usedcarwise good one, didnt think of it being the IAC, i guess since it had something to do with the battery i wasnt thinkin about it