Car will turn but not crank

"Won't crank"? You said it's turning with good speed. That's cranking. If that's what's it's doing, hold the gas pedal down 1/4". Mitsubishis and Chryslers are very similar so it's likely you have the same real common problem. When the battery is disconnected or run dead the Engine Computer loses its memory and it has to relearn "minimum throttle" before it will know when it has to be in control of idle speed. Until then it won't give you the nice idle flare-up to 1500 rpm when you start the engine and it will want to stall when you approach stop signs. To meet the conditions for the relearn to take place, drive at highway speed with the engine warmed up, then coast for at least seven seconds without touching the pedals.

You may have more problems now. Pumping the pedal tells the computer to squirt in extra fuel in preparation for starting a really cold engine. The engine could be flooded if you pumped the pedal while the ignition switch was turned on. If the switch was off, no fuel would go in. If you remove a spark plug you'll see it wet with fuel if it's flooded.

Holding the pedal to the floor is supposed to be "clear flood" mode although it is not always effective. It is supposed to tell the computer to stop firing the injectors. If there's no other problem other than being flooded, the engine should start to fire after cranking for a few seconds as the fuel is blown out.

Usually the no-start and stalling after the battery was dead or disconnected is caused by the idle speed simply being too low. Holding the gas pedal down about 1/4" is the only way to overcome that until you can get out on the highway to do the relearn procedure.

Many people will tell you that two-year-old gas is stale and is the cause of the no-start, but I have a fuel injected car and a carbureted car both with more than five-year-old gas, and they both run just fine. Also, stale gas will flood the engine and foul the spark plugs so the engine would not run on starting fluid. Given that it was running six months ago, I'm inclined to believe the fuel pump has quit. Referring to Chrysler products again, their pumps almost always fail by failing to start up, unlike GM pumps that almost always start up, then quit while they're running letting you sitting on the side of the highway. Chrysler pumps rarely quit while they're running.

Look for a fuel pressure test port on top of the engine. If there is one it will look similar to a tire valve on a metal pipe. Remove the cap and press the valve stem. Fuel should shoot up a couple of feet. If there's no pressure, bang on the bottom of the gas tank while a helper cranks the engine. The engine has to be rotating, (cranking or running), for the pump to be turned on. If it's dead due to worn brushes, there's about a 75 percent chance banging on the tank will get it going. At that point it is likely to stay running as long as the engine is running, and it will typically work okay for weeks or months after that.

When looking for that test port, follow the pipe to see that it attaches to a small rubber hose on the body that goes back to the gas tank. I hope I'm not telling you obvious stuff you already know. There will be two similar-looking ports on the two metal lines attached to the air conditioning compressor. They won't have the same kind of stem in the center. Don't mess with those because escaping refrigerant can cause frostbite and blindness.

If there is no fuel test port, listen next to the fuel tank. You should hear the hum of the fuel pump for one second when a helper turns on the ignition switch. If you don't hear that, the pump isn't running.