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Starting issues - No / Doesn't / Won't Start - MERGED

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prodsm

20+ Year Contributor
258
0
Nov 12, 2002
canada, Manitoba_Canada
All "my car won't start" discussion threads are merged HERE. We've basically made it easier for those who insist upon not searching by grouping together all threads from those with similar issues so you can just scroll through and see some possible solutions. To search for info within this thread, use the "Search This Thread" feature in the black bar about 3" above what you're reading right now.

Could be anything from a loose battery terminal to internal engine damage, and literally everything in between which may involve the electrical, fuel, and ignition system...possibly even something that you screwed up while working on the car yourself. While it's unlikely we're going to diagnose and solve your problem over the internet, feel free to discuss any possible solutions.




I live in Canada and right now its not very warm out, about -30c
my car does not have a block heater too keep it warm.

I tryed to start my car this morning and it wouldent start, ive had this problem before but this time, the car doesnt crank at all it just makes a sound that sounds like an electric drill.

Whats wrong.

Thanks
 
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Car started and ran fine before it was shipped from Germany to the states. About three months later I get a call saying they can't start it and the battery is dead. Once I got the car back I saw one of the IC pipes had popped off so I think they may have been goofing off with my car at some point. Once the battery was recharged I still can't get it to start. The plugs are firing and all had proper gap, fuel pump is doing its job, fuel is draining through the return line although I didn't check the actual pressure, fuel injectors all read 2.3 ohms, the connectors all have 11v when ignition is at run and they drop down to about 8v when the car turns over. I checked to see if I can hear the clicking of the injectors as the engine turns over and I couldn't. Thought perhaps I didn't know what to listen for so I pulled the fuel rail and turned the engine over and the injectors don't appear to be working. I swapped out the EFI and Injector Resistor pack with known operating ones, checked pin #10 on the EFI connector and it reads 12v. Car still won't start. Every once in awhile it sounds like it might, but just doesn't. I have an AEM EMS, but it shouldn't lose the program from a dead battery so I'm at a loss. Any thoughts?
I'd start off with the basics
Check every darn connector in the engine bay and under the dash
Things can jiggle loose

Every fuse intact?
Does your check engine light turn on before you start the car? A bad ecu will obviously cause no starts
Check the ecu for bad capacitors

And here's some other ideas that may help
But somethings may take some effort like
Checking your crank sensor(7 bolt 2gs) and checking timeing (lining up marks )

A bad Cam angle sensor if your a 1g or a 6bolt swap cause no starts but I'm pretty sure it would affect spark
Power transistor cause no spark on 2 cylinders

I would see if you have fuel pressure you never know

Can you check compression?

Btw sounds like someone may have been o a joy ride and you never no they may have broke something else other than the ic pipe

I assume the starter works right?

Take a screw driver and put it on the injector and get some one to turn the car on and listen for clicks with your ear

Check all fuses tho

Srry I wish I could think of more stuff for quick checks

Battery cables nice and tight?they should not even move a mm

Tbh tho I'd start off checking fuel pressure
 
Fuses are good, no CEL, not running the stock ECU and don't want to pop open the AEM EMS just yet. Engine compression on all four cyclinders is between 190-195 (not stock internals), starter turns for days, battery cables are good, power transistor is good and I'm getting spark.

I haven't started checking all the sensors yet as I think I've narrowed it down to a fuel injector issue. There is plenty of fuel, injectors all read 2.3 ohms, EFI and injector resistor pack are both good, but the injectors aren't firing. I get 11v at the injector plug with the Kevin the On position and if drops to 8v when you try starting the engine. I read something about injectors being disabled by the AEM EMS so looking into that is my next step unless someone has a better idea.

If it is the EMS it looks like AEM quit providing tech or maintenance support to the version 1 last year so that's a bummer, but at two companies on their list seem to still be in the business of servicing them.
 
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Anyone on here good with the AEM EMS? The CAS tests out good so I think the only thing left is the EMS. The EMS is either bad or the fuel injectors were disabled via the EMS after the car sat without power. Is there a way to enable/disable the fuel injectors through the EMS? I've been scrolling through the various screens and I can't see that function. I'm just not knowledgeable enough with the AEM EMS and it's no longer supported by AEM.
 
^ I had aem ems1, went through so many new parts replacing old ones to figure it out, turns out the AEM injector driver was fried so I bought a new jack wolf 3d Ecu standalone unit and it fixed the problem. Now I just have ems1 catching dust in my room at home.
 
Alright 2g DSM 7 Bolt new / rebuilt engine. Tuning software works and talks to ECU. Went into ECU and changed injectors to 850cc and .315 latency. Go to crank the car and it just turns over.

Went to this article: http://www.dsmtuners.com/threads/how-to-diagnose-a-no-start.217951/

Lets work our way down this so you guys know whats going on.

Fuse = GOOD
Computer = talks to mine via ECUFlash so I assume its good in that regard (everything is plugged up)
Fuel = Good - 43 PSI per afpr. Pulled off fuel rail and injectors and those = Good as well spray as they should
Spark = Good - Pulled spark plugs and placed them on valve cover. Spark plugs in decent shape and gapped to .28. All plugs spark against the cover as they should.
Timing = Good - Pulled timing cover off and checked with piston #1 at TDC and all looks good. Dowel pins up and timing marks are correct as they should be. CAS is orientated correctly as well.
Air - Should be good


CAS/CPS - Tested. as per gopher's instructions - the ground on both is 38.5 ohms. This is not good. I am not sure if this is my problem. I do not know where the two sensors ground to on the car.
CAS Testing:
      1. Disconnect the sensor and measure on the engine harness side with the key in the "ON" position.
BLK (Pin 1) - Ground (0 ohms to ground)
BLU/RED (Pin 2) - 4.8v to 5.2v
RED (Pin 3) - 12v
If everything checks good with a multimeter plug the CAS connector back in and check voltages with the engine cranking.
BLU/RED (Pin 2) - 0.4v to 3.0v (If your reading 0v while cranking then the CAS is dead)
CPS Testing:
Disconnect the sensor and measure on the engine harness side with the key in the "ON" position.
BLK (Pin 1) - Ground (0 ohms to ground)
BLU/WHT (Pin 2) - 4.8v to 5.2v
RED (Pin 3) - 12v
If everything checks good with a multimeter plug the CAS connector back in and check voltages with the engine cranking.
BLU/WHT (Pin 2) - 0.4v to 4.0v (If your reading 0v while cranking then the CPS is dead)
To get to test the signal with the engine cranking your going to have to stab through the insulation on the wire, use really sharp multimeter leads or stab a needle into it and then touch the meter lead on the needle."
Injector Resistor Box - Checked all pins against pin #3 - all pins are 6.3 ohms resistance.

Coil Pack - Checked resistance is per spec (I don't remember spec off the top of my head but they were correct)





If this helps: when I plug the spark plug wires up to the coil pack as proper the starter works very hard to turn the car over. In fact it will blow (melt) my main fuse (battery relocated in the back - this worked and was done before engine rebuild and worked properly) as the wire gets very hot. If I unplug the coil pack the car spins over quickly and normally. If I plug the wires in backwards (just checking everything at this point) then the car acts like it wants to start but just won't quite make it.

Please help me with any ideas, I am very lost at this point.
 
Sounds like youve got a short somewhere. Odd those two things though. Possibly check connections at the starter first.

No seriously ... I think they ground to the same place. I don't know where that place is though .... I read somewhere they MUST ground to where the ECU grounds. But I'm not sure if thats a pin on the ECU or an actual spot on the body.
 
I would install the stock injectors and bring everything (ECU parameters ) to factory and see what happen if it starts then it's on the tune.

Where do you have the ground terminals bolt on to?


Thats my plan tomorrow - as well as put stock cams back on as well.

Ground is as follows: Everything is verified except ground spot #10 (which after some digging in my manual is where the CAS grounds to). Tomorrow I will go and clean all the ground points as well. Also, I will run a new 2 gauge ground wire from the battery in the trunk to the transmission mount (#2) which is connected to the firewall (#3 and #4)
 

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Now, i dont want to get into a huge debate here, but why are you running a full length ground wire instead of chassis grounding in the rear?

Also, what gauge wire is going to your battery for feed?
 
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Now, i dont want to get into a hige debate here, but why are you running a full length ground wire instead of chassis grounding in the rear?

Also, what gauge wire is going to your battery for feed?

Because I have read that it is best practice to do this in a DSM and I have the extra wire.

I have 0 gauge power (true 0) back up front. 0 gauge ground in the rear to chassis and will add 2 gauge back up front

Overkill? Probably but I'm lost right now and rightly so.
 
I want to also point out that my car ran fine before the engine build. It was high mileage and used and I wanted a fresh build for reliability. I haven't changed anything except forged internals, injectors, cams, throttle body. So past that I'm not really sure why it isn't just turn key and go. Maybe I damaged something with the wiring harness.
 
Just wanted to check. That will ay least cover your main grounding points. I know on my car all the factory engine bay grounds needed to be redone, so maybe double checm them (or triple? I think you said you tested them all).

It could also be your coil pack shorted out internally, try another known good unit if you havent already.
 
Are you able to pull any codes? After my build I had a no start issue, but the cel flashed for a second so i was able to get a code for the cas. Oddly, the cas was fine before the build.
I luckily had a 1g cas lying around, as well as some spare harnesses to make an adaptor so it was an easy check.
I know this sounds ridiculous, but make sure your tps is calibrated properly. When I put a rebuilt tb on and tried to reuse the old tps, the marks were way off and the car wouldnt start. I rotated the tps a little and it started right up.
 
Are you able to pull any codes? After my build I had a no start issue, but the cel flashed for a second so i was able to get a code for the cas. Oddly, the cas was fine before the build.
I luckily had a 1g cas lying around, as well as some spare harnesses to make an adaptor so it was an easy check.
I know this sounds ridiculous, but make sure your tps is calibrated properly. When I put a rebuilt tb on and tried to reuse the old tps, the marks were way off and the car wouldnt start. I rotated the tps a little and it started right up.


It reads in EvoScan as 7% closed to 87% open. But I will sure give it a shot.
 
So apparently the cams I was sent were mislabeled in the box and were Evo 8 cams so the cams were off 90 degrees. Switched them out with stock and compression test shocking looked okay.
Yes. Now to diagnose the idle surge.
Wait
So, how is compression, if you were 90° out of phase then maybe those valves may have tapped.
 
Wait
So, how is compression, if you were 90° out of phase then maybe those valves may have tapped.

I thought the same. 168 / 165 / 159 / gauge blew up on the last one so I'm assuming it's good. Fired up and it all runs fine except for idle surge. Idle surge I can fix though.
 
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