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Car dies while driving for 15-20mi and warm

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rkcstr

10+ Year Contributor
59
5
Jun 27, 2009
Jacksonville, Florida
98 Eclipse Spyder GST automatic

I've been battling issues with my car for a while now. First was what I thought was overheating turned out the gauge sensor was climbing with temp not being very high. However, another thing that has been going on intermittently for a while is my car dying when I've been driving for a while. I can drive to/from work (~10mi each way) without issue, car drives fine. However, if I start running some errands or drive across town, where I'm driving more than about 15-20mi within a short time, I'll have episodes where the car will suddenly stall out, die and I have to pull off the road. It will turn over, but no start. Now, if I sit there for 15-20 minutes, it will start back up and I can drive again, however it will be more likely to do the same thing in only a few miles until I let the car cool off entirely.

Now, I've done a number of tests. For one, last year, I thought it was coils or power transistor and replaced them. Didn't run into many issues (right before winter) then weather starting warming up and I've run into the issue again. I've replaced them again with used parts, but still issue occurs. I've tested CAS, which all tests are within spec. Same with the CPS. When I unplug the CPS, it produces the same symptoms, however I specifically idled the car today for a while hoping to reproduce it (without being stuck on the side of a road) and it actually did it when I turned off the car and went to restart, however the CPS was still producing the proper voltage when I was cranking the engine.

Coolant sensor and temp gauge sender are both new. Coils and PTU are new/used. Wires were just replaced <10k ago (since having this issue prev). Plugs are new. No issue with fuel as the rail is pressured and occasionally I'll get a sputter when trying to start during the issue occuring. Charging system working fine. I unplugged the capacitor and car ran fine without. Unplugged the CAS and it will start and die after a few sec (not similar to my issue). My car has the black case ECU, which I just opened up today and it looks fine (only one electrolytic cap, which looks fine, no burnt components/traces). I have a spare, which I just put in and am going to test here soon, but I'm not very confident that is the issue.

What else am I missing? What else could it be? The car runs great except when this issue arises.
 
Drove around today. It was about 90 out, sunny. Drove about 30 some miles in a 5mi circuit near my house, minimal stops except turning from one road to the next. The car behaved properly, temps around 212 to 221 cruising, then I put it in third for a short while, temps up to 228, no issues. I did this for about 35-40mi and then decided to go on the highway to get higher speeds. I drove about 8mi, cruising at 80mph, then my temps started increasing, got up to 232 (not entirely sure why) was was fine for a short while then it stalled out. I logged the whole drive (about an hours worth), with the stall at the end, log stopped after I pulled off the road.

Any ideas?

The log file was too big to upload. Uploaded it to my google docs:
https://docs.google.com/open?id=0ByHGzF4EsEONRkk5c2xDVnlXbnc
 
Sounds to me like possible crankwalk. Not sure though. My car would do the same thing. You would have to wait till it warmed up for it to happen. How many miles on your car?
 
Engine was just rebuilt about 7-8k mi ago with new bearings, block and rotating assembly checked for spec by machine shop, etc. Proper break-in with frequent oil changes initially. I don't think that would be the case.

However, I just replaced the crank position sensor yesterday and went for a test drive. It was only about 78 degrees today, but I drove a good 30-40 miles on the highway with no issues. Max temps I reached was 223 cruisin at 80mph. I can say that I've had the issue arise earlier this spring in similar conditions, so I'm not sure if this is a fix yet or not... its really tough to tell with these intermittent issues. Otherwise, I also bought a camshaft angle sensor to replace if the issue continues.
 
Fans work, both original. I've done both a compression and leak down. Compression was between 170-175 on all cylinders. Leak down had 3-5% on all cylinders. I've leak tested the cooling system, fixed all leaks, replaced all hoses/lines and it holds 30psi stable. Did a recent boost leak test and fixed all leaks and was holding 25 psi stable.

I haven't had time to do a long range test on a hot day yet, but haven't run into issues so far with replacing the crank position sensor. Also went ahead and replaced the camshaft angle sensor as well. We'll see how it works out.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
When you were 'unplugging' the CAS when it was running, did it throw a CEL? Should have! Usually if it is a sensor failure you would get a CEL (code). Sounds basic I know, but just thought I would mention it. I assume your CEL lamp is operational...yes?

Another idea, since you believe it is heat related, save some gas and just let it idle. Your motor/electronics will still 'heat up', it does not care if your moving. If it does not fail, it may give you another thing to consider...

Good luck!
 
Did you figure anything else out on this? I have some similiar issues only mines the Spyder GS.
 
I didn't look for a CEL when I pulled the plug and one didn't stay on after doing that. I would just unplug, it would die and I'd plug it back in.

As for update on the status, I replaced both the crankshaft position sensor and camshaft angle sensor and had not had problems for a while. However, today, right before I was headed back to work, stopped to Hardee's to grab some lunch and they were taking forever to get the food for the car in front of me and my damn car stalled. Had to get help and push the thing out of the drivethru line, which made me feel stupid. Was again able to get it restarted after 5-10 min. after gunning the throttle while cranking for a minute or so. When I got home, I let it idle again and sit for about 15 min and again it died. This time, I was suspicious of the fuel pressure and watched my Fuelab AFPR gauge and noticed the pressure, typically about 37psi at idle started dropping a little bit, first to about 34psi, then started more toward 30psi, then it just suddenly stalled out. I tried cranking and it wouldn't, went to check the voltage at the pump and didn't get any reading and then found my fuse to my pump (on the rewire kit) was blown. Replaced the fuse and was able to get it started again, let it idle for 15-20 min and again noted about the same drop in pressure and stall, the fuse was not blown, but again, would not crank. I haven't rechecked the voltages yet and I intend to do more investigation, however i have to do some other stuff at the moment...

so, my concerns:
-Is my fuel pump going? It's a 255lph from MAperformance (their brand).
-Is my fuel filter clogged? I'm not sure why it would run just fine then just stall out, though.
-Is my FPR going? Again, not sure why it would only start happening after a certain period of operation then start working again.
 
you could check the fuel filter could also be a trans sensor going bad since its a automatic or replace your thermostat
 
I'm not sure how you "check" a fuel filter, you just replace it, which I intend to do, though it only has about 20k mi on it.

And, what trans sensor are you thinking? I don't have any CELs and the car shifts and drives just fine up until it stalls out and I have to wait about 15 mins to start again.

Thermostat was replaced with a new Mitsu in the past year.
 
I had the same problem with my 1999 eclipse gs spyder after letting my gf sister learn to drive stick shift my cam sensor when bad from the vibration of the engine tacking out from her noobish shifting after i bought a new one it ran fine but i did have the same issues i thought it was a fuel problem but i changed out all the fuel filters and checked the injectors and had them upgraded for my new cold air intake system had to replace the MAF too since i was running a ghetto style intake system it went bad from the mounting and antifreeze dripping onto it
 
idk my jeep did the same thing and it ended up being a bad trans sensor and i never had a CEL
 
My MAF could be wacky as my car's performance seems to vary a good bit (sometimes its responsive with good power, other times it will feel sluggish and lacking low end). However, I'm not sure that is the true issue causing my stalling out. I'm not sure about what trans sensors could be responsible, but if anyone knows specifically what to investigate, I would be happy to listen.

The thing that I'm suspicious about is my fuel pressure slowly dropping with time prior to stalling out. As it is dropping, the needle tends to bounce as well (like by a few psi), where-as when it is sitting at 37psi, its pretty steady (within 0.5-1psi). That makes me concerned about whether it could be something with the fuel delivery such as a failing fuel pump. I just went ahead and reordered a fuel filter and pump kit. I need to sort this out soon as I have to drive about 300mi in a week and don't really want to be stalling out on the way and/or my pump dying on me.
 
well if it is your maf i would recomend maf translater and a new maf but replace the fuel filter and do a sea foam deal on the car see if it works
 
i id go with the new filters for fuel and check to see if the air flow is right all i can say like i did befor i had same problem with mine and had the same issues with fuel the fuel starts to die out becouse of my sensor acting up if the cam sensor is out of wack then the fuel and other senors will act up when i hooked up the computer to mine i was throwing 5 codes once i fixed the cam sensor they all wipe off never came back on the computer system is finicky with our cars so if something goes wrong it usally will affect others in the system as i came to find out the cam sensor cost around $84 and a new fuel filter behind the trans is around $45 same for the one near the tank as well for the cost of that filter but the fuel pumps gonna cost you a great deal and alot of work
 
So I replaced the fuel filter and fuel pump. Side note I had the FP 255lph pump and replaced with Walboro HP 255lph and it is MUCH louder! Before I didn't even hear my pump, now I hear the constant whine, which is kind of annoying.

Anyway, I don't think the filter was an issue, I was able to blow through no problem, but a fresh one is good either way and it wasn't that difficult since I no longer have a banjo top (aftermarket line). New pump went in without issue. I noticed that the car ran much more consistently and felt good. However, if I ran it and warmed it up, I noticed the fuel pressure was still getting low, like 25psi from where it was around 35-37psi at idle prev (this with the vac line connected). Its a Fuelab piece and I took it apart to make sure nothing was wrong, however I noticed the rubbered side of it had multiple cracks/tears and also noticed smell of fuel and gurgling from the vac port, so I think I found the persistent issue.

I was able to make a 600mi round trip earlier this week without major issues, but it also was relatively cool/evening and rainy. Have noticed some hard starts, though (coolant temp sens was just replaced, plug/wiring is fine). That started after I opened up the FPR, so I suspect I just further worsened the leaking. Just ordered a new diaphragm, hopefully get it replaced this week and not have to buy a whole new FPR.
 
I had a 97 jeep grand Cherokee a few yrs ago that would do something similar..i would drive it 15 to 30 min bt when I got to my destination and shut it off and try to restart it wouldn't...i would have to let it cool down then go again...turned out it was the fuel pump over heating. Replaced it and haven't had another problem
 
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