without oil in the motor to seal the piston rings you will lose compression & since gas was applied, your cylinders might be seriously flooded. try this; remove spark plugs & clean or dry as needed, remove fuel pump or fuel injecter fuse, crank motor for 15 sec to clear gas from the...

Correcto, the MPI relay--took it apart, contacts looked like new--I sent my ECU off to Zdoctors in orlando fla., They charged me $410 to rebuild my board--the cost was high bec the pc board was unusable & so had no core value. Anyway, the rebuilt ECO, (ok, truth is these cars are never totally...

I used Bar's stop leak on my 91 tsi, fixed the rad leak in the cooling fins, & it never hurt the turbo, cracked the head or block. Defiant, is your suggestion based on experience or hypothetical guess?

There is a very good chance that only your radiater cap is bad, I bet it's the original 9 year old cap. The cap should have allowed the coolant in the overflow bottle to be drawn back into the motor after the car was turned off & had a chance to cool off a little. Get a new cap & some...

You can safely wash the engine at the car wash if you leave the motor running, done it hundreds of times on over 30 cars. In the Honda scenerio, the motor was turned off.

2.4, Your suggestion is not based on evidence & mine is. Reread the forum rule regarding guessing.

And how could I forget the PS fluid that drools down into the alt. when the PS hose fitting at the top of the PS pump leaks. And the oil vapor that leaks out the top of the dipstick when the O-ring on the dipstick is worn & doesn't fit tight anymore.

For sure, it's no fun to work on a dirty engine. The alt. area in the engine bay of these DSMs needs to be looked at every time you pop the hood. I have heard of coolant, oil & exhaust dust causing problems & also the alt B+ wire arcing to the oil filter case. In my case I was being lazy & left...

I will not let you write a little equation for me. If what you are saying is true, you could never start a cold engine, or operate a motor in a cold climate. I have been cleaning motors at the car wash for over 30 years incident free. (duh,-water turns to ice at 32 degrees & will not flow from...

No reason to be paranoid, can't hurt the exhaust manifold, done it many times--do you drive your car in the rain? Did you ever hear of an exhaust manifold cracking after a rad hose rupture? & what about all that oil that drools down from your sometimes leaky VC gasket? At the coin-op car wash...

If the motor is so grody that I don't want to touch anything, I take it to the coin op car wash & spray it soap & rinse with the motor running, & then drive until dry. Many ways to clean the motor & not cause any damage under the hood, but I would limit the use of cleaning solvents that cause...

I use throw-away rags slightly wettened with soapy water or regular cheap car wax---& cheap rubber gloves. Engine degreaser fumes cause brain damage, spacey for days.

I know that money song all too well. my original alt lasted 137k. You wouldn't have to replace the alt, you could: have it rebuilt at an auto electric shop for less than $100 rebuilt it yourself, ez to do, kits are about $10-15-, most likely all you need are the brushes, can be bought...

voltages sound good, measuring current in amps is slightly more conclusive.motor idle too low loose alt belt battery, alt connections or possibly a fuse dirty,(look close at batt ground, clean & sand all connectors to shiny metal) alt about to die from worn brushes,(time will tell, keep...

Merry Christmas, Sounds like you might have damaged your ECU when you shorted the B+ terminal of the alt. to ground, that's why they strongly suggest that you disconnect the battery before working on the car. swap in your friends ECU & see what happens, disconnect the batt first, I put a wing...

for sure the thermostat is stuck open, put in a new one & see what happens.

If you follow the procedure previously outilind, you could easily damage your ECU. Better way to check the alt is with a voltmeter. check to voltage of the battery before & after you start the car--should go up after starting if the alt is working.

merry christmas, you have a blown head gasket my friend. white smoke is steam--burning coolant that got by the gasket & into the combustio chamber. cofirm with compression test. Happy new year!

hey no problem, you actually do not need boots or grease for the bearings inside the cv joints--a popular misconception. You can go ahead & tear off all the boots, reduces weight & makes the car go faster!

Now you are being silly. Most likely if it breaks completely, it will be when you are taking off from a complete stop & the shaft will drop to the ground & you will call for a tow truck or you could push it if you're not going too far. It will cost you a 2-3x more to fiddle around replacing...

My first guess is that your problems are not related. one remote possibility is this, if you didn't disconnect your battery before working around your alternater, there is a chance you may have shorted 1 of the electrical connectoers to ground, creating a surge that burned 1 of the coils in...

Your car sounds identical to mine & based on my experience, here is what I would do to minimize downtime & torturing aggravation. Ship the ECU to ZDR electronics--they can bench check it & tell you if your ECU has a problem & if something on your car damaged it. (it is remotely possible that...

The 1000 FAQ has good info, you can find a fairly good "how to check error codes" near the bottom of the page at the link below. Also there is a wiring schematic for 1990, not the same as for your car--but you can get the big idea. (There are many similar webpages on the net, use google to...

Check at your diagnostic port for error codes, but I think there is a high probability that your ECU is the culprit, symptoms vary wildy & most of the time it's more than caps that need to be replaced--that may have only fixed some of your problems. Did you read at the link I posted in my last...

Sounds like your fuel filter is mostly clogged. On a hot day, if there is some sludge accumulated in the filter, it will melt a little bit, then harden into a semi-solid plug when cooled & block your gas flow. BTW, tell the rest of us where you found the $40 ISC motor & if it turns out that you...

Listen to hear if the click sounds like it's coming from behind the radio, where the ECU lives. If so, it is the beginning of the end for your ECU & your problems are going to get a lot worse soon, eventually you'll be stranded--you'll have to have the ECU rebuilt by a pro-shop. Read at this...

did your problem begin after you changed the plugs the first time? Here's where I'm going with this, when pulling the wire off the plug, it's easy for the wire to slip inside the boot & therefore not make good contact with the plug. Look to see how deep into the boot is the metal plug connector...

the hydraulic valve lash adjusters are supplied with motor oil via a tiny hole that cold thick oil can't get into. You could oil change with a thinner oil for the winter & see if that helps, but as long as the motor heats up fast & the noise goes away quickly & you don't gun the motor while it's...

You can try this first to rule it out--pull out the metal apple sized box that is mounted behind your radio, inside the console--on the floor, RH side. Pop the cover & check the contacts on the relay--clean shiny metal is good. It sounds like your ECU is the culprit, 99% certain. The clicking...

That was way back in DEC 2003, I bet 99 pesos that the problem was in the ECU & the shop didn't really fix it the first time. Had mine rebuilt at ZDR electronics in Orlando Fla, they put a 2 year warranty on it & it's been almost a year--no problemo. Not just any electonics shop can fix the...

Are you getting a check engine light,CEL? It sounds like the ECU is going away for sure, check for error codes at the diagnostic port.

sorry to say this & hope it's not true, my car was doing exactly that, it was the first clue that the ECU was going away. Check for error codes at the diagnostic terminal or you can wait until the problem gets worse & have a solid failure all the time, then you can figure out what the problem is.

sounds like the switch on the brake pedal--try using your left foot under the brake pedal to hold it all the way up & see if your cruise will set. If this is the prob, find out why the brake pedal does not return all the way up on it's own--worn pads, low fluid or air in fluid or sticky pedal.

try this, use your left foot under the BRAKE pedal & pull the pedal all the way up while trying to set the cruise. Yup, there is a switch on the brake pedal that turns off the cruise when you hit the brakes & if your brakes are worn, low brake fluid or air in fluid or sticky brake pedal, then...

100% gauranteed, have your ECU professionally rebuilt & your car will run correctly. Sooner or later you WILL arrive at that conclusion for your problem, if you continue to drive the car like it is, you WILL destroy your ECU to the point where it will have no core value, adding $200 to your...

since it won't start, Pull out any spark plug & see if it's wet with gas. You are lucky if it is dry & the problem gets fixed with a new fuel filter. If the car runs a few seconds then dies, won't restart right away, but after awhile it will restart & run a little then die--consider an almost...

Not a clue, but this will help. first, you tagged onto the end of an old thread relating to 1g DSMs, which are very different than the later 2g DSMs & so your query went to guys like me who may not be familiar with 2g, you need to re-start your quest for help as a new "problem diagnosis" at...

very interesting--what do you mean by "fiddled with the cruise control motor"-were you adjusting the linkage from the cruise servo to the throttle or getting into the electrical stuff?

Check out this very excellent company. Jasper IN. is about 1 hr N of Louisville KY.http://www.jasperengines.com/transmissions.html

AT or MT? Here is a link to the AT DSM club, you might get some clues there, even if you have MT, the forum members seem to be east coasters, also check out their links page. http://www.ecanfix.com/~atdsm/ Another tip, do an online google search to find a tranny shop in your area. I'm...

Is your battery by any chance not bolted down & shorting against the hood when you go over bumps?

Something is not right with your ECU & neither you nor the ghetto TV shop will be able to figure it out. Ship your ECU to ZDR Electronics in Orlando Fl & have it checked out. They rebuilt mine with complete success & warranty--here is the link. http://www.mitsubishiecu.com/

I shipped off my ECU to ZDR Electronics in Orlando Fl. for rebuild with complete success & warranty, here is the link,http://www.mitsubishiecu.com/

I had my ECU rebuilt with total success & warranty at ZDR electronics in Orlando Fla., here is the link,http://www.mitsubishiecu.com/

Take it to a machine shop, they should be able to get the stud out without damaging the threads. If there are enough threads exposed on the stud, you can try the double nut trick---screw 2 nuts onto the stud & tighten them against each other, then use a wrench on the inside nut to unscrew the...

Mail or drive your ECU over to ZDR electronics in Orlando & have them test it & rebuild it if needed. They fixed mine, similar symptoms & put a 2 yr/24k warranty on it. Here is the link, http://www.mitsubishiecu.com/

Bummer dude! Are you thinking of swapping it out yourself with a used 1, say from the junyard or used import from Japan? Is it an AT or MT, FWD or AWD.

99% sure it is the power steering belt, it has to be very tight.

Just go ahead & replace both halfshafts on the front, they're cheap & even easy to replace!--no point in fooling around with the CV joints. The worst case scenario is that the CV rubber boots were probably the first thing to go bad & all the grease from inside them got splattered all over the...

It sounds like the timing belt has broken & yes, the valves crashed into the pistons. Pull off your top timing belt cover & see if the belt is broken & if not, do the timing marks on the valve cams line up?