420A 1999 GS Sputtered and Died, Now Won’t Start

[Dsmjxy]

(Somewhat new to working on cars, extremely new to Eclipse) Still learning the website so if I’m not supposed to post this here just let me know!

I just bought myself a 1999 Mitsubishi Eclipse GS. It ran and drove when it was brought to me. I took it down the road and it sputtered to a stop. I started off by looking at the main fuses none looked blown to me, the car cranks with no start, the only lights that will show are the cruise light and door open light.

Any advice or suggestions would be a lot of help.

 

[Sirius1995]

start by reading codes, you can morse them out with keydance, if you don't havbe access for a reader will find instructions from this forum

 

[Dsmjxy]

start by reading codes, you can morse them out with keydance, if you don't havbe access for a reader will find instructions from this forum

Came up with p0351 and p0352

 

[CKOPOCT]

P0351 is coil pack A and P0352 is coil pack B. Sounds like you aren't getting spark from the coils. Several possibilities: CAS (cam angle sensor), wiring to the coils, ECU capacitor (known to go bad, especially with how old the car is). For it to suddenly just quit says it's electrical in nature. I'd first go out and clear the computer of codes, then wait for 15 minutes and try again to see (a) if it starts, and (b) if you get the same 2 codes. If you do, I'd check the wiring to the CAS and the coils. Make sure some connector isn't loose, that the grounds are okay, and that a wire isn't cut, slashed, corroded, or loose in the connector. Even if things check out it could be a bad CAS.

If all of that checks out (and there are no other problems or signs that point to something else) I'd check the ECU to see if a capacitor has failed. For this you would pull the ECU and take the cover off to expose the board. You're looking for any corrosion coming from the capacitors (barrel-looking things), or signs of burned solder connections or components. See this post to see what I'm talking about as far as corrosion:

https://www.dsmtuners.com/threads/1g-single-click-no-start-intermittent-90-awd-tsi.531270/post-153785858

It might also be good to review the thread on how to diagnose a no-start. When dealing with "my engine won't behave" issues when you are new or inexperienced to engine diagnostics, it is easy to start chasing ghosts and going deep into false rabbit holes. Too many times folks spend a lot of time running down a convoluted path only to find out later that the problem was a simple one somewhere else. This might help at some point...

How To Diagnose A No-Start

Diagnosing a No-StartI've been seeing a lot of No-Start related threads popping up lately, and I figured a basic Tech Article for diagnosing a few of the most common No-Start problems might be in order. Any images posted are courtesy of my 1990 GSX your setup may differ slightly; refer to...

www.dsmtuners.com

 

[BLACK'98DSM]

You won't be able to tell much from opening the ecu unless it's seriously burned up. The circuit board is covered in a dark layer of gel to reduce vibration and corrosion.

The cam angle sensor is not suspect. It only assists in determining the ignition timing. Lack of reading would still allow spark but retarted to a "safe" amount. The crankshaft sensor is a possibility of your issue. Lack of reading from this would definitely lead to no spark. But we're not even sure if you have spark.

I would think it's obvious the first thing you should do is test the ignition coil. There is only one.

 

[Sirius1995]

I think it's the coil

 

[CKOPOCT]

Sorry for the mis-info. I should have looked closer - GS and 420-A. My bad.