Engine Stutter/Tach Dropping Off?

[sik4g63]

What would cause the engine to "stutter" or kinda stall while driving. At the same time my on my tach the rpm's would drop to dead nothing then pick back up to where it should be. This has happened to me almost everytime i drive it. It mostly happens while at a good cruising speed around 55-60mph. Any clues or suggestions would help.

 

[VEGAS TO CT DSM]

Hey bro i was kinda having the same prob with my car, then it got worse and worse.. i endend up crackin' the head on my 1g now im going to do a full rebuild with a 2g head and my 6bolt main...
have ## head checked out it might be the prob

 

[steve]

What would cause the engine to "stutter" or kinda stall while driving. At the same time my on my tach the rpm's would drop to dead nothing then pick back up to where it should be. This has happened to me almost everytime i drive it. It mostly happens while at a good cruising speed around 55-60mph. Any clues or suggestions would help.

Does the CEL light come on at the same time and then go off right away?

Do you have a 2.0L NA or a 1.8L?

 

[sik4g63]

i have a 2.0 n/t, and no the CEL doesnt come on. I have had my mechanic hook up to it to see if it would throw out any codes that might lead to that prob. the head has only bout 20k on it and it has been ported and polished. but i have looked around the head to see if there was a visible crack or leak from it and its clean from what i can tell.

 

[steve]

I don't expect codes but like the turbo cars the ECU caps go bad and cause the kind of problems your describe. The ECU will reset and the engine stutters and the CEL will often turn on as it resets.

 

[sik4g63]

IF i have to swap ECU's would one from a junkyard work fine? Or should i try to find a semi new one? Any help would be appreciated since i am new to the DSM world, i have came from JEEPin and the offroadin world....so i dont have much experience with these cars.

 

[steve]

You might get lucky but keep in mind (and try searching here) that the capacitors going bad is a generic problem with Mitsubishi ECUs from the mid 80's up to the start of the OBD II ECUs in 95.

Unless the capacitors have already been replaced they have either already leaked or will. Anything you get from a junk yard is just going to be questionable.

 

[sik4g63]

I will check the ECU when i have the time. So would you say that the ECU needs to be replaced?

 

[steve]

So would you say that the ECU needs to be replaced?

It should be checked and if damaged, repaired or replaced.
There are still lots of things that could be cause your problems. The ECU issues are common so eliminating that variable first makes sense.

 

[sik4g63]

Any other suggestions as to what could cause this to happen?