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

[prodsm]

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

 

[1G9S9T7]

Change your terminals. I had this issue once and every so often I would go to start the car and all I got was a click. Adjusting the cables would get it to start but eventually that stopped working. I went to a local part store and bought a new set of terminals. Upon installing those, my car never failed to start after that... At least not because of the terminals.

 

[hyperfreezer]

Which terminals are you refering to??

 

[97gsxIA]

First of .. take a breath..
it's not the end of the world.

Let it sit for a little bit while you save some money and go back at her. Leak down test kits around here cost 30 dollars. So it can't be that far off from where youre at. if you can't afford a leakdown tester, I'd rethink youre priorities.

Time and money effect everyones build. Do you have another dailydriver?

I'm really sorry for the pain this car has given you, but we all go through this at some point. Hell, I've blown timing on TWO heads in 3 months. and there's many guys out there with a lot worse. If the car is pushing you to the brink of suicide, I would cut my losses and find a new hobby, one that I have the means and tools to enjoy.

If you are lacking knowledge to learn and grow from this experience, use the search button. I didn't know anything about these cars when I got my first one 4 years ago. Now I can do just about anything minus machine work, just from searching tech articles and discussing things with people like on here. It takes time and patience and a willing to learn.

 

['97 Cayenne]

Ok i replaced the lower injector rings and boost leaks are gone. This was my first idle/cruise log. liquidx what you got for me?

I noticed that my WB gauge was about 14-15 at idle and the computer said 11-12. does this have anything to do with the switch point? if i need to set it, which voltage to i set it at?

No start issue fixed. moved to tuning/engine management section for idle help. MODS LOCK

 

[Kalabalik1]

I had three of those 1G:s before, one non turbo, two turbos without awd, basically I love it.
But now I really HATE IT!!!
Belive me I know this engines, mechanically, electrically.
And a lot of people that know this engines better than me still can't figure out what is going on.
And if it would be a timing belt or something like that it would REALLY REALLY make me glad!
But now we have a problem here that is VERY VERY hard to locate.
I know it's something small and electrical. But to find it seems impossible right now!!

And the plan was that this car, when it arrived from the states it would help me out
to fix my broken down daily driver, the transmission is out on my Micra.
So now I cannot fix any of them. Cant move now at all.
Had It here for only two days.
Seems like this car is not made for climate like here.
Because as soon it arrived in Sweden, all this BULLSHIT happened!
I drove 4500 miles in the states without ANY problems at all.
It was running great There!!!! But CRAP here!!!! Only like 200 miles and it broke down like nothing.
So in other words my micra that I had to rape for it to break down IS MUCH BETTER BUILT than this lame Mitsubihi engine, that is just UNFAIR for everyone and let me tell you It runs with right know with a head gasket blown cause it overheats fast and the idle is uneven, transmission only works in 2 gears, 1:st and 4:th. But the MOFO still really runs.
And this lame as 1g, didn't reattach the radiator hose AND THE WHOLE ENGINE BROKE DOWN.
Nice work MITSUBISHI, Building a turbo engine that wont allow ANY mistakes at all. NICE!!!!!

In other words, was my mistake buying this car instead of something like a Nissan 300ZX maby. If Nissan builds so good engines that won't break down,
why did Mitsu build something as sentitive as WOOD and PLASTIC.
Specially a Turbo car.

Im really starting to consider if this car really Is as good as I think it is.
It seems to breakdown more than driving it.
In other words, more frustrating hours than pleasure hours.

NICE MITSUBISHI!!!!!!!

Really thinking about selling this piece of CRAP!!! It looks like a SHITBOX to me right now.
Loved it for 12 years and now it really dissapointed me.
Like a Girl.

Yet again, sorry to everyone about this negative messages,
I just don't know what to do.

And yes as the guy said:
Im also thinking about changing my hobby.
THIS REALLY FEELS LIKE IM CALLING OUT THE CANCER!!!!
It ain't worth it!!

 

[TSIturbo91]

First of .. take a breath..
it's not the end of the world.

Let it sit for a little bit while you save some money and go back at her. Leak down test kits around here cost 30 dollars. So it can't be that far off from where youre at. if you can't afford a leakdown tester, I'd rethink youre priorities.

Time and money effect everyones build. Do you have another dailydriver?

I'm really sorry for the pain this car has given you, but we all go through this at some point. Hell, I've blown timing on TWO heads in 3 months. and there's many guys out there with a lot worse. If the car is pushing you to the brink of suicide, I would cut my losses and find a new hobby, one that I have the means and tools to enjoy.

If you are lacking knowledge to learn and grow from this experience, use the search button. I didn't know anything about these cars when I got my first one 4 years ago. Now I can do just about anything minus machine work, just from searching tech articles and discussing things with people like on here. It takes time and patience and a willing to learn.

+1 on all that. I think a few war stories are in order. Not to get off track but sometimes perspective helps. Personally since I got my car in 09 I have only had it running for a total of 8 months. Had 2 transfer cases go on me. One at highway speed in the rain causing me to spin into on coming traffic. Then my transmission wouldn't come out of 5th and when it did I lost that and reverse. All my CV axles broke. Head gasket blew from a water pump leak then that cooked the rings enough to cause oil to fly out the dip stick from blow by whenever the turbo spools up. And I get sh!t from my wife, parents, and siblings about my car all the time just making it suck more.

But I saved up and now have have a new motor and trans waiting for good weather to be dropped in all built up with Wisco Teflon coated pistons, eagle rods, fully balanced, mls headgasket, BSE, fresh head, and a dog box trans with an ACT 2900 clutch. All the kinda stuff i drooled over as a kid, . And once I'm done not only will the accomplishment feel great but driving my car again will be awesome. That's what makes these moments of sadness all worth it. That moment your back on the road and the turbo spools up and your pushed back into the seat you'll go from despair to bliss.

So I would try and relax with what ever makes ya happy, get refocused and make a plan on paper so when sh!t gets hard and your all flustered you can look at the plan and get back on track.

 

[Kalabalik1]

+1 on all that. I think a few war stories are in order. Not to get off track but sometimes perspective helps. Personally since I got my car in 09 I have only had it running for a total of 8 months. Had 2 transfer cases go on me. One at highway speed in the rain causing me to spin into on coming traffic. Then my transmission wouldn't come out of 5th and when it did I lost that and reverse. All my CV axles broke. Head gasket blew from a water pump leak then that cooked the rings enough to cause oil to fly out the dip stick from blow by whenever the turbo spools up. And I get sh!t from my wife, parents, and siblings about my car all the time just making it suck more.

But I saved up and now have have a new motor and trans waiting for good weather to be dropped in all built up with Wisco Teflon coated pistons, eagle rods, fully balanced, mls headgasket, BSE, fresh head, and a dog box trans with an ACT 2900 clutch. All the kinda stuff i drooled over as a kid, . And once I'm done not only will the accomplishment feel great but driving my car again will be awesome. That's what makes these moments of sadness all worth it. That moment your back on the road and the turbo spools up and your pushed back into the seat you'll go from despair to bliss.

So I would try and relax with what ever makes ya happy, get refocused and make a plan on paper so when sh!t gets hard and your all flustered you can look at the plan and get back on track.

AMEN TO THAT!!!
You all are really starting to be my heroes.
I guess this world is full of good people too. =O)

 

[obsidian]

kalibalik, resolve the starting issue. Don't worry about anything else right now.

My friend had the same issue, he's on here. His cranked soooo slowly and we replaced the starter and all.

Try to run a jumper wire. Basically take the single signal wire to the top of the starter off. Build you a longer 3-4ft wire with a quick slide connector on the end. Attach the connector to the starter and then put it straight to the 12v positive on the battery. How is cranking speeds now?

Faster? You have a problem in the ignition wiring somewhere.

Same? You may have a bad starter.

Same and known good starter? Then you can try what I did for his car.

His car literally sat for a long long time and didn't run. So we figured his engine was "dry". He already changed the oil and filter and levels were proper. We didn't feel like doing a proper priming of the engine so we did the redneck way (which works fine if done correctly).

1. Remove spark plugs. Spray a bit of lubricating spray into the cylinder (we used pb blaster)
2. Remove fuel pump MPI fuse. It's on the positive battery post in 1Gs.
3. Put about 2-3 GALLONS of oil into the engine. This literally soaks into everything down there on the bottom end and lubricates those things that aren't getting lubricated by the dry oil pump. This will also allow the oil pump to be soaked in oil and effectively be primed due to that.
4. Take the starter jumper wire and hit the positive terminal for 5-8 second bursts. After a burst of trying to start then let the starter rest a minimum of 30 -60 seconds.

This worked. His engine slowly started turning over faster and faster (it was a dry engine) and now he's running and driving that same engine.

We obviously drained the oil and topped off with fresh oil after getting everything going properly.

Not saying this is your problem, but resolve the slow crank issue before anything else.

If you lost all of your coolant then yes you could have warped your head. Yes a small leak can do it. It's not the engines fault. All engines have the same failures from overheating. A few pinhole leaks can destroy any engine. Your problem is not mitsubishi related. It's cooling system failure related. This is if the thing overheated.

 

[Seamus]

Belive me I know this engines, mechanically, electrically

I see

It runs with right know with a head gasket blown cause it overheats fast and the idle is uneven, transmission only works in 2 gears, 1:st and 4:th. But the MOFO still really runs.

Sounds like you take really good care of that car.

And this lame as 1g, didn't reattach the radiator hose AND THE WHOLE ENGINE BROKE DOWN.
Nice work MITSUBISHI, Building a turbo engine that wont allow ANY mistakes at all. NICE!!!!!

Goddamn Mitsubishi to hell for designing a car that needs coolant present and circulating in order to live.

I have blown 3 of my head gaskets before on my Nissan Micra, and that took a lot of overheating before that happened. I literally had to rape it.

This should sum up everything for everyone reading this thread.





i don't see anything you have posted that shows you have taken any members advice and tried to apply it to your situation. In fact you seem to disregard anything that you don't want to hear. What is the point in posting if you just want to argue with the diagnosis. YOU HAVE FRIED YOUR ENGINE but, Please try and report back the following.

You need to get the vehicle cranking properly first. And I would do a leakdown.

Then I would do a proper compression test.

If everyhting tests ok, I would verify fuel pressure and spark.

If those are good, I would try HARD to start it on starter fluid for about 5minutes. A vehicle with a bad coolant sensor should still start with some help if the motor is healthy. Once its started, it should stay running too. If you can get it running and idleing, you should be able to diagnose any problems fairly easy, or at least report back to us what is going on.


BTW, I'm glad to hear your nissan has basically survived a retarded owner. You've definatly sold me on the micra. Most people don't over heat their car to the point of blowing the headgasket once, let alone 3 times. Unfortunatly, your 20+ year old DSM that has probably been beat on its whole life won't take an owner who refuses to care for it. Good Luck!

 

[obsidian]

I see

Sounds like you take really good care of that car.


Goddamn Mitsubishi to hell for designing a car that needs coolant present and circulating in order to live.

This should sum up everything for everyone reading this thread.





i don't see anything you have posted that shows you have taken any members advice and tried to apply it to your situation. In fact you seem to disregard anything that you don't want to hear. What is the point in posting if you just want to argue with the diagnosis. YOU HAVE FRIED YOUR ENGINE but, Please try and report back the following.

You need to get the vehicle cranking properly first. And I would do a leakdown.

Then I would do a proper compression test.

If everyhting tests ok, I would verify fuel pressure and spark.

If those are good, I would try HARD to start it on starter fluid for about 5minutes. A vehicle with a bad coolant sensor should still start with some help if the motor is healthy. Once its started, it should stay running too. If you can get it running and idleing, you should be able to diagnose any problems fairly easy, or at least report back to us what is going on.


BTW, I'm glad to hear your nissan has basically survived a retarded owner. You've definatly sold me on the micra. Most people don't over heat their car to the point of blowing the headgasket once, let alone 3 times. Unfortunatly, your 20+ year old DSM that has probably been beat on its whole life won't take an owner who refuses to care for it. Good Luck!

You must be logged in to view this image or video.

 

[Kalabalik1]

I see

Sounds like you take really good care of that car.


Goddamn Mitsubishi to hell for designing a car that needs coolant present and circulating in order to live.

This should sum up everything for everyone reading this thread.





i don't see anything you have posted that shows you have taken any members advice and tried to apply it to your situation. In fact you seem to disregard anything that you don't want to hear. What is the point in posting if you just want to argue with the diagnosis. YOU HAVE FRIED YOUR ENGINE but, Please try and report back the following.

You need to get the vehicle cranking properly first. And I would do a leakdown.

Then I would do a proper compression test.

If everyhting tests ok, I would verify fuel pressure and spark.

If those are good, I would try HARD to start it on starter fluid for about 5minutes. A vehicle with a bad coolant sensor should still start with some help if the motor is healthy. Once its started, it should stay running too. If you can get it running and idleing, you should be able to diagnose any problems fairly easy, or at least report back to us what is going on.


BTW, I'm glad to hear your nissan has basically survived a retarded owner. You've definatly sold me on the micra. Most people don't over heat their car to the point of blowing the headgasket once, let alone 3 times. Unfortunatly, your 20+ year old DSM that has probably been beat on its whole life won't take an owner who refuses to care for it. Good Luck!

What THE F*** DO YOU KNOW.
The micra has been driving for a year and a half now, just needs a little maintenance.
I KNEW YOU ALL WOULD HANG YOUR SELFS BY THIS:

"I have blown 3 of my head gaskets before on my Nissan Micra, and that took a lot of overheating before that happened. I literally had to rape it."

I HAPPENED I A 6 year period of time, while I was learning about engines.
20+ years and that kind of bullshit.
Just drop it, of course Im frustrated, when it takes a lot to blow a gasket on a micra and takes nothing on a mitsu plus THE DAMN THING WOUL'D RUN either way, blown gasket or not.

And how can you say that Im not doing anything people are posting???
I just done about everything everybody told me.
BEST IF YOU DON'T write at all.
Here is a lot of other people that are really helping me out.
Tell your bullshit to someone else.
I never Dissed Anyone here except my engine.
So spare your bullshit to someone that really cares!!!!

WHAT I MENT WAS: I takes a lot of beating to blow a headgasket. That is why Im ruleing out the headgasket.

What a doosh!!!

It's going to an mechanic tomorrow.

Ill make a video right now so you all can hear the cranking sound and tell me what's up.
Nobody knows what it can be.
And everybody says if it would be the gasket, I would have water in my oil and it would stumble out, not just DIE out like it did.
My oil looks great.
What I noticed today while cranking just a little bit, my plugs got really soaked still.
Not even 5 seconds of cranking.

Sincerely Alex

AND PS: THE MICRA IS from 1990.

AND I DO TAKE CARE OF MY CARS.
WRITE WHEN YOU KNOW BETTER!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Seamus!!!

kalibalik, resolve the starting issue. Don't worry about anything else right now.

My friend had the same issue, he's on here. His cranked soooo slowly and we replaced the starter and all.

Try to run a jumper wire. Basically take the single signal wire to the top of the starter off. Build you a longer 3-4ft wire with a quick slide connector on the end. Attach the connector to the starter and then put it straight to the 12v positive on the battery. How is cranking speeds now?

Faster? You have a problem in the ignition wiring somewhere.

Same? You may have a bad starter.

Same and known good starter? Then you can try what I did for his car.

His car literally sat for a long long time and didn't run. So we figured his engine was "dry". He already changed the oil and filter and levels were proper. We didn't feel like doing a proper priming of the engine so we did the redneck way (which works fine if done correctly).

1. Remove spark plugs. Spray a bit of lubricating spray into the cylinder (we used pb blaster)
2. Remove fuel pump MPI fuse. It's on the positive battery post in 1Gs.
3. Put about 2-3 GALLONS of oil into the engine. This literally soaks into everything down there on the bottom end and lubricates those things that aren't getting lubricated by the dry oil pump. This will also allow the oil pump to be soaked in oil and effectively be primed due to that.
4. Take the starter jumper wire and hit the positive terminal for 5-8 second bursts. After a burst of trying to start then let the starter rest a minimum of 30 -60 seconds.

This worked. His engine slowly started turning over faster and faster (it was a dry engine) and now he's running and driving that same engine.

We obviously drained the oil and topped off with fresh oil after getting everything going properly.

Not saying this is your problem, but resolve the slow crank issue before anything else.

If you lost all of your coolant then yes you could have warped your head. Yes a small leak can do it. It's not the engines fault. All engines have the same failures from overheating. A few pinhole leaks can destroy any engine. Your problem is not mitsubishi related. It's cooling system failure related. This is if the thing overheated.

Belive me I will test that, because I haven't tested that yet.
THANKS A LOT MAN.

ps: it never lost all the coolant, I always filled with more and more coolant while driving to prevent everything with the head and the gasket. I really never did allow it do overheat at all.

But still if I would do something to the head or gasket, WOULDN'T IT STUMBLE OUT AND GIVE ME WHITE EXAUST SMOKE, PLUS GET WATER IN MY OIL PLUS OVERHEAT???????

 

[laserspeeddemon]

Sell your car or junk your car. You're in WAAY over your head. I mean this in just as much terms as logistics as I do your immaturity.

In terms of logistics, you have no way to verify functionality of parts by swapping them with a known good working part. This means just to test one, you have to by a new "any" part. Parts are probably inaccessible from your local dealer, which means any parts would have to be order from a vendor here in the US. Parts like a transmission or a head will cost you an outrageous amount on duty, tax and shipping alone.

In terms of maturity, I still have not seen your compression yet you ramble to someone else that we don't know these cars when some people, such as myself, has been working on this car for over a decade.

 

[Kalabalik1]

Sell your car or junk your car. You're in WAAY over your head. I mean this in just as much terms as logistics as I do your immaturity.

In terms of logistics, you have no way to verify functionality of parts by swapping them with a known good working part. This means just to test one, you have to by a new "any" part. Parts are probably inaccessible from your local dealer, which means any parts would have to be order from a vendor here in the US. Parts like a transmission or a head will cost you an outrageous amount on duty, tax and shipping alone.

In terms of maturity, I still have not seen your compression yet you ramble to someone else that we don't know these cars when some people, such as myself, has been working on this car for over a decade.

When did I say: that you don't know these cars???????
Please don't start with me, YOU TOO!!!
And don't you worry about me getting parts, that is plainly my own problem right??
I knew ALL this when I bought it.
It's a 12 year plan for me so again, don't start with me, i knew exactly what i bought.

PS: ILL NEVER SELL IT NOR JUNK IT!!!!
What a doosh, you too!
Iv'e absorbed everything everybody has told me, ever your dissing messages.

Just accept my depression and frustration as the other ones do!!!!
We are NOT all the same!!
Not everybody can be as mature as YOU!!!

AND PS: IM REALLY TRYING THE BEST THAT I CAN!!!

And of course Ill be back with all my results!

 

[97gsxIA]

What a doosh, you too!

This is just getting out of hand... Good luck, I won't be giving any more advice, nor do I expect anyone else. And when you start name calling make sure you spell insults right.

 

[shampoo]

People who tend to end every sentence with ! need to be shot.

That is all.

 

[obsidian]

A blown headgasket does not always result in white smoke or milky oil. That is fact. Anyone who fights me on it can ask me later. I've blown two headgaskets and neither had these symptoms. I'll sum it up another way, a headgasket can blow to the exterior of the block instead of staying internal.

I've overheated an eclipse and the gauge read fine. Don't always listen to the gauge.

 

[thomcasey]

But still if I would do something to the head or gasket, WOULDN'T IT STUMBLE OUT AND GIVE ME WHITE EXAUST SMOKE, PLUS GET WATER IN MY OIL PLUS OVERHEAT???????

If the gasket is bad in more than one cylinder, then it may not start at all. But, as was mentioned earlier, slow cranking hurts starting ability. That would be the first area to hit.

Thom

 

[Kalabalik1]

This is just getting out of hand... Good luck, I won't be giving any more advice, nor do I expect anyone else. And when you start name calling make sure you spell insults right.

Yes it is.
Im not an American so spelling isn't my best thing plus ain't the priority here either.
But you knew what I ment right?

A blown headgasket does not always result in white smoke or milky oil. That is fact. Anyone who fights me on it can ask me later. I've blown two headgaskets and neither had these symptoms. I'll sum it up another way, a headgasket can blow to the exterior of the block instead of staying internal.

I've overheated an eclipse and the gauge read fine. Don't always listen to the gauge.

I really hope it's something as simple as that.
Thanks again!

 

[chadillac2820]

I've been following along with this thread and you should've figured out by now that your engine is severely damaged from being overheated. As stated before, your temp gauge cannot read accurately with no coolant. Overheating an engine as bad as I suspect you have will cause all of your issues and stating that it should run with a blown headgasket over and over isn't always true and certainly isnt going to fix your problem. You dont have an electrical issue or a fuel issue. your engine is toast. You should start planning a tear down and rebuild my friend. Good luck

 

[Kalabalik1]

If the gasket is bad in more than one cylinder, then it may not start at all. But, as was mentioned earlier, slow cranking hurts starting ability. That would be the first area to hit.

Thom

Ill post a video. You can hear it, it really does sound different than usual.

 

[chadillac2820]

Oh I forgot to mention, I've seen plenty of engines with the same conditions you have ( slow turning over and 0 compression) all caused by overheating to the point of failure.

 

[Kalabalik1]

People who tend to end every sentence with ! need to be shot.

That is all.

A LOT of people in this world NEED'S to get SHOT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I've been following along with this thread and you should've figured out by now that your engine is severely damaged from being overheated. As stated before, your temp gauge cannot read accurately with no coolant. Overheating an engine as bad as I suspect you have will cause all of your issues and stating that it should run with a blown headgasket over and over isn't always true and certainly isnt going to fix your problem. You dont have an electrical issue or a fuel issue. your engine is toast. You should start planning a tear down and rebuild my friend. Good luck

But that is not really end of the world right?
I've changed head gaskets before, it's just more time consuming than pricey.
But how would I know for sure If it is the head or the gaskets?
Im not getting any symptoms of it, plus now three mechanics thinks than it seems unlikely to be the gasket nor the head.
They all scratch their heads.
We'll figure it out someday, WHATEVER IT IS!!

Sincerely Alex

Oh I forgot to mention, I've seen plenty of engines with the same conditions you have ( slow turning over and 0 compression) all caused by overheating to the point of failure.

Hope it is something as simple as that =O)

I realised I cannot post a Video.

Any Ideas what I should do to send you all a video, through youtube maby??
Post a link?

 

[1990talontsi]

rod bearings are gone which is making it not spin freely

 

[Kalabalik1]

rod bearings are gone which is making it not spin freely

That's the first time I hear this.
It IS very possible, I really hope that ain't it.

Iv'e posted a video on YouTube for everybody to hear and see, and hopefully give me more Ideas what this could be now that you can hear it.
Here's the link:

eagle talon 92 awd wont start - YouTube

Sincerely Alex

 

[AllShallPerish]

Looks and sounds like you just might need a new 6 bolt!


Rebuilt Mitsubishi Eclipse 2.0L 4G63 6Bolt Turbo Engine | eBay