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wont start when cold

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Ben4g63t

Probationary Member
11
0
Jan 18, 2010
Martinsburg, West_Virginia
I've got a 91 tsi talon fwd and it wont start when the motor is cold. I can use starting fluid to start it and it runs fine. After its been started with the starting fluid i can even get it to start again without it and drive etc. It just wont start the first time without starting fluid. Any ideas?
 
How do your plugs look?

Are you feathering the throttle at all when you try to start it?

In my experience, when a car has an appetite for starter fluid, it means your air/fuel delivery or ratio is extrememly out of wack. Check for boost leaks!
 
well the plugs are brand new, and most of the hoses for the intake etc. are new too. thursday im goin over to check it all out again though. and the only way it even tries to start is if i feather the throttle. it kinda starts then cuts right off...til i give it some starting fluid and then it starts ez.
 
Last edited:
I know it's been a while, but I'm still having the same problem. There are no boost leaks, and now if I use the starting fluid to start it as soon as i give it gas it cuts off and it won't start until I use more fluid to start it. So far I've got a new fuel pump, new fuel filter, and new fuel pressure regulator. The motor is in time, and the fuel pressure is set to 50 psi. (I know it should only be at 43ish, but I wanted to make sure it was getting fuel.) The thing I'm unsure of is that when I turn the key the fuel pressure only reads 23ish psi until I start the car with starting fluid, then the pressure goes up to 50. Anyone know if the ecu temp sensor could be the problem with the car just not starting in general? Think it could be the map sensor or Maf sensor that would make the car shut off as soon as I hit the gas? (The car will now only run as long as the starting fluid stays in it, after that it cuts off. If i hit the gas before then, the car also shuts off immediately.

The car has lots of new parts (junkyard and new), but I'm running out of ideas and money. I've thought about putting it in a shop, but I feel that if the mechanic doesn't know anything about dsms that I'd waste more time/money and still have no fix. The main relay (under the dash) is bad, but I've wired around it straight to the battery, and I've driven the car like this. I'm going to work on getting a new one and see if it fixes it too, incase something else is wrong.

Any Ideas/thoughts/diagnoses are greatly appreciated and I hope someone has something in mind since the car has been sitting for about 2 years now.

Also, if the cars wiring harness has for some reason been slit or something (mice chewing etc.) Any ideas where I should start to look for the damage?

Hope someone has had a similar problem that they can either tell me how to fix it or atleast where to go from here.
 
Me personally, I would be looking for a grond/voltage issue. Clean your battery terminals and inspect all your grounds.

Do 1g DSM ecu's have the same leaking cap problems that Galant VR4s do? Might be worth pulling your ECU out and taking a peek and seeing if there is any acid damage to the circuit boad. I know that causes all kinds of problems on a GVR4.
 
Well, now that you mention it, I think that may make some sense. (look for a ground issue). We Painted the block before we assembled the motor. As for the ECU check, do you just take it apart and look?
 
Been a while and i know when the problem was active it drove me nuts searching over and over so i'll post an update.

The problem eventually became worse and out of frustration one day i decided to keep the starter engaged (held the key in the start position). When the key was in the start position the car actually ran/idled. Let go of the key and it cut off right away. I got fed up with it and finally had the cash to purchase another known good ECU. It fixed the problem. I spent about 3 months searching different forums and found a similar problem with a non turbo car.

Just wanted to update this so maybe any others (who have had issues described above/throughout this post) can find this useful. I did swap all of the temp sensors out many times, MPI relays etc. In the end it was a bad ecu which was marked less than a year of first troubleshooting "good ECU" on the ecu cover LOL.
 
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