hey everyone

lately, when my car is under hard acceleration, it feels as though the engine is not getting enough fuel .....

i put 1/2 a tank of fuel in it recently, so im pretty sure there is enough fuel in the tank (like 20- 30 L).

the feeling is like a series of miniture jolts under acceleration, sometimes it can be heard through the exhaust (sounds like a series of pops, but when accelerating), normally under hard accleration i will feel 3-5 of these jolts,

everyone who has been in my car thinks it is something to do with the fuel, or possibly a dirty spark plug ?

anyways, my car is a TE 3L 5sp , if anyone knows what is/could be wrong with it, i would be glad to know

also, is changing the fuel filter expensive or hard to do ? or is it just like changing an oil filter ?

all replies r appreciated

later 8)

It's bit like asking "what's wrong with my PC, it crashed"?
It could be anything - which makes this prob a real pain for you - sorry to tell.
All I can help u with is the fuel filter - did it to mine (-96 3L TE Auto) few months ago.
Here's the lowdown.
Disconnect battery.
They advise u to de-pressurize the pump prior to work - helluva job to avoid little bit of fuel sparying about, use a rag to cover it when u eventually pull the hose off. And of course - do this outdoors to avoid fumes... and remove hose first from the filter side to allow it to spray on to ground, not inside the car.
And of course, have a cigarette when working on this. :idea:
Filter is under the car in front of left rear wheel.
Pump is under rear seat, seat comes off in 5 sec by pulling the plastic clips and simply ligting it off. 4 screws and lift the pump cover off.
The pain is the fuel hose clamps. They require special 4 point pressure pliers, which only Mitsu mehcos woud have. So don't even try to open them - break them with pliers/sidecutters completely - avoid damaging anything else tho. Obviously u need to have some 70 cm of new fuel hose (8mm??? can't remember) and 2 new screw clamps ready to replace all this stuff. And the new filter.
U can leave the old hose in place under the car, no reason to spend more time trying to remove it if difficult. Have a wire coat hanger handy so that u can pull/push the new hose to it's place. Make it one straight rod and have a mate to assist in pulling/pushing. Once the new hose and clamps are there, simply replace the filter with new etc.
This is pretty simplified job file, but I think u get the drift of it.
I spent hours trying to open the special clamps and just couldn't do it, so I desided to break them - which I should have done straight away to save time and headache.

Also, bad fuel pump, spark plugs, leads etc can affect the drive like described. Best to start with the easiest and cheapest and take it from there.

Hope this helps.






hey everyone

lately, when my car is under hard acceleration, it feels as though the engine is not getting enough fuel .....

i put 1/2 a tank of fuel in it recently, so im pretty sure there is enough fuel in the tank (like 20- 30 L).

the feeling is like a series of miniture jolts under acceleration, sometimes it can be heard through the exhaust (sounds like a series of pops, but when accelerating), normally under hard accleration i will feel 3-5 of these jolts,

everyone who has been in my car thinks it is something to do with the fuel, or possibly a dirty spark plug ?

anyways, my car is a TE 3L 5sp , if anyone knows what is/could be wrong with it, i would be glad to know

also, is changing the fuel filter expensive or hard to do ? or is it just like changing an oil filter ?

all replies r appreciated

later 8)

are you sure its the fuel and not a breaking down lead ?

the juttering you are experiencing could just be a slight misfire / timing issue.


(REMEMBER / MARK ALL CABLES with a FAT TEXTA :) )
first try removing the dist cap and leads take all of em off, check the dist cap for corrosion and other crap then carefully replace it all double checking all the leads are on properly (after all thats all that may be causeing you trouble) if that doesnt work then perhaps its time to replace the leads anyway its all up to u :)

replacing fuel filter / leads wont hurt you anyway it will just make ur car more reliable .

This does sound like a dirty fuel filter, as my barina had the same problem.

Did the change in the te about 3 weeks ago, but did'nt need any special tools or anything, just a straight swap over, with a bit of leaked fuel of course.

The filter is worth about $30 from Autobarn. :D

I was told by my friend "the mechanic" (no hes really a mechanic) that the best way to keep your injectors free of dirt and keep your car running perfectly is to replace your fuel filter pretty much everytime you service your car (or every year i wasnt listening)

And i know that i will be doing that tommorow.. if i can get that damn oil sump screw off..

Sigh - lucky u - Mitsu must have realised how stupid those original clamps were and replaced them with decent ones. :(


--- but did'nt need any special tools or anything, just a straight swap over--- :D

There is no need to disconnect the battery when changing the filter unless you are reading a gregories manual which I am surprised they do not say to do this when filling the fuel lol

Start with filter, check leads, blocked injectors, dist cap etc. Try get an emmissions test as this can tell you a hell of a lot.

As for filters clogging injectors this will only happen if the pressure valve inside the filter lets go

The te onwards is a real cock up having the filter at the back. the fuel lines can get rust in them from moisture and this is unfiltered.

Be careful with the filter as there is a clip that holds the filter pipe on, if you damage this the fuel line can pop off.

thanks for the replies everyone

ill probably change the fuel filter and possibly the leads and see what happens

later 8)