Hi all,

I'm new to the forum and i can honestly say i've been missing out, if i had known there was so much good info here i would visited it much earlier... anyway i digress.

I own a 2002 TJ sedan 3.5 auto. Its done 130 k and has been mechanically A1. It has a full service history and pretty well looked after. About two to three weeks ago it began to stall on startup. It is an intermittent fault which occurs sporadically. i.e car will start then tacho will fall and the result is the car stalls. It can do this 3,4,5 times in a row before it starts and remains running. Sometimes when it starts the tacho will rise then drop suddenly almost to stall then pick the revs up and run continuously.

I have searched through the forum and located a thread where other TJ owners had similar problems. their solution was to locate the B.E.M under the dash, remove wiring looms from B.E.M and reattach them making firm contact. I have done this but the problem still remains.

Any ideas or suggestions to try to solve this issue, it's giving me the sh**s ?

BTW once the car is running it will not stall, this fault only occurs during initial startup.

Thanks in advance

MR1

Very simple cause.
Your battery is on the way out.

Had the self same problem last Christmas on a TJII
Stuck with it for a couple of weeks.
Advice on AMC that the cause varied from battery to bad connections.

Had a battery check done, 1 cell had failed.
Changed battery in February, NO problems since.

Gerry

I'm going with battery too, my car did the exact same thing and the battery eventually died.
I've heard they have a life span of about 5 years/100k kms, so if anyone is still running the original battery at this stage and their car is ~ 5 years/100k kms old, yours could be next!

have you been playing around the afm? sounds like a dirty sensor or a loose plug

I agree with both, but if you feel that your battery has been due for replacement or if it is the stock mitsu one then it will be the battery.

EDIT: I retract that statement. It wont be the Air flow meter at all. I have run and driven my car with it un plugged and it never stalled.

definately not the battery, i had the same problem not long ago.

easy fix - unplug the ecu then plug it back in. it will fix it, if it doesnt then lok at the battery - pm me for more details

A low battery could certainly cause these symptoms.

However, there are several other possible causes, including bad connections between the BEM (ie, immobiliser) and the ECU.
I've had similar issues over the last few years, and eventually resolved it with a very quick and easy fix after chatting to a senior Mitsubishi technicion - see this page (http://martybugs.net/articles/magna-stall.cgi) for more details.

Cheers,
Martin.

See Mpot's link, sounds exactly like the problem you are having.

If its the battery simple get it tested 'charge rate' at any battery shop or mechanics, they will tell you if its the cause, if they say its fine then the problem is deeper.

Dont just simply 'change the battery' you never know what condition your current one is in, get it checked for its charge.

if the battery does not fix it
it will be the aireal wire for the key

trace the aerial wire fron the aerial which is behind the key barrel till you find a conector

un do the conector and plug it back in. this has fixed many magnas in the car yards ive worked in

Thanks to all who replied,

I have tried what was suggested on mpot's page about disconnecting then reconnecting the BEM looms, the problem still exists.

I will have the battery tested, hopefully this is the cause of my problem! by the way what is the average life span for a car battery, this one has been in since new, 6 + years?

Where would i find the ECU ? if i am to disconnect and reconnect this , is it hard to get to?

And 03TL which aerial wire? i assume the wire which runs from the antenna at the rear of the car. Doesn't this run directly into the stereo head unit?

Thanks again all, i'll keep you posted on how i fair rectifying this problem!!!

mr1

Thanks to all who replied,

I will have the battery tested, hopefully this is the cause of my problem! by the way what is the average life span for a car battery, this one has been in since new, 6 + years?

mr1

Get a Century Battery, mate? It is the best in the range and will serve you for many coming years.

hey mate, under the steering weel very close to the door there is a silver box. All i did was disconnect the battery, then i unplugged all the wires to this box and plugged it back in
fix it straight away

I will have the battery tested, hopefully this is the cause of my problem! by the way what is the average life span for a car battery, this one has been in since new, 6 + years?
Most car batteries have a life span of around 3 years, so I don't think it would be the OEM battery...


Where would i find the ECU ? if i am to disconnect and reconnect this , is it hard to get to?
The ECU is underneath and behind the ashtray. You'll need to remove one of the side kick panels to get to it (the passenger side is easier to remove than the drivers side).

Cheers,
Martin.

Thanks to all who replied,

I have tried what was suggested on mpot's page about disconnecting then reconnecting the BEM looms, the problem still exists.

I will have the battery tested, hopefully this is the cause of my problem! by the way what is the average life span for a car battery, this one has been in since new, 6 + years?

Where would i find the ECU ? if i am to disconnect and reconnect this , is it hard to get to?

And 03TL which aerial wire? i assume the wire which runs from the antenna at the rear of the car. Doesn't this run directly into the stereo head unit?

Thanks again all, i'll keep you posted on how i fair rectifying this problem!!!

mr1

its behind the part in the dash where you put the key the wire runs down towards the gas pedal

I would have guessed the alternator actually, if you give it a bit of throttle does it keep going or still pack up?

When the alternator was on the way out in our TR earlier this year it did exactly that. We replaced the battery which fixed the problem for about a week, then once the battery was flat it started doing it again. Magna alternators are about $260-300 installed if you get a decent one.

Battery

All,


Had my battery tested.. It was stuffed. Replaced it with a decent one and hey presto, problem gone.

Thanks to everyone who replied, your knowledge and experience is appreciated.


Respect


mr1