Hi guys,

the check engine light came on in my 4cyl auto TR wagon on the way home from work today. The car was still driving very smooth, but the idle dropped right down and was kind of "surging" any idea's?

Sam

If the idle is surging i'd say your throttle position sensor or idle speed controller has had it, didn't think the check engine light would come on for these though, my check engine came on and it was due to the o2 sensor being faulty.

Only way to find out which sensor is playing up for certain is the get it checked by mitsubishi or a mechanic who has the computer reader.
Ill bet that its one of the 3 above though ;).

Your airflow sensor may also have conked out.

sounds like the airflow as if it was the idle speed controller it would drop idle and die everytime you stop

Yeah makes sense, the airflow meter that is. Can we not do ecu diagnositcs without a computer reader?

Sam

You can read the codes with an analogue multimeter or a led test lamp.

Rob

It goes on all 4 cyl? I had that problem my Sigma only run on 5 cylinders not 6, the "check engine" light was on. It was a power transistor unit that didnt work. The idle was very low and the engine died if I didnt pushed on the gas

Hi Guys,

I'll have a look through the manual which will tell me how to read the codes with a multimeter yeah? It was still driving very smoothly on all 4, I am starting to think I might know what the problem is/was. I just installed a stereo and wired the amp off the cigarette lighter power (as it is rated to 20amps and it was getting dark outside....) i think on the way home on a bass note the amp has drawn some good power and confused the ecu (as it would draw power from the same loom). Its only a thought, but I'll see how it goes next few days. If the light stays on or keeps coming on - I'll do the ecu test and see what it says. Thanks for your help guys.
Sam

whoa!! amp running of ciggy lighter? i think you have more serious issues than airflow meter :P

Hi Guys,

I'll have a look through the manual which will tell me how to read the codes with a multimeter yeah? It was still driving very smoothly on all 4, I am starting to think I might know what the problem is/was. I just installed a stereo and wired the amp off the cigarette lighter power (as it is rated to 20amps and it was getting dark outside....) i think on the way home on a bass note the amp has drawn some good power and confused the ecu (as it would draw power from the same loom). Its only a thought, but I'll see how it goes next few days. If the light stays on or keeps coming on - I'll do the ecu test and see what it says. Thanks for your help guys.
Sam
Its 2 much boost runnin thru da engine uleh!

Seriously dude... Don't ever touch your car's electrical system ever again. EVER.

Amps are wired up directly to the battery, never anything else, and with a minimum 8ga cable... ffs dude... :bowrofl:

Lucifer,

that's a bit harsh mate. Wouldn't have thought racial slur's would be tolerated on the site. My username is "boostinhard" due to my previous car being a Nissan turbo exa, which I ran to a 13.20 second pass on street tyres on an engine I built myself and tuned the aftermarket efi system myself.

I know enough about electrical systems to know that amps should be connected to the battery - I even said that in my post. That doesn't mean that it shouldn't temporarily work fine if its not going nuts. And yes, it is installed with 8ga wire, well from the cigarette loom anyway!!! :D

So in the words of a famous person, cant we all just get along?

Sam

Lucifer,

that's a bit harsh mate. Wouldn't have thought racial slur's would be tolerated on the site. My username is "boostinhard" due to my previous car being a Nissan turbo exa, which I ran to a 13.20 second pass on street tyres on an engine I built myself and tuned the aftermarket efi system myself.

I know enough about electrical systems to know that amps should be connected to the battery - I even said that in my post. That doesn't mean that it shouldn't temporarily work fine if its not going nuts. And yes, it is installed with 8ga wire, well from the cigarette loom anyway!!! :D

So in the words of a famous person, cant we all just get along?

Sam
lol Racial slur... more or less copying Fat Pizza... nevermind champ :P All in good fun!

I wired my foglight grounds to the metal that shares the ground to the engine bay fusebox... Boy did that cause troubles! Ever since I installed it, my tranny would start giving the death chug, indicator would cause lights to dim, all sorts of crazy **** until I wired it straight onto the negative terminal... All better after that. So yeah, beware the crazy stuff the magna electrical system does when you **** around in there :P First hand experience!

Gratz on the exa too, not my style of car but putting it down the strip with a 13 is admirable, well done sir.

Cheers mate - the exa was a good acheivment as it was all built at home with the smallest of budgets. Still sits in the top 10 and is the quickest on street tyres (that were 2 year old cheap 185's anyway!!!!) http://top10.n12turbo.com/index.html

Yeah I figure that my problem was related to the amp drawing power from the main loom inside the cabin. No drama's, will finish the installation after getting back from the Nationals at Willowbank this weekend. (I drag race bikes as well) 6 seconds at 200mph makes the n12 exa at 13.2 seem awfully slow.....
Sam

my engine light came on when my trans played up lol