Ok here it goes.

I got my car back from RPW yesterday, which is a TH Sports, got my injectors services, crank shaft timing checked, timing belt checked, cam timing checked. No problems there.

Took it to a transmission specialists, he said there was no problems there.

Now i have it book into mitsubishi service centre to get the computer analysed, which was recomended by Dave.

Dave has fixed all my other problems eg: slight oil leak etc... But the car stilll has no acceleration at all, even with foot flat to the ground at all speeds, at idle the revs fluctuate extremely low at some points. Now i have a fuel pressure regulator which is reading at 50 psi which is where dave put it due to not being fully tuned at this point, thus there is plenty of pressure for fuel, albeit on the dyno it is reading extremely lean. So far nothing has been found wrong with my car which is a good and a bad thing.

Basically im calling out for ideas.

HELP

Thanks your friendly non magna driving fo. Mike

have you tried a computer reset, or spark leads or spark plugs could be full of ******

Yeh tried a computer reset. I have a Haltech miniceptor, even that couldnt over ride the lack fo fuel!

well if the fuel pressure is at 50psi and it still isn't getting enough fuel then i'd say you have a major air leak somewhere. check your idle control valve, and spray all around the inlet manifold with some carby cleaner with the engine running. if the revs pick up as you are spraying, then the leak is where you are spraying

That thermo block gasket thing that you have mentioned in your profile, is that between the top and bottom halves of your inlet manifold? If it is could it be getting a vacuum leak there.

Another idea is maybe the pickup for your fuel inside the tank could be blocked with gunk so when it needs fuel volume it isn't getting enough but at idle the pressure is fine. I'm no mechanic but these are ideas off the top of my head.

Ummm it was doing it from before regarding the gaskets, so i dont think it could be that, ahh the fuel filter was replaced as well, due to not being replaced in a while.

Edit:ohh and i checked with dave about the idle control valve and he said there was no problem there as well

when they run the analysis on the computer, if there is a problem can they fix it or do i gotta geta new one.

Ohhh just found out if I try and push her, with no acceleration the TCL light flashes. Although this doesnt happen all the time.

Mike

does the rpm pick up very very slowly even if you WOT? does it feel very sluggish? or are you just wheel spinning a lot????

can you double check your engine oil level and transmission fluid levels?

can you check your sparkplugs and leads are in good condition?

are there any other noises that the engine makes that isn't normal?

all levels are fine regarding oils and fluids.

Spark plugs are fine.

All it is, the revs are going up slowly and thats it, i cant make them go any faster. tyres spin as per normal. I even have excel drivers over taking me! No weird noises yet.no oil leaks on the floor as i last checked, might go check again soon, just in case there is a slow leak and since it has been an hour or so since i arrived home.

mike

Edit: No leaks

Hey I dunno if this is whats happening to your car but recently I had a problem with my TF that if I pushed it at all the revs would go low and just bounce around a abit not doing much at all and I would get no acceleration. Also it would sometimes cause the car to pitch forward like when you change down to too low a gear. Only just got it fixed. Turned out to be the distributer.

I went through the same process of getting injectors cleaned, sparkies changed, fuel examined etc..

is it possible to disable your haltech and run on standard ecu?

alrite here is the story, got all the mods done end of last week except the exhaust mods. Now the problem was occuring before these were installed but much worse and hugely eratic. For example no acceleration, almost stalling, jump up huge acceleration etc... These mods and the tuning dave has done has made it drivable to get home, and the car spent an extra two days at RPW to hopefully find the problem, but with no success. So Dave told me to book it in for a computer analysis and mitso and get the transmission checked at a transmission specialist, which was a long shot but we did it anyway, and there was no problem with that either. So on tuesday my car is going into mistibishi, but i was hoping if there was any other ideas i could chuck them across to dave if he hasnt already thought about it.

Mike

distributer?

dude if you had your car at RPW the house of magna performance and he couldnt fix it :confused:


the we arent going to be of much help to you, you could write most members knowledge on a postage stamp, but RPW seems to have been the magna performance GURU

when you mean no acceleration you mean as slow as a forklift or as aslow as a 1st gen? is there any difference :bowrofl:

what did it make on the dyno?

Put it this way, he didnt even bother giving me the dyno sheet so i could see what it was.:cry: I will see once the problem is fixed and I will all let you know of my success.

damaged air flow meter, or O2 sensor....maybe?

damaged air flow meter, or O2 sensor....maybe?

Nah I dont think so, well im pritty sure anyways, Sorry lol

This just dont make sense, mechanically the car is fine, the transmission in the car is fine. yet somewhere there is a rather big prick of a problem!!!

Sorry, just venting, no one is home so im getting angry at myself. :nuts:

Anyways thanks, keep em coming

Mike

Edit: Im not sure about the distributor, im not sure if he checked that ill have to ask him when i speek/see him next.

lenda
"the dyno it is reading extremely lean."

did they say why ?

with everything checked
and if the cylinder compression figues are near spec

you need either more fuel or a hotter spark :nuts:

This is what the sheet says

"Run Vehicle on dyno prior to modifications / fitment - confirm vehicle is running excessively lean across the board / flat spot / no acceleration"

After mods:

Edit: "Run Vehicle on Dyno - attempt correction via combination of FPR and Haltech ecu tuning - minor benefits."

"Run vehicle on the road - ... Vehicle very slow to accelerate on 100% throttle"

He suggested to me there was a fuel problem.

I am thinking the computer is malfunctioning some how, and he has told me to take it to mitisibishi to get it checked out.

Mike

Now that you think about it i get more oompf when i put my foot down gradually with speed/RPM rather than just peggin it?:nuts:

Now that you think about it i get more oompf when i put my foot down gradually with speed/RPM rather than just peggin it?:nuts:

i think dave would know how to accelerate a magna ;)

hey lenda, wanna race? :P

thats ok i still probably win :bowrofl:

It is so frustrating I wanna try out these new modifications and i cant :cry:

anyways keep the ideas coming guys and girls

Mike

just out of sheer morbid curiosity, try unplugging your afm and going for a drive. see if that makes a difference.

and also unplug your water temp sensor and see if that helps.

i had a mate with a 180sx who had a similar sort of problem. we thought it was crank angle sensor, as that is a common problem on them (and has the same affect on performance). but it turned out to be much worse. he had snapped a cam.

Just to give you an update, the magna has been at mitsibishi since 8:00 this morning and they havent started work on it:cry: apparently they have somewhere around 00 cars going through at the moment, anyways i will hopefully know this afternoon.

Mike

Just to give you an update, the magna has been at mitsibishi since 8:00 this morning and they havent started work on it:cry: apparently they have somewhere around 00 cars going through at the moment, anyways i will hopefully know this afternoon.

Mike
00 CARS!?!?!
How will tehy ever find time for yours!?!?!




hee hee hee :P

whoops 100 cars

I would be looking at fuel pump. Mabey pumping but not at optimum pressure. Copped this on an ea Spack efi few years back. Initially had a bad batch of fuel in it, fuel pump was stuffed injectors stuffed. Anyway replaced injectors and fuel pump. Fuel pump that went back into it was the wrong one. For a 4 cylinder aparently. Drove it like this for months. On Gas it would go great on fuel no power there was some but not a lot. Did some searching replaced the fuel pump again (correct one) free of charge after doing some fuel pressure tests etc and the power was restored. Went like a rocket lol considering it was a 5 speed :)

Hope this helps.

Regards

maybe a silly question but does the car go through all gears? if its not then its on limp mode and you would be getting any acceleration from that coz the gears get stuck on 3rd. i remember when i had my magna my tranny went into limp mod and of take of ill give it full boot and the car would take of very vwery very very slowly.

or its the fuel pump as mr wrexed03 has stated :)

Sorta still sounds a bit like an AFM to me... if it's finding a failed sensor on the AFM, it may be falling back into base timing and not advancing it at all. It could also cause the erratic idle if it can't measure the flow properly.

Why it would happen so suddenly... no idea - maybe a cable got knocked slightly or something?

Well my car is still at mitsibishi and they said the vacum lines werent hooked up correctly which took them three hours to figure out, blaming it on the mods I have done. I keep repeating myself saying to them it was like this before the mods were put on, and I feel like know one is listening to me. Tomorrow im going to ask them about the AFM. The computer on the car is fine, and no errors were coming up... They had three mechanics and one being the head mechanic working on my car. I dont know if this is a good thing or bad thing.

Mike

PS: sorry about the rant

Edit: yes it goes through all the gears

Sounds like their pissing in the wind. Is the problem still there since they were mucking around with the vacume lines etc? Check the AFM and get them to check the Fuel Pressure as well. Sounds like it may become an expensive excersise.

Regards

Mine was the same and it was a blocked cat converter

:rant: Distributor :rant:

Common problem with mitsubishi's, just replaced one on a mirage that was doing the same thing.

You can test a LOT with a vacuum guage yourself - they are a great tool that no-one seems to know how to use any more. Even things like blocked exhausts, sticking valves, crook timing etc etc. Hard to find a mechanic that knows how to anymore though. You just use a cheapie boost/vac gauge.

Have a look here: http://autorepair.about.com/cs/troubleshooting/a/aa112401a.htm

Cheers
Heath young

Ok lets try sending this AGAIN. Well I rang them at 11 o'clock, when they were supposed to ring me early this morning. "oh sorry, we are busy car wont be ready until 4 o'clock", I can see this being there another day. I also spoke to Dave at RPW and he said the vacuum lines have nothing to do with how lean the car was running and wouldnt effect the idle. Anyways I dont know what to do, should I leave her at mitsibishi and pay the HUGE bill I will be getting or Pick her up this avo pay the already large biull and book her into RPW. Opinions.

This is so annoying that noone can find anything wrong with my car.

Ohhh. They mentioned the air flow meter yesterday said they will check it and havent said anything about it since???

Anyways keep the thoughts and help coming.

Mike

Pray its not the AFM if they replace it with a new item big dollars. $750 for my pajero for a replacement. Same as the Magna 3.5 litre.
Might be wise to ask them what the hourly rate is and how much time they have spent on it so far at least you have an idea what your up for.
If they cant give you a 100% diagnosis or resolution to the problem i would tell them to jam there bill where it fits. Before anyone flames me yes they have spent time on it etc and should get paid for it but it looks like there chasing there tails. A
fter all they should have all the resources on hand to diagnose and find the problem and solve it. It is a Mitsu dealer after all. If they dont know there product who does?

Regards

Mine was the same and it was a blocked cat converter

This was another thing wrong when I had the no acceleration problem. My mech said a bad batch of fuel had turned my cat to rat-sh*t. But the main problem was the distributer. So yea combine those two and I had a car that was getting overtaken by turtles and barinas (they're about the same speed)

It is a Mitsu dealer after all. If they dont know there product who does?

was thinking the same thing... surely theyd know the likely suspects etc, and if a head mechanic is supposedly checking it out, he'd know what the common faults of a 3.5L is (probably one of the main engines theyve worked on over the last 9 or so years!)

i'd probably say right you have 1 more business day to sort it, after that i'm taking it somewhere else that will actually try to diagnose the problem.

Ok well im leaving it there until friday, due to having work, anyways I spoke to them this morning, Iv only got a bill of a little less than 2 hours, the reason being its only being a diagnosis for a few more hours than this and he doesnt want to rack up a bill of 10 hours for nothing. Anyways he is treating my car as a "project" car down there, so the head mechanic is working on it when he has a chance plus one or two other mechanics, they are going through the service books, and trying to work out what is wqrong with my baby...Anyways im happy with that, im just glad they are not charging me out of there a**, anyways sorry all about the rant earlier. So basically there diagnosising my car not at an hourly rate, which is fine by me.

Edit: haha I just spoke to parents and told them about it, because im using my dads car at the moment, and mum rekons if they are using it as a project car then I should get a 380 lol

Sounds good. Good to see they are doing the right thing by you.
Hope they sort it.

Regards

Ok just spoke to mitsubishi, they rekon its all fixed...Problems, vacuum hoses were in the wrong spots, clamps werent on properly in the TB, and there was a loose wire which i gotta find out more about... Anyways im off to see mitso at 2 to pic her up, then im of to work so ill find out if she has been fixed. The problem is she cant get on the dyno until next friday :cry: Doesnt give her much time before the cruise, so hopefully no more problems.:cool: Anyways thankyou for all your tips and help, and atleast in the future ill have a few ideas if it happens again or someone asks for help as well.lol

Thanks

Mike

Sounds similar to what happened in my Verada after I got my sprintex kit fitted, a vacuum hose fell off about a week later.. I was getting beaten by 20 year old corolla's for a bit until AndrewD spotted the problem.

well she is back on the road, i drove her home, and omg, does she sound beautiful? hell yes, does she move her little ars along the road? hell yes, does she need a tune yes :bowrofl: idle little bit rough. Anyways they told me i need a bigger fuel pump. For the mods I have i didnt think so, but ohh well. Anyways im just happy to have her home. 269 bucks it cost. pritty good i think. ill post in another thread what she does in hp etc... once i have had her dynoed next friday.

Mike

It wouldn't be a bad idea to upgrade the fuel pump if you a planning to do more mods/tuning later down the track.

Good to hear its all working!

later on im looking at intake plenum, stage 1 cams and cam geras, plus manual converison at the end of the year(next year)

good to hear it's all running sweet now!

now with a retune you'll be flying :badgrin:

well i thought so, dyno showed she is running lean at the lower end of the rev range and ever so slightly at the higher revs and less hp than before, and the only thing changed was 10% more fuel was added. i got the computer tested by mitisbishi, and no errors came up, although dave still suggests to get a 2nd hand computer for my car chuck it in and see if it makes a difference, if that doesnt work he rekons it could be the distrubutor otherwise its got him stumped. i got mitisibshi to check everything they could and they couldnt find anything else apart from what i have previuosly said.i cant keep taking her of the road though because i need to use her for everyday life as i have already had her of the road for two weeks.any thoughts or ideas?

how bad is it running. 175hpatw is an extremely high output for your mods. I have cams and cam gears and could only manage 175hpatw. I would be happy if i was you

That was before the second run, second run she was something around 150HP at the wheels

That was before the second run, second run she was something around 150HP at the wheels

ummmmmmm thats a ridculous amount to drop due to heat soak or whatever... :nuts:

im just giving approximations the exact amounts where as follows: 190Hp at the hubs and 175HP at the hubs on the second run with 10% extra dded fuel.

im just giving approximations the exact amounts where as follows: 190Hp at the hubs and 175HP at the hubs on the second run with 10% extra dded fuel.

Having added fuel, I would think be making it richer and therefore a lower h.p readout would be normal. If it is too lean, you will get a high reading for h.p, but risk doing damage to pistons etc. Do you have a print out of the a/f' ratios?

heres the stats:

Car is running at 50% fuel correction.

50 - 55psi on the fuel pressure guage.

it was 24:1 dave said now he has tuned it for 18:1 at 100% fuel correction but car was stalling, so had to bring it back to 50%, so i dont know what it is now.

Car has plenty of acceleration, probably not as much as i should, bad idle, and thats it.

I dont know what else I can do.

Dave said to check the computer but mitsibishi did the test on it and it came up with no errors, although he did say to check the distrubutor as well????

Mike

sucks to be getting the run around like you are, you'd think between mitsu/rpw theyd know every fault to a car (within reason, but this seems like something theyd have a clue about). hope ya get it sorted mike :(

it was 24:1 dave said now he has tuned it for 18:1 at 100% fuel correction...

Sorry but what do those numbers represent??? Can't be Air Fuel Ratio. I'd be surprised you still had a working engine if it was running at 24:1 :shock:

Sorry but what do those numbers represent??? Can't be Air Fuel Ratio. I'd be surprised you still had a working engine if it was running at 24:1 :shock:

:stoopid:

Did you receieve any printouts that showed the afr should be in the 12's. I wouldn't think you would need the FPR given you have a piggyback. Dave advised me it was not needed with a piggyback. Maybe there is a problem with it???

if the air fuel ratios were 24 or 18 to 1 the engine would not be happy, that would be so lean it would be stupid, I dont think it would run properly either.

he didnt give me any of the print outs nor did he give me the dynos, it is supposed to be something like 14:1 he was saying. he suggested the FPR, because i said i wanted a certain amount of kw atw and suggested a whole heep of equipment this being one of them. next was going to be the intake plenum and cam plus cam gears. i dont know what to do.

what does the distrubutor do, and hard hard is it to see if it has a problem. two will the checks mitsibishi do on the computers show up any problems?

can anyone give me any suggestions i am stumped.

if you ignored the idol, and ignored the fact it probably should have more power, you wouldnt know there is anything wrong with the car.

hey mate, do you know if your original factory fuel pump is still in place ?

I was reading something from black beard the other day and he mentioned it should b replaced by an adapter when running aftermarket fpr.

I think mines still in place and am having similar probs, anyone know where to get one of these adapters ?

b well, D.

hey mate, do you know if your original factory fuel pump is still in place ?

I was reading something from black beard the other day and he mentioned it should b replaced by an adapter when running aftermarket fpr.

I think mines still in place and am having similar probs, anyone know where to get one of these adapters ?

b well, D.

The factory Fuel Pressure regulator should be removed before installing an aftermarket FPR, not the fuel pump. The factory Fuel Pressure Regulator is located on the right hand end of the front fuel rail when you're standing infront of the car looking in the engine bay.

If you purchase a Fuel Pressure Regulator from RPW for your magna, it should have come with the adapter which goes on the end of the fuel rail. I was under the impression the OP had most of his mods installed by RPW, so I'd be surprised if his aftermarket FPR had been installed without the factory one being removed.

If you purchased a FPR from ebay etc, and didn't get an adapter then you could probably buy one by itself from RPW, or get one made to fit, but that would involve removing your factory fuel pressure regulator -taking it to a place that specialises in high pressure fittings and finding one that matches.

thanx for the corection B.B., my bad, sending you a pm.

b well, D.

he didnt give me any of the print outs nor did he give me the dynos, it is supposed to be something like 14:1 he was saying. he suggested the FPR, because i said i wanted a certain amount of kw atw and suggested a whole heep of equipment this being one of them. next was going to be the intake plenum and cam plus cam gears. i dont know what to do.

what does the distrubutor do, and hard hard is it to see if it has a problem. two will the checks mitsibishi do on the computers show up any problems?

can anyone give me any suggestions i am stumped.

if you ignored the idol, and ignored the fact it probably should have more power, you wouldnt know there is anything wrong with the car.

Distributor is basically the device that controls which cylinder spark plug fires at what time. It is basically a cap with a spinning rotor in it, which as the motor turns, lines up with a point which corresponds to a spark plug.

Over time, the points and the rotor can wear out, or cracks can form in the moulding causing arcs across between the wrong points. Both the rotor and the distributor cap are usually replaceable.

The distributor also has a few sensors in it typically to work out what position the motor is in. If there is a fault with one of these sensors, it will likely show up on the ECU diagnostics. A worn point or rotor in the distributor is undetectable, so you won't see any codes as a result of an issue like this.

Distributor is basically the device that controls which cylinder spark plug fires at what time. It is basically a cap with a spinning rotor in it, which as the motor turns, lines up with a point which corresponds to a spark plug.

Over time, the points and the rotor can wear out, or cracks can form in the moulding causing arcs across between the wrong points. Both the rotor and the distributor cap are usually replaceable.

The distributor also has a few sensors in it typically to work out what position the motor is in. If there is a fault with one of these sensors, it will likely show up on the ECU diagnostics. A worn point or rotor in the distributor is undetectable, so you won't see any codes as a result of an issue like this.

In addition - the 3rd gen distributor has the coil internal to the distributor (which sometimes punch through and leak at high rpm) and the power transistor to drive it. The sensor that detects the location of the engine is the crank angle sensor, which is near the timing belts (other side of the engine)

Cheers
Heath Young

Ohhh thanks guys, im leaning towards the distrubutor more and more now, due to the fact its "misfiring", as in im driving at 80 and the car starts to fluctuate in revs by only small amounts, like something is out of time. the idle is getting worse, iv stalled 3 times now, its becoming more frequent. Any opinions???

How much would replacing the distributor rotor and cap cost? I honestly think Mitsubishi should have done more to inspect it before giving it back to you with no answers.

Try an Auto electrician.

More than you would think actually, just priced some recently ($35 for the rotor button, $128 for the cap (:gtfo:)). You can get a whole one from the wreckers for about $150, or a reco for about $100 more.

More than you would think actually, just priced some recently ($35 for the rotor button, $128 for the cap (:gtfo:)). You can get a whole one from the wreckers for about $150, or a reco for about $100 more.

How hard is it to DIY?

I have something similar:
I don't know if it is caused by the distributor, maybe it's something else, but when my car is cold, and talking off from idle, the car loses all power between 1500rpm to 2500rpm, rpm raises very slowly during that band, say it would take 3 sec instead of 1sec to go from 1500rpm to 2500rpm and the car feels like it's starving fuel, even by feeding more pedal, car don't want to rev any quicker. Usually when that happens I feel a huge drop in power like the car just stalled, then all the sudden power pick up and car takes off because of the pedal position I was in.

Only happens in a few times from a cold start.

Adding to that, I have found that if i put the gears to Drive shortly after I started the car, still with the handbrakes on, the car doesn't have as much of that power drop problem as compared to if i left it in P, and into D and drive off.

i dont know if this was my problem, but as i was reversing today, to give her a bit of a bath, i herd a squerting noise, pop the bonnet, and whilst she had a bit of revs and was in reverse or drive, one of the hoses to the FPR wasnt connected properly and was squerting fuel everywhere, im hoping this is it, because it would be a blessing. fixing it now ill let you know if it fixes the problem. it would explain why it was getting worse. please tell me this could be my problem.it explains why no mechaqnic could find anything wrong because the engine would of been turned of and if it was only a small leak to start of with then, they wouldnt of seen it. opinions???

i dont know if this was my problem, but as i was reversing today, to give her a bit of a bath, i herd a squerting noise, pop the bonnet, and whilst she had a bit of revs and was in reverse or drive, one of the hoses to the FPR wasnt connected properly and was squerting fuel everywhere, im hoping this is it, because it would be a blessing. fixing it now ill let you know if it fixes the problem. it would explain why it was getting worse. please tell me this could be my problem.it explains why no mechaqnic could find anything wrong because the engine would of been turned of and if it was only a small leak to start of with then, they wouldnt of seen it. opinions???

if it was a fuel leak, where did the fuel drip to??? lol, you would have noticed surely, or at worse case scenario, it would have lit the engine bay up in flames. Vacuum leaks can cause power loss though.

ohh well it was worth the hope, the car is still the same, still "missfiring", and the idle still sucks.there is no acceleration problem but i just thought there might be more power, as this problem is slowing getting worse so is the power. will the distributor effect the idle as well as the timing. please tell me it does.

to Whitedevil, i know it may be simple, but tried resetting the ECU? maybe the box has just learnt a really safe way of driving, and needs to be retaught (hence thinking lack of power)

i know it sounds silly, but was just a thought :)

Sounds like the coil is breaking down. They get to the point where the engine will not rev at all past about 3K. They also cause furthur damage by the fuel that wasn't ignited by the missing sparks travelling through to the catalytic converter, lighting off on the surface and melting the ceramic matrix.

A blocked catalytic converter can be diagnosed using a vacuum gauge.

Cheers
Heath Young

hey guys

i think i may have found a problem, there were air leaks at two of the injectors o rings, and one of the gasklets under the manifold. spoken to mitsibishi and they are fixing as we speek. so hopefully it is fixed nice and simple. please tell me u all agree that this is the problem:)

anyways ill keep you posted.

mike

well, my car now its pooring out black smoke, so im guessing i fixed the lean problem,this is a good sign that it is fixed, i know cant stand behind my car but that is ok. im ringing trying to find a dyno place, to get her back up and running.

Hmm, at the risk of sounding ignorant, have they check your radiator temp gauge and every other temp guage.

Had a Hyundai (no laughing lol ) once, was spewing black smoke, refused to crank over and would shudder every so often while driving.

Local mechanic suggest crank angle sensor, changed, no difference.

Went to one distributor, everything was fine.

Same problem

Went to second distributor, apparently temp guage was stuffed. Reading that it was -10 degrees celsius, so pumping too much fuel and flooding everything.

Thought I share and you might go check it out.