Hi, hoping someone might be able to help me. I Have a 2000 TJ Magna VRX which has run pretty well for the year I've had it, but when I went to put it into the garage last night, it tunred over, started and then died within 2 seconds. When I tried to start it again it wouldn't. The engine would turn over, but nothing else. I pulled the key out, gave it a few seconds and tried again. It turned on and seemed fine so I put it in the garage. I tried again a little later on. Once it did the same thing of turning over but not starting. The other time it started normally.

I tested it out again this morning and it wouldn't turn on again. I left it a second and then it did and stayed on for the 30 seconds I left it. Does anyone have any clue what it might be?

Hi, hoping someone might be able to help me. I Have a 2000 TJ Magna VRX which has run pretty well for the year I've had it, but when I went to put it into the garage last night, it tunred over, started and then died within 2 seconds. When I tried to start it again it wouldn't. The engine would turn over, but nothing else. I pulled the key out, gave it a few seconds and tried again. It turned on and seemed fine so I put it in the garage. I tried again a little later on. Once it did the same thing of turning over but not starting. The other time it started normally.

I tested it out again this morning and it wouldn't turn on again. I left it a second and then it did and stayed on for the 30 seconds I left it. Does anyone have any clue what it might be?

Sounds like the standard immobiliser issue that I've read about.
Here is the best explanation of the problem I've read..

http://martybugs.net/articles/magna-stall.cgi

The engine intermittently stalls several seconds after starting. Typically, the engine will remain running after 3-5 attempts to start, but sometimes will take more attempts.


The above is linked from the article you mentioned. I was a little confused because it made it sound like it will only not turn on after it has stalled, but the above linked paragraph in the quote makes it sound as if it will happen either A) When you try to turn it on at random or B) After you suffer a stall. Am I understanding it correctly?

The only thing is that last time I tried it last night, it turned on first time and stayed on until I turned it off. When I tried this morning it wouldn't start first time, I took the key out, tried again and it worked.

Mine did that and turned out to be the battery.
Is the battey in your car original?

+1 to the battery being the issue.

the same fault can be linked to two different reasons with 3rd gens it seems - either battery or immobiliser - some people on here swear black and blue that its the imob, some swear its the battery.

they present the same way - couple months ago i had the same issues, changed the battery and it went away.

how old is your battery? if its the one it left factory with... its probably time to replace it anyway.

you dont happen to have a second car that you could steal the battery out of to test the battery theory out with? saves spending couple hundred on a newie (if it turns out that its not the fault afterall)

Yeah its usually just the battery, replace it and it should go away, other common fault is one of the wires on the immobilser coming lose, but it isnt as common as the battery, i had the same issue and a fresh battery cured it.

how old is your battery? if its the one it left factory with... its probably time to replace it anyway.

It isn't that old. They put in a new one before I bought it about 10 months ago.

Another vote for the battery, had the same problem a while back in my Verada, was low battery.

It isn't that old. They put in a new one before I bought it about 10 months ago.

It depends if they put some No name brand crap battery in or a decent one made in Aus, go down to your local Battery/auto shop (autobarn,supercheap,batteryworld) and they all should offer a free battery test and charging system checkup that will diagonse the battery straight up.

Batteries are unpridictable at times and can fail whenever they feel like it.
It's not also the age of the battery but also how often you leave things the radio going on battery p[ower alone or other things that can reduce the life of a battery.

Trido, I went through the same ordeal last month
Check it out here: Engine Stalling After Starting (http://www.aussiemagna.com/forums/showthread.php?t=60405)
As others have said, it turned out to be the battery

An easy way to bypass the problem for the mean time. When you start the car stop in the On possition for 1 second before turning all the way to iggnition and it will start.

Yeah same, was battery

I am going to check out the battery today. I suspect that it might be the battery though because when I checked it (It is one of those ones that has a little transparent thing to look through, green is good, black is recharge and another colour for something equally dire) and it looked pretty black to me. Can anyone recommend a good place for me to goto?

+1 on the battery front.

Mine was doing the same thing after i had picked my car up from the crash repairer. It would start then stall, then not start at all. I took the car for a good long drive thinking that the battery may have been flat from sitting in the workshop for a month, but this didn't solve the problem. So i got a bettery charger and tested the battery. It was showing 12 volts like it should. Confused, i asked my uncle who was a former engineer at mitsubishi and he found that the battery had a dead cell.

Repalced the battery with a heavy duty century battery and have had no problems since. If there is any kind members in your area, give them a call, swap battery's if problems persist, consult your doctor ( lol nah just check the immobiliser )

Peace

mate, you might aswell check the immob. plug out first.. thats free.. then if your sure its not a bad contact on the immob. then change your battery..

normally when its the battery, the car will kick over then stall..

the immob. sometimes starts the car and stalls it.. other times it will crack continually but never kick over....

What I did is took it to a respected local battery place who did a free checkup and it (The Battery) is fine. I think I could check that immob wire, but I don't have the balls to get into that kinda stuff. Cars freak me out because **** costs so much when it goes bad and I am paranoid! We have a local mechanic that never charges us for a checkup, only when stuff is actually wrong so I'll take it to him tomorrow morning and I may print out that immob problem too and take it with me. That way if they don't find anything wrong, they (surely) can use that to check out the issue.

mate, if u were in syd id give ya a hand..any QLD guys can lend a hand?

the problem is VERY easy to fix when you know how....

mate, if u were in syd id give ya a hand..any QLD guys can lend a hand?


Well done. Helpful people like you on the forum make it worth visiting :thumbsup:

Well done. Helpful people like you on the forum make it worth visiting :thumbsup:

I agree with you. :)

Anyway, I had been under the dash before when I helped install the HU when I got the car so I figured I would take a quick peep. I found the BEM but the wires pointed in the opposite direction so I couldn't get a good look so see if the Immob wire was loose. So I just pushed them all in, and had a quick feel to ensure everything was tight. It was.

When I turned the car on, started first time as it used to. I turned it off, pulled the key out, gave it 30s and tried again. Second it turned on first time as normal. I didn't feel anything loose when I pushed it in, but the car hasn't started first time (And within a second of turning over too as normal instead of 2-3 it has taken in the past couple of days) since this started. I won't declare victory until I can test it a few more times, but it is possible that it was that immob wire.

Is that something that can be fixed so it doesn't happen again? Should I always carry a screwdriver in the car in case this happens when I am not at home?

Is that something that can be fixed so it doesn't happen again? Should I always carry a screwdriver in the car in case this happens when I am not at home?

What i've done on the the three cars i have done..

*Chop off the old plug on both sides of the single immob wire...
*Crimp or solder (depends if you can solder ok or not) new plug back on each side (one side male, one side female of course haha)..
*join new plug, job done :)

it may happen again the way it is now.. its not a matter of the plug coming undone.. its the factory plug making bad contact..

Pushing them around a bit often only works for a short period.. but if pushing them in hard has solved it temporarly then id say you have found your problem lol

just re-read your previous post.. did you take off the plastic cover under the steering wheel? were you able to get a good look at the single immob wire im reffering to? sorry i havent done one in well over 12months so i cant picture it to well myself right now but i remember you need to take off the plastic covers under the steering wheel to expose the wire and connector in question

It's also a possibility it's gremlin's :P They get in everywhere, even into your threads!

just re-read your previous post.. did you take off the plastic cover under the steering wheel? were you able to get a good look at the single immob wire im reffering to? sorry i havent done one in well over 12months so i cant picture it to well myself right now but i remember you need to take off the plastic covers under the steering wheel to expose the wire and connector in question

Yep, I did do that and found the BEM. The wires were on the opposite side so I wasn't able to find the specific wire so I just pushed em all in and it worked. It did occur again today after I put fuel in the car, but I had a screwdriver in the car so I undid the plastic thing under the steering wheel again, pushed the wires in again and the car started first time as usual. Bit annoying but I don't know if I can go to a mechanic or whatever and have the problem reliably fixed.

I had this happen with my TE when I had it. Very annoying. I had to have the car towed:rant: to Mitsubishi (Len Patti) who charged about $30-$50 (I cannot remember the exact figure sorry) to re-solder the connections for the immobiliser wire & key antenna ring. They seemed to think that because of the bad connection, the code in the key was not getting completetly through to the BEM/Imob all of the time. Apparently at the time (2003) it was becoming more common with the first of the 3rd gens.

did not read all of thread but ive had this very recently happen to me ended up being the coding in the key so i disposed of it appropriatly and used my spare car works like a charm. cost me $80 to tow it 5 blocks and $60 for an auto elec guy to tell me its the coding in my key and to ditch it and use my spare.

I had the same problem a couple of months ago. Like you, I got the battery tested, and it came back fine. The guy did comment that the water was a bit low in it though. So I topped up the water and fiddled with the BEM wiring. Nothing was obviously lose, and I hadn't played around behind the dash in nearly a year and a half, so I doubt it was that lose. Haven't had the problem come back since though :D

i seem to be getting this issue as well.. sometimes the car starts fine, one crank and im off.. others it starts, stalls, then cant start it again till i get out, lock the car with the key, then unlock it again.. most times that works.. but not always.. what is the wire that i should be looking for.. i have an idea of which one it is.. i was thinking its the single wire that comes down from the ignition barrel.. but till i know for sure, im not playin with anything under there.. help on finding what to look for would be greatly appreciated...

cheers

ok.. so can anyone shed any more light on this.. the issue is still intermittent, but now becoming annoying.. so if anyone could tell me what connection i should be looking for to play with to see if its that.. that would be great

ok.. so can anyone shed any more light on this.. the issue is still intermittent, but now becoming annoying.. so if anyone could tell me what connection i should be looking for to play with to see if its that.. that would be great

its a long white plug thats on the ignition barrel..

thanks pete.. ill have a look at it tomorrow.. too hot to be down in the car takin the dash apart this arv..

Sorry to revive a long dead thread, but it's my thread and the issue is still occuring. I don't know who to take it to. I don't really trust the local Mitsu guys and no one else can give me anywhere near an acceptable answer on this. It is getting worse too because getting to the BEM and wiggling the wires is no longer enough. Does anyone know a business in Toowoomba Queensland that know of the issue and can fix it without having to send the BEM away?

This happened to my TE, Auto Elec said its a well known issue when Magnas get to around 10-12 years the wire that relays some code through your key gets loose. Just need to get an Elec to solder it back on and mine was fixed. Sounds exactly like your problem.

Can you be any more specific so that when I call up a auto-elec I can give them specifics?

Trido - read this article,

Even has the wiring schematic of which wire goes bad.

http://martybugs.net/articles/magna-stall.cgi

That was linked earlier and I assume that is one of the issues. Basically, I want something I can take to an auto-elec (This issue plus anything else that someone can suggest) because I refuse to pay large sums of money while they go fishing. If I can provide a few possibile issues that they can then test and it still isn't resolved, then fine, I'll have to wear the cost of the investigation, but I want to avoid that if possible.

That is one thing you can take to him - even has the schematic right there to print off.

Sometimes it pays to have your best mate as an auto elec, problem finding isnt expensive for me :P

That is one thing you can take to him - even has the schematic right there to print off.

Sometimes it pays to have your best mate as an auto elec, problem finding isnt expensive for me :P

hah Lucky bastard. :)

Can you be any more specific so that when I call up a auto-elec I can give them specifics?

There is a code in your key.
When you stick you key in the ignition the computer in your car sends a signal through a wire to your ignition and into your key. The computer checks that the key has the right code in it and then lets the car start. If the computer can’t get the code from the key it stays immobilized.

One of the wires, either the one from the computer to the ignition or from the ignition back to the computer gets loose. Hence on start up it will go to kick over then bog down and not start the first kick. Then the second and rest of the time you try it will just turn over and not fire up.

Usually after some jiggling of the ignition and key it will eventually start till it gets so bad it needs towing to the auto electrician.

Also if your key has worn really bad this can also effect it

hows that? im no Auto electrician but thats the best i can explain it

I brought 2 TJ Advance's, one for each of my girls in April this year. Both cars exhibited a similar problem and I chased the security system for a while too, and the used car warranty, but of course it would never do it in the workshop. My VRX even did it once or twice too, seemingly in sympathy. Swapping keys seemed to fix it occasionally along with all the other suggestions re locking the car etc.

A mate who knew someone who had Magna experience suggested that moisture gets into the throttle body wiring connector plug and causes the problem which is well known in some circles. Easy fix, I pulled them off, gently, and sprayed them with some contact cleaner and compressed air and then dosed them with Lanotec and it has not happened on any of them since.

I blame the detailer who washed the engines to put them in the car yard.

Good Luck
Steve

I brought 2 TJ Advance's, one for each of my girls in April this year. Both cars exhibited a similar problem and I chased the security system for a while too, and the used car warranty, but of course it would never do it in the workshop. My VRX even did it once or twice too, seemingly in sympathy. Swapping keys seemed to fix it occasionally along with all the other suggestions re locking the car etc.

A mate who knew someone who had Magna experience suggested that moisture gets into the throttle body wiring connector plug and causes the problem which is well known in some circles. Easy fix, I pulled them off, gently, and sprayed them with some contact cleaner and compressed air and then dosed them with Lanotec and it has not happened on any of them since.

I blame the detailer who washed the engines to put them in the car yard.

Good Luck
Steve

i wash my engine bay and detail it regulary and i've never had a problem *touch wood*