| Subject: | Starting problem.. |
| Question: | Hi. I have a sister
of the eclipse A 92 Plymouth Laser manual turbo AWD (top of the line) with
100,000 miles. IT is having a strange problem an independent mechanic and
Chrysler can't seem to find the answer. The car starts fine in the morning
even on a cold day. Here is the problem. If you go for gas, and turn off
the engine, by the time the gas attendent fills the tank (the car alarm
automatically sets), the car won't start! (less than 5 min) If you let the
car sit for 10-15 min. it starts right up. If the car stalls out in traffic,
usually the same thing happens. It won't restart. Only after you let it
sit awhile, then it turns right on. The starter was just replaced. Just
today, the oil pressure gage isn't working, but the engine is running fine
and didn't have any problem starting in 20 degree weather, but as soon as
I turned the engine off at work, it won't start up immediately. Another wierd thing also occassionally happens. For no apparently reason, as your driving the car, I have had the experience of the car engine just dying. This is very infrequently. All the lights flicker on the dash, and of course, the car doesn't start up immediately. One mechanic did find the turbo clamps were loose when the engine was hot, but this was repaired. Any clues to what is wrong? Are the new Eclipses built any better today? Repair history: Timing belt snapped at appx. 80,000 miles. Plymouth said there was very little damage to the engine since I was in heavy traffic and only going appx. 5-10mph at the time. Also had all belts replaced since they were orig. at the time. Also the engine overheated under warrenty and was repaird with chrysler. At the time I believed all the seals and gaskets were replaced. Car had under 30,000 miles Thank you for your time |
| Answer: | Before you or your mechanic
gets into blaming any major mechanical part for your problems, there is
a component you should check out. Have your ECU (car's computer) diagnosed.
You may have faulty capacitors. You can read all about the problem on this
site: http://serverg3.ath.cx/eclipse/cap/caps.htm
As you said, your Laser is a Mitsubishi and that includes everything. Let me know if you find that your ECU is the problem. I've gotten a few question from other Eclipse owners that did find out they had bad computers. My caps were going bad, but I was replaced them before I get any strange symptoms that you're having. |