| Subject: | car stutters when gears shift |
| Question: | 1998 mitsubishi eclipse, RS, automatic, 4-cyl, not turbo-previous tranny problems (drove on no fluid) It was stuttering a while ago while acc/decelerating (when gears would shift) got new spark plugs, but kept old wires (this was about 3 months ago, or so) Now it's stuttering again. Can I just assume it needs new plugs & wires? or should I check the fuel filter? or could it be a tranny problem? someone also suggested that due to mid-east circumstances I may have purchased watered down gas and just need to wait for air bubbles to go through?? tranny fluid seems to be ok. thanx for any help -Janine |
| Answer: | Janine, Since you replaced your plugs about 3 months ago, I can't imagine you would need new ones. Unless you travelled more than 20k miles in the past 3 months, I think your plugs should be ok. You can have them checked to be sure they are still gapped properly; but aside from that, they should be fine. You can replace your plug wires if they appear worn at the ends, or if you're still using the original wires. If you've driven more than 35k miles with those wires you currently have, it would be a good idea to replace them. Also, your fuel filter should be replaced every 15k miles or 18 months. That's just good regular maintenance. I would have the transmission thoroughly inspected. Even if you were just doing easy to moderate driving, that can really cause problems if you had no transmission fluid. Also, you probably had a lot of debris build up in your transmission pan when you had no fluid in there. There is a filter in your transmission housing that should be cleaned or replaced. I would recommend that you have a transmission specialty shop do this work for you. The average local mechanic may not have the tools or knowledge set to work with transmissions. A Mitsubishi dealership should be a last resort since they will charge you the most for this work. But if you can't find a transmission shop in your area, have the dealership do it. As far as the Middle East crisis is concerned, I think the
watered down gas is more of an urban legend than reality.
We can blame the MidEast for a lot of bad things, but I doubt
that would influence gas stations to water down the gas ;)
Also, if you did have watered down gas, your car would barely
start, much less drive at all. |