| Subject: | LOADS OF PROBLEMS...PLEASE HELP |
| Question: | 98 Mitsubishi Eclipse
GSX, auto Ok heres the story...my car was in an accident about a year ago, it took a shot to the front passenger side, cracking the tranny but otherwise not to much structural damage. The car was repaired but was still plagued with turbo problems. The entire turbo system was basically replaced from intercooler to i/c piping to the actual turbo and waste gate. It runs ok but it is severly lacking power. On my aftermarket gauge my boost will only hit 14p.s.i when it used to make about 16 and it doesn't hold the boost. I plan on doing a vaccum test to check for possible leaks but i doubt that is going to solve my problem. The funny thing i've noticed that makes me say that is my stock boost gauge reads very strange. In neutral, drive, park and basically any condition other than coasting or decelerating my stock gauge reads approx at 1/4 mark, like i am making boost when i am defintely not,even in park. The only time it almost hits the bottom 2 lines (the ones that are close together and where it should actually rest) is when i am slowing down. Also it only reaches to approx the 3/4 mark during W.O.T., (the aftermarket gauge reads correctly thou) But as if that wasn't bad enough I also have been having transmisson woes. Since the car has been in the accident i have replaced the tranny 3 times. Yea i know - i have good luck lol. Basically what happens is this. After driving around for a while (couple of months) the tranny begins to flair erractically. It eventually destroys itself in a nutshell. I currently just installed a performance torque converter and shift kit on this rebuild in hopes of making my tranny stronger. Now the thing that seems most likely to be causing that was the TPSensor. I was constantly getting that error code for a check light. The car also would idle very high. I took the car to this diagnostic center and they told me I had a voltage drop in the sensor. They "fixed" it and the car has ran very smooth until just recently and the flair is starting again. I think these two problems have the same cause but I really could use some help figuing out that cause. Thanx alot, any help is defintly appreciated. Just one other little thing...ive noticed the engine bay giving off more heat than normal |
| Answer: | Mike, First off, the stock boost gauge is not much more than decoration. At low boost, it's very inaccurate. At higher boost levels, it is absolutely meaningless. All that the stock gauge indicates is air flow. Even when your car is just idling, air is passing through your system. Your stock gauge is probably just telling you that. Since you replaced your entire turbo system, you should reset your boost controller to the Mitsubishi factory setting, then recalibrate it to higher boost levels. It's a good idea to do a vacuum test on your intake system. Even a small leak can severaly diminish power. Also, if your turbo, wastegate, and I/C piping that you replaced are different sizes than the ones you had before the accident, you'll get different boost levels. I can understand that a faulty TPS can cause a very high idle, but I've never heard of one destroying 3 trannies. Whatever "fix" the diagnostics center did obviously just masked the overall problem. You may have a faulty idle speed control motor. The diag. center may have just tried to adjust your idle to compensate for your bad TPS. ECUs have been known to show the TPS as the problem when the ISC motor was really the problem. But your performance torque converter should help. If you're trying to put 16 psi of boost through your system, you'll definately want a heavy duty torque converter. You didn't mention it, but I'm assuming you reaplaced your blow-off valve. If you haven't replaced the plastic stock BOV, that will surely fail with the amount of boost you're putting through your intake. I can't really explain why your engine may be giving off more heat,
but that may help further explain your lack of power. If your air
filter is sucking in hot air, that will decrease your power. You
want the air that enters your intake to be as cold as possible. Also,
if your intercooler is not working efficiently (i.e. not cooling
off the air coming in from the filter), your power will be lacking.
I hope I was able to give you some ideas to help with your problems. |