Greetings all, newbie needs help!

[THE-STIG]

Hello all, a quick introduction, im THE-STIG :happy:

Got a 2001 V6 Sport Estate which i bough a few days ago.
Already own a GTO TT.

Drove the galant home and was fine. Started it this morning and the engine management light came on after warm-up. So did the usual checks nothing major. looked on here and cleaned the ICV disconnected the battery and waited an hour went back and started it, wooohooo engine light off.

anyhoo, drove it a bit and then the light comes on again?! diconnected the batt and it comes on again after about 2 miles of driving, now it wants to stall all the time and idles really really low. OK for 2 miles then drops down again?!

anyone have any ideas?

thanks in advance. /Grrr

STIG.

[Lillywotsername]

Hi and /Welcome and congratulations on full membership as well :thumbsup:

Sorry to hear about your problem, unfortunately I can't help you, but hold fire and someone will be along shortly i would have thought to point you in the right direction.

[Kieran]

Welcome to the club and thanks for your support! /Welcome Sorry that your first post is a problem one, but it doesn't sound like a huge problem.

First port of call is to find out what's causing the check engine light to illuminate.... So have a look at this thread:

http://www.clubvr4.com/forum/showthread.php?t=5456

That tells you how to extract the codes. Now, seeing as you have a UK spec model from around 2000, the code that's flashed could have one or two meanings, depening on the ECU in there (they did change). However it shouldn't be too hard to suss out where the gremlin is - not many codes overlap as I recall and the ones that do are common to both.

If you can't do that we'll need a little more info -How does it drive when the check engine light is on? Okay, hestitant, spluttering mess? Any difference in MPG?

[ANTHONY]

the idle problem could be
the stepper motor i get it on my legnum but then clears it self for a few weeks

[bradc]

There is a chance that it is a problem with the idle stepper motor, and when the ecu picks it up the light comes on.

I would get it cleaned and sorted out first, then see if the light comes back on.

[THE-STIG]

Hi once again and thanks for the warm welcome!

well i have cleaned the ICV (idle control valve) and the MAF with Isoplropyl alcohol, no difference.

I have connected the 'test point' in order to read the codes from the ecu, when ground all i get is a constant rapid flashing of the ABS light?! :thinking:

When driving it is ok ish when driving hard but when i want to accelerate gently or hold speed it starts to jerk as though its missing!?.

Also when warmed up i get a constant ticking from inside the cabin but when outside i cant hear it?!

basically when its cold it behaves itself but when warmed up it has a mind of its own /Grrr

any opinions/suggestions welcome :happy:


STIG.

[Paul Beazer]

If the ABS lamp is flashing then its something to do with that system probably. The engine ECU goes into safe mode to prevent any major damage. But you should get the ABS light on. Does you car have traction control?

[ANTHONY]

its a v6 sport did they have TC

[THE-STIG]

the abs flashes only when i connect to take the ECU reading via the OBD port!

its off the rest of the time.

STIG.

[Kieran]

So - even if the 'check engine' lamp is list, if you short the diag port, all you get is the ABS light flashing, with no variance between the flashes - correct?

[THE-STIG]

Kieren: yep :bigcry:

I got an M3 evo that did the same thing turned out to be the O2 sensors at £170 a pop, wonder if its the same thing? but then wouldnt it flash up as an o2 error code in the diagnostics mode?


STIG.

[Kieran]

Ahhhhh.... I think I know why that is...

I've just checked the service manuals and 2001 was when they changed ECUs - And having scanned through the 2001 supplement to the Mitsubishi Service manual the codes changed format and could only be read by a MUT-II..... Having just read a little further, under the 'Inspection procedure for trouble symptoms - MUT-II communication is impossible' there's no workaround.

That doesn't surprise me a the code format changed from a 2 digit number to a 5 digit alphanumeric... "Pxxxx" - A lamp can't really flash that out!:inquisiti

I think there's two options - Get a dealer to scan the code and tell you what it is. The other option is EVOScan, however this doesn't work 100% on the UK cars.... Here's the thread for info. I think page 5 has the situation with UK cars:

http://www.clubvr4.com/forum/showthread.php?t=20121

[THE-STIG]

BUGGER! :end:

kieren thanks a lot for all your help mate, i will take it to a dealer see if they can read the code out.

Ill post the results when i get them.

much appreciated. :happy:

STIG.

[THE-STIG]

well i have managed to fix the engine light problem.

right heres one of the stupidest things i have ever come accross...

...got into the car yesterday to go down to Shefield, gets my sat nav out and plugs it into the cig lighter, no power. Strange i think, so i look under the dash to locate the fuse for the lighter, sure enough it was popped. /Grrr

anyhoo, went down to Halfrauds and picked up a 15A mini fuse and fit it and voila cig lighter works. Looked over to the dash and the engine light has gone off?!?! :inquisiti

I thought naaarrrh cant be that easy...so switch the engine off and start it again...sure enough no light?!? wooohooooooo!!! methinks!!!

being the a$$ that i am i thought ok lets retry so i pull the fuse for the cig lighter again..and guess what engine light on again /Banana yaaaaay methinks i fixed it!

So i plugged the fuse again and hey presto lights gone off!!!

Sooooooo...the moral of the story if your engine light comes on check your fuses! of all the stupidest things in the world why would mitsi wire in the cig lighter to the engine management system?!

Anyways its fixed...for now /Banana

Hope that helps someone else! :scholar:


STIG.

[Paul Beazer]

How odd, i wouldnt have thought they would even be on related circuits. Randomness abounds!
Glad you got it sorted, i'll bear that in mind if mine plays silly buggers!

[THE-STIG]

the only thing that i can think of is that the cig lighter is probably wired in parallell to another engine components that draws a specific current, when the current drops due to a malfunction or inoperative compoenent on the same line then it trips an engine light.

strange but these machines aren't exactly simple are they. Plus mines a late 2001 so things did change in that year from what i heard.

but i still get the odd low idle but no stall now?! previous owner did say it had been stood a couple of months. i mean wtf?!

bad bad mitsy /pan.

STIG.

[Davezj]

good to here you got it sorted.

[n13l pm]

Glad its sorted mate.. really odd /pan

[pitslayer]

the jag cigar lighter is wired into something else, and when i blew the fuse in it, with my cunning idea of cleaning the contacts with a screwdriver while the car was on, shut up it was a monday early morning. something else stopped working, then located the fuse in one of the several fuse boxes, and all works again.

that was pretty wierd, though, the only thing i have seen which is wierder, is my mate wiring in new indicator holders into his golf and the car run really badly, then cut out if you put the indicator on, and if you let it idle, the revs would surge slightly and the indicators would glow.....figured out that a strand of wire was touching another in his new indicator holders, which is connected to the alarm, connected to the immobiliser, so it just went WTF!!!! is going on here, fixed that, car run sweet...
ill also remember this fix though, and im sure kieran definatly will

[Paul Beazer]

the only thing that i can think of is that the cig lighter is probably wired in parallell to another engine components that draws a specific current, when the current drops due to a malfunction or inoperative compoenent on the same line then it trips an engine light.

strange but these machines aren't exactly simple are they. Plus mines a late 2001 so things did change in that year from what i heard.

but i still get the odd low idle but no stall now?! previous owner did say it had been stood a couple of months. i mean wtf?!

bad bad mitsy /pan.

STIG.
You might want to try resetting the ECU by disconnecting the battery for a couple of mins. It'll run a bit odd for a couple of hundred miles, but once its re-learned it should be ok.