Hard Starting/Not staying on

[jaysojdm242]

hi im new to this site but short intro on the situation. i have just aquired a 97 mitsubishi galant vr4 triptronic, and i bought it from a female owner. she had the parked up for almost a year because she said the oxygen sensor was bad. so when i brought it home i did the usual checks, change the plugs, changed the fuel pump and fuel and it starts with a little help from starting fluid. to keep it running i have to keep spraying starting fluid through the breather box otherwise it would die out. what could be the main causes of hard starting and not staying on???

[Nick Mann]

It could be all sorts.
Are you sure that your fuel pump is good? What plugs they and what was the gap set to? Have you seen it running at all

I would unplug the maf and check again, if it runs better then the maf is dodgy. I would check all boost pipes for leaks. I have seen an fpr stick open so that there was never enough fuel pressure for the injectors to fire properly.

Why did she say that the lambda was no good and have you changed it?

[jaysojdm242]

I got it to start with the starting fluid and had it on for a couple of minutes and i even moved it back and forth before it cuts off but the throttle isnt responding at times but ive checked all pipes and vaccums, o also took down the fuel system and made sure the injectors are spraying the plugs i put in are ngk bkr5egp-7090 plugs

[Confused]

They are the wrong plugs, for a start :)

They should be NGK BKR6EIX, or if you think you might be ever increase the boost (which, believe me, you'll want to!), BKR7EIX (which are a grade colder)


As Nick said, unplug the MAF to see whether it's that at fault, causing an incorrect air reading to the ECU.

Also, by spraying starter fluid through the MAF, you may be damaging it (if it's not already at fault, that is).


I would also do the "flashy dash" procedure to retrieve any stored fault codes, which may point you in the direction of where to look.

After that, get hold of a suitable cable (preferably an OpenPort 2.0), or a cheap VAG-COM KKL cable and modify it to connect pins 1 & 4 (and remove pin 9), and get yourself a copy of the EvoScan software, which you can run on a laptop and look at all the sensors. Details of all of this can be found by searching on the necessary keywords (OpenPort, EvoScan, KKL)

[jaysojdm242]

Ok thanks for the info ill work on it asap

[jaysojdm242]

Another question can a base model galant maf work in my vr4 because i have basically the only vr4 in the bahamas and i know the evolution maf wont work????

[swinks]

Another question can a base model galant maf work in my vr4 because i have basically the only vr4 in the bahamas and i know the evolution maf wont work????
Nah.. Galant n/a has much "smaller" scalling.
IMO, maf from Evo 8-9 will work, but again, different scalling, but not as much as Galant n/a, and can be tweaked in ecu rom via Evoscan.

[jaysojdm242]

Ok im stuck i removed the maf and it still wont start without the assistances of starter fluid. It turns on for a couple of seconds then shuts off. I tried pulling up the codes with the jumper harness to pin 1 & 4 but i only see continuous blinking no pause or breaks in between. I wonder if the new fuel pump i installed is pushing enough pressure to the injectors....

[Nick Mann]

With no fault codes and maf unplug not changing anything I would be looking at a serious air intake leak or as you suggest a dodgy fuel pump.

[jaysojdm242]

Ok ill trt a different fuel pump but my problem is these parts stores over here dont carry much turbo car fuel pump because i asked them for a v6 galant fuel pump and i think its for the american made galant so can a evo or toyota soarer fuel pump work?

[Nick Mann]

Yes but I can't remember what is compatible.

[Confused]

I know that a standard Subaru Impreza pump has the same flow rate as a standard VR4 pump, 190lph, as I have one in my Ford Anglia!

However - the additional flow rates of a higher capacity pump won't be needed to simply start the car and let it run.

I would be taking the fuel rail off the engine, and checking that all your injectors are working as they should when trying to crank the engine over. Start with the basics - fuel and spark.

We could assume that you're getting a spark, as it does run when provided with a different fuel source (the starting fluid), so it's most likely a fuel supply issue.

Removing the fuel rail and physically viewing what the injectors are (or aren't) doing will be a great help in troubleshooting further.


If it does actually end up being the pump, I'm sure something like a Walbro 255 should be available to you somewhere, they're a very common pump. Can you order things online for delivery, or does that have a huge premium?

[jaysojdm242]

I know that a standard Subaru Impreza pump has the same flow rate as a standard VR4 pump, 190lph, as I have one in my Ford Anglia!

However - the additional flow rates of a higher capacity pump won't be needed to simply start the car and let it run.

I would be taking the fuel rail off the engine, and checking that all your injectors are working as they should when trying to crank the engine over. Start with the basics - fuel and spark.

We could assume that you're getting a spark, as it does run when provided with a different fuel source (the starting fluid), so it's most likely a fuel supply issue.

Removing the fuel rail and physically viewing what the injectors are (or aren't) doing will be a great help in troubleshooting further.


If it does actually end up being the pump, I'm sure something like a Walbro 255 should be available to you somewhere, they're a very common pump. Can you order things online for delivery, or does that have a huge premium?

Yes i can order a walbro pump so ill deal with that asap i just wanna have fun driving this thing lol

[jaysojdm242]

I finally got the car to started. The fuel pump wasnt installed correctly the first time. 😂😂😂😂 Now i can finally move on to my next phases witj this car.👍👍👍👍

[Nick Mann]

Splendid.