1998 GSX running like crap!

Okay, before I spend a zillion dollars at the local Mitsu dealer trying to get my 1998 Eclipse GSX running right again, I thought I'd poll the wise ones on this group to see what they think about my problem...

Late last year, the engine would miss a little at idle, be hard to start cold, and it generally didn't have the power I thought it should have. Since I don't drive it during the winter, I held off getting it serviced until last March. I also needed to have the timing belt changed since the car had 59,950 miles on it, so I took it to my local import repair shop. They have a good rep, so I have no qualms about having them work on it.

The timing belts were replaced, along with the water pump, belts and harmonic balancer, which tends to disintegrate around 60,000 miles. Now the idle hunts from 600 to 850 RPM or so, manifold vacuum appears to be around 14 inches of mercury (pulsing with each cylinder firing) and it generally runs like poop, with a big loss of power. A few weeks ago, while driving to the beach, the Check Engine light came on and I went right to Autozone to have them read the code. It showed a P1105, which as far as I can tell from searching the Internet, means I have a bad fuel pressure solenoid. I checked the solenoid and it works perfectly.

Thinking I had a massive vacuum leak, I checked all the hoses, gaskets, etc. Then I replaced the o-rings on the bottom of the fuel injectors since I never did that when I had the fuel rail off a few years ago, but it made no difference.

Now I'm confused. Do I have a hidden vacuum leak, screwed up valve timing (misaligned belt?), clogged fuel filter, bad fuel pressure regulator, or what? Everything seems to point to a vacuum leak or a bad timing belt installation, but I'm not so sure. Next week, I'm calling the original shop to have them look at it, and after that, it's off to the Mitsu dealer, unless I break down and buy some datalogger software first to help me out. Problem is, like most of us...I'm not made of money, nor do I have a money tree growing in the backyard, so I try to save as much $$$ as I can. Just putting on new parts takes a lot out of my wallet.

Sorry this post was so long, but I'm at my wits end. I wanna cruise in my GSX and have FUN again! Any help is appreciated!

Barry

Reply to
Bikeluvr01
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OK, the problem started before all the bits were replaced. The "hard to start" is good clue. This is often caused by a bad connection to the engine coolant sensor (on the themostat housing). If this open circuit (common due to engine heat) or the sensor is faulty (rare), the engine will not start easily, though it generally runs OK.

Missing at idle is harder. Could be plug leads, but can also be a partially blocked fuel filter.

Could also be bad connections to the air cleaner (MAS) can. Its not uncommon for a pin to get bent as the connector is pressed back in. This will cause hunting and hard starts. Check for corrosion or heat damage on the pins. You will usually get an error code when this happens, but not always.

Check the output from the O2 sensor. Your catalytic converter could have failed: if your gas milage has deteriorated this is often the cause, as the ECU runs the engine rich.

The cam belt may not have been installed correctly. If the old belt had jumped a tooth (apparently not uncommon) and the installer saved time by "marking the belt position" instead of following the correct alignment procedure (also too common) the misalignment would be continued. Have the shop that did the job verify the timing belt alignment.

Lastly, you have the infamous 7 bolt engine that often suffers from crank walk (due to a design fault). Have the shop check for crankshaft end float. If you have this problem, the crank angle sensor will slowly get destroyed, along with the engine.

Stewart DIBBS

Reply to
Stewart DIBBS

Many thanks to all who responded privately to this post. I still haven't figured out the source of the problem, but I'm not giving up! I love my GSX too much for that! As soon as I get some down time from work, I'm gonna get right back on the problem!

Thanks all!

Barry

Reply to
Bikeluvr01

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