Hello! I'm new to this forum and I hope that you'll all bear with me as I go through the "growing pains" of learning to use the site.
I was given a 91 Eclipse 2.0L DOHC (non-turbo) two weeks ago by a man that my husband works with. I had wanted an Eagle Talon more than LIFE in 1991 when I turned 16, but sadly, I never got one. I was looking forward to starting my second childhood early by tinkering with this car and restoring it. The interior is almost pristine (except for the sagging headliner) and the exterior is in pretty good shape too. The car was driven by a teenage boy for the past several years and has several small things wrong with it. Nothing to big to handle . . . until today.
The engine has operated fine (much better than I had expected, actually) until I was pulling into the parking lot at work today. Suddenly, the engine started stuttering and acting like my speed was too low for the gear that I was in. I downshifted from third into second and got the same problem. Then, without warning, the engine died.
I coasted into a parking spot and tried to start it immediately. The engine cranked, caught, sputtered, and then died again. Almost as if it had ran out of gasoline. And yes, guys, it has gas! My husband and brother asked me the same question as soon as I talked to them, lol.
Now, here is where it gets weird. Every time I turned on the key and tried to start it, I would hear a faint "click" right behind the radio and another one coming from the rear of the car on the driver's side. This clicking noise would happen only after I released pressure on the key (after trying to start the engine) and let it return to the "run" position. Sometimes, however, it didn't do it. Then, after trying to start it for the umpteenth-million time, I began hearing what I can only describe as "clicking and whirring" from the center console, almost directly under the gearshift. It almost sounded like a computer hard drive gone nuts (like when you're trying to download a HUGE program and you can hear the computer board working like crazy). When I turn the key to the accessory-only position ("ACC" I think on the ignition) I don't hear the noise. But, when I would turn the key to the "Run" position the sound would start again. I only heard it a few times, and then it quit doing it and I haven't been able to get it to do it since. My lights are all bright as ever, so I don't think it's the battery. I've gotten out my Haynes manual and I've almost decided that it's the ECU, but I want to get some feedback from ya'll (yep, I'm from Kentucky and that was a southern yaaaaaa'll) on the forum.
Thank you for the time you've taken to read my post, and thanks in advance for any help you can give me. I'd like to get my little red "Cherry Bomb" on the road again, lol.
Julie