eclipse hesitates/stalls in mornings only

I have a 1994 Mitsubishi Eclipse 1.8L, 118,000 miles. Only in the mornings after I drive it for about a minute, the car will start hesitating at lower rpms, and sometimes stalls out. I can put it in neutral and lower gears to keep the rpms up and keep it from stalling out. If it is 3pm for example, and the engine is cold, it will have no problems. The problem is only there in the mornings. I've taken it to two Mitsubishi dealers and they recreate the problem in the mornings, but have not been able to diagnose it. All belts, fuel filter, plugs, wires, distributor cap, and rotor have been replaced. The dealerships ruled out the fuel pump as being the problem. The computer is not throwing out any codes. Anyone have any idea what it could be?

Reply to
fusQuanto
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Your car pregnant? Morning sickness?

Reply to
Samual L. Jones

The EGR and PCV should be looked at. If these aren't replace within a 5 year period you can get early morning hesitation due to failing funtion.

Reply to
Eclipse

Has this car got manual valve adjustment,?? If so then adjust the valve clearance ,Its a known problem with tight valves and a cold motor ,Either starting problems or hesitation when cold , I would at the same time clean the throttle butterfly ,and take off the battery pole afterwards to reset the management system.

Reply to
jonny

when it is 4pm and the car has not been used all day, the problem is not there. is that still consistent with what you're advising?

Reply to
fusQuanto

yes , Its just more apparent the colder the engine is. the time of day has no bearing ,The engine temp does.

Reply to
jonny

Did they happen to look at the fuel trims when it was doing it? That sounds like a classic intake leak. One of your hoses is cracked or off.

Reply to
Nobody U. Know

not sure what 'fuel trims' are but when it was doing it they hardly had any chance to diagnose stuff cuz it lasted like 20-30 mins before it stopped.

how can i check? tel me what to look for in the haynes manual

Reply to
fusQuanto

Fuel trims can only be had with a logger or diagnostic tool.

What I would suggest is to start from the air filter and trace the intake path to the throttle body. Check the hose connections and clamps. You may want to pull them off and thoroughly inspect them, cracks have a tendency to hide on the underside of the hoses.

At the throttle body, check all of the little vacuum hoses and make sure they aren't cracked or in the wrong places. You may just want to pull them off one by one and inspect them. The routing diagram is probably on the hood.

Reply to
Nobody U. Know

If the checking doesn't find a cracked hose or other leak, try spraying some "engine start" fluid around the hoses and connection points, and air channel flanges. This stuff is HIGHLY flammable and will cause the engine to change RPM momentarily when sucked in. Use it SPARINGLY as a last resort. I've found many vacuum leaks this way.

Reply to
Nirodac Yar

woudlnt vacuum leaks be an "all the time" problem, though, as opposed to mornings only?

Reply to
fusQuanto

water in gas?

Reply to
t_bone

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