Car won't start! Alternator the culprit. Mitsubishi Eclipse -`90

"Tibur Waltson" snipped-for-privacy@hi.com

Have you check timing? You may have bump the distributor components of some sort. Point the timing light to the mark and see if timing hasn't changed. This is just a suggestion. Indy

Great suggestions. Any ideas are welcome as I'm at the end of my rope and very stumped. I will check the timing right away including any electronic sensors.

The bad thing about this is that I'm not sure where the Engine Control Module or its fuse is located, despite posting that all fuses are fine. The check-engine light comes on and turns off as normal.

There is a picture of house, or the Greek building called "Parthenon" next to the check-engine light, if I'm correct. This stays lit when ignition is switch on. Tibur

The three basics are still: (1) Spark, at the right timing (2) Compression, (3) Fuel, at the proper mixture (and timing, in the case of FI engines)

You know you have some fuel and spark, and you said that you know that the timing belt is 'fine'. Is the spark coming when it is supposed to be there?

You might want to check that you have compression. If your timing belt had slipped, it could be off far enough to preclude starting. (Why DID your alternator belt break, by the way?)

Yes. I put all four spark plugs in a row connected and watch them spark one after another. They all have sparks.

I'm not sure how it broke. The belt look pretty new, you can still see the label brand in bright ink as it split like spaghetti. It had been pretty chewed up from nearby working drive-belts.

When cranked without the plugs I could see that, so much fuel is sprayed from the plug hole by fuel injection and doesn't seem to smell like gasoline.., well, a little like gasoline. I will check timing today. For mixture, I don't know how's that's done. I can see the plugs are pretty wet when removed for inspection. Compression, I'll borrow a compression checker. Many great suggestions, thanks. Tibur

It sounds like we can assume you didn't mess with the timing because you've only mentioned replacing the alternator belt. It sounds like a MAF sensor or something. You probably won't get any codes unless the engine runs. I don't know if the Mitsu has a MAF sensor but that would cause a no-start situation. It's possible that your engine jumped a tooth on the timing belt but that would be unlikely and quite coincidental that it happened at the same time your alternator belt died. Good luck and let us know when you figure it out.

-Bruce

Still no start. Today I checked the timing and it's fine. I can line the dot to the "T" with a timing gun. The Camshaft lines up correctly. Tomorrow, I'll see that the mixture is right as Larry pointed out by checking a MAF, crank or coolant sensor, if there's any. When turning for several seconds I could barley hear a cough, like it wants to start. The bad part is that their no way to know if the fuel is lean or rich. Thanks for suggesting. Tibur

Tibur's log: Day five: Still no start.

1. Have tried starter fluid. This is sprayed inside the throttle body in sync with crank. Took out the plugs and spray starter fluid into hole and when go to crank, engine turn slooowly. I 'll putting some engine oil in there later.
2. Fuel timing. Fuel timing is done with a timing gun. A timing gun is pointed into the plug hole with plugs removed. Fuel is sprayed in sync with light. Will try light bulb connected to injectors later to test fuel timing.

Will try:

Lack of compression can signal several things, such as burned valves, hole in piston, valves not opening or closing at the appropriate time, etc.

If you have appropriate compression, then you can lay those possibilities aside and concentrate on the other issues.

When you don't know what is wrong, you need a plan to follow so that you don't focus on the wrong thing and miss the obvious.

There are lots of little things that can cause a no start condition, such as the MAF sensor, crankshaft position sensor, ICM, ECM, etc. If you can just narrow it down to which system (ignition, fuel, etc) is causing the problem it helps you get down to the culprit.

So, you're driving along , the alternator belt breaks and you stop right then and there. The battery should have more than enough capacity to get you going without needing a jump start. OR

You're driving along and the car finally comes to a stop. You notice that the belt is broken and so you replace belt hoping that fixes everything. You probably siezed the water pump (BTW That little light is for low coolant level) causing the belt to break. While you were driving the alternator is not charging and the engine is cooking itself to death. Head is--pick one--warping, cracking, blowing its gasket, or all the above.

I could be wrong, in fact for your sake I hope I am, but I've seen it many times. At the very least you are probably looking at a head job, and don't forget the water pump.

Still no start. Amazing. Everything you noted about the car is correct. Yes, a few months earlier, the alternator belt snaps when that light came on and blew the head gasket. We replace gasket to only find a month later that the light came back on and snaps the belt again, instead this time we drive it a little longer until the motor stops by itself, eats a quart of coolants and overheats. I'm sure the head gasket is gone again. It's amazing you can predict these events. I feel like an idiot who needs and idiot light.

If you didn't explain this. I would've done the same-old things all over again and scratch my head all over again. I need to find a brain deterioration support group soon.

I walk down to the store today and pick up a compression gauge. I will hook it up- but too cold outside for me. I will post any results soon. Thanks for the insightful input.

Tibur -1994 Mitsubishi / Eagle / PlymouthEclipse, Talon, and Laser. 1990 is incorrect.

Found problem. I hook it up and find 25 - 0 - 30 - 125 psi. It should be178. The head gasket is blown. You are right!

Again, if you didn't pointed this out, I would've repeated the same mistake. Thanks again, this baby should start after a new gasket.

Overall consequences are lost time/money, and caught a nasty cold. If you have any input regarding head installation please let me know. Tibur

Thanks for posting the cause and solution. It is too bad you had the problem but a good chance for everybody to learn, or re-learn, from your experience.

You are on the right track now, Tibur.

Be sure, when you remove the heads, to use a straight edge and feeler gauges to check the flatness of the head the the deck. If you didn't overheat, then it is unlikely that anything warped, but check it to be sure.

Latest news: A new motor is in the works to be install. The new motor has a compression PSI of 180 or more on all four. The decision for the new motor is simple. It will be fool proof. Just drop it and the motor is good to go. Versus the head gasket replacement is very tricky, which failed once before because we didn't use a straight edge and feeler gauges. In fact, we used a cheap aftermarket head gasket kits.

The old head gasket showed a leak between cylinders. For, example, doing a leak-down test on cylinder 1 would blow air into the cylinder next to it and so forth. This motor had overheated countless times from mysterious coolant loss. :-(

Thank you Larry Smith for being so kind with your support and troubleshooting knowledge and putting effort to see thru to the end. Good luck :-) Tibur

Good luck on your repair.. You can fix almost anything, but sometimes the right choice is to replace the unit. It can be cheaper and less frustrating in the end.