Strange problem with 97 Mitsubishi Carisma

Brian?

I've been having a problem the last couple of weeks with my car. Its a 97 Mitsubishi Carisma, 1.6 petrol, with 85,000 miles on it.

I first noticed a problem while driving the engine managment light was flicking on every now and then while driving, this happened a couple of days running but there was no apparent issues, no mis firing or cutting out.

After a few days I found the car would start and cut out straight away if I was starting it within a few minutes of stopping it e.g. driving to shop, running in and coming out to find it was going nowhere. After a few minutes the car would start fine and drive fine but with the engine light pretty much constant.

I rang around a few garages, I live in Balbriggan, Co. Dublin so not many local to ring. Most said their computers would not interface with the car due to its age. One guy guessed that it was the throttle position sensor as its the most common fault.

The length of time after which the car will start has gotten longer and longer, now up to 3 hours. I did a few checks myself on the car while it won't start. I found that the left hand coil on the engine is not energising when I turn it over, I switched the 2 coils around and this is still the case. I checked the input to the coil and the signal to energise the coil is not being sent when the engine is turned over.


My best guess is a sensor on its way out somewhere but after that I'm clueless.


Any ideas?

Mr.Diagnostic

Hi,

If you are saying the fault did not move with the coil then you have managed to prove it to be either supply or signal to that coil. Check for a good 12v supply. If that is ok then check the wiring between the coil neg and the ECU. Also remove and open the ECU to check for water ingress. ECU problems are common on these but they also get wet if there is a slight leak from the heater matrix as the ECU is mounted under this. It will not be a sensor problem if the other coil is working ok as all sensors on this effect both coils.

HTH

lollipops

heya.i havent a otion about cars but our 02 almeara went exactly the same and it got that bad that the steering and everything went on it.we brought it to a garage in duleek.its behind the garage on the main road(very cheap}.it was the sensor and like you said it started with just the light flickering.hope this helps!!!!:o

Brian?

Mr.Diagnostic wrote:

Hi,

If you are saying the fault did not move with the coil then you have managed to prove it to be either supply or signal to that coil. Check for a good 12v supply. If that is ok then check the wiring between the coil neg and the ECU. Also remove and open the ECU to check for water ingress. ECU problems are common on these but they also get wet if there is a slight leak from the heater matrix as the ECU is mounted under this. It will not be a sensor problem if the other coil is working ok as all sensors on this effect both coils.

HTH

Turns out it was indeed a sensor, the cam position sensor in fact. The coils are activated based on their position as fed back by this sensor to the ECU. Figured it out from the works manual and replaced for €150.

Cheers anyway.

Mr.Diagnostic

Well done on fixing it. You must have been mistaken about the problem just being on one of the two coils since the Cam sensor would effect both coils. Either way a CMP is way cheaper than a new ECU

Brian?

Mr.Diagnostic wrote:

Well done on fixing it. You must have been mistaken about the problem just being on one of the two coils since the Cam sensor would effect both coils. Either way a CMP is way cheaper than a new ECU

No mistake at all mate, it was only effecting 1 coil. I must have checked that 20 times while trying to trace back the problem just to make sure. Thats how I finally figured out it was the CMP. I should have figured it out earlier as the works manual actually said this will happen with a faulty CMP, I was kicking myself for skimming over it rather than reading it properly when I did see it. Thank god it wasn't the ECU indeed.

meano

Hi All,

I am having problems with my 98 Mitsubishi Carisma, and it appears to be an ECU issue.

Anyone know if an ECU can be salvaged from another Car ?, and if so, what is involved, and what sort of money do you think it would cost ?

I have been told it could cost up to a grand with a Mitsubishi garage.
The car is only worth about 2.5/3k

Cheers,
Meano

tigerlush

if u have a performance filter on it that might be the problem ur ignition coils might need changing or have a look at the sensor on ur exhaust if its broke that could also cause it

tigerlush

meano wrote:

Hi All,

I am having problems with my 98 Mitsubishi Carisma, and it appears to be an ECU issue.

Anyone know if an ECU can be salvaged from another Car ?, and if so, what is involved, and what sort of money do you think it would cost ?

I have been told it could cost up to a grand with a Mitsubishi garage.
The car is only worth about 2.5/3k

Cheers,
Meano

try going to the scrap yards u can pick them up cheaper there then any where else then go to a garage and get it done there not a main dealer though cause it will cost a lot if they put it on 4 u

meano

:eek:

Thanks tigerlush, your advice is appreciated, but i resolved this issue months ago. Ended up getting a new (second hand) ECU and new ignition from a scrap yard in the north.

Esel

I smell a thread cadaver. :eek:

matenza

briankeating wrote: »

I've been having a problem the last couple of weeks with my car. Its a 97 Mitsubishi Carisma, 1.6 petrol, with 85,000 miles on it.

I first noticed a problem while driving the engine managment light was flicking on every now and then while driving, this happened a couple of days running but there was no apparent issues, no mis firing or cutting out.

After a few days I found the car would start and cut out straight away if I was starting it within a few minutes of stopping it e.g. driving to shop, running in and coming out to find it was going nowhere. After a few minutes the car would start fine and drive fine but with the engine light pretty much constant.

I rang around a few garages, I live in Balbriggan, Co. Dublin so not many local to ring. Most said their computers would not interface with the car due to its age. One guy guessed that it was the throttle position sensor as its the most common fault.

The length of time after which the car will start has gotten longer and longer, now up to 3 hours. I did a few checks myself on the car while it won't start. I found that the left hand coil on the engine is not energising when I turn it over, I switched the 2 coils around and this is still the case. I checked the input to the coil and the signal to energise the coil is not being sent when the engine is turned over.


My best guess is a sensor on its way out somewhere but after that I'm clueless.


Any ideas?

Thanks for the information. We recently bought a 95` Carisma and had the same problem. Of course the garage didn`t know what to do with it, so after reading your blog, we solved the problem.

Thanks again!