Idle/Starting Problems STILL.....getting pissed.

95 Mitsubishi Eclipse Rs - Automatic

Alright, here's the situation. (some of you may remember this from a few weeks ago, but I can't find my old thread so I made a new one)

It first started off about a month ago with new valves and guides in the head. Then a port and polish came along after I got the head back. I installed the head on the motor and put everything back together and then put the engine back into the car. After the first initial startup, everything ran fine but then I found out I had a bad EGR valve that started making some weird noises and then the car started to run like shit so I replaced that with a different one. After replacing the EGR valve, I started up the car and it ran nicely so I let it run for awhile and then shut it off. I curiously started up the car just for a final assurance that it ran fine but after starting it, it started but the rpm's went from 800 to 150 about 3 times and then it died. One of the helpful guys on here told me to use some seafoam to clean the top part of the engine because maybe that bad EGR valve clogged up the top end. I went to start the car to move it outside while I used the seafoam (the exhaust get's pretty bad for a few seconds) and it would crank over fine but it wouldn't fire. I then checked the compression and here's how it ran from left to right: 135, 145, 160, 140. I then switched wires and plugs and still nothing. So then I took and un-hooked the coil pack and plugged it back in and went to start the car and it started right up. So I got it backed out and then used a little of the seafoam stuff. I only used about 1/4 of it because I wanted to make sure it was working before I used the whole can. I removed the plugs and found that the far left plug was carboned up but the other 3 were nice and white (i'm guessing from the seafoam cleaned them up) So I put the plugs back in and tried to start it and it cranks over fine but it WILL NOT START. I AGAIN put brand new plugs in and still nothing. I un-plugged and plugged in all the sensors to make sure the connections were secure and good and I un-plugged and then plugged in the coil again too and still nothing. I will turn over and have compression as long as it wants but it will not fire up. Anyone have an idea on what my problem is???

UPDATE:
ok the idle has seemed to steady out somewhat but I still have a big problem.

the car starts after sitting for awhile but then if i shut it off, it will not start again until it sits for awhile. anyone know what my problem is??

Almost sounds like the coil might be going.... an old car I had would run till it warmed up but then just die...wouldn't start till the coil cooled down
I got a new one and ran great.

awesome, i'll try that out. hopefully it fixes my problem.

new update:

I replaced the coil, plugs, and wires thinking the problem might be in one of those so i did them all at once and now the damn thing wont even start. I'm going to check fuel pressure tomorrow but does anyone else have any ideas on what might be wrong?

another new update:

i checked the fuel pressure today and it was fine. i then pulled the plugs to see if they were getting fuel and they are wet so it's not fuel related.
I checked the connector for my coil pack with at test light and when the ignition is on, neither of the 3 wires has power, but when it's being cranked over, only the center wire has power. Are the other 2 not supposed to have it unless it's connected or what's the deal? I'm starting to think it's the wiring harness or the computer, but i just replaced the computer last year and it ran fine before I put this engine in.

Also, the motor that I just put in, the fuel rail doesn't have a fpr on it or a vacuum line for the other side of the rail. The rail on the motor i just took out had a vacuum line and a fpr on it. I had to take and block off my fuel return line with a bolt being as I have no where to connect it to. I know this isn't the cause of my problem, because i'm getting fuel, but am i going to need to get a different fuel rail with those connectors on it, or will the one I have right now work fine??

THat is how the coil pack connect should work. One wire should get power, and I believe each coil pack gets its own ground. In many cases the ECU actually switches ground to activatge things, not powr like we all tend to assume. I can't say for sure though. What color is the wire that had power, and what color is the other two? I know the 2 blue wires are the ones for each individual coil (you swap them when using a 1g cas, or swapping 95-96 with 97-99 ECUs instead of swapping the plug wires if you want). IF one of those wires is triggering the test light, I'd bet you have a bad injector drivier or some wiring issues. If its the other wire (I want to say its black), I would expect that is normal. Getto diagnosis at best, but it should elp somehwat anyway .

If you swapped out the coil, wires, and plugs, and it got WORSE, the problem has to lie there. That is not normal. Maybe a bad connection or shitty wire, something along those lines.

Also, the motor that I just put in, the fuel rail doesn't have a fpr on it or a vacuum line for the other side of the rail. The rail on the motor i just took out had a vacuum line and a fpr on it. I had to take and block off my fuel return line with a bolt being as I have no where to connect it to. I know this isn't the cause of my problem, because i'm getting fuel, but am i going to need to get a different fuel rail with those connectors on it, or will the one I have right now work fine??


I have no idea what is going on here. Are you saying that you have a fuel feed going into the fuel rail, and the other end is blocked off? If so, you are getting 80-90 psi fuel pressure, odds are its too rich to start or run correctly. Our cars require a return type fuel system and 42 psi idle fuel pressure with no vac/boost reference (2g, 1g is 38 psi). Have you checked for spark with a plug just laying on the shock tower or something like that? Forgive me if I missed that in a previous post. But if you are getting wya too much fuel it may not start even if the ignition system is fine.

my fuel rail is set up like this. it goes from the pump to the filter, and from the filter right into the end of the fuel rail. on my chilton manual, it says that there is supposed to be a fpr with a return line and on the other end of the rail, there is a vacuum line. mine didn't come with either of these, why would this be, did the factory produce some with and some without the fpr/vacuum or is this someone else's screwup? the funny thing is is that it started up before and ran, but now it doesn't start at all, so i don't know if it's fuel related for my starting problems. although it could produce bad symptoms later on (poor gas mileage, poor engine performance), I don't think that's my starting problem. i just need to get it started, then i'll fix the smaller problems.

YOu know, I saw the turbo cars in your sig. If this is about the NT, which looking back at the original post it appears to be, I dont know what they fuck they use for a regulator setup :D Perhaps its not supposed to have these things, and thats why fuel pressure checked out ok (assuming you actually measured it). So that being discovered now, I'll stop confusing the issue with my turbo only knowledge :D

haha...sorry about the mixup, yeah this is about the nt. i dont' know if the factory made some with and some without or what, but the chilton manual shows that it's supposed to have and i ran it on my other engines that ran fine it so i'm ordering one anyways. maybe this will fix my rough idling problems too. would that be sweet.:D