Hello All, Ihave a question about performance issues with my wifes Eclipse GS. When we first got the car it seemed to perform pretty good for a 2.4 litre engine. I have noticed over that past two months that acceleration perfromance has decreased significantly. The car feels like it has lost about 20hp. Is there anything that anyone is aware of that this particular year was having a problem with? Has anyone else had this problem? Any help would be appreciated.

 

Have you tried replacing all the filters on the motor/fuel system? Just a thought, cuz I've never heard of that before.<IMG src=smileys/smiley6.gif border="0">

 

Try resetting the ECU. Just unplug the battery for about five minutes and step on the brakes once or twice. That will reset the ecu to the way it was when it left the dealer's lot. If the car still seems sluggish after that, then you know it's not the computer but maybe a worn-out filter or a clogged injector or something. Be aware that resetting the ecu may cause the rest of the electrical appliance to be reset also. Only do this if you have the codes to the stereo head unit and know if there is a fail-safe or starter killon the alarm system.</P>

 

Thanks for the suggestions. I reset the ECM and that seems to have corrected the problem. Strange that it would need to be reset after only about 4500 miles though. Oh well, I'll keep an eye on it.

 

Well, from my experience the ECU seems to "learn" how the driver is driving. If you drive slow and cruise a lot, the ECU would respond and set its temporary fuel maps differently than if you drove aggresively all the time. But i've only seen it happen on cars that have been driven like 10k miles. Maybe it's time you told your wife to hand over the keys<IMG src=smileys/smiley2.gif border="0">

 

Hmm, maybe I should take the car outon weekends for a while....<IMG src=smileys/smiley14.gif border="0">

 

before you go getting your hands all dirty do the basic stuff first. ex: all filters, oil, plugs...it wouldnt be the iol inless you have been running it low. do little things like fuel cleaners etc....the basic things. than if that doesnt work ...get your hands dirty</P>

 

spyder is right about the ECU.....it depends how she drives too...

 

Disconnect the battery and reset the ecu. Then it'll also relearn the drivers technique's.

 

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I just posted that!?!? Anyways, Colussus...another thing to do when resetting the ECU is when the battery is disconnected is to step on the brakes once or twice. This purges the electrical sytem completely and will draw out whatever charges are left in the ecu. OBD2(96+ officially for the government)cars will take like a few weeks to relearn, but some go faster than others. This will not get rid of CEL's. If you go to get your car emissions checked, do not reset the ECU. They will not test your car and you will have to wait until the ecu relearns and adjusts itself(if you reset it to get rid of an engine code) to have it tested. Unless you have a friend working at thetesting place, they probably won't downgrade to a dyno test. Just letting you guys know since we're on the subject. </P>