I just bought a 97 mits eclipse RS 2.0 manual four days ago. Test drove it, ran great. This is a rebuilt engine that was installed 5 months ago, and supposedly "not given the guy I bought it from any problems". Took it in for emissions testing, failed P0108, P0351, P0352, P0340, P0401. So I began my troubleshooting process. An aftermarket cold air intake had been installed on it, the tube was loose and cracked at the elbow. Fixed it. The EGR sensor tube was not connected. Fixed that. The next day my husband took it to work. Upon trying to leave to come home he hit the button to unlock the doors on the remote (this is an aftermarket Audiovox Prestige car alarm, PN ASP511C). It unlocked the doors, but the alarm went off when he opened the door. He hit the button again and it turned off. He started the car and started to drive when the engine killed. He tried to start it again, and it would turn over, but wouldn't start - acted like it wasn't getting any fuel. I figured the alarm was rigged to the fuel solenoid or something and that was causing it not to start. I tried the valet override switch- NG. I tried disconnecting the battery for an hour to reset it- NG. So I found the control box, unplugged everything and took it out- NG. Still turns over, but no start. I don't want to have it towed because we live 50 miles away and at this point I just want to get it home. I lifted the back seat and turned the key on to listen for the fuel pump. I can hear it. Since one of the things it was failing for on the emissions test was the crankshaft position sensor, I replaced it.-NG. I did notice that all three of the wires leading to the plug were exposed and just twisted together loosely. I twisted them together better and wrapped each one individually in electrical tape. (not an ideal fix, but should work enough to get it home where I can do a better job) Now let me tell you I am doing all of these fixes in an unlit parking lot in the middle of a windy snow storm in the middle of the night while holding a flashlight in my mouth. The car is so low that I had to put the front on jack stands to be able to slide under it to get to the crankshaft sensor. Then I replaced the Ignition coil assembly- NG . I sprayed starting fluid and tried it, still- NG. Checked the spark plugs, they're sparky, so that's not it. The timing belt is new, most all of the hoses and vacuum tubes are new, and from what I can see most of the sensors are new. I ran a manufacturer diagnostic (I don't have a tester, and the manufacturer diagnostic works the exact same, just takes a bit longer to watch the blinking lights.) And I had thus far eliminated most all of the fails except for the camshaft position sensor (which looks brand new). And it's not failing for the MAP sensor anymore. I disconnected the MAP and tried to start it (just in case the MAP was still causing it)- NG. I am replacing the camshaft sensor today, but since it did not start with the starting fluid, I am thinking this is not my problem. All I can think of now is maybe the fuel relay or the ASD relay? But I am about out of money now, and need this car fixed NOW! I don't know much about car alarms, and I don't know if it has the ability to fry something that it shouldn't when I disconnected it. Any help anyone could give would be awesome!!Thanks!Melany

 

Sounds like either your not getting spark or you have no compression.

 

low oil pressure???? My car wont start or if it does wont stay on for more than 2 seconds, because our cars love oil........lol Check your oil level, next Compression test, Check the ecu(recapped?), take out each injector and see if its wet, check for gas in your car???? lol, uhm Thats all that I can think of right now..........

 

I agree with the others. You need to run spark, fuel, and compression tests, and back track from there.

 

Okay I read this in a little more detail, and I think I understand what is going on.

So you said you know the car is getting spark, but not sure if it is getting fuel, but when you sprayed starter fluid in the throttle body, it wouldn't start?

That makes me think the problem is in timing. Take off the timing belt cover and look for......well, a mess. If all appears well, then check that the timing marks are lined up. You should see little marks on the cam gears, and any irregularity will mean problems.

Props to you for working on it yourself!

 

Hey! Thanks for all your replies! I took your advice and checked the timing, took a bit to figure it out, but all looked well. Since I had already bought the cam sensor, I went ahead and replaced it. And guess what? That was the problem!!! Either that or a combination of sensors that I replaced, but I got in and it fired right up!No problems, and check engine light is off! I ran a diagnostic and no more fails! I'm so stoked! I pretty much so understand how engines work, I had a serious learning experience with an old GMC Jimmy. It broke down every week for something else, and I was young and poor and it was the only car I had, so every weekend I was working on it. It was a good learning car cuz it was easy, parts were cheap, and it was huge, so I could sit in the engine and could easily crawl under it to get to everything. I have a land rover discovery, but i won't touch it. The engine is weird and I don't understand it. But I understand how to read a manual, diagrams, and schematics so I can work on the eclipse myself! Now to replace the stupid door handle...I got the broke door handle off (that was a bitch) It looks like I'm supposed to remove the window to do it, but I figured I could just work around it, I've got skinny hands! But whoever put this door handle on super glued the inside bolt in. You can actually see the glue around the bolt head. I ended up having to get out the dremel tool and cut the bolt head off. but I finally got it off and now have to put the new one on. To raise the window a little more can I just remove the bolt in the center of the bottom of the window and slide it up the track a bit? or do I have to take the whole window out?