Hi everyone!
I personally own a 1998 Eclipse GST, but that is not why I’m starting this thread. My girlfriend drives a 2000 Eclipse GT, and we’ve been having some idle problems ever since she left the keys in it and drained the battery a few days ago (I know, ugh). Well, I toped off the battery fluid with water and charged it back up to what I thought would be fine. It started fine and when I went to drive it, it dies when it comes to a stop. I thought maybe it wasn’t charged good enough, and it couldn’t keep spark at low RPMs since the alternator wasn’t producing enough power. After I charged it more and the problem persisted, I figured the battery was shot (it was the battery that the car came with when we bought it a half year ago). So we replaced the battery, and the problem persisted. Here’s the catch; if I manually raise the idle with my foot on the throttle (just a tiny bit), it eliminates all problems. The hesitation and the stalling are eliminated. So, I thought maybe I just need to raise the idle to a consistent 1k. As I’m reading though, the idle is very temperamental on these ECU dominated cars, so is that a bad idea? Will I be messing with fuel curves? If it is okay to raise, how do I do it? What appears to be the idle adjustment to me is a small screw that is very difficult to get to and is upside down to boot. I tried a small flathead, but can’t get it to work (but I was in the dark). Is it a Phillips? Please help! Thanks for any responses!

 

why would you put water in battery acid?

 

idle speed shouldnt be your problem. i was having this problem for a while due to a cracked spark plug. i believe that it was the number 2 cylinder. i also had some problems like this for a short time due to a leak in the CAI right at the TB, so i had unmetered air going into the engine...causing it to run lean.

the reason that he put water into the battery, is that the battery is filled with water...and the water level should be maintained...but very few people check them.

 

How good are your battery terminals also. Because a bad connection would cause that

 

yep to both, check your terminals, spark plugs, plug wire connection area, and distributor.

 

Thanks for the replies guys. I'll check all that hopefully tonight. Does it make sence what I'm saying about the idle though? I won't touch it, but just for my own ego, am I making any sense?
And it's a V6, so tell me how hard it is the check the back three plugs? Please don't say I need to pull the mani off to check plugs.
So, battery connections looked good to me,
I'll check the intake (stock),
plug wire connections,
distributor, and hopefully it won't be hard for me to pull the plugs. I have decent mechanical ability, but have never worked on this car before. Thanks again guys! Let me know if you have any more idea, and I’ll let you know how this turns out.
And do you think it’s just a coincidence that this all happened right after she drained her battery? I do not doubt it though. These things always come in threes haha... At least I don’t have to worry about the crank walking…

 

well raising the idle is something that you could do, however alot of the times that really isnt the source of the problem and all that ends up doing is masking the real problem. Thats why i ussually will not suggest doing that

 

okay, that's something along the lines of what I was figuring. Thanks: I'll let you guys know when I get a better look at it again. In the mean time, can someone tell me how hard it's going to be to get out the back plugs?

 

ive heard on those GT's its a real PITA.

 

Ifigured that would be the case given I know they were that way one the 3000gt's. If anyone has any helpful hints, please let me know. I should be looking at it tomorrow sometime.