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Car dieing when idleing Batt & alt replaced, same prob!
Posted: Tue Mar 06, 2007 3:31 pm
by SugarFreeGum
Hey Guys,
Ok to try and cut a long story short,
I've just had a brand new big battery put in, and alternator rebuilt. Just drove it out of the Auto elecs, alternator is charging a lot better all good.
But again experienced the same problems i had before taking it in to the auto elecs -
Drove it home (about 5mins away) get to my drive way and it dies, start it up again but without me giving it revs it will just die again. Started it a few more times and sometimes it will idle very very low and wont die and other times it will.
I'm going to check the ECU codes later tonight, but anyone else have any ideas? Through my searches it seems another possibility could be the 'stepper motor' do these symptoms sound like a stepper motor issue?
Thanks
Posted: Tue Mar 06, 2007 3:47 pm
by FtoSam
Yep... Stepper it is...
My mechanic fried mine (which reminds me i need to speak to him bout that).. As a temporary fix i adjusted it manually.. Just near your air intake there should be a screw... just screw it out a bit to increase your idle.... that will fix it for now... but yeah check into getting a new stepper... If you find 2 let me know...
Posted: Wed Mar 28, 2007 12:29 pm
by SugarFreeGum
So i have the stepper off, is there any way i can test it to confirm it is infact the problem?
In regards to giving it a clean, what exactly am i cleaning - the terminals?
Posted: Wed Mar 28, 2007 12:36 pm
by Bennoz
On the end of the stepper is a plastic lug that moves in & out according to the ECU instructions. Quite often carbon deposits can gunk up in there, thats what you'd need to be cleaning. Also check the connections of the plug to the stepper. I've seen plenty of stepper probs that have been because of broken wires.

Posted: Fri Mar 30, 2007 2:38 pm
by SugarFreeGum
OK, Gave it a good clean and pluged it in.
It moved in and out when we turned the ignition on and off, we bolted it back on and started the engine. Same thing as above - its ok for 10mins once the engines warm and you give it some throttle, once you release the throttle the car stalls. Sometimes when starting it up straight after it stalls it will be fine, other times it will just die again. We also noticed the we could not hear the operation sound of the stepper everytime we turned the ignition on and off. So it appears to be inconsistant.
Now to source a new one - does anybody have the Part number of the stepper motor? I can't find it in the parts database. Mitsubishi dealer best place to start for a replacement?
Kempys
Posted: Fri Mar 30, 2007 2:51 pm
by dstocks
I think you can source them from Kempys in NZ quite a bit cheaper than Mitsubishi
http://www.kempys.co.nz/
Failing that, if you have a part number, the best place to try would be North Shore Mitsubishi (They stock FTO Parts). It is unlikely that your local Mitsubishi dealership will have the part and quite likely that they would order from Japan. Worth a try anyways I guess - they can only say no.
Posted: Fri Mar 30, 2007 3:55 pm
by jonowong
buy one off bennoz he has like 2
Posted: Fri Mar 30, 2007 8:04 pm
by payaya
does your revs rise when you put it in nutural when in drive???
do your revs drop when you turn on your AC??
Posted: Sat Mar 31, 2007 1:01 pm
by SugarFreeGum
Hi,
No, after the 10min warmup, if i were to put it in neutral it would stall (but only after i have given it some throttle first). As soon as the engines warms up and i give it some throttle and back off the revs drop under the normal idle range and you can hear the engine strugle for a second while it stabilises, after a few times of giving it some throttle and backing off it will eventually just keep stalling.
If i start it straight after it stalls it normally stalls again, or ocasionally it will start and revs will be normal. So it is very inconsistant, its like the stepper only works sometimes.
In the workshop manual there is a trouble shooting guide for "Engine stalling when deaccelerating" this is exactly what i'm experiencing. Guide points straight at the ICS
Posted: Sat Mar 31, 2007 7:22 pm
by payaya
when you cold start your car, do revs rise to say 1500rpm then slowly drop off to under 1000rpm when engine is warm???
Or does it start and stay at like 700rpm straight away??
Also theres a screw on the throttle body. Turn it so revs normally are up about 200-300 rpm see if you still stall, it shouldnt.
Posted: Sat Mar 31, 2007 7:53 pm
by SilentBob
SugarFreeGum wrote:Hi,
If i start it straight after it stalls it normally stalls again, or ocasionally it will start and revs will be normal. So it is very inconsistant, its like the stepper only works sometimes.
this is the exact same problem i have been having
replaced the stepper motor seems to have fixed it up perfectly.....
so my suggestion is, new stepper motor

Posted: Sun Apr 01, 2007 3:07 pm
by SugarFreeGum
When i cold start it, it runs fine, revs over 1000 for a few minutes before dropping to normal idleing speed.
Bennoz - do you have any spare steppers?
Posted: Wed Apr 04, 2007 11:54 am
by SugarFreeGum
replaced with brand new stepper and problem solved. Thanks guys
Posted: Sat May 26, 2007 5:35 pm
by tadasu
im having the same prob as plus:
1. cd tuner not working
2. clock not working
could it still be the stepper motor prob?
Posted: Sat May 26, 2007 5:47 pm
by SchumieFan
earthing problem?
Posted: Sat May 26, 2007 6:53 pm
by payaya
tadasu wrote:im having the same prob as plus:
1. cd tuner not working
2. clock not working
could it still be the stepper motor prob?
fuse in engine bay.
Posted: Sun May 27, 2007 5:32 pm
by tadasu
just noticed that my reverse gear beeping sound is gone as well...
so which fuse is responsible for all these 3 probs? (cd tuner+clock+reverse beeping not working)
Posted: Sun May 27, 2007 5:42 pm
by tadasu
FtoSam wrote:Yep... Stepper it is...
My mechanic fried mine (which reminds me i need to speak to him bout that).. As a temporary fix i adjusted it manually.. Just near your air intake there should be a screw... just screw it out a bit to increase your idle.... that will fix it for now... but yeah check into getting a new stepper... If you find 2 let me know...
which screw is that?
Posted: Fri Jun 01, 2007 8:19 pm
by payaya
on the top side of throttle body. Where the throttle cable connects onto engine.
Posted: Sun Jun 03, 2007 11:30 pm
by tadasu
sent my car to a workshop and the mechanic adjusted it for me (the screw). they r ordering a stepper motor from melb, will send my car in again to get the old 1 replaced next week.