Alright, I am pretty calm right now after a little fight I had with my car. I broke one of my flashlights, kicked my front bumper and lost the extension in order to use many of the sockets that I use. I've been entirely too stressed over the past couple of weeks. I was let go from my job and my alternator went out the same week. I spent $394 because I did not have the necessary tools to do it myself; mainly floor jack and jackstands (couldn't even borrow any). I have no money under my name and have had no luck with finding another job. To top that off, my girlfriend now hates my car; she doesn't even feel safe riding in it anymore. After spending money on more shit that I thought would fix my car, it's still having problems. After replacing CAMSHAFT/CRANKSHAFT position sensors, IAC, relays, coils, wires, plugs, fuel filters, air filters, alternators, starters to name a few of way too many things to go out in less than a year of owning the car; one problem still remains (I do realize the car is 11 years old, but damn). The car is still randomly shutting off! After replacing so many things I've narrowed it down to the ECU, after being ignorant and not thinking so for so long (my other thread about cleaning the camshaft position sensor/magnet, it didn't work out after all).

All that mumbo-jumbo is besides the point really of my post. I don't understand how we keep going on with these cars, maintaining and upgrading them as we do; it's like a drug. I've always looked after this car; repeatedly looking over small details, checking fluid levels and giving her the usual wash & wax once a week. My mother doesn't even touch her POS 99 Grand Am and it's in better condition than my car! I've spent more than $3,000 in replacement parts and I bought the car completely stock w/ rims & tires... I can't even mod the damn thing because something is always breaking before I get there. I drive 60 on the highway and very rarely do I go above 3000RPM. Anyways, I wanted to check out the wires connecting to the ECU connector harness thing that plugs into the ECU to see if any of the wires were possibly arcing, causing the ECU to randomly flash and turn the car off... I don't know what I'm talking about when it comes to electrical aspects, but it sounded like a good idea at the time. My problem is that the bolt that holds the connector in doesn't even come out... it just keeps spinning in place. How should I remove it? I honestly was bent over my engine bay with a socket wrench turning this bolt for 10 minutes and damn, does my back ache.

Also, the recently purchased IAC valve is making a buzzing type noise that can be heard over the lifter tick and goes away when given throttle. It's from Auto Zone and is obviously not OEM; could that just be the problem? Cheap-oh IAC?

I apologize for the long rant and appreciate all the help that has been given to me with the short amount of time I've been on the forums. I search the forums and hate coming across threads like this where n.oobs just whine and moan about their cars not working and have to type a huge essay about it... but atleast I know how to type. :rolleyes

you think that bad i bought a turbo kit and tuesday befor i was going to put it on my moter blow. :owned i know how you feel

That sucks.

holy mother of God! that sounds bad. i know im going to sound like an Jack-Hole (ass;s were removed ^^) but is there any chance u can take it to a mitsu dealer? it sounds like the same problem i had when i got my car. i drove it home, and next morning it didnt start, and it didnt for a couple of months, took it to a shop, and they found some burt wires. 2-3 months later it happened again, took it to SATAN and it was something with the ignition (posted some where in here, a serch may help if u cant the specific problem) charged me $500 to fix it and now its running strong. I know ur out of a job, so was i, until a couple days ago, but if u can get by alil more save some money to take it to the dealer and rid urself of the many frustration that it seems u have. Good luck with your girl friend, and tell ur mom to let u borrow her grand am and ull chack it once in a while for her!

Take the head of the bolt off. Drill it. Don't go past the head. Maybe there's a better way? I drilled the head off before.

if the bolt is simply spinning, is the harness not fully connected to the ECU? Try tightening the bolt, does it just spin, or does it pull the harness into the ECU?

I know how your situation is with the girlfriend, my fiance doesn't trust my car either, but it's always made it from point A to point B. It kind of hurts when she calls it a piece of crap... But then I realize it is a piece of crap that hasn't fully quit on me yet, and it's MY piece of crap.

Maybe your car isn't happy because you are not treating it right. Go 65+ on the highway, go to 6k rpms.

Hell, I'm at 200k+ and I'm not afraid to go to redline, I've gone 110 on the highway before (not for long though, I forgot to check the speedometer and slowed down to 80 once I realized how fast I was going)

Originally posted by 95_ESi_Person
if the bolt is simply spinning, is the harness not fully connected to the ECU? Try tightening the bolt, does it just spin, or does it pull the harness into the ECU?

The connector is fully connected to the ECU... it's just that when I go about trying to remove the bolt holding it on, it just spins; both tightening and loosening directions.

dude i am having the same prb with my 95 talon esi, same shit i replaced the camsensor and the car, ran fine for a month then this stuff agian kinda sucks, every time i break down i give my ecu (pcm, ecm) light wake and then i am fine to go but lately i havent been i would start my car back up and it will run for 30secs and then kill it self but tonight when it did it i got under the hood on the side of the road and was pulling on the wiring harness and it would make those noises that ur talking about and kept doing the same stuff was stuck for a half hour (not fun) so i think its the ecu or its a short or something, but one of my buddys who own like 1 eclipse and 1 talon was telling me that the capasitors go bad in the ecu's so no clue, but i found a spot down in FL. that rebuilds them but i need to get more info

Originally posted by adamtalon95
dude i am having the same prb with my 95 talon esi, same shit i replaced the camsensor and the car, ran fine for a month then this stuff agian kinda sucks, every time i break down i give my ecu (pcm, ecm) light wake and then i am fine to go but lately i havent been i would start my car back up and it will run for 30secs and then kill it self but tonight when it did it i got under the hood on the side of the road and was pulling on the wiring harness and it would make those noises that ur talking about and kept doing the same stuff was stuck for a half hour (not fun) so i think its the ecu or its a short or something, but one of my buddys who own like 1 eclipse and 1 talon was telling me that the capasitors go bad in the ecu's so no clue, but i found a spot down in FL. that rebuilds them but i need to get more info

Yes, there is a known fact that the capacitors go bad and start to leak in the ECUs. However, most of what I've heard about this problem occurs a percentage of the time with the turbo ECUs. A hand full of us 2GNT guys have actually had this problem too, so yes, it happens with our ECUs as well unfortunately. A sign of a bad ECU could be where it flashes randomly while you're driving and your car bucks along with it, or in yours and my case, the car will randomly turn off. I'd recommend finding another non-turbo Eclipse/Talon of the same year model and try swapping them out to see if it cures your problem.

Give a little more info on the problem with it shutting off. Do you drive for a little while then it dies, not start back up right away, only after it cools? Any trouble codes? usually a fuel pump will run a while then get hot and lock up, cool down and work again. Next time it dies, crawl on the ground and hit the fuel tank with your fist or a rubber malett or whatever you have that wont spark. Then try to start it. Usually you would want to have someone turning it over while you hit the tank but it's worth trying when you have no help. This stuff can get really stressfull in a hurry, I deal with this shit and much much worse every day. Also a new part dos'nt mean it's a good part either. I've worked on cars with bad computers and maf's that I had to go through 3 and 4 of them before I got a good part, with through diagnostics between all of them. And these were dealer reman and some new. Dont let it get to you too much, you'll get through it.

Originally posted by 97xtc
Give a little more info on the problem with it shutting off. Do you drive for a little while then it dies, not start back up right away, only after it cools? Any trouble codes? usually a fuel pump will run a while then get hot and lock up, cool down and work again. Next time it dies, crawl on the ground and hit the fuel tank with your fist or a rubber malett or whatever you have that wont spark. Then try to start it. Usually you would want to have someone turning it over while you hit the tank but it's worth trying when you have no help. This stuff can get really stressfull in a hurry, I deal with this shit and much much worse every day. Also a new part dos'nt mean it's a good part either. I've worked on cars with bad computers and maf's that I had to go through 3 and 4 of them before I got a good part, with through diagnostics between all of them. And these were dealer reman and some new. Dont let it get to you too much, you'll get through it.

Well, with mine here's what happens:
Lets say I don't have a CEL on right now. I'll be driving along and the CEL will come on (it's usually code 11) and then later on, it will randomly flash while I'm driving or idling and the car will either buck while I'm driving, or turn off while I'm idling. When it flashes, the CEL will turn off and I go through the whole process all over again. Sometimes when the car is just idling or I'm cruising to a stop, whenever the ECU flashes itself, the idle will sometimes catch itself before it stalls... sometimes. I also have my EGR blocked off and I'm not even getting a CEL for it; I used to before I had this problem.

You really need to have an actual p code, like p0301 for example. Even it there are no active codes when you get them read, there should still be pending or history codes in the ecm. Take it to auto zone and write the codes down and I can give you alot better info on the problem. Also will the car start up after it dies or does it have to sit?

Originally posted by 97xtc
You really need to have an actual p code, like p0301 for example. Even it there are no active codes when you get them read, there should still be pending or history codes in the ecm. Take it to auto zone and write the codes down and I can give you alot better info on the problem. Also will the car start up after it dies or does it have to sit?

I had the ECU scanned and I forgot what exactly it was; I believe it said something about a misfire, but I do not have one. I'll write down the codes tomorrow. Yes, the car will start up after it dies, although it's a rather weak start.

When the cel flashes, the flashing means that converter damage could happen due to misfires that are happening at that particualr moment. Dont go out and buy anymore parts until you let me review the codes though. I dont believe in throwing parts at a car. Im a professional technician, and doing this every day. I can honestly say I have not misdiagnosed a vehicle in years. It can be tough w/o being able to see any scan data but it's doable. You may want to pick up a cheap 5 or 10 dollar multimeter though as without a doubt you will end up doing resistance and voltage checks on circuits. I can walk you through it though.

Originally posted by 97xtc
When the cel flashes, the flashing means that converter damage could happen due to misfires that are happening at that particualr moment. Dont go out and buy anymore parts until you let me review the codes though. I dont believe in throwing parts at a car. Im a professional technician, and doing this every day. I can honestly say I have not misdiagnosed a vehicle in years. It can be tough w/o being able to see any scan data but it's doable. You may want to pick up a cheap 5 or 10 dollar multimeter though as without a doubt you will end up doing resistance and voltage checks on circuits. I can walk you through it though.

Well, the CEL light does not flash repeatedly while I'm driving; doesn't that mean the car is misfiring? Or when my ECU seems to flash itself, is that when the misfire is occuring? I actually have invested in a multimeter, so a walk-through would be much appreciated. I'll update you on the codes tomorrow with a PM, I'm off to sleep. Thank you for the help.

Got the CEL scanned.

P1390
Control Ignition System or Misfire

Where do I go from here?

plugs, wires, coil pack till you get it fixed. your plugs were lookin a lil toasty the other day...swap em out...be sure and get NGK's

Originally posted by 96eclipse2nr
plugs, wires, coil pack till you get it fixed. your plugs were lookin a lil toasty the other day...swap em out...be sure and get NGK's

I gave JV my extra coil pack, so hopefully it isn't the MSD coil going bad. I'll have to whip out the Chilton's and see if the coil is good. How do I go about checking the spark plug wires?

That code is (timing belt skipped a tooth) The person that read the code gave you the wrong info, give me your ph# and i'll call you.

Originally posted by saikou

Originally posted by 97xtc Give a little more info on the problem with it shutting off. Do you drive for a little while then it dies, not start back up right away, only after it cools? Any trouble codes? usually a fuel pump will run a while then get hot and lock up, cool down and work again. Next time it dies, crawl on the ground and hit the fuel tank with your fist or a rubber malett or whatever you have that wont spark. Then try to start it. Usually you would want to have someone turning it over while you hit the tank but it's worth trying when you have no help. This stuff can get really stressfull in a hurry, I deal with this shit and much much worse every day. Also a new part dos'nt mean it's a good part either. I've worked on cars with bad computers and maf's that I had to go through 3 and 4 of them before I got a good part, with through diagnostics between all of them. And these were dealer reman and some new. Dont let it get to you too much, you'll get through it.

Well, with mine here's what happens: Lets say I don't have a CEL on right now. I'll be driving along and the CEL will come on (it's usually code 11) and then later on, it will randomly flash while I'm driving or idling and the car will either buck while I'm driving, or turn off while I'm idling. When it flashes, the CEL will turn off and I go through the whole process all over again. Sometimes when the car is just idling or I'm cruising to a stop, whenever the ECU flashes itself, the idle will sometimes catch itself before it stalls... sometimes. I also have my EGR blocked off and I'm not even getting a CEL for it; I used to before I had this problem.

I'm sure it's the ECU. I had the exact same thing happening until the car just died on the street. Fortunately near work and I just had it towed a few blocks to the parking lot there. I got a used working ECU for a hundred bucks and after the car sat there for a week, plugged it in and voilla, no such problems ever since.

I have always thought the ECU was flipping out, but I can never get ahold of a friend of mine who has a 95 ESi to swap 'em out to see if it fixes the thing. It's been suddenly a lot colder here where I live in Texas, 22 degrees out right now. All weekend my car has been driving without a problem... I think the cold weather has something to do with it, IMO. I doubt timing has anything to do with my situation because it is set at TDC. I'm thinking (highly unlikely), maybe the ECU just performs better in cooler weather and when ever the engine bay temperatures are fairly hot, the ECU likes to take a dump (just like components in a computer). Maybe the same goes towards my MSD coil pack as well. I have an extra I can swap out to see if it solves anything, but again, highly unlikely... yet, this all started last summer when I received my MSD coil pack and blocked the EGR valve.

I'll just have to try and get through to my buddy before Monday to borrow his ECU & update on the situation to have any sort of impact to solving my car's problem.