Stalling issues

[420ASlowness]

Lately ive been having some issues with my car(97 Eclipse RS). It seems to be temperature related because it only happens during the day, and it will drive just fine at night when its cooler. Ill be driving along and the car acts and drives normally, but then all of a sudden the car will die and it takes me about 15 minutes just to get it started again. If its hot outside I only get about 15 mins of driving before it dies out on me again. I was pulling an engine code that said i had an open circuit in the ignition coil, so I replaced it and still the same thing happens. I can hear the fuel pump prime when I turn the ignition on, so I dont think thats the issue. Maybe PCM?? Does anyone have any Insight or has had similar problems? Thanks for your help.

[dbl_clutch]

Could be vapor lock, I haven't heard of it before on a 2g but I guess there is a first for everything. One thing to test it is once it dies release pressure from the gas cap and then try to start it. Now if this allows it to start and you are having vapor lock issues then it is probably a problem with the charcoal canister, you could try unhooking the lines to that and see if that fixes the problem.

[420ASlowness]

I thought it was vapor lock at first too, Ive tried a water removal gas treatment and the problem still continues. Its too late tonight to check the other stuff you mentioned but I will try it tomorrow and let you know if anything works. Thanks so much for your input!

[wolf20043]

If nothing else, I am starting vacacation on thurs if you feel like stopping by. I wont be home tomorrow until about 5 or so.
Mike

[420ASlowness]

If nothing else, I am starting vacacation on thurs if you feel like stopping by. I wont be home tomorrow until about 5 or so.
Mike

Id like to meet up sometime but unless its at night my car wont make it to wherever were meeting. Any input is greatly appreciated and if you want to take a look at it I'm not going to stop you haha. PM me and let me know when/where you wanna meet, Ive got school till 4 most of the days anyway.

As for my car issue, Im also going to take a good close look at the wires around the EGR piping and any wires that are close to hot parts of the engine and see if any of them are expanded or burned through. I need to get this solved I'm tired of not knowing if my car is going to die on me, like in the middle of an intersection( it happened to me today, Not going to drive it again till I have it fixed.) Again thanks a ton for everyone helping me!

[wolf20043]

Well, we just bought a '91 TSI AWD for $400. Guy said the turbo stopped working, I took it for a drive, drove fine. We replaced a slow leaking tire and drove it from La Junta to here with no issues, but no boost whatsoever. A couple of days later, it would bog, not want to go in first, and would die and not start for quite a while. Turned out, after noticing the boost gauge acting stupid, I pulled the ECU, checked it, and sure enough, leaking caps. Ran fine every time unless it was hot outside. Put in a new one, and now it is driving us all over town. Just another thought.
Mike

[420ASlowness]

Ok so this morning was a lot cooler due to the fact that it was overcast and raining, so I drove my car to school and back and it ran perfectly fine. CEL is still on but it ran normally. What could be making my car die from temperature. Im not overheating, always good on fluids. Resistance value from wires expanding? Or maye my fuel pump is overheating. I have no clue. I looked last night and there are a lot of wires very close to the EGR pipe so im probably just going to get an egr blockoff and some header wrap, maybe that wil take some heat out of the engine bay.

[ba109296]

Did you take out the ecu and check it yet?

[v413nc3]

The 2G 420A ECU is actually under the hood and easy to take out.

[GimPin]

How much fuel are you running in the tank? If you are running under a 1/4 tank, you could be overheating the fuel pump.

[420ASlowness]

Did you take out the ecu and check it yet?

I was planning on doing that today as soon as it stops raining down here(I dont have a garage) What things specifically should I be looking for? I dont really know what a damaged or malfunctioning computer looks like, other than leaking caps.


How much fuel are you running in the tank? If you are running under a 1/4 tank, you could be overheating the fuel pump.

I usually never go below 1/4 tank, but I have a full tank and it will still die on me on a hot day.

[420ASlowness]

Sorry for double posting but I just took my ecu out and visually it looks fine, the sealant on the caps was undamaged and the caps weren't leaking. After I put it back in and hooked it back up i took it for a spin because its a little bit warmer, and it ran way better than it has before. CEL stayed off after resetting the ECU
so I guess ill just have to wait for it to come back on and for it to die on me again. I cant find what the exact conditions are that cause it to die other than temperature. Ill have Mike take a look at it this weekend.

[wolf20043]

We will definately take a look this weekend. Hopefully we can figure it out.
Mike

[420ASlowness]

I survived another short trip to school and back today with no CEL light on and no problems. It couldn't have been as simple as resetting the ECU, because if there were problems, taking out the ecu and putting it back in wouldn't have corrected them. Although its only bout 75 here today, so maybe thats just within the temperature threshold for my car NOT to die haha. I guess if I wait long enough till the winter my problem might just dissapear, I guess it truly means ill have a "winter" car. j/k

[Mirage]

What kind and grade of gas do you use? I have seen where a cheaper fuel boils in the rail much easier than a high quality fuel.

It is also possible that the fuel pressure regulator or fuel pump o-ring to fail just enough to not allow the fuel line to stay pressurized and not boil as easily.

However. If it is temperature dependant and you get a CEL for an open coil circuit, I would look at the coil pack or transistor pack. Both can fail with engine bay heat.

As these components heat up, all the circuits expand and potentially cause an open circuit to where they no longer work properly.

Try a transistor pack first as that can fail in a way that it kills everything.

If it were a faulty coil, it would only run on two cylinders instead of completely kill the car.

Marcus

[420ASlowness]

I usually run mid or high grade never run low grade. I have run mid grade only since I replaced the fuel filter however.

The engine codes I'm pulling are P0351 and P0352, which is Ignition coil #1 primary circuit and Ignition coil #2 primary circuit. So its one of three things:

1) Ignition coil Number 1, 2 or both wiring harness or connector failed.
2) There is an open circuit in the ignition coil
3) PCM failed

I have already replaced the ignition coil, so its either the PCM, the connectors or wiring harness(as far as the CEL goes, its possible other things are causing the stalling issue). I am not that experienced with electrical systems in cars, I'm familiar with where some of the major components are, I just don't have the know how to diagnose and solve if it is either of those 2. What should I be looking for? Which leads me to my next question. Where is the MFI relay(ASD relay) located? That is where im going to start and troubleshoot down to the PCM.

[Mirage]

Get a multimeter and see if theres voltage at the coil connector when the car dies on you.

If there isn't, then it's a power supply issue further up the line.

It has to be the constant power side of the coil failing in order to take out both coil circuits at the same time.

I personally don't know much about the 2g N/A's as far as location of components. It may be wise to invest in a repair manual for it.

Marcus

[420ASlowness]

Since it is hard to diagnose something without looking at it I thought i would post some pictures. A friend of mine has a multimeter so ill see if i can borrow it form him. The thing is I really dont want to be driving it if it is going to randomly die on me. I hate getting stuck somewhere in 95+ degree weather, but if it will help solve the problem ill try it.
heres the pics:

I found and unplugged the ASD relay It looks really gunky I dont know if thats how its supposed to be:


There are wire bundles very close to the EGR pipe


The Ignition coil harness wires are very close to the valve cover and other hot elements but isnt it designed to protect it from heat?




I thought id also sneak a pic of my car in here since I havent posted one before

Do you like my painted Stock rims? Its cheap but I cant afford better ones ATM.

[Mirage]

The white gunk you see on the connectors is normal. It's dielectric grease.

if the only way that it quits on you is in 95+* weather, then you need to mimic or create those conditions so it will show up. Only then will you be able to properly diagnose it and do the proper repair the first time.

Marcus

[420ASlowness]

I was thinking of waiting a couple more hours until it heats up more, its supposed to get above 90 today again. Ill just let it idle for 20 mins or so and see if I cant get it to stall out on me. I will let you know, I really appreciate your help! thank you so much

[v413nc3]

Use a cheap hair dryer or heat gun to get the coil packs warm and see if they fail. Just don't melt the wires.

[420ASlowness]

Its odd, I'm trying to diagnose what is wrong with my car but for the past 2 days it hasn't died on me once. The CEL light is off(or burnt out, that things been on for a while.) I tried to simulate the conditions yesterday when it was 89 degrees outside. I let my car Idle for about 15 minutes, and then drove it for 15. No CEL and no stalling problems. I'm going to try to install a fuel pressure gague and just brave it out and drive around campus if its really hot this weekend and see if It will happen again. I know my problem couldn't have just been magically solved, it still has to be there. It just worries me to be driving a car that could completely die at any minute on me. This is really beyond my expertise, does anyone know of a decent shop in pueblo thats familiar with DSMs? thanks again to everyone trying to help me with this I hope we can get it resolved!

-Brad