no power

45

Asked by J_burbs Feb 23, 2010 at 09:38 PM about the 1991 Mitsubishi 3000GT FWD

Question type: Maintenance & Repair

i have a 91 mitsubishi 3000gt base  and im having trouble getting my car to accelerate like it used too ill punch it the rpms will go up like it used to but the car just wont accelerate i recently replaced the fuel filter so i know its not that i notice that there is a light ticking that you can really only hear with the hood open and i noted that one of my cam pulleys wobbles please help me out

42 Answers

25

damn that sucks. same thing use to happen w/my 3000GT ('95), i'd get on the highway n give it the gas n the whole car wud jump. cudnt get that baby past 80 either:( dont kno much about fixen cars tho so i cant help u there. myn i eventually sold cuz it was havin 2 many problems.

2 people found this helpful.
45

Sounds like your clutch might be on it's way out. About the ticking, your engine uses hydraulic valves, a technology that was used in the 90s. But is rarely used nowdays because they get noisey as the engines get older. Mine's the same, has been for a few years but still goes great. Hope this helps

4 people found this helpful.
45

i think your right about the ticking but its an automatic so its not the clutch any other ideas im having a hell of a time starting it now could this possibly be the fuel pump?

25

try some STP fuel injector cleaner and check to see how dirty your air filter is. lifter tick is common on these cars. nothing to worry about just as long as you hear a light ticking

45

yeah its just a light ticking i have a k&n air filter and just recently recharged it but now it wont start eighter it'll get really close to starting but wont

25

have you looked at the spark plugs to see if they need to be changed? also, with the cam pulley that wobbles, check to make sure the timing marks on both cam pulleys and the crank pulley are aligned with the timing belt. if these marks are off, it can cause BIG problems along with not starting. if the marks are not aligned, align them and then tighten down the pulley and give it a shot. if they are aligned, tighten the pulley and give it a shot. i would check the timing before i would check the plugs just because its a little easier.

45

see it started to act up first then just the other day it wouldnt start so i dont think its timing that belt on there is pretty tight

25

i'm not sayin that would be a deff fix, but it's deff worth looking at just to be 100% positive that the timing isn't off. have you checked the coil pack and plug wires?

55

you may be having relay problems with the tranny or depending on the miles it may just be time to tear down and rebuild

15

may have jumped time pull the timing covers and see where the timing marks are if its not to bad you might be able to get it back in time if its real bad buy a new engine its cheaper that rebuilding one

1 people found this helpful.
45

just replaced the tranny so i know its not that havent check the plug or wires yet im gettin it looked at monday

55

thats one of the crappy things about bein a do it yourselfer like us you just gotta go down the line and keep checking new things till you get it. I got a problem with the drive train in my 01 ford crew the 4wd went out then the rear wheel drive im thinkin its the transfer case but wont know till i get there

Try putting 2 or 3 bottles of "Lucas Fuel Injector Cleaner" in there. If always peps any of our cars up and the run it almost to empty, I guarantee you'll notice a difference. It's some strong stuff bro but even Mama and Brooke can tell when I put it in there cars.

25

did it start having trouble accelerating before or after you replaced the tranny? if after, was it immediately after you got it back on the road that it started this problem. i know i personally wouldn't think it could be the tranny since it was just replaced, but there always is the slim chance of getting a "lemon." as far as it not starting, when you take it in tomorrow, i would deff make sure to check the coil packs, plug wires, plugs, and timing. if all of them check out good, check your fuel pump and injectors. if those check out, i would check your ECU. i doubt it would be your ECU, but then again, the 1st gen's have been known for having problems with resistors burning up. one more thing, i don't know if you are aware, but 3/S enthusiasts have a website called 3si.org and there is a lot of helpful information on there in just about any aspect you could think of with these cars. you might even find someone who has had the same problem as you that has posted about the fix. good luck with it. let us know wut you find out

2 people found this helpful.
45

the tranny is ok i didnt have any problems at first it all started after we had a big snow storm and my altenator belt broke i think this was due to snow getting packed in there you see im missing a sheild under the car anyways i had to drive it like 5 miles with out the belt to make it home cause i didnt want to leave it on the road in the weather so i had to jump it like 6 times just to make it home so i took it to get the belt on when i got it back it had no power just as i mentioned at the beginning of this post drove it that way to work like 3 days in a row then i was told it could be a fuel filter fixed that night and the next morning i couldnt get it to start till that night took to to my drove to my gf's and left the car on so it i wouldnt have to start it but it died and my lights were still on so it drained the battery tried to jump it but it wont start

45

so the mechanic said they believe the timing most like to due to my bent cam pully do i need to pull the engine to work on timing?

20

if the mechanic looked at it and said your timing was off, why wouldnt you just have them do it?? if you dont really have experience working on cars, imo i would have someone else switch cam pulleys and put everything back to TDC. this is something that almost has to be perfect the first time around because your motor is an interference motor which means if your off a few teeth, the valves will hit the pistons and cause even further damage...

2 people found this helpful.
25

lol, i just read the first few words of your post, "91 3000GT base." N/A=naturally aspirated. i love my 97 VR-4 but it's such a pain to work on sometimes. but i've got a friend who's gotten good enough at changing timing belt on N/As that he can get one done in about 15-20 min so it shouldn't be too difficult

25

you know, it completely slipped my mind, but a plugged catalytic converter would give you most if not all the same problems. i would still make 100% sure it's not the timing and deff replace the cam pulleys since the one has been wobbling. do you have emission testing where you're located? if not, do a "cat delete" and just get rid of the "cat" but if you do live where there's emissions testing, i would get a "high flow cat" if it doesn't fix the problem, then you at least have better exhaust flow which=better sound and, if driven conservatively, can increase fuel mileage

125

if ur car is off timing, in general, ur check engine light be on and it would idle rough. My suggestion is to eliminate the exhaust being plugged, disconnect the exhaust manifold at the point that it bolts to the down pipe. Either lossen it up enough where u can see a good size gap or completly unmount it but make sure that down pipe is not going to be swinging around. then take it on a test drive and see if it makes a difference. hope that helps if not let me know.

2 people found this helpful.
45

timing jump should will be fixed tommorrow or thurseday depending on when the new cam pulley comes in thanks everyone for all your help

15

brand new tranny? cause if used one of the gear syncros could be going out

65

clean your injectors, check your airflow sensor isnt fouled up or damaged, then take it for a run, if the rpm remains the same then its not an engine problem because its working normally, so it has to be fuel because its losing its bang. how did the cam change go? my car was running good at normal rpm but after bout 4000 it seriously starts to stutter. turns out my air sensor was fucked.

10

its neither. ur fuel filter is prolly pluged up or it could be a spark plug. the littlest things on a car can cuause such a hugh problem. thats y they say take care of ur car and give it its tune up once in a while and you wont have such a bigger problem down the road...when it sits there in ur drive way turned on does it sound like its sputtering or wanting to turn off?

1 people found this helpful.
10

but yeah also check ur fuel injectors and air flow sensor. i have a 1991 3000gt my self. but that same promblem u have happend to my 1992 mustang with the exchust thing there talking about and all it was, was i had to change my spark plugs and wires. so dont cut it off or go though the hassel of it all man.

just reading all of this and i thought maybe you could help me with my 97 base. i just got the car from a guy who said the cats were clogged and its been sitting for 8 mths. i towed it home, because it wouldnt start. loosened up the down pipe and jumped it and it started after a few tries, but ran like it was running on 2 cylinders. plug wires,cap and plugs were bad so i replaced them all and gave it a oil change hooked the exaust back and it ran the same no change. i dont thing the cats are clogged, because it ran the same with the pipe off. what could be doing this? coil,ecm? how can i pull any trouble codes if therte is any? thanks

yea well if he can do a timing belt on on of those or 99% of any cars on the road for that matter he would be in guinness book and id pay him to do em all day in my shop!!! whomever said this is a moron or a hack and shouldnt be working on any car especially a stealth or 3000gt !!

Ugh..I'm having the same issues now on my 92 N/A SL. New fuel filter, New tranny Good plugs and wires, Good fuel injectors...I'm at a loss. Getting a pressure test today, hope something comes up;/

Some of these sound close but the 94 3000GT 5sp w/K&N runs great @ 160K miles. Until it wasn't great. While on a trip it started rain. During that trip I noticed a little bucking. Later all is well. For two weeks now it has gotten worse (seems worse when wet out). I use Chevron premium, tried a bottle of Seafoam. Please advise.

9,745

check your distributor cap,, if its cracked it will let in moisture and then it wont fire right , also you should start your own thread instead of hijacking someone elses let alone one that is 4 years old lol

could be a vacuum leak or a slight jump in timing. also the cam position sensor could be bad. i had the same problem and smelled gas after hard acceleration. had poor fuel economy accompanying all this with an idle of about 1000rpm sometimes 1100 after warm up.

Has anyone had any electrical issues with these cars? Because I have a 1998 3000gt SOHC automatic

615

First off STOP using additives! All your doing is causing the ECU to adjust and run more fuel more issues I just had the same situation you having Its the PTU and IAC what is making you loose performance, providing that your plugs and wires arent in bad shape. I use iridium plugs and stock wires. Dont buy the 8mm wire unless you have a TT and upgraded igition system. The PTU is power transfer unit and IAC is the intake air control. Those two things i changed on my 95 and now it runs like a champ

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