Engine dies 5 seconds after starting

I have a '91 Galant VR4, 95k miles, totally stock, had it since new, white/black. Over the past year (about 8 months apart) I had two episodes when I was driving at about 50mph and the engine just died. I coasted over to the shoulder, and could easily restart the car every time I turned the key, but the engine would dies 5 seconds after starting. During both episodes, after maybe 25-30 times restarting the car, it finally stayed started. Recently, the car has developed the same issue (parked at home), and it will not stay started. My repeated attempts at starting the car (it does stay running for 5 seconds, then the engine dies, no amount of throttle makes any difference) have drained the battery once, and the same problem persists with a new battery installed.

I have done a search, but did not come across any related posts/threads. If anyone has any ideas as to what may be the problem, I would appreciate the input. Thanks.

 

[chucklesas]

I'll bet you're losing ground to your MPI relay. Basically you need to have the ECU on the car rebuilt if it has not been replaced since you've owned it.

 

[Hertz]

First post in the Newbie section: Change your ECU capacitors or your car will explode*











* Dramatization, car will not actually explode.

 

[atc250r]

I've seen several Mitsu's that did that. All of them were ECU related.

John

 

[fivestardsm]

Quoting Hertz:
First post in the Newbie section: Change your ECU capacitors or your car will explode*


* Dramatization, car will not actually explode.




Wanna Bet.......

/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif

 

Thanks for all the replies. I did see that ECU-related post in the Newbie section, but didn't know it was related to my problem.

Any recommendations on how to get a new ECU? Dealer, factory, online? Is the ECU coded to the VIN of the particular car, or will a used ECU work? Thanks again.

 

[mikus]

5th post in for sale... get it socketed while it's under the knife too.

You also want to test your ISC, it's a part on the throttle body that can cause ECU failure when it fails. Don't want to put a fresh ECU in with a bad ISC.

 

[SmoothCustomer]

Used will work, and you want used or rebuilt. If you aren't tuning, go with a 1g as this will be much cheaper. Also, keydiver buys bad ecus if you want to make a little money.

 

Thanks for the new replies. I will start looking for a used ECU and R&R instructions.

 

Quoting alpha:
Any recommendations on how to get a new ECU? Dealer, factory, online?



Unless you have money to burn, the LAST place you want to buy an ECU is from the dealer. They are $900+.
There's a good chance that SteveP on here can fix the damage. Most used ECU's that you will find will also have had some level of acid damage at one time. 99% of the "remanufactured ECU's" that are sold are ECU's just like your's, but have had the damage repaired and the caps replaced, so buying one can be a gamble. As someone else said, I often buy badly damaged ECU's for parts, but I also sell MINT condition ECU's with no acid damage. Contact me at [email protected] if you decide to go that route.

 

[stevep]

Quoting keydiver:
There's a good chance that SteveP on here can fix the damage.



Pull the ECU and take a look at it. It should say MD165810 or MD165811 if it's a California car on the case.
The ECUs are a common problem so somebody may have swapped a cheap replacement in before with a different part number.

I'll be happy to fix it up.