Car just shut off without any warning

Hi Chris,

Since fuel is available, then next ting you should check would be the sparks.

At bottom of post there is a " First Things To Check" link. click it for an idea what to look for. Let me know what you find.


https://www.2carpros.com/articles/car-cranks-but-wont-start

https://www.2carpros.com/articles/how-to-test-an-ignition-system

Thank you, I checked for spark right after I made this post and their appears to be no spark coming from the spark plug wires. I checked all for to make sure it was not just one. What next?

If sparks are not present, it could be faulty ignition coils, cam or crankshaft sensors.

If you have a scanner, try to retrieve for trouble codes.

I think that I am going to have to get a scanner. Sounds like the thing to do anyway.

The coils are on top of each spark plug individually are they not? If so, I disconnected the wires from each coil that leads to the spark plugs and there appears to be no spark going into each coil.

Yes, the coils sparks individually. No sparks to all coils would eliminate the coils as possible causes. I would suggest checking the cam or crank sensors.

Okay, so I got a pocket scanner and it read 0 codes. Now what?

I guess I will find out where the camshaft sensor is and see if I can get it checked.

Chris R.

Here are the location of the sensors. I have sent the diagnostic files to your email as they are too large to be printed here. Let me know if they arrive safely.

I seem to be having trouble sending the files. Do you have an alternate email account that I can use?

I think I have it traced back down to the cam sensor, but I will not know for sure until I replace it. It is a special order part so I will not have it for a few days.

Keep me posted of the outcome.

Okay, so obviously I have done something wrong here as I have replaced the camshaft position sensor and the car still will not start.

What I know is, I have followed the cam position sensor diagnostic that you sent me and I have now replaced the sensor itself.

I have battery positive voltage at terminal three. (Harness side)

I have five volts at terminal two with key on. (harness side)

I have continuity of less than two ohms at terminal one. (Harness side)

I guess I am now moving on to the crankshaft sensor.. Any more advice would be much appreciated.

Chris

Have you confirmed that there are no sparks?

Yes, I am pretty sure that I did this correctly as the tutorial that i found did not specifically deal with a vehicle that has individual coils for each plug like mine has.

Also, I removed the timing belt case since my last post and took the crankshaft sensor off.

My timing belt has teeth missing all around the crankshaft pulley. Is this typical of when a sensor goes out?

Chris

That is very bad news. The timing belt has given way and hopefully the engine has not been damaged.

Does this mean that more than likely I just need to replace the belt and then check the valves and stuff?

Yes, the timing belt has to be replaced and you need to check the valves to ensure that they have not been damaged.

Well, I finally got the timing belt replaced and tried to start the car and had no luck.

I had real problems finding out where the timing mark was on the crankshaft side as it looks nothing like the descriptions and pictures that I have in the service manual. The only real identifying mark that I could find was a half circle cutout on the crankshaft/camshaft sprocket, right to the left of the key that holds the pulley in place. After many conversations with very unhelpful repair people, that is the mark I went with. (Hope that it is right)

When the vehicle did not start, I decided to run a scan again and you will never guess what code came up. It was a camshaft sensor malfunction code!

So, I am now waiting for the new camshaft sensor to come in tomorrow and then I will replace it again.

You should have come back here if you require additional assistance. Check if the following diagrams are helpful.

If the timing had been installed incorrectly, it can cause the cam sensor to show an error too. Did you check the valve clearances? That is to ensure the valves had not been damaged due to the timing belt failing. Intake is 0.11 mm ( 0.004 in) Exhaust is 0.20 mm ( 0.008 in)

This is the problem, in figure 42 (the crankshaft figure.) it says "aligning timing mark on crankshaft sprocket with timing mark on (?) case".

On my vehicle there is no mark on the sprocket itself except that half moon cutout that I reffered to earlier.

There is another hole drilled into the angle sensing blade that is behind the cranckshaft sprocket but no other marks to go by.

I finally got a Mitsubishi parts guy to tell me that the half circle shaped mark in the sprocket would be the right mark but it was very clear that he did not really know for sure.

The half moon cut is the correct mark for the crankshaft. To reconfirm, you can use the timing mark on the pulley and the timing cover to verify.

I hope. so about the half moon thing.

One thing that worried me about using that mark is the fact that after I put it all back together and put the timing case back on, I noticed a couple of things.

1. The timing case has a place where -10 to TDC is indicated but nothing that I could see on the pulley lines up with these marks.

2. The only type of marks on the pulley itself are three holes in a line on the edge of the pulley.

Now, when I used the half moon to align with the timing mark on the case, these three holes end up a few inches to the right of the TDC indicator on the timing case.

Why do you think would that be?

Chris

The three holes are driled out for balancing and are not the timing mark.

There should be a cut mark on the pulley to match the cover markings as it is for checking the ignition timing.

If there is any cut marks and it is not aligning with the cover marks, the harmonic balancer is bad and the outer ring has moved away from the original position.

Okay, I cleared the codes replaced the camshaft position sensor with a new one and the vehicle still will not start. (The crank is turning now)

After charging the battery a little and trying to start the vehicle again, I ran another scan and I got the same two codes concerning the camshaft sensor again.

P0340 and P0340 p/d. Remember, I check out all the harnesses like I was supposed to with a volt meter.

Did you recheck the timing belt installation?

I would not rule out the possibilities of the new sensor being defective. That has to be checked as well.

It appears now that it is a timing issue.

I found a mark on the back of the crankshaft pulley by running my finger around the rim slowly. It is such a tiny cut that this is the only way to find it.

I tore everything back apart and found that the correct timing mark is not the half moon mark on the crankshaft sprocket at all, it is the hole that is drilled into the angle sensing plate behind the crankshaft sprocket.

When I lined all the timing marks up this time, using the hole that is drilled through the angle sensing plate, the little notch on the back of the crankshaft pulley is right on the TDC mark that is molded into the bottom timing case.

Now, this time when I tried to start the vehicle, it actually tried to start a little. I heard two kinda loud pops (kind of like it was back firing on the old vehicles) but the engine would still not start.

I have been told that this sounds like it is 180 degrees out of time and that I need to be sure that the right piston is at TDC and then allign all the marks. Does this soud correct to you?

Chris

By the way, I have ran two more scans since making these changes and I am not getting any more codes.

We should do a compression test to see if you ave compression that would eliminate the timing issue.

https://www.2carpros.com/articles/how-to-test-engine-compression

Please let us know what you find.

Eight months ago, my Mitsubishi 2004 Outlander was idling low and stalling at stops. Eventually, it had problems turning on. I was told that the fuel pump needed to be replaced. This fixed the stalling, but the low idling continued. A few days ago, the check engine light came on which coded for a small evaporation system leak. A day later the car started stalling when cold. I took it in for a smoke test and I was told that there was a pinhole in the filler tube. I was told that the hole was too small to cause the car to stall. I now have to rev the car whenever the car has been at rest for about an hour or so. While I am reving the car, I can feel the engine shake slightly at times. Once the car is warm, it will not stall. However, it is sometimes jerky when starting to move forward. The mechanic that I took it to could not find the problem to it stalling or see any record of it shutting off.

Need to check the engine for vacuum leaks
and also for tune up
check the idle air control valve clean and or replace
check base idle

2004 Mit Outlander. I changed alternator and battery. Starts, stays on for a minute and then cuts off. Will stay on if I rev engine. Stalls when I let off the gas. Any thoughts?

Are you getting a check engine light? When was your last tune up?

Tune up was recent. Fuel injectors were serviced recently. Hooked up Actron Code checker found PASS no codes. Oxygen sensor was incomplete though.

NO engine check lights.

If it runs better when you rev the engine, that suggest a fuel related issue and not ignition.

Check the fuel pressure regulator by removing the vacuum hose and checking for fuel. If there's any, then that's your problem.

If not, it may be a sensor (not 02) that's intermittent. Sometimes they won't produce a code until they fail enough for the computer to detect it. You'll need a better scanner that's capable of reading live sensor data. If you aren't knowledgeable in that area, you'll have to get a tech to do it.

NO fuel in the hose. Where would I find the sensor?

Engine Performance problem
2004 Mitsubishi Outlander Two Wheel Drive Automatic 93000 miles

My wifes car will frequently start but won't keep running. Repeated attempts give same result. If she waits a short while it starts and runs as it should.

Gil

Hello –

To better assist you is your model a LS or XLS.

Please go to Auto Zone (AZ) or O’Reilly’s (OR) and for FREE they can pull the codes to the car. Most important: Once they check your codes, if they find something and you don’t get it fixed and need to get back with us, please make sure you tell us exactly what the code was, number and all. Example, if the code was E0568 O2 Sensor bad. Then make sure you give us all of that. While there for FREE also they can bring their tester out and check your battery and alternator.

We need to figure out if it is electrical or fuel related. Pull a plug wire off of the spark plug and insert something into the end of it and have someone try to start the car and have the metal object really close to a piece of metal on the engine and see if you are getting a good strong popping blue spark. Don’t have your hands on any part of the metal!!! If there is no spark, then it is electrical.

If you are getting good spark then spray some starting fluid in the throttle body and try to start it and see if it tries to start then.

You may need to get a fuel pressure check on the fuel pump to ensure it is putting out okay. We will see.

Your engine has several sensors. There's more than one way to check these sensors, but to do so with a meter or scope would probably be beyond your capability. A lot of techs don't even know how.

That's why I suggested you have the computer scanned with a professional scanner capable of reading live data. Unfortunately, these are the kind of issues where you may not have a choice but to take it into a shop. If you feel capable, and can get access to a good scanner updated to your model year, then I can tell you what to do.

where can i purchase a scanner like that?

Mit dealer said to bring it in. Thanks for your help.

No problem