help requested with 1990 mits montero engine spark

Hi,

I have a 1990 Mitsubishi Montero which won't start. The engine turns
over and it's getting a spark (see below), so I guessed it might have
been the fuel pump. I took it to my favorite mechanic, who became
worried about the sparking and would not work on the car be cause he
didn't understand the sparking.

I should explain what I'm referring here. When I checked for the
presence of a spark, I removed the center lead form the distributor,
so it could arc against the engine manifold. I then had my son turn
the engine over while I watched. The sparking looked normal, so I told
him to turn off the key. He set it to the run position and the sparks
became continous, instead of acting like it should to run the engine.

This was the symptom that puzzled my mechanic. Has anyone out there in
News-land seen this and what should I do about it?

TIA!

Jesse Evans
([email protected])

Does it 'try' to start when the starter is running, then die when the
key moves to run?

That sure sounds like an ignition module or power to it issue, or
distributor pick up, doesn't your mechanic have a computer diagnostic
unit?

On a vehicle that old, I usually take a set of booster cables and go
from the battery negative to the engine block and try it, then from the
battery to the firewall or body someplace like a bolt to get a good
ground.

Sometimes, well, here in the salt belt, lots of times a punky ground can
cause all kinds of strange electronic hiccups with ignition modules and
computers....

That has solved enough strange power issues for me that I make it one of
the first things I try to eliminate.

Mike
86/00 CJ7 Laredo, 33x9.5 BFG Muds, 'glass nose to tail in '00
88 Cherokee 235 BFG AT's

Jesse Evans wrote:
>
> Hi,
>
> I have a 1990 Mitsubishi Montero which won't start. The engine turns
> over and it's getting a spark (see below), so I guessed it might have
> been the fuel pump. I took it to my favorite mechanic, who became
> worried about the sparking and would not work on the car be cause he
> didn't understand the sparking.
>
> I should explain what I'm referring here. When I checked for the
> presence of a spark, I removed the center lead form the distributor,
> so it could arc against the engine manifold. I then had my son turn
> the engine over while I watched. The sparking looked normal, so I told
> him to turn off the key. He set it to the run position and the sparks
> became continous, instead of acting like it should to run the engine.
>
> This was the symptom that puzzled my mechanic. Has anyone out there in
> News-land seen this and what should I do about it?
>
> TIA!
>
> Jesse Evans
> ([email protected])

Thanks for your help, Mike!

No, the engine just cranks over without catching at all. That's why I
suspected the fuel pump; I also did not smell any unburned fuel out
the tailpipe.

Still, it was the odd spark behavior that had my mechanic spooked. I
did not speak to him directly, but I'll give him a call and ask about
the diagnostics computer.

Any other tips to look for would be useful.

Jesse

On Sun, 14 Sep 2003 19:11:50 -0400, Mike Romain <[email protected]>
wrote:

>Does it 'try' to start when the starter is running, then die when the
>key moves to run?
>
>That sure sounds like an ignition module or power to it issue, or
>distributor pick up, doesn't your mechanic have a computer diagnostic
>unit?
>
>On a vehicle that old, I usually take a set of booster cables and go
>from the battery negative to the engine block and try it, then from the
>battery to the firewall or body someplace like a bolt to get a good
>ground.
>
>Sometimes, well, here in the salt belt, lots of times a punky ground can
>cause all kinds of strange electronic hiccups with ignition modules and
>computers....
>
>That has solved enough strange power issues for me that I make it one of
>the first things I try to eliminate.
>
>Mike
>86/00 CJ7 Laredo, 33x9.5 BFG Muds, 'glass nose to tail in '00
>88 Cherokee 235 BFG AT's
>
>Jesse Evans wrote:
>>
>> Hi,
>>
>> I have a 1990 Mitsubishi Montero which won't start. The engine turns
>> over and it's getting a spark (see below), so I guessed it might have
>> been the fuel pump. I took it to my favorite mechanic, who became
>> worried about the sparking and would not work on the car be cause he
>> didn't understand the sparking.
>>
>> I should explain what I'm referring here. When I checked for the
>> presence of a spark, I removed the center lead form the distributor,
>> so it could arc against the engine manifold. I then had my son turn
>> the engine over while I watched. The sparking looked normal, so I told
>> him to turn off the key. He set it to the run position and the sparks
>> became continous, instead of acting like it should to run the engine.
>>
>> This was the symptom that puzzled my mechanic. Has anyone out there in
>> News-land seen this and what should I do about it?
>>
>> TIA!
>>
>> Jesse Evans
>> ([email protected])

On Sun, 14 Sep 2003 20:47:51 GMT, Jesse Evans <[email protected]>
wrote:

>Hi,
>
>I have a 1990 Mitsubishi Montero which won't start. The engine turns
>over and it's getting a spark (see below), so I guessed it might have
>been the fuel pump. I took it to my favorite mechanic, who became
>worried about the sparking and would not work on the car be cause he
>didn't understand the sparking.
>
>I should explain what I'm referring here. When I checked for the
>presence of a spark, I removed the center lead form the distributor,
>so it could arc against the engine manifold. I then had my son turn
>the engine over while I watched. The sparking looked normal, so I told
>him to turn off the key. He set it to the run position and the sparks
>became continous, instead of acting like it should to run the engine.
>
>This was the symptom that puzzled my mechanic. Has anyone out there in
>News-land seen this and what should I do about it?
>
>TIA!
>
>Jesse Evans
>([email protected])


Check http://www.4x4wire.com/forums/postlist.php?Cat=&Board=UBB69

There are a bunch of Mitsubishi 4wd owners there.