On my way home today I ran this AFM test again, but found it difficult to tell whether there actually was a power difference or not... coz when boost comes on it sortof feels alright... but don't really know how I should compare it... I mean compared to the Cordia it's really sluggish, and way less pull!...   Does anybody have any ideas about my issue? I think we've discovered an exhaust manifold leak, as I previously thought it was tappet noise... So I think I'll have to take the exhaust manifold off soon and put a new gasket on it... maybe some exhaust cement on it to prevent this leak reoccurring, I'm hoping that's the issue, but I'm doubtful it's gonna solve the sluggish issue...   Anybody?? 

i'm not an expert on the subject, but if there really isnt a difference with the AFM plugged/un-plugged, it sounds logical it may be that. otherwise if it seems to be running rich, maybe the air/fuel sensor in the exhaust is dodgy?, as i had a similar issue with my 95 Laser, just got sluggish all of the sudden, and definatly was runnin rich. so i tried changin the air/fuel mixture sensor, and she was all good... i would guess it would be eaither one.   But meh, hope you work it out hey ;)

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The Garage

- 1987 Mitsubishi Cordia AC GSL
- 1993 Lexus SC400 4.0GT
- 1984 Mitsubishi Cordia AA GSL

okay, since replacing the AFM the engine is now boosting well and performing pretty good at high RPM, I can't help but feel that the engine is struggling though... If stationery, when you apply any level of acceleration, and release the clutch, the engine always runs really rough until you get moving, I'm thinking it's running really rich on idle and at low RPM? does anyone agree?   My brother in-law reckons maybe one of the injectors might not be closing properly and allowing extra fuel into the engine at low RPM when it doesn't need it...   If this is an over-fueling issue, what component do you reckon would be causing this? ECU, injectors, sensor??? (note that I've already replaced the AFM)   Cheers for any ideas guys!

 bump.... anyone?

Hey guys, hope you're all well! :)   I have some good news to share today, for the last 3 weeks we've been waiting for the 4th of May to get the exhaust looked at on the Starion, we took the car down this morning at around 9am, and walked the streets for a few hours... The muffler dude had 3 different mufflers, 1 was a Lukey but was a little too wide to fit, another one was a skinnier version of the same style muffler (one baffle about half way down the body), the other was a straight through muffler, but would have certainly been louder!   He said the Lukey was a little too big, and wouldn't have fitted in the chassis, so he used the one that was almost the same but just a little skinnier (not a lukey). When we returned to the workshop to collect the car we noticed the "sloppy" sound I've been complaining about for so long was actually not the muffler at all, it was the split tip at the end of the exhaust, apparently it worked itself loose and was causing air fluttering at the end (my words LOL) He tightened all that up, fitted the new muffler and yeah.... not really any quieter... Cost $202 fitted. But the fluttery sound is gone, and the engine now has a nice clean tone! yaye!!!!   So we decided to head down to the cop shop and see if they could extend the permit to drive the defected vehicle, they said they could and extended it another 4 weeks as we didn't know when the Regency Park Inspector was coming down this way, the nice policeman kindly decided to call them and somehow managed to get an inspector to come down tomorrow!!! Yeah you heard right!...    So tomorrow morning at 9am we're heading down to the inspection depot here and will hopefully get the defect lifted!   I tell you what, if it passes and the exhaust is under the dB limit, I'm gonna be pretty pissed, but happy at the same time! Pissed because it will prove that the car should not have been defected in the first place, but happy of course because it'll be back to normal! LOL   Defected or not, we've also got the car booked in to get another muffler stuck on the rear this Friday, which will replace the split tailpipe and will quiet down the car to a gentle whisper... Well that's the intention! LOL Next on the list, will be the idler pulley replacement!    I'll get back to you'll on how tomorrow pans out! 

Well not great news regarding the inspection unfortunately... Apparently one of the struts is stuffed, there's oil leaks from diff, gearbox, and power steering... Passengers seatbelt is frayed, the headlights motors needs to be operational, and the idler pulley... So we're getting everything looked at and hopefully repaired this Friday, including the extra muffler chucked on the rear as a precautionary measure!    I'll be in touch! 

Geesh..... sounds like shes seen better days hey.   Owe well hope thats the end of it once you get all that fixed up :) 

Hopefully it's all good once this work is done! LOL

Got the Starion back tonight, total of the bill is: $2,743.70

She feels heaps nicer to drive, firmer on the road and a more responsive feel to the accelerator, however on our 15km drive home there were a couple of things I noticed that are a problem... The indicators don't always flash properly, and the clutch seems to slip at around 2500rpm (not sure how they didn't notice that!). But here's the list of work that was done in this particular job:

12V 4W BA9S, front shocker, inner tie rod, both tie rod ends, oil seal, oil seal rear crank, timing cover seal, transmission oil seal rear, engine mount, rocker cover gasket, bush set, sway bar bush, idler arm bushes, tentioner/idler, passenger seatbelt, cv boot, bushes set, wheel alignment, repair wiring and connector to headlamp motor, dextron III, FMX 15W/40, epx 80w/90 and a new rear muffler.

I'll give them a ring tomorrow to discuss the clutch and indicators issue! 

UPDATE: I forgot to elaborate on the work they actually did! LOL, here goes... Replaced noisy alternator bearings and worn bushes, replaced timing belt idler, replaced leaking power steering box and flush system, replaced frayed left hand seat belt assembly, replaced steering idler bushes, front swaybar bushes, tierod ends and front shockers, replaced rear split drive shaft boots, leaking rear diff, pinion seal and pinion extension housing gasket, removed gearbox to replace leaking engine rear main oil seal and replaced front crank seal, replaced engine rocker cover gasket, checked and repaired tail lamps, degreased under chassis.

They forgot to put the replacement power steering box in the bill... +$350, I've altered the total figure above to include it! 

Called the mechanics today and they said we should bring the Starion back in... only problem is the registration has expired and it's defected so it can't be re-registered until the defect is cleared... The nearest registration office is over an hour away and we can't get a permit to drive the car to the place of repair or even to an inspection point! and the mechanics is 15 km from where we live, so we can't even tow it (not that we have another car to tow it!) LOL

Cops said if it was still registered we could drive it on the defect, but now that's expired (coz it was in the shop for 5 weeks) we can't even take it out the driveway! Very pissed off right now!  Turns out the mechanics didn't even test drive the car before we picked it up! Fricken hopeless!!!!

Sorry for my ranting.... 

Got the Starion back this morning with the new clutch, its battery was flat and we had to charge it up again before we could bring it under the car port... I had trouble keeping the wheels from slipping on the gravel drive way, which is a first... Maybe the clutch has been an underlying problem all along? Dunno! 

Tomorrow I will be taking the passenger inner door panel off to fix the central locking, I think a connector has come undone... Also have a new indicator relay and will look to fit that tomorrow too!

If all goes well, we'll be calling the inspection mob to book the inspection day... Can't wait to be able to drive it again.... practically a new car now!  I'll be in touch!!!

Well, all went well! I changed the indicator relay and that now works beautifully! Took the passenger door panel off today and noticed the bar that should have been holding the bar that locks the door had slipped off... The actual locking central locking mechanism fell apart when I unscrewed it from the door, but it went back together very easily... Now the door locks perfect! 

Inspection time... Shall give them a ring on Monday!

hahahaha!!!!! Yeah.... Not so funny...

We had the Starions inspection this afternoon, but had trouble starting it initially (the starter motor clicked but wouldn't crank), managed to get it running just in the nick of time and we had the inspection, and guess what? It passed!!! Yaye!!!

So we drove to Gawler on trade plates to get her registered, not a problem! She's now registered, unfortunately we stopped to get some fuel on the way out of town and I couldn't start the engine, the same "clicking" problem, but my mum knows people who own a garage near by and they helped us get the car over there so that was cool, the alternator seems to be stuffed (not putting out any charge)... So we had to get a friend to come pick us up and take us home... Mum's going back tomorrow to see whether they can fix it or not, so we'll see how it goes, might need a replacement.

Apart from the dicky alternator, the car runs bloody beautiful!!! It was an absolute pleasure to drive, and I can't wait to get the alternator fixed and drive it around again! I'll be in touch with how it all goes! (I'm not too sure if anyone reads this topic, LOL)

Peace out! 

dont worry steve

I read it :)

Good to hear its Rego'd, pitty about the alternator though hey. owe well, that would have to be the end of your troubles now though hey.

Sounds good :)

haha thanks man... we heard back from the mechanic today, apparently the alternator smelled "burnt out" and needs to be replaced, might be able to pick up the car next tuesday... We'll see how we go! LOL

Love these cars, they sound expensive though lol. Hope everything gets sorted out

Cheers

Jason

Thanks Jason,

Over the last few days I've been noticing a vibration, initially I didn't think anything of it because the car pulls a lot better since the work was done on it... But now I'm concerned that the mechanics who did the work have put the oil pump balance shaft in 180 degrees out (hence the vibration at 4000+RPM and it can be felt with a slight blip on the throttle too).

I'm going to go into Toyota today to see what they've got to say about it... I expect this is a warranty issue on their work.

I'll be in touch!

Hey Steve

Why did the mechanics need to touch the balance shaft/s?

Does the tail shaft seal leak at all? Worn tailshaft bush/seal can cause vibrations at high revs too as do worn driveshaft universals.

Hope it's an easy fix under warranty

Cheers

Jason

Hey there Jason, they replaced the timing idler/tension pully as it was stuffed, and they obviously didn't check the balance shaft properly, they probably aligned the arrow without inserting a screwdriver to test the shafts orientation. I've explained this to them today when we took the car in and wrote some instructions for them to follow! LOL

Those other seals were replaced before it went over the pits a few weeks back, so I'm confident it's the balance shaft. The engine pulls alright until 4500rpm then begins to vibrate violently, by 5000rpm there's such a terrible shake you can feel it in your spine... So I do believe they f%$ked up and should be replaceable under warranty. They've given us a little Peugeot 406 until the Starion is fixed! ;) it's a piece of shit incase you're wondering! haha

I'll be in touch with an update!  

Got the Starion back today, first thing I noticed is it was sluggish as a dog to get moving... and seemed to hesitate to get moving...

Once the engine is warm the hesitation is nearly gone but doesn't pull very well down low in the revs... I'm thinking they've set the timing wrong!

Anyone know what might be the issue?

By the way, I revved the engine to 5500RPM and is smooth as, so the balance shafts are now actually balanced, however I think they just lined the arrows up and didn't check it with a timing light...  You guys reckon it's probably a simple fix I should do myself? cheers bros!

Had a look at the timing this morning. it was set at 5 BTDC and I adjusted it to 8 and now it's running awesome! 

Just a bit of useless information! LOL

 nice!

bet your having fun with it?

Yeah took her for a run and in the rain it lost grip at around 5000rpm in 1st gear from an easy take off, second gear feels good... But I'd love an intercooler on her, but the Cordia must come first in that department! 

hahaha well at least with the troubles with the starion sorted, you should be able too get into the cordi again hey?

absolutely! That's the plan! Once I get back from my brothers wedding in a couple of weeks I'll be putting some money into the Cordia... I intend to get some new vids of her! :) hehe I look forward to it! It's been nearly 12 months since she was last driven! 

Hey I have noticed something today when starting the starion, it seems to let off a bit of a pop in the airflow meter just before it starts. Anyone have any ideas why this is happening?

ignition too advanced will do it mate. Oh and i read your thread too, Trouble is i cant log in to post on my mobile :(

Thanks man, hey if the ignition is too far advanced and I currently have it set to 8 degrees BTDC, what would i set it to to retard it?
I have an iPhone and I can access cf, does your phone support normal sized websites? And do you know if your phone supports cookies? Cf requires cookies to be able to log in.

ah hah!!! It mentioned something about cookies once but i dunno how to enable them on my phone! And i cant recall timing specifically i think from memory it may have been 7 or 8deg BTDC. Did you have your dizzy out at all at any stage? Or your timing gear? You may need to set your own timing mark by the sounds of it. Advanced timing will give you great acceleration but increases chances of detonation.

Cheers, James.

Yeh, I had our crap mechanic do all the timing on it, they repositioned the dizzycoz I had it way out... Timing is one of the things I don't really understand that much!
Maybe if I change it to 6 or 7 BTDC it might improve... Would increasing it to 10 make things worse you reckon?