Ok, here is the story.

Around 3pm I was on my way unto the freewaw. As I was going uphill I pass a truck and shifted into second gear, at about 6000rpms, I felt my car hit fuel cut and it "jerk" on me, it was very surprising as fuel cut doesn't hit till 6900rpms. The check engine light immediatly came on and my car started loosing power... FAST. I shifted into third and felt no power, so I downshifted back into second gear to try to build up power but nothing. The car started to slow down as I was merging, so I could do nothing but just stay on the right hand side. I was trying to give her gas, but the rpms weren't jumping like they should, so I got over as far as I could and the minute I came to a complete stop... the engine shut off.

The radio, hvac, speedo/rpm guage lights all work fine. A/C works fine. Power windows all work fine. I have a quater of gas in my car as well. The clutch (stock) feel fine and has never gave me any problems that have led up to this moment. Matter a fact I haven't had any problems with the clutch at all... it's perfect. I can shift into all gears as well. Check all mods, greddy evo 2 is fine, the hks intake is fine and it is tightly seal with no leaks. The torque damper is fine, as its not loose or anything. The RRM Pulley is fine, and belt is intact too. I let the car sit for awhile and try to restart her, but it dies out again. I tried for a second time, but before I let the rpms fall to "0", I was giving her gas and the rpms move up, I did that for about 30secs and let the rpms drop, but instead of the car dying out the engine stay on and the car was "sputtering". Engine look like it was gasping for air or something, I got scared and turn it off. The car would do this frequently. It would come on and die off, than it would come on and "sputter". Im really confused. Can anybody shed some light on this? It's at mitsubishi dealership right now (had it tow) and they wont check it until tommorow, *******s don't close until 7pm PST, and it was on there lot by 4pm PST.

My friend thinks it could be the spark plug wires or the fuel injectors, as many of you know, I have been getting horrible gas, could this be it? I haven't change my spark plug wires (still on stock) yet and im nearing 54k miles. Otter, Myz or any other knowledgable ralliart gurus... help!

 

Well I can solve one question, there are no spark plug wires on the RA.

Sorry I can't help with anything else.

 

Check the flowmeter maybe some oil from the filter reach it. Remember that this car doesnt uses spark plugs wires. Can you also try fill the tank , it can be a faulty gas meter on the tank , or the fuel pump on the tank .

 

check on the maf

 

The service manager said that they have spark plug wires but with coil boots. I don't know what this is or mean...

 

There is a coil on each plug...I think is what he means

 

Talking to friends, they say it might be the clutch, but that's one of the first things I check. I was pushing the clutch in and out and it felt fine. It doesn't feel loose, doesn't make any odd noises. It grabs the gears, just not enough power to get the car moving. What are the signs of a bad clutch or one going out?

 

Yep, sounds exactly what like happened to me, the dealership replaced the MAF and its working normally.

 

sounds like a MAF issue. If you have an intake pit it back to stock before taking it into the dealership or be ready to cough up some serious cash

 

^^^ It's too late, I had it tow. One thing I didn't check was the MAF, but I check the intake and it look fine. Im just real nervous that mitsu is gonna screw me over and have me pay $$$. Well my warranty come into play? I have the 10years or 100,000 miles still.

 

Same thing happen to me but in my Lancer Es I was doing the gear manualy in a auto & over rev. Car shut down on me I restarted in in the highway in neutral. it started but the CEl can on. So when I got home I resetted The ECU. & problem solve.

 

There is no way it could be your clutch or spark plug wires. As someone else mentioned, there are no plug wires, we have coil-on-plug. The clutch might keep you from getting power to the wheels, but it wouldn't make the engine stall.

IMO, it sounds a lot like a car with a bad/disconnected MAF sensor. In a different car ('91 Eclipse AWD), I forgot to plug in my MAF once, and it sputtered at idle, and wouldn't rev higher than about 1500rpm.

I'd be VERY interested in what the code is that they'll pull for that CEL.

Unfortunately, if it turns out to be the MAF sensor, it'll probably cost you. They'll blame the faulty sensor on your aftermarket intake, and you'd be hard pressed to prove them wrong.

 

When installing my piggyback I had the same thing(from splicing the wrong wire)

Does your car have an extremely bad idle like a lumpy go cart?

 

Thank you myszkewicz, I was hoping you would respond. Is there anything I can do before they check it? Like call them tommorow morning and say "Hey, stop... don't check my car yet... I think I know what's wrong"...? I would love to save $80bucks if possible.

 

+1 for MAF, it would explain both this problem and the gas one. More than a few of them have died on Ralliarts. If you want to check it for yourself, get one of your SoCal Ralliart friends to come by and swap mafs to see if that fixes the problem.