Hello everyone,

I'm new here, so not sure if this has been discussed before. I currently own a 02 Lancer OZ.

Since about there was 1000 miles on the odometer the car whenever started with the engine cold, idles from anywhere between 1500RPM to about 2500RPM. Once the engine warms up the idle drops to 750RPM. I have tried calling the Mitsubishi Dealership from which I bought and they tell me to bring it in for a diagnostics test for which I would have to shell out money. Over the phone though, they say that they have no clue what it is.

Has anyone out there experienced this and if so is this normal? If not is there anything that I can do to fix this?

 

Is your ride manual?

Every manual ive ever driven did this untill the engine was warmed up. Ive always just assumed it was normal. Ive never encoutnered engine problem with my manuals either

 

I think that's pretty normal. The engine does that to self-warm itself. The colder the Engine, the Higher the RPM will be on startup. Of course if the engine is warm, the RPM won't be as high. Then when oil has lubricated much of the engine, the RPM dives down slowly. Nothing to worry about pretty much.

 

Thanks everyone.

The Lancer is a manual, just worried because this is the first car that I have had this encounter. Otherwise the car runs and drives great.

 

This did this on my car since day 1. And its the same on my other cars which are also standard. Doesn't seem like an issue, I start my car before work and it idles high, then when i leave 10 min later its down to normal.

 

The old cars back in the day didn't have these self warming engines. I used to have a 1988 Mitsubishi Mirage, I had to keep my damn foot on the gas pedal to warm the engine up to keep it alive and not stall. But our cars doesn't require it at all, it does it all for us.

 

I know that this does not sound like a problem but is there anyway to turn the sensor off so that the car does not idle high when cold?

 

I doubt it. The only thing I could think of is reprogramming your ECU. But why would you wanna to that? It seems beneficial to your engine, and it also helps.

EDIT: By not letting your Engine idle, your not fully letting the engine lubricate itself, and also for the oil to circulate all throughout the engine. Thus bad for the Engine.

 

why would u want that though. You dont wanna drive when the car is cold, do ya?? I certainyl hope not. Bad for the car. I doubt there is a sensor. I think its ECU controlled with a temp. probe.

 

old cars did have a thing for warming up and staying running when cold it was called a choke. There is no reason for fixing your cold idle, every car does it because it was made to do that, where I live the cars idles high as hell for at least 10 mins cuz its like 20 below zero. Be thankful it is warm in texas and that there is nothing wrong with your car.

 

I agree that driving an engine when cold could have lasting effects, but I am not talking of an engine that has been setting out in freezing temperature. Just today with the weather somewhere in the mid 60s, the car when started idled at 2500RPM. Sure it did not take long for the engine to warm up, but it seems almost annoying at times and almost like it would be wasting fuel. If the engine were cold would it not be better for the car to idle at 750RPM to warm up rather than 250RPM?

 

When your car hasn't been turned on for quite a while, no matter what temperature it is outside, The car itself is totally sleeping, by that I mean oil is sitting, etc... So right when you wake up in the morning and the temperature is quite warm, and you turn the engine on, the car itself "wakes up" and prepares by warming just a slight bit lower when in cold temperature.

It's always the first time you turn on your engine that it idles high to get everything set. But if it's your second or numerous time turning your car on at the same day, it'll idle lower then that when you First turned the engine on.

To sum it all up, the higher the engine idles, the faster it warms up, to get you on the go Fast! The lower the engine idles, the slower it is to warm up.

 

JBud.. It's actually the opposite. You want a higher idle speed for a quick warm up so that the ECU will go into closed loop operation and not run a rich(er) mixture. If the engine idle'd at 750, it would take much longer to warm up and run rich during this whole time which can cause other issues regarding oil and long term cylinder wear.

If the engine is cold soaked in a winter situation (less than 20F), the engine would either run rough or stall if the ECU didn't keep the RPM's up. All the surfaces in the combustion chamber act to quench or basically snuff out the fire so to speak, therefore the engine runs fast to insure that the temperatures of these surfaces quickly rise.

DF

 

my car does this do, dont matter if its manual or auto, the motors are the same.

 

my auto started doing this just recently. but im worried b/c after a minute, ill put it into drive. and the rpms are at 2500 and it feels like my car is rolling at 15mph or higher. im scared. is this normal and does this coincide with everyone else's problem?