The problems - 6th July 2008

Okay, so yesterday evening I was repairing a vacuum pipe on the cruise control 'controller', with one of these. It's like a screwdriver, but with a point on the end, it's very sharp, a bit like a knife ... it is a knife, I could go out and stab someone with it.


I slipped with this implement, and my brain registered:

- The thing I'm modifying has broken,
- The tool is now plunging beyond the control unit,
- My hand is holding the unit,
- I've struck my hand with the knife-like tool,
- The knife is stuck in my hand.


I immediately withdrew my hand, to find the point had plunged a couple of centimetres in the outer palm of my hand. Not just nicked the surface, it was inside my hand! I had enough time to get a photo (as I wanted a complete blog), but I had to stop the blood running first! Here's a pic though. I've had an uneasy time using it, the pain during the tap part was intense, but it's okay now. I've done this a few times, but not as bad as this. I must stop doing this now, as the next time I will lose a finger, a hand, an eye?


So, as I was saying last night, the car is running fine for about 3 minutes, before it gets to some kind of temperature defined as warm, and then it is difficult to keep going. The control relay is tapping and it's not having it. I put the old relay in with the metal cover off (just to see which relay was tapping - the fuel pump ;) ). It ran fine, before glowing red, and the spring on the relay came off in a molten glob and went straight into the carpet.
So I got the new one, and removed the huge and annoying aircon unit (one of many behind the dashboard), and then mounted it on where it was originally. Fortunately, it didn't vapourise, but it continued to tap and whatever, and not be a man about it, instead of some whinging woman of a relay. It wouldn't stay solid and was all over the place. Like at 30 degrees it's like 'ohh, i don't know what to do, oh it's too hot, i've forgotten what I'm suppose to do' etc.

With the car cutting out, and the ignition left on, the throttle control (which moves the cable when idling) is still moving erratically. It whizzing back and forth, as if the car is still idling. I can't hear properly due to to traffic and general old age, but a solenoid is clicking when the throttle control is finished. One of the three vacuum hoses on the bottom of the body is spraying a mist of petrol when removed. The body is a mass of sensors and hoses, it's difficult to determine what's in there, but I now think the problem is with either the Throttle Position Sensor, the Exhaust Gas Recirc valve (which is soon to be removed anyway), or the MPS (which I don't know what it stands for, but it sensors the position of the accelarator pedal).

And then again, it could be the Coolant Temperature Sensor, as it's temperature related.

Another annoying thing is every single screw on the throttle body (which was second hand), is seized, so I'm going to have to spend a couple of hours drilling and tapping and using GM stuff as these screws are really soft.

I will head down to my friendly Mitsubishi dealer and order some more parts. Mainly:

• Throttle Body Gasket
• Coolant Temp Sensor

Here is a complete thread on vacuum/idling probs:

http://starquest.i-x.net/viewtopic.php?t=1127