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Going round in circuits

I live in the mountains in Southern Spain and own a year 2000 Mitsubishi Montero 1.8GDI. It has 83,000 kms on the clock and has given excellent service. However recently after travelling about 2kms from home it just stopped. When I turn the ignition key the engine turns over but the engine does not pick up giving the impression that I have run out of fuel. The vehicle is now with our local Mitsubishi Dealer and they cannot diagnose the cause of the problem. They have checked out the Fuel Delivery System and the Cam Belt and Timing and declared them OK. They believe that the problem is somewhere in the electrics but can not pin point where. I notice from your website that there was a recall of Mitsubishi Pinins in 2000 for a condenser /broken wire problem in a circuit board which caused
the engine to stop. Unfortunately the recall does not specify which circuit board. The garage does not have the full diagnostic computer equipment and it looks like they are going to have to transport the vehicle to the Main Dealer in Malaga. Is there any history of this problem with the Montero 1.8 engine and can you supply any tips on where to look to try to identify the cause of the problem.

Asked on 3 January 2009 by

Answered by Honest John
Sorry, I have no more information than what is included in cbcb. But do make sure that the fuel tank sender pump is actually sending fuel to the injection pump. Sender pumps are often the cause of problems like this, and all the diagnostics show is a fuel supply problem. They never pinpoint the sender pump. TH later wrote, “We passed on the information regarding the Sender Pump and the UK Circuit Board failure in 2000 but the Local Dealer still could not locate the problem and the vehicle had to be transported to the Main Dealer, Mavesa, in Malaga. Within a day they phoned me to tell me that they had identified the problem and ordered replacement parts and the next day I received a phone call to say that the vehicle was ready for collection. When I arrived I was pleasantly surprised to be told that there was to be no charge for the parts or the time spent. It transpired that there had been a recall in 2001 in Spain for a potential Circuit Board problem similar to the UK problem of the previous year and our vehicle had slipped through the net and not been updated. Even so, I was still very impressed that Mitsubishi were prepared to accept total responsibility for a failure in an 8 year old vehicle.”
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