I drive a 2001 Mitsubishi Eclipse RS 4 cyl. It has a replaced engine from a Galant. The car has started dying on me seemingly randomly - I haven't seen a pattern in the fuel level, time of day, speed or anything else. When it dies, the engine will completely shut off (no gas, no power steering) and all the dash lights will come on, but I have all the electrical functions working (lights, radio, AC, windows, etc). It has done this while I'm driving down the road, when I'm just sitting at a red light braked, and when I'm parked in a parking lot.

After it dies, I turn it completely off and then immediately crank it back up. It cranks fine, the engine does roar up, but it immediately dies again (RPMs fall to 0). Giving it gas upon cranking won't prevent this - it will stay on only as long as I give it gas, then it will die. If the car does happen to stay on, the RPMs seem very low -- sitting around or below 500 RPMs (under the 1 marker).

If I let it sit off for a while, it will usually drive fine for a while longer before the same problems comes up again. If it stays on long enough to drive, pressing the gas will make the car "jump" - it will go, but it seems like it has to get over some hump. Usually it will die again shortly after driving.

To me, it doesn't sound like an electrical problem, but I do have electrical problems with the car (very dim headlights, have already replaced the bulbs, the battery, and the alternator).

Other internet sites and my boyfriend's dad suggested it could be due to a bad fuel pump or a clogged fuel filter but I was hoping for maybe a more definitive answer to avoid a large cost of finding the problem with only a possibility of fixing it. It won't drive very far without dying anymore, so I will have to get it towed to a shop once I have a good idea of what is wrong.

Thank you all in advance!!

  • 1
    It very well could be a fuel pump issue. When a fuel pump gets too hot, it will shut down and you'll not have any more "go" out of your vehicle. The only way to diagnose this is by having a fuel pressure gauge coming off the fuel rail to examine the fuel pressure during an episode. If the fuel pressure stays up where it's supposed to be, it won't be the fuel pump. – Pᴀᴜʟsᴛᴇʀ2 May 22 '16 at 18:20
  • I am having the exact problem with my 2001 RS Mitsubishi Eclipse and we have replaced the fuel pump, made no difference. – user22310 Sep 11 '16 at 2:59

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