Hoping to get some advice from someone who knows something about cars. There's a pretty reputable shop I have brought my '02 Mitsubishi Galant to 3 times this past week and they still haven't been able to figure out what the problem is. It all started feeling like my transmission was maybe going out. After a few minutes of driving, after the engine would heat up, the car would kind of start sputtering when I was trying to accelerate after a stop. The check engine light would also come on. To keep this short, the shop I brought my car to ran tests and determined it was my ignition coil(s) that were bad and was causing my engine to misfire. Brought my car in, changed a coil, left and same thing happened. 3 TIMES! Every time they had it "fixed" the same thing would happen. Sputtering followed by the check engine light coming on. I want to give these guys the benefit of the doubt because my family has been dealing with them for 10+ years. I have heard it could may be the computer? Anyone have any ideas?
I paid the first time they attempted to fix it and the last 2 times have been at no charge. They are willing to take another look at it but it's hard for me to understand how difficult it is to figure out the problem when you have 3 times to work on it. But then again, I don't know too much about cars.
An ignition coil is a common problem with vehicles sputtering and then choking or dying. Since it is a 2002 they should be able to pull the code which will isolate the problem to 4-5 things. I don't think they are ripping you off if they have seen it 2x for free. Without seeing the vehicle it is hard to say for sure what the problem is.
If it isn't the coil pack i'd try the Crankshaft sensor, it should throw up a fault code though, do they not have any diagnostic equipment?
Alternatively, you could check if your car has had this recall fixed... NHTSA Recall ID: 02V147000 Mitsubishi GALANT 2002 (02) Mitsubishi Recall Campaign No.: Component: ELECTRICAL SYSTEM:WIRING:FRONT UNDERHOOD Recall Date (Y/M):2002/05 Defect: ON CERTAIN PASSENGER VEHICLES, ROUTING OF THE VEHICLE'S FRONT HARNESS CAN ALLOW IT TO COME IN CONTACT WITH A ROUGH EDGE, ALLOWING ABRASION. THIS COULD RESULT IN GROUNDED CIRCUITS. Consequence: THERE COULD BE A LOSS OF STOP OR TURN SIGNAL LAMP OPERATION OR ENGINE HESITATION. Corrective Action: DEALERS WILL INSTALL A PROTECTOR, ELIMINATING ANY HARNESS CONTACT. OWNER NOTIFICATION BEGAN JULY 8, 2002. OWNERS WHO TAKE THEIR VEHICLES TO AN AUTHORIZED DEALER ON AN AGREED UPON SERVICE DATE AND DO NOT RECEIVE THE FREE REMEDY WITHIN A REASONABLE TIME SHOULD CONTACT MITSUBISHI AT 1-800-222-0037. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Not a car expert but my dad's car had very similar symptoms and turned out to be the fuel pump and fuel filter. Actually, the mechanic only replaced the fuel pump and drove for a day or two then same issue again and then he replaced the fuel filter also and worked fine.
This. Find out what code it's throwing. Was your check engine light on before you took it to them? I'm asking because it's possible they might have messed something up (inadvertantly) while trying to fix this issue.
