Car Problem?

Question

I have a '97 Mitsubishi Eclipse RS (automatic) with stock engine and it seems that this car may have a lot of problems. First of all this car is leaking Oil and Transmission fluid. What should I do? Next when ever I am driving, I push on the accelerator, it seems that the car just downshifted or lose power then will run fine. Next, sometimes when ever I drive my car, my engines begins to start shaking very much, then my engine just dies or about to die. But sometimes, my car has a hard time starting up. I think it is a battery problem, but I took it to AutoZone to test and came back good battery. I dont know if there SPECIFIC BATTERY for cars, but I have a small batter for my eclipse, thats my other question. These seems to be my problem with my car. What should I do?

-Vic

I just got my car transmission inspected by Cottman Transmission, and it seems that my Throttle Positon Sensor (TPS) is messed up and my EGR (Exhaust Gas Recirculating Valves) have some kind of position problems as well. Before they could fix my trans leak, they need to fix my TPS and EGR. What do you guy recommend.

Answer 1

For starters, it has NOTHING AT ALL to do with your battery. The only thing your battery is used for is starting the car. Once the car starts your alternator (formerly known as a generator) provides electricity for everything. If you turn the key and get nothing or just a "click," that's a sure-fire sign that your battery is dead.

When a car is running rough, best thing to do is start with the least expensive fixes and work your way up. Start by replacing your air filter and putting some Valvoline fuel injector cleaner in your tank the next time you get gas. If that doesn't do the trick, find a local mechanic who gives free estimates and have him/her look at it. There are other things you could do first, like getting the fuel system professionally cleaned/purged and getting the car tuned up, but the mechanic may tell you that's all your car needs.

If your car is leaking oil and transmission fluid, that's not a good sign. You have some gaskets or seals somewhere that have blown and it may be very expensive to fix. You should take the car in to your local mechanic (NOT the dealer -- they'll charge you an arm and a leg and won't do the work right) and ask for an estimate. Once you have the estimate, think about whether a ten-year-old car is worth however much you would have to pay to get it fixed. If it's just going to be a couple of hundred dollars, GREAT -- get it fixed. If it's going to be a couple of thousand dollars, consider getting another car.

Answer 2

Get the tps and the Egr. It will run better and save you a ton of gas. Also after you do that just make sure you check your fluids at every fill up. The trans fluid leak is probably the pan gasket or the rear main seal. The oil could be a poorly installed filter,The pan,or valve cover gasket. Giving the year of the car I would think the crank shaft seal should be good unless you torture your car.And check the oil sending unit. They tend to start leaking at about the yr mark your at.
The tps and the egr should get rid of the shaking problem. If not The O2 sensor or sensors may need to be changed. I'm surprised you didn't mention a check engine light.

Answer 3

Lot of things it could be, I tell what I think from what you say.
First Tune Up the car. Plugs, WIRES!!!, Distributor cap and rotor if it have one. Run some Fuel Injector Cleaner through it, try two bottles if you not done this in a while. Check the Air Filter. May need to change Oil/Filter. Transmission fluid/filter.
The fluid leaks are fixed by replacing seals and gaskets. If, valve covers are leaking you may try tightening them very slightly and see if that helps. Transmission leaks you get low on fluid and transmission will shift erratic.
If, the Tune Up not stop the shaking, are you getting Check Engine Codes? Two things off hand are the TPS (Throttle Position Sensor) and your O2 Sensor (Oxygen Sensor in the Exhaust).
The hard starting should clear up if the above are corrected and you have a good strong battery and clean connections.
Hope this helps you.

Answer 4

- Oil Leak: needs to be fixed, probably frayed gaskets.
- Power Loss: See below
- Engine shaking: this shaky engine, along with the fact that it stalls or there is a power loss when you press the accelerator, usually mean there's an ignition problem. This could either be fuel related or electrical issues. First of all, have the engine timing tuned-up. This will allow you to further evaluate the issues. Once tuned up, the engine should not shake, or stall.
If the engine still does that same, then you'll probably need to have the fuel filter cleaned out first, just as a precautionary measure, but I expect that such problems are usually due to faulty fuel pumps more than just dirty filters.

That leaves the issue of power loss. If that's gone too, good for you. If that problem is still showing up, have the transmission checked, and probably fixed (of course the fact that your transmission is leaking oil is not too helpful at the moment).

Keep the results posted so that further recommendations can be made.

Answer 5

I'd start with shock absorbers or struts, depending on your car. If your car has more than 60-75,000 miles this would be a good starting point. Shocks and strut performance starts to deteriorate after this mileage.

Answer 6

you just need 2 things a gallon of gas and matches... pour gas on car ...set a flame.

Answer 7

tune it up and check coil