My newest ride(Mitsubishi content)

This car has the 4G54 2.6 litre MCA-Jet engine in it. Pretty big for a 4-cylinder if you ask me. The slush box really seems to sap the power though.

Very nice! I do not think I have ever actually seen one of these in the wild... hopefully I will get a chance to check it out soon...

The brake + battery light issue sounds a lot like what my subaru did for a couple of days before the alternator completely gave up... hopefully your issue is something simple but it sounds pretty familiar...

It is funny you mention the alternator tb. Just tonight I took the car for a quick spin,and showe dit off to TR8Todd. When leaving his house he said" I hope your headlights work". They did just fine,but when pulling into my driveway I noticed they got very dim. I put the transmission in neutral,and revved the engine thinking the alternator would brighten them up as I was at a stop getting ready to back into my spot. This did nothing,and then when backing into my spot the car dies,and will not even crank over again. Any ideas? I have the battery on charge now,and will try to restart it in the am if I have time,but more than likely in the afternoon when I get back from work. Any help would be appreciated. The seller told me he replaced the alternator if that helps at all.

I would leave it alone for a couple of days so that you can help me pick up a challenge car ...

... then I would check all the connections on the alternator to make sure that it was properly installed since you know that it has been worked on. Also, try to verify that it is the correct part. If it can be easily removed many chain stores can bench test it for free.

The sad truth is that many replacement parts are just plain crap packed tightly into a new box...

If it has the Starion motor, I've heard that a 4g63 bolts right up to a Starion drivetrain ...

And yah, might want to have Autozone check out that alternator for you.

Put battery on battery tender all night. Just tried to start the car before work,and fired right up. The brake warning light is was still slightly illuminated as well as the battery light. I plan on getting the car up on jack stands to get access to the alternator so I can check what sort of voltage it is putting out. Any other suggestions? Could the car have been running on the battery the whole time Monday,and then with the headlights on on Tuesday the battery wasn't up to the extra task? Mind you I have not taken the car long distance at all. The most it has run is maybe 20+ minutes at a time.

Chris

Sounds very much like that's the case to me. And +1 for checking all the grounding straps, too.

MrBenjamonkey wrote: If it has the Starion motor, I've heard that a 4g63 bolts right up to a Starion drivetrain ...

Only the 4G63 variant from some of their pickup trucks. The DSM one is a different bolt pattern.

You probably have the only one of those in MA! Wow... Very cool.

Checked alternator when running,and found it only putting out about 3 volts. Took it down to Advance auto to have them check it as well,and they said it was bad as well. Ordered a new one through Auto Zone that they say will be in tomorrow. The thing is the alternator that I pulled out looks to be brand new. The seller said he had replaced it,and I believe him,but how does a new rebuilt alternator fail that soon after being installed?

Chris

I am just happy to hear that you can get a readily available and reasonably priced alternator for this rare nearly 30 year old, rare car.
Is the voltage regulator separate from the alternator?

Unfortunately, FLAPS remanufactured alternators seem to have a high failure rate. Hopefully this one will last longer.

I will have to travel down your way sometime and check it out. That interior is minty-fresh!

New alternator in. Seems to have solved the problem. The one that came out was so brand new looking my friend thought it was the new one when he saw it on the floor of my garage yesterday. Thanks for the help guys. Now to figure out the speedometer and cruise control. Maybe they have something to do with each other. Like the cruise doesn't work because the speedometer doesn't work.

Chris

Do you know if 80's Mitsubishis have problems with cold (bad) solder joints? FCs are notorious for that (IIRC Starquests are as well). It wouldn't surprise me if some of the electrical components within the Sapporo's IC had cold solder joints.

New problem. Just got back from trying to take it to a semi local cruise night with my youngest son. Got on a 50 mph hiway,and the car struggled to reach 50,and only barely got to 60 when feathering the throttle. When giving it the boots it would lose power and struggle,but light throttle allowed it to gain speed. Felt like it was choked down. In neutral the engine revs to 7k rpms no problem,but when driving it seems like the old banana in the tail pipe maybe. Any ideas as to what it could be? Restriction in the exhaust(unlikely with the ability to rev to 7k in neutral) Carb problem? Ignition problem? Transmission problem?

Chris

Fuel filter.

It is new as well as the pump. The cat is not clogged. The fuel screen in the carb isn't clogged as we just pulled the carb off and apart. Carb looked clean inside. It runs out of fuel when on the throttle hard but not right away. It is like the bowl empties and isn't getting enought fuel to keep up with the load. Any other suggestions?

Ignition problem, maybe. How are the plugs, leads and distributor (cap, rotor)? Those are at least cheap items to rule out.

Cool car, btw. There's a guy on the UK Retro Rides forum with a really nicely modified Sapporo...but I couldn't find the thread .

Edit: Here it is: http://retrorides.proboards.com/index.cgi?board=readersrides&action=display&thread=35074&page=1

In my favourite iteration:

Is that the same/similar carb that the mopar vans had when they used that engine? I remember as a kid my Dad had that thing overhauled about every 18 months.

Mazdax605 wrote: It is new as well as the pump. The cat is not clogged. The fuel screen in the carb isn't clogged as we just pulled the carb off and apart. Carb looked clean inside. It runs out of fuel when on the throttle hard but not right away. It is like the bowl empties and isn't getting enought fuel to keep up with the load. Any other suggestions?

Float level too low or something wrong with the needle valve?

a cry for megasquirt

megasquirt would be great,but how?

Mazdax605 wrote: megasquirt would be great,but how?

Easiest way would be to bolt on a Starion or Magna intake and run fuel-only, leaving the stock distributor running the timing.

would that work?

It is the same engine design, although I'm not sure how much work it takes to get the later intake on there. A check of RockAuto shows the Starion and Sapporo have the same intake manifold gasket, but some other components might could get in the way.

Starions are throttle body injected; the Magna intake is port injected and a popular upgrade for Starion owners.