not another fto problem!

[ftolam13]

its only happening now and again.. the car feels sluggish and cuts out. brought it up to a mitsubishi garage and done the diagnostics test and its showing that nothings wrong with it. its defenitely not the stepping motor as that would have shown up on the test according to the guy in mitsubishi...
when its happening it feels like a diesel!! sluggish best way to describe it.
i've reset the ecu and nothing changed its still the same. any ideas????
i was reading up on an old post an it sounds like this http://www.fto-ireland.com/forum/phpBB2 ... light=fuse

[Muad_dib77]

My 1st port of call would be checking the plugs - bad plugs = sluggish car..

[ftolam13]

My 1st port of call would be checking the plugs - bad plugs = sluggish car..

would they cause the car to cut out????????????

[Kace]

Stepper motor will make the car cut out. Easy way to test it is to take it off completely. Once you rev car for a few mins it will run fine without stepper motor.

[ftolam13]

Stepper motor will make the car cut out. Easy way to test it is to take it off completely. Once you rev car for a few mins it will run fine without stepper motor.

would the stepper motor not sure up at the diagnostics test,.. i got the all clear with the stepper motor

[steelroe]

Dirt in fuel filter??

[CJ]

would the stepper motor not sure up at the diagnostics test,.. i got the all clear with the stepper motor

Not necessarily. The electrical connections may be fine buy it could be messed up mechanically or clogged full of gunk. Take it off an clean it.

Steelroes sugggestion the fuel filter being clogged is also worth investigating, change if you have no record of it ever being done.

Check plugs leads and all the usual stuff.

CJ

[ftolam13]

cleaned the stepper motor and order a fuel filter. is it worth upgrading the fuel pump?

[CJ]

is it worth upgrading the fuel pump?

Not unless you intend on increaseing the injector size and a host of other engine work.

CJ

[Myfeckin FTO]

is it worth upgrading the fuel pump?

Not unless you intend on increaseing the injector size and a host of other engine work.

CJ

I dunno! A lot of the guys in the UK have had good results from switching to a Walbro pump - may not see any significant increase in power but if you already have an induction, decat exhaust, fuel pressure regulator, piggyback ECU then an uprated fuel pump that has a higher flow rate than standard would seem to be benifical - agree though that the next step would be to sort out the injectors.

Still no big power gains to be had even with the above but you'll have a nice healthy engine that you're getting the best out of.

The Walbro, a FPR and an ECU was something I was considering myself just before I sold my FTO.

[Muad_dib77]

would you not need to upgrade your fual rails as well to let the extra feed in?

[CJ]

would you not need to upgrade your fual rails as well to let the extra feed in?

Quite likely. If you want to increase the fuel pressure, its much better to do so in a managed way i.e. aftermarket ECU. Unfortunately, this isn't an area where the FTO has been catered for in any significant way.

The stock ECU will control fuel delivery and injector duty cycle using predefined values, you really need aftermarket electronics to make it all work together properly.

In terms of piggyback units such as the Superchips Icon, I'd like to see some dyno results - my own experience with the Racelogic unit showed power losses as opposed to gains!

CJ

[Muad_dib77]

here's my two cents on the whole thing..

If you're gonna start mucking about with fueling ignition times and the likes you have to do the whole cahuna to get the real results..

This means ECU/Piggyback system
Fuel Pump
PowerValve (?)
Injectors/Fuel-rail

and it all has to be set-up properly..

Increasing the fuel/air mix leads to other bottle-necks..

Added exhaust amount/pressure - do you need to uprate your exjasut system?
Lack of Air - Have a look at the intake - do you need to upgrade anything here? - Throttle body?

Then there's the temperature issues that may or may not arise from running your engine at a different performance level that it was intended to do.. will you need additional cooling? heat wrap? thermal gaskets?

How about the gearing? Different Ratios, Lighter Flywheel, Heavy duty clutch?


In my opinion there are other things that can be done to increase your speed.

Become a better driver - educate yourself, go do a bunch of track driving.
Put appropriate shoes on your car.. match your wheel/tyre choice to your driving style..
Shave weight off your ride - lighter car = faster car.
Brakes - good brakes means you can cut your braking distances thus going faster for longer.
Suspension = too hard you'll be all over the place - too soft you'll be in a ditch..

It's endless - there are SO many things you can do to improve performance..but unless you focus your mods and just do a bit here and there you wont really see any results..

I do apologise if this is all common sense to all of you - but I needed to get it off my chest

[ftolam13]

here's my two cents on the whole thing..

If you're gonna start mucking about with fueling ignition times and the likes you have to do the whole cahuna to get the real results..

This means ECU/Piggyback system
Fuel Pump
PowerValve (?)
Injectors/Fuel-rail

and it all has to be set-up properly..

Increasing the fuel/air mix leads to other bottle-necks..

Added exhaust amount/pressure - do you need to uprate your exjasut system?
Lack of Air - Have a look at the intake - do you need to upgrade anything here? - Throttle body?

Then there's the temperature issues that may or may not arise from running your engine at a different performance level that it was intended to do.. will you need additional cooling? heat wrap? thermal gaskets?

How about the gearing? Different Ratios, Lighter Flywheel, Heavy duty clutch?


In my opinion there are other things that can be done to increase your speed.

Become a better driver - educate yourself, go do a bunch of track driving.
Put appropriate shoes on your car.. match your wheel/tyre choice to your driving style..
Shave weight off your ride - lighter car = faster car.
Brakes - good brakes means you can cut your braking distances thus going faster for longer.
Suspension = too hard you'll be all over the place - too soft you'll be in a ditch..

It's endless - there are SO many things you can do to improve performance..but unless you focus your mods and just do a bit here and there you wont really see any results..

I do apologise if this is all common sense to all of you - but I needed to get it off my chest

thanks for the comment, and i agree...
all of the other stuff does have knock effects for everything else that you need to do. the only thing is, if your car has more bhp than you its obviously going to beat you in a straight run, i know driving technique is going to help you but i'm just looking for omething thats going to give the car that extra umph!

[CJ]

but i'm just looking for something thats going to give the car that extra umph!

Take a look at your signature for inspiration, thats the only thing thats going to give you any significant gains, the downside is cost. After all these years, I wouldn't be too bothered about making the FTO more powerful (its just not cost effective enough IMO), time spent on the chassis (suspension, brakes, wheels, tyres) will mean you can drive more on the edge and allow for more controlled use of the power at your disposal.

CJ