dodge / chrysler / mitsubishi colt 200 1989

Discussion in 'General Motoring' started by tanya, Aug 9, 2003.

  1. tanya

    tanya Guest

    hello
    X-posted
    trying to learn about my car the aforeMentioned colt 200 (1989, well
    maintained 1 owner i.e. owned by 1 family) and have a stupid question
    and i do apologize in advance!
    car HESITATES / LAGS on acceleration... very rough idle in gear
    (automatic transmission) especially in reverse.... (NOT when hitting the
    gas petal)
    (it idles @ 500 rpm)
    i've found on the interNet causes for hesitation / poor engine
    performance which include H2O in the tank; bad ignition wires, bad fuel
    filter (it does <apparently> have rust on the fuel filter and the last
    nonChrysler mechanic didn't want to try to rpl it since it could have
    damaged the fuel lines...???)
    this was < 1 month ago and he replaced the spark plugs and their wires
    the air filter, the pollution control valve; the distributor cap, and
    the ignition rotor
    QUESTION: the ignition rotor: does this contain the ignition wires?
    i would be very grateful for any and all advice.
    thank you in advance!
    ..
     
    tanya, Aug 9, 2003
    #1
  2. tanya

    Bob Shuman Guest

    Hello again Tanya. Glad to see you found these newsgroups. People here are
    very helpful and I am sure that someone will have a Colt service manual or
    have owned one at some point so you should get some good advice.

    As to the ignition rotor, this is inside the distributor cap and this is
    where the ignition wires terminate (spark plugs on one side, ignition cap on
    the other). The rotor spins on the distributor making contact with the
    rotor caps terminals at the appropriate time to send high voltage electric
    pulses to the spark plugs through the cable and fire at the appropriate
    times to detonate the fuel air mixture (after the compression stroke). On
    older vehicles there were something called "points" that actually had small
    contacts on them that made/broke as the distributor turned thereby
    generating the low voltage electric pulse that was transformed into the HV
    signals by the HV coil. If your vehicle has points then these should have
    been replaced and re-gapped along with replacing the distributor cap and
    rotor. Most vehicles today have "breakerless" ignition so rotors, points,
    and the cap are no longer moving parts and a distributor is no longer used.
    I do not know what your vehicle has since it is old enough to still use the
    old design or have been a modified version that did not have points.

    Good luck!

    Bob
     
    Bob Shuman, Aug 9, 2003
    #2
  3. tanya

    Tony Hwang Guest

    Hi,
    Being '89, it must be fuel injected engine. It so,
    turn the ignition key on/off/on/off/on/off/on in 5 seconds and watch
    check engine light blinking. It'll give two digit code. i.e. if it
    blinks 3 times-pause-5 times = 35. You may fetch a fault code which will be
    helpful. Is the idle in gear or in neutral? If in neutral, that seems
    little too low.
    Tony
     
    Tony Hwang, Aug 9, 2003
    #3
  4. tanya

    tanya Guest

    Hello Bob,
    Thanks for the reply and the explanation!
    [...below...]

    i don't know whether it has points or not..."points" are not mentioned in the
    owner / user manual.
    i do understand the above -- thank you --
    so replacing the ignition rotor would not imply that the ignition wires were
    replaced i assume
    (just wonder because the waterInTheTank theory sort of fell apart yesterday
    (still lags and vibrates) and i read that this could be due to worn ignition
    wires)
    thanks again!
    sincerely
    Tanya
     
    tanya, Aug 9, 2003
    #4
  5. tanya

    Locnar Guest

    thats right... It's a mitsu, so the key thing won't work.....just like if you
    tried it on a Talon or Stealth.


     
    Locnar, Aug 15, 2003
    #5
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