Starts and shuts off immediately

SUNSARO67

MEMBER
2012 MITSUBISHI LANCER
1.8L
4 CYL
2WD
AUTOMATIC
80,000 MILES

My friend, one early morning left his car (listed above) started on the yard and doing something for a short time inside the house. The car was stolen and later the police found it abandoned in another suburb 30 km away.

Now, every time he starts the car with the duplicate key which also has the programmed chip, the car starts and shuts off immediately.

When some brake fluid is injected in the air duct it runs for few seconds. No check engine light. There is half tank fuel. The battery is fully charged.

We thought the fuel is the problem and checked fuse, relay and the pump. Everything looks ok but the pump gets the current only in the start position. There is no voltage in the pump when engine is on. When the pump is directly connected to 12v, it's priming but do not know whether it pumps enough fuel. We replaced with a junk yard pump assembly and no success.

There is no schrader valve in the fuel line to connect the fuel pressure gauge.

As there is no check engine light it's hard to diagnose the problem. Anything there to find where the problem is?

1 Reply

KASEKENNY

MECHANIC
18,907 POSTS

Sounds like you are sniffing all around the issue. If you are able to add fuel and it runs then you do have a fuel issue.

I am concerned with the fact that you only have power at the pump when in the start position so we should start there.

However, here is the way to test the fuel pressure which is where we always have to start on fuel issues. If you don't have pressure even when the pump runs, then there is no sense in figuring the rest out. So let's check the pressure when you turn the key on and then we can determine next steps.

Thanks

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