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I have a 1989 Mitsubishi colt in good knick having done a bit over 200,000km with only 2 owners. Recently i had some problems getting it started and i think the choke has become inactive. I got roadside assistance to look at it and he said something about the fuel not getting through the carburetor smoothly, it was more sporadic. Sometimes when i accelerate it goes a bit jerky in the lower gears

Anyway, it started and ran fine with no start up issues for a while but now it is taking at least 5 or so goes to fire and get going. It's not the battery as the battery doesn't drain and is fairly new, my father has a lot of experience with cars and we have the work shop manual, so if i could be pointed in the right direction for what we can look at to try and fix that'd be great,

thanks  

are you sure its AN 89...  

dodge had colts...

mitsubishi had other names...

well if you have a carb.. its probably a minuki solex.. with the plastic main body...

there is a choke pull off that goes bad..  and is a PIA to change..

does your carb look like this???



there are 3 or 4 different versions...



warning...  if you send your carb in for rebuilding..   unless you specify that the choke pull off is to be replaced at additional cost.. they generally don't do it.. as they cost about 10 bucks..  i have gotten back so many carbs that i sent in for rebuilding.. that even thought i ask them to change it..  they did not .. so the engine still flooded on start up...

you do have the option if the choke blade does not open slightly on a cold start...  of bending a ear of the choke blade down slightly..  like you dog ear a book..

i should also let you know.. that lately..  i have had to resolder many many ECMs from the 80s'

i have also ran into mitsubishi ecms from the 80's and the early 90's..  that had a 14 volt rated capacitor installed..

these blow off the board and ruin the computer.. making it almost impossible to fix them..    you can remove the Computer and carefully open it..   check it for cold solder joints.. and blown off caps...

 

can you see the discolored area above right..  where the black and white tubular device is...

thats the cap that blows..   its in different locations on different computers..  

1989 Mitsubishi:
Galant
Mighty Max 2WD
Mighty Max 4WD
Mirage
Montero 4WD
Precis
Sigma
Space Wagon (PR)
Starion
Van
Wagon

the 89 dodge colt only offered the 2 bbl in canadian versions according to the parts books..  and they could be wrong..  

Sorry, should've specificied that I'm in Australia, this looks to be the same model as mine, give you an idea..



I'm pretty sure it doesn't have a computer that advanced?

Basically for a while the car was blowing smoke (white) and it turned out to be the fuel mix, my father and I adjusted this and got it to a point where it wasn't blowing smoke and was running ok. That picture you posted does look similar if not the same as my carby, the flap (which i assume is the choke)does not open and close on it's own according the the cars temperature as it should.

I can understand the choke causing it not to start properly, but what about the fuel not being squirted in a consistent manner? The roadside assistance man suggested i changed plugs and points which i did, but then he also recommended perhaps a carboruta adjustment, basically i'm trying to figure out if me and my father can do this ourselves using the work shop manual, and if thats the problem?

Also it's a 1.6L if that makes any difference

thanks  

why not post a picture with the hood open..

does it have an oxygen sensor.????

does the center section of the carb have a black plastic section...


being from way down under explains the difference in names...

just curious.. does it have an engine like a hyundai excel..????

http://www.tomco-inc.com/Catalog/carb%20mikuni%20solex%20cpo.pdf  

Im really not sure if its like a hyundai excel.

I will go out and take a picture and post back soon  

taken me a while, but here is the photo of my carby



Uploaded with ImageShack.us  

that is an mikuni solex carb....  

the trick.. when the engine is cold...  remove the air filter LID... so you can just see down the throat of the carb..  or if its all the way off...  touch the throttle ones.. the choke blade in the bore closest to the bottom of opening should snap closed..   when you have somebody start the engine.. it should be pulled open just slightly..   to prevent the engine from loading up with too much fuel.. as the engine warms up..   the choke blade should open to a straight up position...

the choke pull off diaphragm is under the 3 screw cover at the 2 o clock position in this image...   it has a shaft that engages the plastic gear device at 3 o clock..  

you did not mention that you found an oxygen sensor in the exhaust manifold...

i bet there is one.. as those are usually a feed back carb...

there will be some kind of computer stashed up under the dashboard...

that may be the cause of it running bad..  cold solder joints or failed (designed to fail) caps as shown above..


do you have an automotive digital volt meter to monitor the fuel control solenoid duty cycle percentages...

can you monitor the oxygen sensor voltage... see if it continually swings from 0.1 to 0.9 volts DC with the engine held at a steady 2500 rpm..    that is the feed back signal to the computer to regulate the fuel control .. .


computer exam first...