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1992 Mitsubishi eclipse odd power surges?

I have a 1992 Mitsubishi eclipse that has odd power surges.  It is sluggish about 90% of the time and then it has random boosts where I leave about 4 yards of rubber on the road.  I was wondering if anybody has any ideas on how to fix this.  i intend to give thew car to my girlfriend but i have a bit more experience on junky cars than she dose and i don't want her spinning here tires in the snow due to the boosts in power.  

11 answers
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Oct 18, 2011. 10:13 AMRe-design says:
Sounds like it is dangerous as is and a real mechanic should take a look at it.
Oct 18, 2011. 6:32 PMRe-design says:
Still, the description of the symptom is dangerous since it's random and apparently full power is applied. It's irresponsible to drive this car until it's fixed and fixed right. This is not a problem to tinker with.
Oct 18, 2011. 2:12 PMbwrussell says:
Sounds like clogged or bad fuel injectors, fuel pump, or something else in the fuel system. You can try a bottle of some fuel injector cleaner, STP makes some I think. If it improves then you know where the problem is, if not you can't rule it out though.
I wouldn't be driving this car in the snow, or probably at all, since a power surge at the wrong time could easily end with you, your girlfriend, or someone else dead.
Oct 17, 2011. 9:36 PMseandogue says:
At a glance, it sorta sounds like your throttle circuit is damaged. I couldn't say if the sensor's bad, (think potentiometer) the computer's bad, or if there's another problem altogether, but that's my primary suspect. Not the linkage, but the throttle-sensor/wiring/computer....

If the system is pre-electronic control, it could simply be a dirty gas filter.

While you're at it, give the ignition circuit a good look, since certain problems there can result in similar symptoms.
Oct 20, 2011. 7:52 AMbwrussell says:
It's possible when you were messing with the wiring you cooked the ECU, although this car might be to old for that.
Oct 20, 2011. 8:04 PMbwrussell says:
Of course, I ment after when everything was hooked up again.

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