Mitsubishi Repair: 1996 Galant Just Stopped, crank sensor, distributor cap

Question
Here is the problem.  I have a 4 cyl 1996 Galant and about a week ago I was driving down the Interstate and it just shut off.  It took me a few seconds to realize that the car had shut off.  I have tried to start it several times with letting it rest in different intervals (few minutes to a couple days).  It sounds like the starter and everything is trying to turn over, but the engine will not crank.  It is getting spark and fuel.  I have a book, but it has not helped me with this problem.

Answer
Chris: Sounds like a computer problem, the computer controls everything in that engine. Your car is the right year for the bad computers, so even the computer its self might be bad. You need to take the car, well you need to test that computer, there are meters for doing this; Sears sells a good ones not to costly. Or else you can use a repair manual for your car and a voltmeter to check things that way. But this sounds like the computer problem to me, you could have a bad sensor or weak ones too. But for the car to just shut off and not start again, though it has stark does sound like the computer. Oh hey you need to get a repair manual, they cost around $20.00 and well worth the money, most parts stores sell them. Other wise take your car to a shop to get this checked out. Oh one more thing if your car has a distributor cap here is an idea to try, (as there is a crank sensor in that cap)try taking the distributor cap loose, then turn it either to the left or to the right then try to start the car. Sometimes the cars will start then, but still I had a car that would just shut off, whenever it felt like it and it turned out to be the computer. You could also take the neg cable off on the battery, wait 5 minutes and put it back on; that will reset the computer. Then the car might start, but you need to get this fixed, because the next time the computer kills the car; you might end up in a crash. And we would not want that. Well some ideas for you to try though. Hope this helps and God bless: Linda