Mitsubishi Repair: intermittent problems, little cars, jerome jerome

Question
Hi Linda,
        This is a frustrating problem. My wife has a 91 eclipse with a 1.8 and about 2 years ago it just wouldn't start and i had it towed home. Checked all the usual stuff and no luck. Tried it again the next day it started and it has ran since then with no problems until about 2 weeks ago when it did it again. I read the forum questions and pulled the ecu and the capacitors were bad but the rest of the board looked good. The electronics instructor at the college I go to installed new capacitors and after installing it it ran fine then just like someone turned the ignition off it quit. The weird part is if you turn the key  back and forth you will hear the fuel injector relay clicking and then try to start it it will fire up and run.Then after about 10-15 minutes it will quit. Last time I tried it ran for 1/2 hour and stayed running. sorry this is so long and I appreciate any advice you might have. Thanks Jerome

Answer
Jerome: The computer controls and runs the engine of your car with a whole group of sensors through out the engine. If one sensor is weak or bad; it will mess up the running of that engine. It sounds like a bad sensor to me or maybe a weak one. Yet, have you checked the battery cable to make sure they are tight and the cables are in good working order. These little cars like those cables tight. Still I believe the problem is with the computer or the sensors. Because the sensors send their reading into the computer which then decides how the engine should run. The computer is picking up a problem in the system or thinks it is. So it shuts off the car, I think I would get that computer checked again and be sure it is right. Have it coded, then coded with it in the car with all the sensors too.  When you say the rest of the board looked good, was that by sight or did you code it. In that did you hook it up to another computer and get a print out to make sure that was right? I was told once those capacitors go bad, they leak into the computer and will kill of the whole thing off. So it could be you have a bad computer and so it is just shutting the car off. I have talked to another people with somewhat the same problem and most of the cases it was a bad computer. So I would start there. Oh hey if the question is long it helps me understand the question better so not to worry. Hope this helps and God bless: Linda