Gen 3 Throttle Idle Issue

Ashton_59

Member
Well, I am stuck once again, and beyond frustrated. I am starting to regret buying this Montero, not because I don't like it, I wouldn't even be able to come up with that verdict because I've only driven it 40 miles in the almost 2 months I have owned it. But I do enjoy the looks and comfort, just from what I've witnessed so far. This thing is becoming a hassle, don't get me wrong I still very much want a montero, but I wish I chose or waited longer to find a different one. Especially when I bought the thing for the price of a mechanically healthy vehicle. Now enough with my venting (sorry for that). So my dilemma is that the Montero is acting up. With the key on the accessory mode, the throttle body starts making all sorts of noise. At first, I thought my throttle body was toast, as you might have seen from my previous thread. But I bought a different one, with lower miles, and the same thing occurs. And when I turn the vehicle on it starts very rough, and it idles fine for a few seconds, but then the RPMs go up to around 1700 and a horrible fuel smell begins to occur, enough to make me light-headed in a few seconds (just for a perspective). These issues began to happen after I removed the manifolds to replace the coils and plug wires. I also replaced the intake gaskets. I did do a compression test when I was down there, just for safe measures, but I did not disconnect the fuel relay. Could this flood my fuel system and cause the bad fuel smell? I have started it multiple times over a 2 week period and the problem persists. So I'm starting to rule that question out. It might be that I bought a faulty throttle body, which that chance might be slim... but still very likely. Could there be a bad sensor that correlates with the throttle position sensor that is faulty, causing it to spazz out? At this point, I am stumped and do not know what to do. I might have fixed my P0300 with the new coils; just for this problem to occur. I am close to just having a mechanic look at it but I don't want to give up quite yet. Any advice would be amazing! Thank you all very much for your time. Here is a link to a video of the noise coming from the throttle body area:
 

offthepath

Adventurer
That sucks. Hang in there. If all the problems started after you did work to the car, there is a good chance it's related to that.

I'd start by making sure all vacuum lines and plugs/wires are connected. Next I'd dig deeper and redo/check everything you did during the spark plug change.

I have no idea why the throttle body would make that noise, but the way you describe the engine noise makes me think a bad vacumme leak or misfire (ie plug wires going to the wrong holes or not connected)
 
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Ashton_59

Member
That sucks. Hang in there. If all the problems started after you did work to the car, there is a good chance it's related to that.

I'd start by making sure all vacuum lines and plugs/wires are connected. Next I'd dig deeper and redo/check everything you did during the spark plug change.

I have no idea why the throttle body would make that noise, but the way you describe the engine noise makes me think a bad vacumme leak or misfire (ie plug wires going to the wrong holes or not connected)
I guess digging back in would be the best bet, thanks for the motivation. Also, how important is it to torque everything? Because I don't own a torque wrench so I was just tightening all the bolts basically as tight as I could get them, should I invest in a torque wrench? Also, it is strange about the throttle body, as well that it is super hard to find anything about the throttle body issue. I don't know if I should buy another once again just to rule it out being faulty or what lol.
 

Ashton_59

Member
I have no idea why the throttle body would make that noise, but the way you describe the engine noise makes me think a bad vacumme leak
I'm not sure if its a vacuum leak because wouldn't that make it run lean? It is runny very very rich the short term fuel trims are at positive 25 for bank 1 and 2.
 

offthepath

Adventurer
I guess I missed you had a scanner. Are there any codes?

Did any of the injectors get unplugged and possibly plugged into the wrong spot during the work?
 

Ashton_59

Member
I guess I missed you had a scanner. Are there any codes?

Did any of the injectors get unplugged and possibly plugged into the wrong spot during the work?
I didn't mess with any of the injectors during the process, but the connectors could have become pinched off while putting the manifold back on possibly. It is throwing a few codes, but I can't remember it off the top of my head. I'll go grab the codes and post them.
 

Ashton_59

Member
I guess I missed you had a scanner. Are there any codes?
I deleted the codes and ran it again till the codes popped back up. All that came up was a P0300 code! RIP. But previously codes P0122, and P0222 were coming up. I don't know if they weren't showing up due to the vehicle only running for a minute or if the throttle body isn't the problem anymore.
P0122 = Throttle Position Sensor Circuit A Low
P0222 = Throttle Position Sensor Circuit B Low
 

offthepath

Adventurer
Based on those tps codes, I think it would point to some kind of wiring problem. I'm wondering if the tps plug or wiring got damaged when the intake was removed.

Check the plug and wiring (go back several inches from the plug looking for broken wires). Then clean it with electrical contact cleaner. I'm guessing in the FSM there is a method to test the tps. Did you do that before replacing it?

Regarding the 0300 code, this what Google pulled up:
P0300 MITSUBISHI Tech Notes
The P0300 code means that a cylinder(s) is misfiring or is randomly misfiring. Start by checking for intake leaks, intake gaskets are common caused of multi-cylinder misfiring. If no leak are found the next step is to replace the spark plugs.

Again a vacuum leak, maybe spray around the intake manifold with brake cleaner and see if the engine rpm changes. Another possibility is the spark plug is not working. Either wiring or a faulty plug.

Also check the FSM for more trouble shooting on these codes.
 
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Ashton_59

Member
Based on those tps codes, I think it would point to some kind of wiring problem. I'm wondering if the tps plug or wiring got damaged when the intake was removed.

Check the plug and wiring (go back several inches from the plug looking for broken wires). Then clean it with electrical contact cleaner. I'm guessing in the FSM there is a method to test the tps. Did you do that before replacing it?

Regarding the 0300 code, this what Google pulled up:
P0300 MITSUBISHI Tech Notes
The P0300 code means that a cylinder(s) is misfiring or is randomly misfiring. Start by checking for intake leaks, intake gaskets are common caused of multi-cylinder misfiring. If no leak are found the next step is to replace the spark plugs.

Again a vacuum leak, maybe spray around the intake manifold with brake cleaner and see if the engine rpm changes. Another possibility is the spark plug is not working. Either wiring or a faulty plug.

Also check the FSM for more trouble shooting on these codes.
Thank you!
 

Salonika

Monterror Pilot
Yes you should have used a torque wrench. Intake manifold gaskets are sensitive, bolts are easily stripped. If you have access to the mitsu procedure follow it precisely. I’m not sure how far down you went but as an example, my lower manifold requires new crush washers every time you remove the bolts. I ignored that once and had to go back in there and redo it all with new washers. It’s been great since then. A tiny air leak can wreak havoc at idle air volumes. A good learning experience is to pull off a vacuum hose once on a good running engine and see how bad it freaks out. Put you finger over the hole and try and control the flow with your finger. You’ll see how small an amount of air leaking in can cause major problems.
 
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Salonika

Monterror Pilot
Did you do any work to the throttle body On the first go around, or did you just remove it as one unit and put it right back on? Looks like it has 6 pins on the connector. Have you inspected them? Anything bent corroded or damaged? When you say you got a new (used) throttle body, do you mean literally the whole thing or did you only replace the black actuator electronic part?
 
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Ashton_59

Member
Did you do any work to the throttle body On the first go around, or did you just remove it as one unit and put it right back on? Looks like it has 6 pins on the connector. Have you inspected them? Anything bent corroded or damaged? When you say you got a new (used) throttle body, do you mean literally the whole thing or did you only replace the black actuator electronic part?
On the first go around I removed it as a unit and put it back on, never touched the butterfly, or banged the TPS around. I did look at the connection pins, on the old one, and newer (old) one and both looked fine. Except when I got the newer one I did clean it with some throttle body cleaner.
 

Ashton_59

Member
I’m not sure how far down you went but as an example, my lower manifold requires new crush washers every time you remove the bolts.
I just got took the manifold plenum off, as in the upper intake so I can do ignition maintenance. Would that require new washers? And where would you purchase these washers?
 

Ashton_59

Member
And I forgot to mention, I was soon to realize I messed up. Like I said I was cranking everything down to the tightness I thought was right... well that didn’t work out to well with me for one bolt. This picture is the nut before it broke along with the top portion of the bolt. At first I thought it was completely fine due to the the other bolts around it being fastened. But now that I think could this be the culprit along with the gaskets not being torqued to spec?
 

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Salonika

Monterror Pilot
Um, so are you saying you no longer have a bolt in that location? I don’t know if your engine is like mine with the washers, I was just using that as an example.
 
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