Mitsubishi Reviews

The answer depends on which particular engine your car is fitted with. In 2005, Mitsubishi gave the Lancer a facelift, at which point the ES version could be had with the original 2.0-litre engine or the newer and more powerful 2.4-litre unit.

If your car has the 2.0-litre engine, then it is fitted with a timing chain which should last the life of the car. If it’s the 2.4-litre unit, then it has a rubber timing belt which needs to be changed at regular intervals.

The general consensus seems to be that the belt-change interval for this engine is every 90,000km or six years, whichever comes first. Mechanics also recommend you replace the water pump and the various pulleys and tensioners at the same time to avoid having to disassemble the engine a second time when the pump starts to leak six months from now.

The simplest answer is that the engine’s idle speed is set too low. I think these engines used a stepper motor to control the throttle at idle, and if this fails the engine will run with some throttle applied, but will stall at idle.

If that’s not the cause, you need to look a bit deeper into things like fuel pressure at idle and whether there’s some kind of problem with the fuel-injection system. It could even be something as simple as a dirty fuel or air filter. A good mechanic will know how to alter the idle speed to prevent this happening, although it may involve a new stepper-motor unit.

That’s pretty outrageous fuel consumption and equates to about 30 litres per 100km when 10 to 15 litres per 100km is a more realistic expectation from a vehicle like this. And that points to something seriously wrong with the way the on-bard computer is supplying the fuel to the engine.

You need to start by running some checks including the fuel delivery pressure, as well as the various sensors around the engine that determine the fuel mixture. It could be as simple as a dud engine temperature sensor which is telling the computer the engine is stone cold, even though it’s not. But equally, you could have a problem with an oxygen sensor, a throttle position sensor or even a simple vacuum leak. Even a throttle body that is not adjusted properly or a dirty mass-air-flow sensor can throw things out of kilter and cause over-fuelling.

The danger is that, if you continue to drive the vehicle as it is, you’ll not only go broke putting petrol in it, but you might also damage the engine through the excess fuel causing damage to the cylinder bores.