I bought a 98 Eclipse spyder 2.4l automatic, non turbo, single over head cam for my wife.

It was wrecked in the front end and it still ran fine, just needed a radiator & some body work.

Got all that replaced, got a new radiator, and sent it to get painted. On my way to the paint shop the check engine light came on for the first time.

I left it at the shop for paint.

When I picked it up, the battery was completely dead. So they jumped me. I got about 35-40 miles from the paint shop and still a good 30 or so from my house when the battery died again.

I pulled over, my wife jump started me and it was fine for another 20 miles when it went dead again.

At this point I pulled over, bought a new battery and drove it home. However it was idling rough like very high and my tack was reading very low.

The alternator light also came on. When I got home, I found a 100 amp fuse for the alternator was shot, and a couple other fuses. So I replaced them and all the lights went out but it still was idling the same.

My check engine light went out but my car stopped firing on 2 cylinders upon further inspection. I figured the coil went bad. I replaced the coil pack which was not cheap.

Still no change. I came here and found someone else with a similar issue and it was the ignition transistor.

Got that replaced this morning and it fixed that part. I then tested my alternator to find it was bad so I also replaced that.

It seemed to be idling better. When I went to back out of the drive way it started running rough, like really rough and kind of jerking sort of. Serious hesistation.

I put gas in it thinking maybe it was out of gas and my gage was off and nothing mattered. I then unhooked the battery tried to reset things. Nothing helped and my check engine light is back on.

I just replaced the throttle piston sensor which again was another $120.

I have a TON of money into this car now. I didn't pay a lot for it and can justify it somewhat, but everything I do seems not to do much or cost me an arm & a leg.

I read some other people's issues and need to know if you anyone has any idea where to go now.. One person said the Mass Air Flow sensor which is about $450 and someone else mentioned the temp sensor which is only $30.

I would really like it to be the one, but I have spent money on a coil I don't need, replaced wires, plugs, alternator, battery, radiator, fuses, etc. So I am wondering any other ideas before I drop $450 on a sensor and it may not be it.

Thanks to ANY ideas!

sounds like hesitation caused by improper combustion.check to see what your plugs look like.they might need changed.check that first.

before changing any other sensors or anything expensive always check the cheap stuff first.

you can probably find a cheaper MAF on Ebay or somewhere.

the best thing would be to take it somewhere to have the engine code read. It should point you in the right direction.

I'm leaning towards the ECU malfunctioning because it was jumped so many times and fuses were blown

as my parents alwas said think of KISS keep it simple stupid (no punn attended) and if u have a manual for the car and a ohm meter u can test all sensors and see if there r good or bad

Thanks, I did get an maf and it didn't change.

I had the codes ran and it says 1 o2 is bad and a vacuum leak. I notice when I unplug the maf it runs without hesitation. When it is unplugged and I start it and go it hesitates some but then smooths out and totally fine.

Does this help at all? I can't seem to find the vacuum leak.

replace the O2 sensorfirst

I took it to mechanic, they said they ohmed out the maf and it is good. I got a new ECM and it is still doing the same thing. The o2 sensor is said to be fine by the same mechanic and he found no vacuum leak.

It still runs with a slight hesitation with the maf unplugged but when I plug it in it runs bad.

is there anything bent still? is the MAF clogged?

Throttle position sensor is not calibrated properly. It is contradicting what the MAF is saying.

If you unplug the MAF, it runs fine, and if you unplug the TPS, it should run ok too. These cars (and most others) are designed that if one of these guys goes bad, the other can take up the slack for a while anyway.

If one of them is throwing up a slightly different reading than the other, it will confuse the ecu. And if you have already changed the tps, then it probably wasn't claibrated when the new one was installed, hence your problem.

That's the most simple and least costly solution. The other end of the scale is your ecu got messed up a little, but that shouldn't be the case because it shouldn't smooth out at all if the ecu is fried.

And how do they know the o2 sensor is fine?

Thanks! how do I get them calibrated properly?

The mechanic said he tested the o2 and it was fine. Thanks again. This is killing me!

i use an OBD II reader
the brand I use is Actron

this will tell you why the check engine light is on and then you can go straight to the problem without spending more money then you have too