Three problems related to engine shut off without warning have been reported for the 1997 Mitsubishi Eclipse. The most recently reported issues are listed below.
The thrust washer is welded to the crankshaft in my car. For whatever reason, there is a defect in the thrust washers that cause there to be an increase in the amount of play in the crankshaft. This causes what had been termed the "crankshaft walk". Among other symptoms, common and what happened to my car was that the 5 speed manual transmission started to lock up on me where I could not even get the car in gear. The movement in the crankshaft caused the crankshaft positioning sensor to go out, and when it did, I was driving on the freeway at 65 mph and the car shut off on me causing me to lose my power brakes and steering. I did not get into an accident, but I could have. I had the thrust washer replaced and now have the same problem. I am not alone. The following is a website that contains post after post of the same problem. Ph **dimsii ivoq entry posted after 12/12/02 cut over to artemis**767675.
Mitsubishi Eclipse suck! I was driving on the freeway when my engine shut off! luckly, I was going down hill and was able to coast off to the left, after almost getting hit a couple of times. My mechanic (brother) took a look at it and said it was the crank shaft, so I googled it and guess what???? im not the only one with this problem. . . Read more...
While driving on highway going 60 mph the vehicle completelty shut down. The rmp's kept going from 3 to 0 and then the vehicle shut down. Vehicle started back up again, this happened three more times, vehicle had to be towed. Dealer cannot find problem.