380 Dying Whilst Driving Plus Not Starting Intermittently

Hey guys,

At my wits end with my 380 Series 2 that's dual fuel (but not actually using LPG at all and haven't for 10 months or so, tank's valve is closed due to leak at injection block).

About 2 months ago, my car just randomly went into limp while driving. Checked codes, throwing a Crank Angle Sensor Intermittent code, low voltage code and a random misfire code. Drove it to my mechanic and engine cut off whilst driving at 80km/h and wouldn't start again, got it towed to him and he replaced the crank angle sensor and battery. Was fine for another week, then shuddered; followed by limp mode mixed with no longer starting. Towed to mechanic, still throwing crank angle sensor intermittent code (but low voltage and misfire codes gone). He made a few calls and was told cam angle sensor is in the same circuit as the CAS so he replaced that. Once again, back to silky smooth driving and starting but only for two days this time. Back to not starting intermittently (sometimes would, sometimes wouldn't), ordered a second hand ECU kit from Mitsfix under the advice from two different mechanics after the ODBII port was no longer able to communicate with mechanic's tool. Had it installed and programmed today. Was fine for the mechanic and driving it home, but went to start it two hours later, and it wouldn't start again. Finally got it started after half hours rest and drove it to mechanic and now throwing misfire code.

Mechanic now (unconvincingly) thinks possible coil pack(s), wiring somewhere bad or possibly something randomly stopping fuel from being delivered to the engine as unplugging something and spraying "start ya bastard" inside it (didn't catch what he was spraying it onto, somewhere on the middle right of the engine bay), was giving it more of a chance of firing than without the spray.

He's gonna get back to having a dig on Monday, but just wondering if any ideas floating about of what it could be.

Another wild thought he had was the LPG ECU might be meddling with something causing the petrol system to play up as the lights on the switch in the cabin have always flickered on and off and between red and green plus the LPG gauge has never been accurate when it does decide to work, but it was just a wild thought, not an actual opinion as he doesn't really know how LPG systems work.

Any help appreciated. Sorry for the essay.

Sounds like your mechanic is out of his depth, and just throwing parts at it in desperation.

Tell them you’re respectfully getting a second opinion and take it to a reputable auto electrician.

Intermittent faults are always difficult. Time, patience, and perseverence are your best friend.
My feeling would be to concentrate on the fault reporting system and try to analyse how faults may be generated.
I am wondering if there is maybe a faulty plug/socket/ contact problem and plugging/unplugging may correct the fault temporarily. I suggest you keep monitoring the fault codes to see what is being reported.
Unfortunately if you have to pay someone to do this you could be up for some $$$'s
good luck with it.

Mechanic found corrosion on two pins of a connector that goes into the main ECU module apparently. Cleaned it up, and the car's been fine since (4 days so far), touch wood. Didn't charge me anything extra as he said he should have caught it when he was swapping ECUs over.

Car seems to be running better than it has in years too but that could just be placebo.

Please report back at some time in the future with updates as to the outcome, good or otherwise.

Thanks.

My Series II 380GT is doing exactly this! When driving at speed it will stutter but catch. If it happens when slowing down, it shuts off like i turned the key, but will start. Today it shuddered and gave a CEL and went into limp home mode. Earlier this year (Jan) I had the rocker cover gaskets replaced and injectors and throttle body cleaned and it was fine until recently it started doing it again. It's booked in on Friday, but it is so intermittent and I bet the above codes get mentioned, but I will tell the mechanic about your issue and see what happens too. I HATE intermittent problems.

BTW which pins on which connector was it that he had to check?

And just as I thought, the CAS error code showed up when the mechanic checked it. He wanted to charge $780 to replace, but instead I asked him to check ECU. It's going to an ECU specialist to check, but we'll see.