New Here, with my 1999 Mirage DE 1.5 Manual

[Spaethon]

Hey all! New to the forum and I happen to be in the midst of fixing my exhaust manifold which has cracked. Plenty of photos to document the progress and will have to share those later.
It's been a long road these past few weeks. Long story short I've just changed her O2 sensors, the entire distributor, EGR valve, EGR vacuum solenoid, map sensor, throttle position sensor, fuel injectors, fuel filter, air filter, new silicone vacuum houses, fuel pressure regulator, and a vacuum solenoid valve.

I've been chasing a problem she's been having with backfiring, stuttering sputtering, and not moving from a stop despite idling fine. Just by chance, I was checking underneath her to drain her oil to check if it looked normal after a days use, and looked up at the exhaust manifold to see a giant crack in it. I immediately went to search for symptoms and sure enough that sounds like the problem!

She has 230,000 miles on her, I've had her since 2015, she has a very solid engine, she's a manual which I learned to drive on & my first car was a manual. There's lots of carbon buildup unfortunately with the manifold going on, but I ran 2 cans of seafoam through her intake and will keep doing what I gotta do to keep her healthy and on the road.

She's painted in camouflage (sea green, dark green, light blue, dark blue, and yellow), and she has LED lights inside her grills, underbody, rock lights in the wheel wells, two strips mounted under her black spoiler, and four strips in the backseat area. All adjustable by app of course. Nice 10-in subwoofer in the back, amplifier, speakers throughout. She's been loved, that's for sure. Sounds like I'm in the right place!

[Fummins]

Welcome! There aren't many older Mirages on here. I'm a little skeptical that a cracked exhaust manifold would prevent your car from moving but I haven't played with 20+year old Mitsubishi's much(until recently).

[BigMW]

Hey all! New to the forum and I happen to be in the midst of fixing my exhaust manifold which has cracked. Plenty of photos to document the progress and will have to share those later.
It's been a long road these past few weeks. Long story short I've just changed her O2 sensors, the entire distributor, EGR valve, EGR vacuum solenoid, map sensor, throttle position sensor, fuel injectors, fuel filter, air filter, new silicone vacuum houses, fuel pressure regulator, and a vacuum solenoid valve.

I've been chasing a problem she's been having with backfiring, stuttering sputtering, and not moving from a stop despite idling fine. Just by chance, I was checking underneath her to drain her oil to check if it looked normal after a days use, and looked up at the exhaust manifold to see a giant crack in it. I immediately went to search for symptoms and sure enough that sounds like the problem!

She has 230,000 miles on her, I've had her since 2015, she has a very solid engine, she's a manual which I learned to drive on & my first car was a manual. There's lots of carbon buildup unfortunately with the manifold going on, but I ran 2 cans of seafoam through her intake and will keep doing what I gotta do to keep her healthy and on the road.

She's painted in camouflage (sea green, dark green, light blue, dark blue, and yellow), and she has LED lights inside her grills, underbody, rock lights in the wheel wells, two strips mounted under her black spoiler, and four strips in the backseat area. All adjustable by app of course. Nice 10-in subwoofer in the back, amplifier, speakers throughout. She's been loved, that's for sure. Sounds like I'm in the right place!

You gotta show us some pictures, looks like a really cool setup!

Welcome!

[Spaethon]

I'm excited to check out this forum, which I honestly didn't know existed until yesterday. I didn't think a crack would have caused her not to move either, but she started backfiring over the summer intermittently, the shop thought it was her spark plugs even though I changed them like 2 months previously. They ended up jerking me around because they said they checked the car from head to toe and said it must be an internal engine problem and referred me to an engine shop. She acted up again and I replaced the distributor, some time it went by, she acted up again and this time it wasn't intermittent but happening after reaching idle temperature with each startup, so I was forced to get to the bottom of it.
I'd like to share a photo of the manifold but I'm not sure how to attach images on here yet. It was cracked right down the middle on the front, over the top, and down the back, about 90% around the manifold.
I'm in the process of using JB Weld extreme heat, then ratcheting several stainless steel straps to hold the seal tight, then going over the straps with another coat of weld extreme heat. To bond the straps and extra reinforcement. Hopefully that does the trick because I haven't had any luck finding a new manifold for less than $300.
I will find out for sure on Saturday if the manifold crack was the root of the problem. Honestly, I can't think of any other thing that would cause her to idle fine but refuse to move when in-gear and gas-pressed. When that happens she sputters and backfires like crazy, and won't move forward an inch. I went the brute force method with changing parts because each part explained the symptoms if faulty, and given the 230,000 mile odometer, all these parts need changed regardless at this point.
Anyway, thank you for my first reply! I'm glad to contribute with a 90s Mirage

Welcome! There aren't many older Mirages on here. I'm a little skeptical that a cracked exhaust manifold would prevent your car from moving but I haven't played with 20+year old Mitsubishi's much(until recently).

[Spaethon]

I have to find out how! I'm not sure how to attach photos. I'm on my phone, maybe that's why. If so, I'll share photos here. She stands out like the freaking Sun! 🤣

[Fummins]

I use the desktop version of the site on my phone. Click the picture icon above where you type a message(3rd from the left), scroll up to find pop-up box, choose the "from computer" box and go from there. At least that's how I do it.

If it runs alright cold but pooh once warmed up then a cracked manifold could cause those problems.

These guys show some used exhaust manifolds for your car incase your fix doesn't work out.
M & M Imports USA-CA(Fontana) Request_Quote 909-428-1111
http://www.mmimports.net/ But they're in California...

This place is closer and shows one online https://bestautogeorgia.com/

[Spaethon]

Yay, got the image to attach lol. Hopefully 2 of them. Thank you for the photo share tip!! I'll get the hang of it.
The crack goes just as far down the other side, only about two or three inches on the bottom of the manifold is keeping it from splitting in half.
That's definitely what happens, from a cold start she seems to run fine for a few minutes, but once her temperature nears idling temp, she simply won't move. But she idles perfectly fine, no knocking or tapping or hissing or smoking or sputtering... Unless I put her in gear and try to move. The last time I had her running before I saw the manifold, it was at the point where she was backfiring several times a second. That only happened for a few seconds as it obviously freaked me out. But I'm wondering if the last couple startups may have split the crack more.

I'll check out the links you provided, you're awesome for sending those, thank you! Using a Google Search and with the exception of one car site given to me on x, there's literally just 2 manifolds out there, on ebay, that are exact matches.

I do plan to ask the forum, maybe if you might know... Would an exhaust manifold from a 99 1.5L manifold from a four-door sedan fit on my 99 1.5L two-door coupe? They clearly look different, and my heat shield won't align with the four-door manifold, but it appears that it will fit. And the one I found is just $120.

[Spaethon]

Here she is... my Alley!




5 more years til she gets her FL ANTIQUE plate!

[Fummins]

Yay, got the image to attach lol. Hopefully 2 of them. Thank you for the photo share tip!! I'll get the hang of it.
The crack goes just as far down the other side, only about two or three inches on the bottom of the manifold is keeping it from splitting in half.
That's definitely what happens, from a cold start she seems to run fine for a few minutes, but once her temperature nears idling temp, she simply won't move. But she idles perfectly fine, no knocking or tapping or hissing or smoking or sputtering... Unless I put her in gear and try to move. The last time I had her running before I saw the manifold, it was at the point where she was backfiring several times a second. That only happened for a few seconds as it obviously freaked me out. But I'm wondering if the last couple startups may have split the crack more.

I'll check out the links you provided, you're awesome for sending those, thank you! Using a Google Search and with the exception of one car site given to me on x, there's literally just 2 manifolds out there, on ebay, that are exact matches.

I do plan to ask the forum, maybe if you might know... Would an exhaust manifold from a 99 1.5L manifold from a four-door sedan fit on my 99 1.5L two-door coupe? They clearly look different, and my heat shield won't align with the four-door manifold, but it appears that it will fit. And the one I found is just $120.

Call up a local auto wrecker, they should be able to tell you what'll fit. I just looked it up car-part.com but that site doesn't give interchange info. I assume if it's got a 1.5 and NOT a 1.8L then it should fit?

Or... VEHICLE FITMENT
Year Make Model Body & Trim Engine & Transmission
2002 Mitsubishi Mirage DE 1.5L L4 - Gas
2001 Mitsubishi Mirage DE 1.5L L4 - Gas
2000 Mitsubishi Mirage DE 1.5L L4 - Gas
1999 Mitsubishi Mirage DE 1.5L L4 - Gas
1998 Mitsubishi Mirage DE 1.5L L4 - Gas
I got that list from here https://www.mitsubishiparts.com/oem-...w0LWdhcw%3D%3D

[Spaethon]

Oh you ROCK! Thank you. Yes, for a 1.5L and won't work with 1.8L. I had lots of Links to 1. 8 L manifolds on various websites on my X profile, even though I kept telling them a 1. 8 L won't work lol. These parts aren't getting any easier to find, that's for sure. I reached out to all the main junk yards in the area within 50 miles, and nobody has a 99 Mirage 1. 5 coupe. Orlando area has two Mirage 1. 5 L's but they're both four doors sedans. Regardless, that has me wanting to make the trip and yoink all the parts I possibly can which are compatible with mine.

If I can keep her happy and running for the next 25 years, I'll be one happy camper. I'm a 90s kid and '90s nostalgic of course. And given the insane prices for cars these days, needless to say, I'm hoping to stick with the Mirage for most of my life if at all possible.