Slight rattle in engine and CEL going on and off

[Stalker]

Lately i've noticed sometimes above about 3000 there is a slight rattle in the engine under accelleration. its not always there, it tends to come and go. also not long ago my check engine light came on, i was gonna have it checked but it turned off after about an hour. but then my cruise control wouldnt work. i disconnected and reconnected the battery and everything was fine again. yesterday i was backing up a steep driveway and it came on again. it was on all day and then turned off again and again cruise control stopped working. this time i've booked it into mitsubishi to have a look wednesday next week but i was wondering if anyone here has any ideas?

2008 ES with just under 35000km on the clock. logbook service every 15000km.

[LZY_EYE]

Do you have LED Tail lights?

Otherwise you need to get them to check what the error code is.. Not much else we can do at this point....

[Stalker]

nope tail lights are stock

i have a cheap OBDII cable but i dont know of any free programs that can read the Lancers ECU with that cable. ive only found one program that can read the lancer through the cheap cable at all and its only a trial of a paid one so it cant tell me error messages.

[LZY_EYE]

The symptoms you are suggesting are exactly like when I installed my LED lights without the resistor. Maybe get someone to check the brake lights when the issue is occuring.

I can't remember what the app is for the diag cable... someone here will remember though.

[Stalker]

well actually now i think about it the last time this happened was when i accidentally knocked my front neon out. so could be an electrical short? but it did happen once before that as well. so this is actually the third time its happened.

[Mizta B]

Definately seems like an electrical gremlin there Adam
I'm no expert but Mitsu should be able to diagnose it
Let us know how you go mate.

[milobob]

Yea sounds like an electrical issue. No expert but I don't know. One of the reasons why its recommended that you install a fuse with any electrical modding I suppose.

I had a rattle on the highways but this was mainly from the dash - my lazy loose wiring for my LEDs which I have fixed up now

[Stalker]

well its probably just something a little loose in the engine bay or something. it doesnt happen all the time and while its noticable inside the cabin no one else heard it while i drove off. but it does only happen when accelerating so it still kinda worries me. better safe than sorry though.

[smithsy]

Instead of clutching at straws you need to read the DTC from the ECU to find out why the CEL is coming on, there's no point just guessing out of thin air what it could be. Plus if you get a CEL dont just disconnect and reconnect the battery again, it's obviously coming on for a reason to try tell you the car is rooted and needs checking before you end up potentially damaging your motor.

If you have a cheap OBD-II cable then the person to speak to would be Adrian. He has one of those cheap leads so would know the program it uses. Otherwise take it to your dealer to read the error code out with the MUT-III.