Mitsubishi Commercial Range

The simplest answer is that the engine’s idle speed is set too low. I think these engines used a stepper motor to control the throttle at idle, and if this fails the engine will run with some throttle applied, but will stall at idle.

If that’s not the cause, you need to look a bit deeper into things like fuel pressure at idle and whether there’s some kind of problem with the fuel-injection system. It could even be something as simple as a dirty fuel or air filter. A good mechanic will know how to alter the idle speed to prevent this happening, although it may involve a new stepper-motor unit.

A dirty or clogged fuel filter will stop a modern turbo-diesel engine dead in its tracks. In fact, it’s one of the first things a switched-on mechanic will check on vehicles like yours. So if the mechanic has changed the filter and restored to car to full health, then I reckon he or she has probably nailed the cause and fixed it very simply and cheaply for you.

Let’s be honest; there are literally thousands of things that could go wrong that might make your vehicle stop. Modern cars are very complex things, but you need to have faith that sometimes, simple problems occur and can be fixed simply.

This is a pretty well-known problem with this model. The problem seems to be caused by a gear selector problem which gets worse over time as wear occurs. Jumping out of gear is also linked to a second problem of noisy engagement (grinding) of the first three gears.

Mitsubishi has developed a transmission repair kit which includes reinforced gear selectors and synchronisers. But it’s a pretty big job to fit and requires the transmission to be removed and disassembled. You could try Mitsubishi Australia’s customer service division to see if there’s any financial assistance in either obtaining or fitting this kit.