Mitsubishi 4G1 (Orion)

Mitsubishi's small four — the Orion family, 1.3, 1.5, 1.6 and 1.8 litres, in the Lancer, Mirage and Colt.

Its reach is far wider than the Mitsubishi badge suggests, and that is the reason to have this page. Licensed and copied, it became the volume engine of a generation of Chinese cars: the Geely Emgrand, the Great Wall Haval H6 and the Changan CS35 all run a version of it. A fault documented on a Lancer describes them, and parts and procedures cross over far more than the badges imply — which is exactly what an owner searching a code on one of those cars will not be told anywhere else.

It is a belt-driven SOHC design of unremarkable specification and considerable durability, which changes what a fault means: an engine of this family running badly is usually its ignition, its fuel supply or its idle control rather than anything internal.

Check whether the variant is MIVEC before applying anything about variable valve timing, because most of the family has none. And treat the belt interval as a date rather than a suggestion on the variants that are interference designs — which one a given engine is depends on the market it was built for, not on its displacement.