New and need some serious help
 

Ok so im 17 years old and have loved DSM's ever since i saw the first fast and furious movie. I recently purchased a 95 Eclipse GS. Thought it was the coolest car in the world with all of the mods. It had a swapped engine, Turbo, Blow off valve, short shifter, strut bar, front mount, short ram intake, custom exhaust, lowered 2 in, and has american racing rims. To a 17 year old who is looking for their 1st dsm that sounded like music to my ears; turned out i got screwed. I brought it to a family mechanic who took a look at it for free and he found that the engine was a bad swap, and the coilovers were heated down to compress so the car would be lower. Ultimately he told me that the car was unsafe to drive. Now I am in the process of trying to find a new engine, and coilovers to make my car driveable. I am also looking for a mechanic or any refrences to one who will do it for cheap because all of my money went into buying the car. If you could help me out with your suggestions i would greatly appreciate it.

Re: New and need some serious help
 

what exactly is messed up about the engine? Details would be better.

Re: New and need some serious help
 

nm

Re: New and need some serious help
 

From what i was told by the mechanic. It is a dodge neon engine (i feel stupid about not noticing that) and he said the turbo isnt housed right or something. I could take pictures if that would help

Re: New and need some serious help
 

This is a joke right?

An new year fools kinda like an april fools?

Re: New and need some serious help
 

yup

Re: New and need some serious help
 

neon engine, http://www.allpar.com/images/neon-1995/engine.jpg



dsm 1.8 liter engine, http://carphotos.cardomain.com/ride_...0002_large.jpg




dsm 2.0 engine. http://www.crouvisier.com/eclipse/pics/motor.jpg



what does yours look like?

Re: New and need some serious help
 

Ok give me a break im 17 and need to learn alll im looking for is help not criticism

Re: New and need some serious help
 

If your Eclipse is a GS, then that isn't a swap, that's the engine it came with. It has (what looks to be) a Hahn turbo kit on it. Other than the wiring being a complete fucking mess, that car shouldn't need any kind of engine swap at all, not sure what the mechanic was thinking...

Also, clarify a bit more what the mechanic was talking about when he said the "turbo wasn't housed right"

I would STRONGLY reccomend bringing this car to one of the site vendor shops (DB, MAP) and have a mechanic that knows what they are doing take a look at it.

Re: New and need some serious help
 

I don't think anyone has criticized you. I'm 37 and don't know much about cars, either. I make my living doing something else.

I'm sure there are people on here that can help (lots of guys that do their own wrenching) but they might still be hung over. ;)

He might have meant that the engine was clearly removed and replaced (rebuilt or a motor from a different chassis). That would explain the wiring.

DB & MAP are pros but they aren't cheap. You could drop by RS Motors in Burnsville for a once-over as well.

Re: New and need some serious help
 

How much boost you running? do you know if you engine internals are stock?

Re: New and need some serious help
 

looks to me like a turbo'd 420a engine typically found in the 2nd gen dsm's.

i believe the same motor from a neon is actually sohc, and mounted backwards. as well as a few other differences.

the 420a out of an avenger or sebring would be the same from my understanding.

im guessing that the car is did not have an engine "swap", but had the engine replaced. and a turbo kit added

Re: New and need some serious help
 

Damn you guys are good. This is exactly what im looking for. So what your saying is the engine shouldnt be a problem just from first glance? and i want to do work myself but i dont wanna screw anything permanently. I can do the basics i.e. change oil, and tires. If i just get the coilovers replaced i should be good? I understand you need to look at it but i just kind of want just a little something. Also the wires i want to get cleaned up and shit and maybe someone could help me with that. They are attached to 2 cams which i have no clue what they are for.

Re: New and need some serious help
 

dsndjsndjs

Re: New and need some serious help
 

not sure how much i just know i am. im telling ya im the noob of all noobs but i really want to get good at this

Re: New and need some serious help
 

Sounds like you should get a second opinion on everything that your mechanic friend told you. Paying for an hour of labor at one of the shops to get a thorough inspection would be a good idea. You can decide how and what to fix once you know what you should be concerned about.

Re: New and need some serious help
 

agreed! :)

Re: New and need some serious help
 

you defiantly need to get a boost gauge in there and find out what its running. without knowing exactly what is inside the engine, and what boost you are running, you are running a very big risk of wrecking things.

i recommend driving it nice until you know a little more about the car.

as long as the car seems to be running fine just take it easy, find somone selling a set of stock coils and springs cheap, and hookup with someone for an inspection, maybe map or db depending on where you live.

Re: New and need some serious help
 

I'm guessing by coilovers, you mean coil springs? If the previous owner heated the springs to lower the car, you would probably be better off with getting a set of used springs to throw in there.

For the other issues, bring your car to one of the shops mentioned before for a quick diagnosis. Also it wouldn't be a bad idea to make sure it is tuned right. With many of these hacked together cars like this, it isn't uncommon for them to not be tuned right and just be a ticking time bomb. get a boost gauge and drive it VERY nice until you get the car looked at.

Re: New and need some serious help
 

general mechanics work on general principals. They dont know vehicle specific problems, which our cars have many of, and when you turbo a non turbo you basiclly throw out ever going to a general mechanic. When my garage and house was flooded i brought my car all around to general shops and none of them could find my issue and they all admitted it was way over their head. you can bring it to one of the vendors on here like db or map, but if you dont have the cash your kinda stuck doing it yourself which in the long run is for the best trust me.

do a self assesment of the car and engine. get a compression tester and check the engine out, that will tell you what condition the engine is in. get a cheap multi meter, with this you can check your plug wires and just about any other electronic in the car. because your dealing with a turboed car you really should get a wideband so you can know what the tune is and if it has any fuel issues. Make a boost leak tester, you can check all of your inatke path with this. How does the car drive now? can you boost it without issues? are there any check engine lights (CEL)? if there are any issues with the car describe them and usually we can help you out with what it is or point you int the rigt direction. what we dont have dsmtuners.com and dsmtalk.com and vfaq.com will, dsmtalk has the best search feature.

o ya welcome to the board

Re: New and need some serious help
 

so i contacted brookdale mitsu to just get a full overlook of the car and just get everything checked out. I currently dont drive it at all because my parents are so scared to let me drive it. The mechanic just sounded like he just didnt like the whole idea of a modded car and so i just think he really didnt have a clue. i currently have a pressure gauge in there and it does work and it kind of seems like i may be running at about a 10 on the gauge but i dont watch it everytime i shift. Im really hoping its just the coils cause that is way less then we were told.

Re: New and need some serious help
 

Run it till she blows lol. Welcome to the site, I'm sure someone on here has some stock 2g springs kicking around some where.

Re: New and need some serious help
 

Again brookdale is not the place you want to take it, they know nothing about cars with aftermarket tunning and turbo kits. You need to take it to MAP or DB. besides if you take it to a dealership it will be the most expensive place on earth to be, and they wont even know what they are doing

edit: if your running 10 psi on a 420a you might want to try and get that down to 7 or 8 until you know whats going on so you dont blow shit up, and make yourself mad

Re: New and need some serious help
 

Do not go to Brookdale, this car is modified and they will not know what they are looking at, just as your mechanic friend didn't know what he was talking about. It needs to be seen by a mechanic at a local speed shop, preferably DB Performance or MAPerformance, find their info in our sponsor sections.

Once they see the car then come back to us with more information. But until then we aren't of much help for you unless we could see the car for ourselves.

Re: New and need some serious help
 

If he is running a Hahn kit, he is running 5 or 8 psi.

Re: New and need some serious help
 

2gnt.com or jungy on here can help you the most to learn more about what you have. Are they still doing the 8 injector setup on these cars or has that new ecu thing came out yet? Or is hahn kit still use the fmu or whatever?

Re: New and need some serious help
 

Im actually going to MAPreformance now to hopefully figure everything out. thanks everyone for your help cause i need it.

Re: New and need some serious help
 

If you decide you need some new springs Ive got a set of stock struts and springs for the rear. They are yours free if you want them

Re: New and need some serious help
 

Hell yeah! I just gotta get my dad to let me fix everything and if its free i'm sure he'll let me.

Re: New and need some serious help
 

MAP has discounted labor rates this time of year. Not sure what they usually are, but I'd guess they're currently around $70-75/hr based on what I'm getting charged as we speak.

Re: New and need some serious help
 

That's interesting. The performance shops are opposite of regular garages--most shops are much busier during cold weather.

That works for me, I've got stuff to get done.

Re: New and need some serious help
 

So DB told me if i get it there they will look at it for free which is a plus and i have a friend who wants to buy the turbo and will pay to get it taken out if he can have it so that's another plus. I have been working on the inside of the car now and notice that i have 2 fuses missing and i dont have the cap for my fuse box so that's kind of a problem. If anyone has a 95 eclipse that they could send me a picture of that would be great. Again thanks alot you guys really helped me out

Re: New and need some serious help
 

If i were you i would keep the turbo and just do any matinence it needs. The 420a engine has trouble on hills haha i should know i had one. terrible. terrible. That turbo should make it a car thats fun to drive.

Re: New and need some serious help
 

See the only reason i was gunna get it taken out was because i thought i couldn't run boost through the engine because that's what i was told. I guess i just gotta bring it in and get all of my facts straight

Re: New and need some serious help
 

I also need to know if the power steering has seized if i can get it working again. The guy told me they took it off for better control but it doesnt even move

Re: New and need some serious help
 

You can ran boost through your engine just not too much because it's not originally made for it. You can turbo any car, it's just a matter of destroying it at too high of a power level. The cars turboed from the factory (4g63) have stronger rods and pistons designed for boost. Your engine (420a) was not designed for a turbo so has weaker internal components.

Your power steering was deleted so there's no pump or belt I presume? You'll need to bolt it back on and connect it to the hoses to get back power steer.

Seriously, get on dsmtuners and 2gnt and just start reading. That's how I got started and I'm still learning all the time.

Edit: You can't turn the pump pulley or the steering wheel at all?

Re: New and need some serious help
 

Make sure its not locked from the column lock when you pull the key out, otherwise if the pump is taken out, you gotta have some muscles to turn the steering wheel cause of the no power assist. If you want the power steering back, I'm sure someone on here has a power steering pump around they would let go for cheap,

Re: New and need some serious help
 

Can't someone just meet up with this kid and answer his questions and point some stuff out? Where are you located?

Re: New and need some serious help
 

I'm not sure if the Hahn kit has you remove you ps so you can fit a down pipe, might be the reason why he doesn't have it.

Re: New and need some serious help
 

I'm located in Woodbury.