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http://www.extrememotorsports.com
http://www.dsm.org
2014 Mini Cooper (stick shift of course), 2016 Camry hybrid, 2009 Outback Sport 5-spd (keeping the stick alive)
Though I am no *car* specialist, I've heard about ABS. Unfortunately, only higher models GT and GTS may/have one and man, they cost a lot too
Is ABS really a must-have feature for a car?
If I settle for GT, how much does having ABS cost?
If I really can't afford an Eclipse, what other cars can you recommend?
Thanks!
Thanks for your help..
Chris 91 GSX
I don't think I'll need to use them very often, so I'd prefer not to shell out the money for the spikes-spider devices that are completely on the outside of the wheel (and require a winter-long device mounted to the wheel).
Thanks,
Chris
If anyone knows please tell me.
Revka
Host
Hatchbacks & Wagons Boards
http://www.roadraceengineering.com/walkingcrankshaft.htm
i love the eclipse...but it seems there is more than meets the eye
my current problem is that without downshifting, my engine has a tendecy of cutting off
i had the dealship run some tests on the engine in neutral and nothing came up...but then again i never have problems in neutral...only the initial drop from a higher rpm...
i guess there should always be a larger drop than the ordinary idle, but my rpm drops below 100 almost everytime i shift out to neutral
although i dont have any extensive mechanical knowledge i thought it may be a timing problem and thats what i had the dealership look at
my car idles at around 1000 rpm...is that too low?
as long as i downshift and baby the clutch...my engine stays on
i never have trouble restarting, but the loss of power steering could be a problem given say this happens in an intersection or something
i had the car looked at by another more trusted mechanic since the dealership and they dont seem to find an answer either...
any suggestions or similar sittuations?
thanks, screeli
Also, try plugging your vehicle (make/model/year) into Edmunds' Maintenance Guide to see if you can find any TSBs (Technical Service Bulletins) that might be related to your vehicle problem.
Lastly, here's an informative article from Edmunds about Technical Service Bulletins: You, Your Vehicle and the Technical Service Bulletin (TSB).
Others here may have more to add. Good luck, and please keep posted on your situation.
Revka
Host
Hatchbacks & Wagons Boards
unfortunately my speedometer doesnt work although the rest of my instrument panel does
i took my 96 eclipse GS in to get it looked at and my mechanic assumed the speed modulator was broken
he ordered this piece and replaced my old one, still did not work...
he figured maybe the wiring kit may have gone bad and again tride a new one but still the speedometer did not work...???
he is now wondering wether or not the entire instrument panel needs to be replaced...lots of $$$...or maybe simply a $23 circuit board for the speedometer
before he goes through any more laborious processes..can anyone recommend a solution...??
maybe someone else has experienced the same problem?
thanx alot,
screeli
I am ready to buy a 98 or 99 Eclipse GSX. Now, i have heard of only a few problems with them such as crankwalk and undercared for turbos. I am a car enthusiast and will be using the car in Michigan (snow) and also have plans for body kit, nitrous, and other upgrades like fuel rail and whatnot. I love the idea of AWD,and quick starts of the line.I believe I need it here in Michigan, but what do I need to watch out for when buying? I plan on paying aroud 16000 for a car with under 35000 miles. ANY ADVICE??? thanks
gfactor27
1. Does it leak or smoke fluids?
2. Turbo shaft play(ask ur mechanic)
3. Does it grind or hard to put in any gear?
4. Check for maintence records(over 60K miles check if belts have been done)
5. Basic stuff. - tires, oil quality, if time permits spark plug quality(could show how the guy'd been driving it), clutch engagement(does it slip(id you don't know ask ur mechanic?
But if your worried about ur competence - have a mechanic check them out - that 50 bucks to inspect is worth it, trust me(have the seller pay half).
As for performance , you can upgrade these neat cars for relatively cheap, the local clubs found at www.clubdsm.com can provide a ridiculous wealth of information.
As for the "crank walk" issue in 1995 and up models, I can say that is true. It doesn't happen to all of them but some unlucky few will go through it and spend thousands fixing possibly throwing away the car or selling to unsuspecting buyer. It happens to 2nd gen DSMS around 30-40K miles - where the crank wears away at the main bearings and eventually resulting in major engine damg. Just watch out when buying cars with less then 40K miles - check if stepping in the clutch feels weird - for more info - check http://members.shaw.ca/costall/1000Q/
The car(all turbo models) is a good platform for upgrades. It already comes with a turbo charger so simply upgrading the turbo charger and basic supporting mods can easily mean 300 horsepower.
Again, don't buy the car(turbo models) if you don't know how to maintain it and have good habits of maintaining things you don't know how to do urself(timing belt, etc..) Other then that good luck.
Chris
91 GSX
Anyway, Mitsubishi in its wisdom provides their cars with idle speed valve - an ELECTRONICALLY (what else!) controlled unit that is warmed up by a coolant to warm up gas/air mixture. Valve sits under the throttle body, has 2 coolant hoses connected to it. Also, has a GASKET between the valve and throttle bodies. Kinda sorta big 8 shaped. So, guys, that gasket starts leaking in a few tens thounsand miles. As a result - a mixture supplied by idle speed valve is not gas/air, but gas/air/coolant. You got the picture. Dealership item only, $350 on my cars - I have 3 Mitsus, Eclipse, Expo, Galant. I paid for the 1st one. Second and 3rd - I pulled the throttle body out, removed idle speed valve - and re-sealed the gasket with silicone gasket material. Saved myself $700 plus tax. Tip: idle speed valve is pain in totoo to disconnect. Japanese is Japanese - it's connected by 5 DIFFERENT LENGTH 4 mm screws that have PHILLIPS heads. Of course, they are made out of a soft metal, not hardened. They strip like this - click! The side screws - after a ton of penetrating oil, some screws can be accessed from inside the throttle body - I unscrewed using channel locks, grabbing the head of the screw. The center ones I had to drill the heads off, then pull the valve up. Then just get some matching screws from Home Depot or Lowe's, or Ace - just get some with hex heads, save headache. Takes me about 1 hr to do this - good return for $350 plus tax.
Also, while you are there - find a UFO shaped item right under the throttle body, looks like a mushroom with 1 vacuum lead, the name's RGA valve. Remove it by unscrewing 2 bolts, and clean it inside with a good cleaner. Will save you a lot of problems later, prevents stolling and hasitent idle. Speaking from experience!
Any suggestions? It sits in shop right now, they "ain't got a clue" as it starts fine in the shop. The bill builds up though - and I believe for some puny problem.
Please, email me with your suggestions - ukrkoz@msn.com
as we need help ASAP- this is his college/work car, I work in a different state, and our spare car just died too - timing belt slipped. We will have belt installed next week, but meanwhile have to rent a car for him and deal with turkies in a repair shop.
Thank you all and greatly appreciate.
I have also noticed that you have idle problems. Read my message how to overhaul idle speed valve and clean RGA valve. By the way, I have 3 Mitsubishi-s, ALL of them have idle speed valve problem fixed at a some point. Whoever designed that leaking gasket in the valve - ain't too bright! Also, after I found ton of crap in RGA valve in Galant at 45K miles, I quit fueling at any gas station but Texaco and Chevron, as they add cleaners to gasoline.
As for your son's 94 Eclipse starting problem, you may want to also post (copy/paste) your message in the Eclipse Spyder discussion on our Coupes board. Someone there may have some feedback to offer. Good luck, and please keep us posted on your situation.
Revka
Hatchbacks & Wagons Host
Anyway, they are replacing camshaft sensor in our Eclipse. it makes sense (computer did not show it, but it's the only DISTRIBUTOR CAP shaped item in the engine and those are notorious to collect moisture). I had exactly the same trouble with our Expo LRV, all it took was to clean distributor cap - after I spent $79 plus tax for useless computer diagnostic.. Besides, we will clean all spark wires with ignition demoisturizer and lube 'em with dielectric lube. This should work.
Screely had a question about RPMs on idle - actually, they are posted on a white lable on the hood inside. it's 750 +/- 100 RPMs. So he's killing his engine on 1000. Computer goes heywise because of this and throws everything out of wack.
I would lower RPMs to 800 (after idle valve overhaul) with an adjustment screw - it's
a big phillips head screw sitting in the throttle body, clockwise - lowers, counter - raises RPMs. Then check on timing - it should be +5 at normal idle WITH ALL APPLIANCES OFF AND IN NEUTRAL. Makes a lot of difference.
By the way, whoever has automatic and wants to change transmission fluid - Mitsu. is weird! You have to check with gearbox in NEUTRAL, which is against every other car manufacturer(in Park). As owner's manual does not provide a refill capacity, only total (6.3 quarts in Galant) - drain fluid, then add 1 quart, get off the ramps,(don't worry, it'll drive!) let engine run for some 20 minutes or drive slowly in a quite neghborhood for some 10 minutes (you supposed to drive for 10-15 miles to heat fluid) and then start checking on dipstick for the right level. In galant it is 2.5 quarts (4 to 6 in average American car). I installed a gismo from AutoZone that replaces a drainplug and has a valve in it, so you can screw on a special drain hose that opens the valve - sweet for fine tuning the fluid level!(Fram makes those) Overfill is snicky - it blows gasket and seals in tranny. Also, for those who's tight on monies and would appreciate substitute for Diamond ATF - dealership's $5+ a quart - buy ATF+3, it's the same fluid, just more cost efficient (2.90)
If y'all have any questions that I could help - I am at ukrkoz@msn.com
Anyway, rattle in the front. I had it - in the back, though. It feels like someone's knocking on the car's body at low speeds - can't here it at high ones, though. Drove me crazy! I did all retightening possible - and I am a very strong person. Utill I had to replace struts and found that a rubber ring on the top of the spring has a hole in it from compression - just enough for the spring end to knock on the body. I rotated the ring so the end was covered with rubber - blessed be the silence!
You reply to the messages here in the open message box at the bottom of the page... just like you've been doing. In other words, you can't split this discussion up into separate threads. Fyi, you can search for specific items within the individual discussions with the Advanced Search feature on the left side of the page.
Also you have the option to start up a new discussion, on the main boards, if you want to branch off onto a completely different subject. Hope this is helpful. ;-)
Revka
Hatchbacks & Wagons Host
Chris
91 GSX 182K
They started it in the shop no problem, computer showed nothing. Sunday they barely started it at 9 am(garaged inside). I told them to leave it outside overnight - Monday it will not start around 8am. They suggested sparkplugs, I said - bull, those are Bosch platinum and 2 months old, but we stiill allowed to change sparkplugs and keep it outside overnight again. it will not start Tuesday morning. They suggested - camshaft angle sensor, quoted $102, turned around and installed $599 sensor without letting us know. I called them Wednesday morning, told to remove unauthorized part (car did not start anyway) and told my son to take car back home. he started it with some roughness at 3 pm and drove home. Then he went on highway and BURNED 90% OF GAS OUT. Added one more bottle of water removal and refueled with midgrade at a NEW Exxon gas station.(much less junk in fuel tanks in new sations)
This morning he called me at 6:15 am to let me know that car started from half a turn. I believe, he's driving it right now.
So, the moral is - don't panic and bring your car to Firestone. If it does not start in the morning but starts later - it's moisture in something that is dome shaped, like a distributor or a camshaft sensor. If your car - like ours - has 210 000 miles, is right after complete overhaul, drove nicely a day before, is not garaged, and won't start if it's covered with frost - well you got a damn water frozen in the fuel line. Burn it out!
Re. idle speed valve. Well, we have 3 Mitsubishes: 2.0 Eclipse DOHC, 2.4 Galant SOHC which is the same engine as Eclipse just different head, and 1.8 EXPO. 94, 98, 93 respectavely. All three of them had exactly the same problem, symptoms and were fixed exactly the same way - idle speed valve replaced on EXPO, than I got smart and overhauld the rest of them plus cleaned RGA valve. All 3 valves had obvious leak through the gasket - white condensed slime on it, crystallized in some areas. EXPO's idle was so bad that I had to rig the throttle cable to hold high RPMs so AC will not stoll the engine when it turns on. I am running it now on 650 RPMs with all appliances/lights on and in reverse with no problems. And it's on 162K miles. I guess, it's different on turbos. But it's cool that we can share our experiences here. Saves a buck or two, doesn't it?
By the way, this guy here has excellent and helpful website - just go to FAQs and you will have a great compendium on repairs. He'll also respond to your questions - I tried!
http://www.marksalem.com/default.htm
if its not one thing, its another
i still have not been able to find out why my eclipse will sometimes die after i drop into neutral...i still have no idea why sometimes my interior lights work, sometimes they dont...and of course, my speedometer is still at zero
now theres more...
i just got new tires, and because the dealership forced some lug nuts on crooked, it cost me $90 to replace some sheared studs...
during the process of ordering some studs myself, with only 4 lugs on, i started recieving a violent vibration at about 60pmh
couldnt go any faster because it felt as though something would break off...
it got worse and resulted to about 40mph on the highway(took me almost 3 hours to get home from visiting a friend)
i got the studs put on, replaced my tire as i had intended to before, had them all rebalanced...no vibration for about 12 hours...vibration back again...???
the weird thing is...it will only vibrate between 60-80mph...and only when i accellerate??
it is not a constant vibration like my old car with bad balancing...it comes in surges, very violently, very annoying and seems to be doing some damage
and of course, it doesnt always do this
this morning i got all the way to work without a single vibration
ive been speeding quite often trying to test this thing out...trying to get some ideas...or some speeding tickets i guess
i had my mechs look at the wheel, the suspension and such...no immediate answers...
any ideas?
Labor rates are rising also.
My best advice and I'm quite sure your eclipse might still qualify. Is to invest in an extended warranty from a 3rd party company out there like 1-Source or Warranty Gold.
I bought my spyder gst new back in july of 98. Well 144k miles later it still looks and runs great. However, the journey has'nt been an easy one. Warranty gold has saved me over $3k in repairs so far (thankfully). Other than a convertible top problem, I've only had to cover maintenance for the last 4 1/2 years.
Believe it or not, I would still buy another mitsubishi product. But I would never own one without a warranty! EVER!!! :-D
Any help is great.
I think the dealer needs to have their head examined. Absolutely false, take it to another dealer for a different opinion. I would also give mitsubishi headquarters a call and file a complaint against that dealer.
eclipseowner
I would be especially fumed if this was the same dealership I purchased the car from too.