things to look at when buuying a 1 gen eclipse Options

[boomn89]

I am looking at a 92 eclipse turbo awd with a auto. owner says it burns oil. it is all original still none of the normal mods done to it yet. ill know more tomorrow nite tho.


Kris if you read this give me a call.

[boomn89]

AUTOMATIC

[akamiami]

what if I have three legs? Maybe then I should just drive the bangbus.

[scorp28]

what if I have three legs? Maybe then I should just drive the bangbus.

LOL.........What kind of sites do you surf.........maybe you should start one around here

[awd4kicks]

Hey Boom, regardless of what you look for your bound to to do repairs on a 9 to 13 year old car. As long as you find a 1G that hasn't been wrecked that has descent compression and a fresh timing belt your as golden as you can get where repairs are concerned.

Beyond that you would do your self a favor if you bought a 1990 to early 1992 because they have the 6-bolt, non crank walk-prone engines from the factory. If your looking for the best straight line performance then you will also want to forego the auto tranny for a stick as Spy mentioned.

One other item that you may or may not be able to check, is the transfer case on the AWD. It should have had a recoall done to replace the original. If you can get the car on a lift look to see if the T-case hase splattered gear lube on the bottom of the car right above the rear of the transfer case.

I will almost bet money that 2nd gear will grind on any you drive. Just keep in mind almost every item on these things are repairable if you have the time (The information is readily available) or the money.

Good luck...

[natedogg]

Far be it from me to dispute my buddy and fellow DSM tuner, but autos in DSM's have advanced in reliable power-handling by leaps and bounds in the past year. See this link http://www.ddsm.org/vrcracing/ Being a manual guy myself I was unaware of this as well until this guy showed up on the MAFT yahoo group list a few months ago.

There is a company that specializes in strengthening DSM automatic transmissions. Not sure what the name is but I believe Zach on this list is having them build up a transmission for him. The question is, do you have the money to make that automatic tranny stand up to the abuse. Even supping up a manual transmission to handle the unholy amounts of power that we send to the drivetrain can get expensive. I don't want to think about how expensive it would be to make an automatic just as durable.

Btw, fellow MAFT tuners, the automatic on the link that made the 10.3@144 mph pass is running a GM MAFT. He has posted some impressive dyno numbers on the yahoo groups MAFT list. He stated seeing a 9-10 hp increase by bolting on the translator alone, along with faster spool up, and being able to tune in a smoother power curve.

[awd4kicks]

SWEET! On both the Auto transmission upgradability and the MAFT HP increase witnessed as proof.

[zach]

As far as building an automatic tranny you have to take in account not just the rebuild, but a good torque converter is just as expensive.

Level 10 will sell you a complete tranny,supposedly bullet proof, for around 3000.

or you can buy the parts, and the shift kit and have someone build it. for much less.

It won't be worthwhile until you change the stall speed. that could cost you anywhere from 500 to 1200 on a torque converter

just imagine, consistent launches, motor reving in the power band, holding max boost all the way down the track. sorry, day dreaming.


anyways, I'm not goin to run my mouth until I know the car is running good and staying together.

but whoever bad mouths the auto, will be the first to get his ass handed to him.
I've got secrets.

[boomn89]

went and looked at it but that one was sold so the guy brought another one home the next night. It is a 91 talon tsi awd with an automatic. It has an irratic idle and smokes quite a bit. any ideas on what its prob might be.

[zach]

your absolutely right spy. automatics do take some of the fun out of driving. but, heres my case.
I have a manual tranny truck... its' not fun. why, because speed is fun! manual or auto? the faster it is the more fun.
Manual transmissions are awesome when your downshifting to second, flooring it around a corner, shift to third mash the gas, slam on the brakes, downshift turn.. gas.

I like to drag race, and it is a proven fact... auto's tend to be nicer on the driveline. these cars are know for a weak drivetrane.
I'm building a drag car not an autocrosser.
oh yeah, I need my other hand to flip people the bird when I blow by them

[AWD DSM 1]

I was always intreged by the idea of having a automatic AWD DSM. As much fun as the Manual can be, sometimes it's not the best. I love the idea of not loosing boost while shifting, and it makes sense that the auto would be a little easier on drivetrain parts. Oh, and I think a fully rebuilt tranny and a good clutch and flywheel combo couldn't be that much cheaper. Especially when you break them like Spy or Marcus...

Keep us up to date with the progress...

[awd4kicks]

went and looked at it but that one was sold so the guy brought another one home the next night. It is a 91 talon tsi awd with an automatic. It has an irratic idle and smokes quite a bit. any ideas on what its prob might be.

The idle can be fixed with a few adjustmentd or at worst a $120 rebuilt ISC that I can supply.

The oil smoke is from:
#1 bad turbo seals - pretty easy to swap turbos plus you can upgrade to a 14b or 16g
#2 bad valve seal and or guides - Not detrimental but Head work is required
#3 Broken or Sloppy piston rings - At this point performance will suffer quite a bit and a rebuild will be required to make that better.

If the smoke smells like anti-freeze then the head gasket or head it's self would need to be looked at.

[boomn89]

ok kewl i think im going to go ahead and buy it just so i have one. I started thinking this was going to turn into a auto-manual battle

[awd4kicks]

If you can take this thing for an inspection, I recomend that you call Josh at SloPony on Pioneer Park and have him check it over. His number is 693-7569.

Good luck!