easy to turbo engine yet unreliable??

[jimmy169]

I don't know if this belongs here but it seems the non-turbo eclipse are great engines from what I'm hearing and are easy to turbo yet so many say eclipses are unreliable. I really want an eclipse but my bro hates them with a passion.

So with his hate for it's unreliability...well, i'm confused...I've heard great things about this car but I don't understand what is unreliable about it. Again I don't know the right place to put this so I put it here cause...well it's got the word turbo in it, heh.

 

[fast1.8sohcDSM]

The 4G63 is a very strong running engine. The 420A also is a very strong engine. THe thing is though, once you begin to put stress on internals, or even externals, the motor loses its dependabilty. Even if you own a Honda, if you turbocharge it, things will go wrong. That is the simplicity of engine building. If you put the right things for internals, and use the proper modifications for fuel and ignition, you should be fine. Tuning also has a big deal on dependability, an engine that isn't tuned very well will destroy itself in the long/short run. I have heard these motors lasting over 130,000 miles with no problems, and some with large ammounts. Lots of this is because of the driver, and how he maintains his vehicle.

 

[jimmy169]

I see and fully agree. I've learned that it's actually a lot harder to turbo a honda compared to a DSM. But even when the car isn't upgraded, I guess my brother says it's very unreliable. Things go wrong...maybe it's not with the engine cause I've heard lots of good things about this engine. I just want to tell him that the car won't shit out on me....he thinks it will spend more time in the shop than anywhere else...also I want to put a stage one hahns turbo in which he doesn't like the idea of either. I showed him how well it handles to turbo, the website and everything...and from what I've heard, if you leave the stage 1 stock the way it is, you'll have no problems. Is this true or is there still a chance for nock or other things.

 

[98Turbbo420A]

Read my young one!!!

http://www.dsmtuners.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=33872

 

[jimmy169]

i saw that already, it's a turbo eclipse vs non-turbo engine battle, seen it over and over, endless battle. But my question is how are the eclipses not reliable i guess if the engine is said to be good....i guess i need to search on wha goes wrong with em.

 

[Hektic]

Because the engine was not made to handle boost, that = not reliable. If you buy a porsche and try and drag a RV behind you, it probably won't be reliable cause it's not made for it. If you're afraid of reliability of turbo'ing an eclipse, buy a TSi/GST/GSX. If youre afraid of crankwalk too, get something else!

 

[Kirby]

Well find out exactly what your brother means, let us know and we will prove him wrong. List of items I have replaced in my car due to wear or breakage.
1. head gasket
2. General maint. items. (brake pads, rotors, plugs, belts, oil, tranny fluid, vac hoses, Timing belt at 60k... etc..etc.
So the only thing I had to replace as a problem issue was the head gasket. I have 10x,xxx miles on the car too so it's been very reliable for me. I have had the star turbo kit going at 8 psi for the last year, have not seen the slightest drop in compression. This motor is very reliable, stock or turbo'd. The only key is you have to follow the kit makers wisdom and not get boost happy.

 

[kagegod]

The only engine problem I've had so far is with the replacement 420A and it's inability to idle appropriately. It idles at about 400-500RPMs when the old engine used to idle around 800-900RPMs. Also if I disconnect the battery now it forgets how to idle all together, though it runs fine otherwise. Not sure what causes those issues but other than that I've noticed that the 420A is a pretty good engine (and for anyone who says that it's the same engine as a neon call them an ignorant and then tell them that at least the Eclipse low end model is the neon's high end model)

 

[Kirby]

Hey Kage have you adjusted your idle screw? It's on the throttle body and you can bump it up a little. As far as the battery thing, the computer is relearning to run the car, so if your idle is low to start with then it will idle even lower while it is learning.

 

[kagegod]

Well they're telling me that if I EVER disconnect the battery it will not idle and they will have to reset it to idle with their computer(which I think is crap because I've disconnected the battery MANY times and not had any problems when I attached it). I haven't tried adjusting the screw yet since I didn't want to mess with it considering it was down for a month during this process. It doesn't even start right anymore. It used to be that when I'd start it the RPMs would jump to about 1.5 and then slowly level off to idle. now it starts and I'm lucky if they break 1k. Most times it starts and goes to 700 then down to it's new idle point. Stupid engine

 

[jimmy169]

WHOOOO he said i could get the eclipse!!! sweeeeeet, after argueing and argueing he had enough, hehe

Thanks for all your help everyone. He just doesn't want me to turbo it...atleast till i'm 22 i guess (18 now). Can't wait to get it now though!! I don't know what it is but i really love these cars more than any other.

 

[kagegod]

haha does he know what a turbo looks like? You could always turbo it and then if he says anything say "No I don't know what you're talking about that's my oil cooler" or some bs congrats man!

 

[jimmy169]

...na he knows. He actually knows about engines more than me but I think i know more about a turbo than him. I guess i'll be going easy and keeping the car in the best shape I can since I'll be waiting 4 years to be able to turbo it. Or who knows what will happen by then in my life, I'm just so excited. Right now I own an altima but will sell it soon. I'm thinking of going to a dealer auction to get an eclipse (i know someone who would let me in).

Thanks again to everyone not just for this threads replys but cause I'm learning so much from this board!

 

[kagegod]

Well it was worth a shot hahaha. I knew when I bought my car that I'd have to turbo it (since I was 18 and had no co-signer I bought what I could) and finally it is turbo and I'm pretty content for the time being. The FMIC looks sweet on my 97's front end but the only downside is I had to remove the fog lights (which actually got used to drive in the fog many times). Congrats man, provided you don't have random things go out on you, I think you'll be pretty content (and everyone says it's a girls car and they're right it is cause the chicks dig the Eclipse!)

 

[Kirby]

Cool now fix that idle screw.

 

[kagegod]

haha I'm working on it

 

[LifeRollsOn]

I asked about our idle screw before and someone told me the 420A's do not have one and that's why I couldn't find mine? Several people told me that.... If this "idle screw" really exists on our engine could someone send me a pic of where it's at like circled with photoshop or something because my car idles really low and almost stalls sometimes.

 

[User Name]

Originally posted by jimmy169
WHOOOO he said i could get the eclipse!!! sweeeeeet, after argueing and argueing he had enough, hehe

Thanks for all your help everyone. He just doesn't want me to turbo it...atleast till i'm 22 i guess (18 now).

You're 18 and you need your brother's permission to buy a car and to turbo it?

 

[Blank]

Originally posted by User Name

You're 18 and you need your brother's permission to buy a car and to turbo it?

pwned

 

[pballernh]

wow

 

[kagegod]

If I'm correct the idle screw is on the trottle body right near the throttle cable. By adjusting it in or out you move the plate connected to the throttle cable in or out which in turn raises or lowers it's idle speed. I haven't adjusted it yet since I left all my tools in a city 182 miles away

 

[jimmy169]

Originally posted by User Name

You're 18 and you need your brother's permission to buy a car and to turbo it?

Unless i wanna be on my own insurance, yup i need his permission
Insurance sux for anyone alone under 25. I can understand keeping kids away from fast cars with high insurance but when a kid has his own insurance, any car is expensive to insure.