help!?!

[mokie's girl]

im looking into getting a 1990 eclipse gst and i was wondering how much horsepower they had and if they had alot of problems with them.
im prolly going to buy it within the next 2 weeks so if anyone could help me out.....also what would be some good but small performance parts to start adding.

 

[rick]

195 hp.

 

[Enigma_Man]

A few things:

Inspect the overall condition of the car. Make sure it's reasonably clean, free from rust, etc. Take it for a test drive, and drive it really hard. If there's anything wrong with it, you'll hear it. Rev it all the way to the redline (It's okay to do, and if the car can't take it, there's something wrong) Listen to the suspension for any clunking or thumping. Try the brakes real hard, check for any vibrations. Make sure the turbo spools up without any problems or bad sounds, it'll make a nice, clean, high-pitched wheee sound, when you step on it above 3500 rpms or so.

If the car feels good still, you've probably got a good find

These cars are really great. You can relatively cheaply modify them for real quick performance. And there's quite a bit of performance parts available for these cars.

As for reliability. hmm. I would say for the amount of abuse most of these cars see, they are quite reliable. However, they are usually beat on pretty hard, and any car is going to start breaking after 12 years of hard life. And if (I mean when, hehe, you will get bitten by the bug) you start modifying, it just adds to the strain you put on the car. Great if you're looking for a fun quick 2nd car. If you can promise to yourself that you will treat the car nice, and do all the maintenance (and I mean all, can't leave anything) these cars are really great.

Also, when you get the car, unless you really know where it came from, and have reciepts for everything, get the timing belts, and all the other belts replaced. I'm sure if you ask the people here, they can tell you what else to replace when you get the car. There is some initial investment you really should do to make sure the car won't let you down.

Hope that helps

-Jesse

 

[crankbender]

my quick list here

check the headlights, windows, signals, lights, horn, buzzer....anything electrical

When you do the timing belt do the water pump too.

Do a compression test....and do it yourself don't trust them.

The intake is probably full of crap so once you have it if it is not kali then block off the egr.

check the idle.....when hot and cold these cars are notorious for a bad idle.

when you drive the car see how it shifts for sure....check it at all different speeds (just don't go into first while moving). when you replace this fluid i have good luck with gm synchromesh and you can get it as basically any gm dealer.

accelerate lightly while the steeringwheel is at full lock in both directions. The car has alot of miles and will probably need cv joints.

Get under the car and pull the rubber boot off where the slave cyl is. Put your finger in there and feel for oil.

pull the intake off the turbo and see if you have any shaft play.