new 1g owner possibly

[specvgini]

hey whats up i have a 90 awd talon and i need to learn as much as possible about them. I traded my 91 formula for it. the 1g has some rust, and needs new brake lines. anyone have any diagrams on brake lines? bottom end has 5k on it and the head is a 93 head with 93 cams. running stock boost. i have a few friends that are hardcore turbo guys so i'm learning through them, but i wanna be good with dsm's. my one friend has a srt-4 that runs 13.2@109, he also has a 91 crx that runs 12.7@111. my other buddy does body work so he can help me with the body rust issues.

 

[Talesin]

Welcome to the bi***-year, son. 90s have the most f**ked up electrical of all DSMs, and it will become a joy to you while crawling under and around the car, trying to figure out where the hell something goes, or why you have a short, or why something seems like it's not grounded or has some other weird electrical problem that you can't explain.
93 head is the same as a 91 head, just with smaller holes for the head bolts unless you drill them out. Similarly, the cams are pretty much the same across the 1G turbo DSMs.

You can run faster than either of them if you put in the time, effort and money to build your new baby up properly. I'd recommend reading through the tech upgrade paths behind the 'Tech' link at the upper left of the forums, just under the banner.

 

[kairles]

DSM's are very fun to drive and can be very fast for little $$. Don't think I would trade a formula for one, unles it was a TBI, but Im also a hardcore thirdgen fan.

 

[marsh63]

Welcome to the bi***-year, son. 90s have the most f**ked up electrical of all DSMs, and it will become a joy to you while crawling under and around the car, trying to figure out where the hell something goes, or why you have a short, or why something seems like it's not grounded or has some other weird electrical problem that you can't explain.
93 head is the same as a 91 head, just with smaller holes for the head bolts unless you drill them out. Similarly, the cams are pretty much the same across the 1G turbo DSMs.

You can run faster than either of them if you put in the time, effort and money to build your new baby up properly. I'd recommend reading through the tech upgrade paths behind the 'Tech' link at the upper left of the forums, just under the banner.

like he said lots of electrical problems are with them. i would recomend cleaning everything under the hood and driving it around befor trying to modify anything. Clean the sensors with the right type of cleaners. u got to identify where ## problems are first befor trying to build power.

 

[68442]

I'm about to buy a 90 tsi talon also...what are some things to watch for when you test drive one?

 

[TearsForTalon]

Welcome to the bi***-year, son. 90s have the most f**ked up electrical of all DSMs, and it will become a joy to you while crawling under and around the car, trying to figure out where the hell something goes, or why you have a short, or why something seems like it's not grounded or has some other weird electrical problem that you can't explain.
93 head is the same as a 91 head, just with smaller holes for the head bolts unless you drill them out. Similarly, the cams are pretty much the same across the 1G turbo DSMs.

You can run faster than either of them if you put in the time, effort and money to build your new baby up properly. I'd recommend reading through the tech upgrade paths behind the 'Tech' link at the upper left of the forums, just under the banner.

Haha. +1. It seems like that year is cursed.

 

[specvgini]

why is that yr worse then any other? aren't they all the same..

well i've been wanting a awd dsm for a long time, and i've been trying to sell my formula. it's not bad but it's an auto and not really fun to drive. it runs 14.5@94 too which is really boring in an auto car. i had plans to build it up, but i really just lost interest in the car.

as far as the brakes go, the lines are all removed. i guess they were rusted so the dude tryed replacing them and just gave up. he has steal braided lines that are comming with the car though.

heres a question for you guys.. last night he started it and it was leaking oil from the exhaust manifold. he said the exhaust manifold screw wasn't tight . he said that theres an oil line near that stud and if it's not tight enough oil leaks out. is that accurate?

 

[Talesin]

No. If you want a 1Ga (popups FTW!), get a '91 with no ABS. Electrical system is SANE, none of the BS you have to go through to get the clutch mods working with DSMLink, the harness is better, the CAS can be swapped to the 93-94 blacktop Hall-effect CAS instead of the stock optical sensor (the '90, you have to build yourself an adapter cable). The power transistor has the tacho interface built in, rather than slapped on the coilpack (like the 90 does). The tranny is better, even if the shifter looks a little weaker, it shifts smoother due to better design. Also, if you get an upgraded tranny (Shep, TMO, any of the big houses) you have to retrofit the '90 tranny to the 91+ style center diff, which is pricey.

If you can, get a '91. The only real advantage the '90 has is the biggest/thickest stock rods of any DSM. If you don't care about pop-ups, get a first-half '92 GSX. Six-bolt front, four-bolt rear, strongest combo out there, and you can just steal the upgrade parts that the 93-94 got (mostly the 2-pot front calipers).

Short version, the '90 is the bi*** year because it was the testbed for the line, as well as the foundation for the technology that went into the Evo. They didn't know how they were going to do it, so they made some mistakes. Mostly with the electrical system, which seems to develop weird problems/shorts constantly.
As an example, on mine I'm throwing a fuel pump check engine code. That only happens when the ECU doesn't see pin 13 go high when the fuel pump is supposed to be on. I've tested the wire at the check connector (needle probe through the insulator) and it was at 13V even. So it shouldn't be throwing a code. Yet it is. Drives you absolutely NUTS after a while. Tempted to rip out the harnesses and just re-wire the car '91-style myself, if a new-from-dealer harness wasn't so bloody expensive.

Not sure about the oil passage thing, but I really don't think so. It might just be seep from the valvecover gasket. Anything more I could say on the subject would be pure repetition of hearsay, unfortunately.