Looking at 99GSX overheat condition

[hayboy]

So i have always wanted a GSX, and i have been searching in the south east region mainly phoenix and found one, but there is a problem the motor has been overheated and it says that it was taken to a mechanic.

the guy said "I talked to a mechanic and he said its just the temp sensor went out. head is not warped and head gasket is still sealed."

1) temp sensor......i havent found anything called just a "temp sensor"
2)if there is such a thing, would it really keep the car from starting?
3)overheat is a pretty serious thing...so i would probably be looking at a new motor

any help and/or guidance would be greatly appreciated

here is the link to the add

98 Eclipse For Sale/ Will Trade For Stick Shift Truck

 

[dsmd1]

Well from reading the ad it looks to me like this car is not a GSX/GST. Not sure if you knew that since you said you were looking to buy a GSX.

Either way I would be very suspicious about this one because if he took it to the mechanic and the mechanic said it only needed a new temperature sensor chances are that would be an easy fix, and the mechanic would do it.

Without knowing what the car does when attempting to start it there is very little more i can tell you, if you do go to look at the car a compression test can be done even if it doesn't run (as long as it turns over) and that would tell you more about the condition of the internals!

Either way good luck!

 

[sonik619]

"The motor has about 30k miles on it I replaced the motor a year or so ago"

Woah, 30k in 1 year is a lot of driving. I work for domino's and I don't even go that high in miles.

 

[dsmd1]

Yea that is a lot, be careful what this guy says!

 

[MidnightTSI]

I would be very wary of this. I would check to see if the motor can be turned over by hand. Try and find out exactly what happened and how and why it stopped running. Get more information from the seller. If the guy really wants to sell the car he will work with you.

If it is some type of temperature sensor that failed it might have something to do with the water pump. Find out if it was replaced. Over heating DSM's can be due to many different things. I think it is more serious than an overheating issue. But anyways here are some ideas if it is overheating once it is running. I don't think this would cause the car not to run unless it overheated to the point where something internal failed.

-Fan Control Switch
-Radiator Cap not holding proper pressure (coolant boils over causing air bubbles to get in the system)
-Water Pump (temp sensors are in the water pump)
-Radiator partially clogged
-Coolant not flowing properly through heat exchange ducting
-Crank pulley slipping at times causing the water pump to stop intermittently

Best of luck to you. I guess go check the car out yourself and maybe you can figure something out with the help of the seller.

 

[RedTurboEclipse]

thats not even a GSX!!!!!

it has the turbo spoiler to make it look like a GST/GSX as he says in the ad, but thats a GS!

 

[scoby41]

I'd just find something else. It's not even a turbo and could have some potentially serious issues

 

[All_Boost16G]

Thats and the fact he states it has a "Headers". Any normal turbo dsm person, would call it a manifold.

 

[scoby41]

Thats and the fact he states it has a "Headers". Any normal turbo dsm person, would call it a manifold.

It's also "A" header if that were the case.

 

[redyute1]

wow i have never had a car not start because of a faulty coolant temp sensor,seem like he blew the head gasket to me

 

[pwayzjellyroll]

wow i have never had a car not start because of a faulty coolant temp sensor,seem like he blew the head gasket to me

Just because you haven't seen it doesn't mean that it is not true. I am not saying that this is the OP's issue but my TSI had a faulty sensor and it would often not start and just flood itself, the sensor was my only CEL and as soon as I changed it problem solved, so it is possible.

 

[scoby41]

A head gasket will generally allow your car to start, it'll just run like crap...

 

[hayboy]

with all that being said.....would be worth to drop a gxs motor into

i found one with 35-50K miles on it fo 1090......

or would i be better off to just find a different/real GSX

 

[Evil_speedracer]

I'm surprised that this has not been mentioned, but there are a few indicators as to whether or not there is a head gasket problem. The first thing I would check is the oil. Seeing as the car does not run, it might not do the usual chocolate milk thing, so maybe you could crank it a bit to mix things up. If it looks like there is water in it, or like chocolate milk then you don't want to buy it.

Then again, like the guys said....that looks to be NT to me. Find a turbo from the start if that is what you truly want, its best that way man.

 

[hayboy]

alright, awesome advice, and i willl do what is recomemended and move on form this car

and yes turbo is what i truly want

 

[Zmann42087]

with all that being said.....would be worth to drop a gxs motor into

i found one with 35-50K miles on it fo 1090......

or would i be better off to just find a different/real GSX

Unfortunately, you can't just "drop in" the 4g63 on a non-turbo 2g Eclipse (RS & GS models). The motor mount locations are completely different so its not a straight forward swap. It would require more time, money, and fabrication than the car would even be worth. You would be better off just buying a GST/GSX in the first place.

 

[hayboy]

sweet, thats some good to know information.

is there any other sites you would recomend lookig for one besides craiglist cars.com, autotrader...in the outskirts of phoenix if thats any help

 

[Evil_speedracer]

I looked everywhere before I settled on my current car...for 6 months. I test drove a lot of cars, but I wanted the lightest platform with the 6/4 combo of course ideally. I looked in the paper, craigslist, auto ads in convenience stores, and various other places on the net. I wanted an un-modified car, adding to the challenge. It just came to me one day after looking at, and driving POS's for 6 long months. It was in the paper one day before I found it, and I knew as soon as I saw it that it was the one. It was EXACTLY what I was looking for the whole time. With 73,000 miles on it. I got lucky, but just remember that it is important to know what you are looking for first. My criteria here should be some good basics to start with, as I am sure the guys here will agree. If you are selective, you will buy the car you will tell your grandchildren about z that sounded a bit cheezy huh......

 

[hayboy]

naw, sounded good to me, no joke too......but yea i have only been looking for a month . and i definitely dont want to rush into some money pit....

im glad i joined the forum to get some opinions goin, thanks

 

[ccb21]

I'm surprised that this has not been mentioned, but there are a few indicators as to whether or not there is a head gasket problem. The first thing I would check is the oil. Seeing as the car does not run, it might not do the usual chocolate milk thing, so maybe you could crank it a bit to mix things up. If it looks like there is water in it, or like chocolate milk then you don't want to buy it.

Then again, like the guys said....that looks to be NT to me. Find a turbo from the start if that is what you truly want, its best that way man.

Best way to tell if he cooked the Head gasket are a few ideas here from my exp.

Rev her up and check for smoke... White or Black normaly not good.
Temp gauge pegging the Higher part of it self... also not good.
Turn on the heater - the presure will blow like crap.
Let the car run for a few mins, shut the car off, un screw the oil cap and look for a white foam. If u mike Coolant and oil together in a bottle and shake it, makes a milk shake basicly... other then that, That is no way a GSX or GS-T, more looks like an RS to me bud!

 

[Evil_speedracer]

Best way to tell if he cooked the Head gasket are a few ideas here from my exp.

Rev her up and check for smoke... White or Black normaly not good.
Temp gauge pegging the Higher part of it self... also not good.
Turn on the heater - the presure will blow like crap.
Let the car run for a few mins, shut the car off, un screw the oil cap and look for a white foam. If u mike Coolant and oil together in a bottle and shake it, makes a milk shake basicly... other then that, That is no way a GSX or GS-T, more looks like an RS to me bud!

Dood....you realize the car does not start, right?

 

[Zmann42087]

sweet, thats some good to know information.

is there any other sites you would recomend lookig for one besides craiglist cars.com, autotrader...in the outskirts of phoenix if thats any help

Honestly, some of the cleanest cars for sale are on the DSM specific sites. Check out the classifieds on here, and also check DSMtrader and DSMtalk. I don't know if you're willing to travel a little bit, but it would open up a lot of options if you are. Just keep an eye open.. I wouldn't think it would be too hard to find a clean DSM on the west coast.

 

[ccb21]

Dood....you realize the car does not start, right?

Haha Nope, what a pos then... for 2500? wow my bad bro

 

[95jdmgst]

Yo that guy lives a couple blocks away from me and that car has a lot of problems is shoots a lot of coolant out of the exhaust and something is wrong with the throttle body last time I saw that car it was smoking black he is asking way to much

 

[MidnightTSI]

I would definitely totally forget about that car. You can find a Turbo 1G in fairly good condition for around 2K. Maybe even less if you look around a lot. Check craigslist and all the dsm sites like previously stated. When I first got into dsm's I had a friend who found a nice 1G for 2K. It had a lot of miles but ran very very strong. Big 16G, 550CC RC injectors, equal length exhaust manifold, and lots of other goodies. It was only FWD but it pulled really hard once traction was made. Too bad he tried to drive it from Colorado to Massachusetts and the motor seized (he let it run out of oil)

Take your time and keep looking, you will find something good eventually. Just be patient and don't jump on the first one you find. Use all of your resources, including this site to make a good decision.

Actually, you should buy this...
1990 Eagle Talon tsi fwd turbo
It might not be a 2G, or AWD but this would be great to start out with IMHO.