95 eclipse GST

[xandrew245x]

Well I bought the 95 eclipse gst for $1500, I figured I would start a threat so you guys can follow along with my progress and give me some feedback on issues I may be stuck on. Before I bought it, she told me that it wouldn't shut off. I was thinking that the car literally wouldn't turn off, well that is not the case, the car shuts off just fine, but they said something about the electronics not shutting off?

Well, I put the battery charger on yesterday on 2 amp charge and left it charge for a bit, took it off, started the car 5 times in a row without issue, left the car sit overnight and it started just fine this morning. I don't think there is an issue with the electronics not shutting off, I think the alternator is just bad.

I got it up on jackstands last night, pulled front tires, calipers and rotors off, they were completely trashed. I already have a new set of front and back slotted&drilled rotors plus pads on order.

The timing belt upon further inspection actually looks fairly new and in good condition. The power steering pump is going bad, the downpipe for the exhaust has a hole rusted through it, the right quarter panel has rust by the wheel. The transmission and clutch feel strong. The car is putting out a lot of black smoke when revving, possibly burning oil? I'll add some pictures then!

 

[Utz_3]

I thought blueish smoke was oil, black is fuel, coolant/water is white smoke.. somebody want to chime on this?

 

[xandrew245x]

I think you are correct, I'm not sure why I was thinking black smoke was oil, the air/fuel ratio does seem a little rich. All 4 tires are pulled, the front driver side rotor is trashed, it literally fell apart and its the only one I can't get off the damn hub. Front calipers are removed, and I am going to remove the back as well, i am going to clean them up and give them a paint job while they are off. Upon inspection it doesn't appear that this car has a Cat on it? It was inspected up until 2 months ago, I'm not sure how it passed without a cat? Either way I need to find a downpipe that can bolt up to a cat, its seeming a little harder than I thought it would to find one.

 

[mitsumike0]

I have to agree with UTZ for the smoke terminology. As in terms for the downpipe, finding one that will bolt up to stock cat location is going to be tricky. Most of them delete the cat and bolt up to the mid pipe. RRE has a downpipe that will bolt to the cat, i attached the link.
http://www.roadraceengineering.com/eclexhaust.htm

 

[xandrew245x]

Thanks for the link Mike! Like I said, currently it doesn't have a cat and it passed inspection. The county I live in requires emissions, HOWEVER, they always things I live in the adjacent county and that is actually what my vehicles are registered under, and that county does not require emissions, so technically I could get away without a cat I believe? I suppose I could just buy a downpipe that deletes the cat and try to pass inspection with it, if it doesn't pass then I will cut it, weld a flange on and throw a highflow cat in there. I think I could get away without the cat though, and I found some downpipes for a little over $100 bucks, so not bad.

Here are some pictures as well
Rust spot on the quarter

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Driver side front rotor(can't get this one off)

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Just an overview of the car.

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[Root Beer]

Looking good! Nice sidemark light

 

[rEclipserGST]

Check the Wheel bearings, ball joints, control arm bushings. Brake fluid. Check the clamps on the power steering lines. Might just be a bad hose, & not actually the power steering pump.

 

[PlanZero]

Speedy racer (em USA) dp is $80 shipped and decent quality, assuming you're keeping the cat deleted. As I've recently learned in my county of PA the only thing needed to pass emissions is no CEL and all but two IM sensors to read ready. If a cel pops up for downstream o2 sensor just get one of those $5 spacers.
Also, I would recommended seafoaming any newly acquired used vehicle.

 

[xandrew245x]

I took apart the passenger side front suspensions and everything is looking good on that side. I know it needs brake fluid for sure, which I already bought. I need to go over the power steering system still, but that is another day. I did a compression test yesterday and I am getting an even 160 psi across all 4 cylinders. Planzero, that is good to know, I am probably going to try to keep the cat delete, In my county the require emissions, HOWEVER, they think I live in the adjacent county where emissions is not required (this is also the county that I bought the car from) I already bought a can of seafoam for it .

So far.
Disassembled rear and front passenger side suspension, and brakes, Painted wheel well and components with black undercarriage spray. Painted struts and coils with automotive enamel, and painted calipers with high temp caliper paint.
Performed compression test
New slotted rotors and pads arrived today
Diagnosed the alternator problem, purchased a new alternator

Need.
New downpipe
Test oil pressure
Fix 2 rust spots
Finish suspension components on driver side
Install pads and rotors
Diagnose high beam issue
Diagnose Power steering issue
Install new side marker light (driver side)
Install new alternator

After all that, it SHOULD pass inspection.

 

[xandrew245x]

I have been a way for a while, I haven't had a lot of time to work on it, but finally had some free time. I installed so far.
New shocks and struts (lowered a couple of inches)
New calipers, pads and rotors all around
New battery terminals
New alternator
New belt for alternator

The battery is located in the trunk, I found the problem of the battery not charging (even after a new alternator) was simply a broke ground line in between the battery and wire harness, Spliced it back together and the battery charges and car starts like a dream now.

So here is a picture of the current state of the engine bay.

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I want to get this cleaned up, I don't like the black engine bay one bit, and the engine needs all its maintenance such as timing belt, water pump, belts. etc. It also needs new engine mount bushings for sure. I'm thinking it might be easiest to just remove the engine to do all the maintenance and then clean up, and maybe paint the engine bay.

IF, I do go the route of removing the engine, any other suggestions of work to do while the engine is out?

 

[goodbuds]

If you remove the engine and pull fenders off it will be a lot easier. Just remember to tag everything and go to town with some paint remover.

 

[xandrew245x]

So after some research, I think I am going to proceed with pulling the engine. I was thinking however, since the engine is out should I have the block bored and rebuild the lower end? My plan overall is to achieve in the 300hp range. So should I rebuild the block, or just clean it up, and drop it back in? Thoughts.

 

[goodbuds]

If your compression is good leave it alone. Your good for solid 400 with stock internals.

 

[xandrew245x]

The compression is perfect across all 4 cylinders. Before I start, I want to talk about the rust spots. The undercarriage has some slight surface rust, but other than that it's solid. The two bad rust spots are on driver and passenger side in thr wheel well right behind the doors. Is this worth repairing or is it a lost cause?

 

[xandrew245x]

Today I started disassembling the engine components. So far I have removed the inter cooler, all the piping, hood, front bumper, radiator, alternator, power steering pump, and the intake. Underneath the car I found a leak where the transmission attaches to the engine, specifically where the removable shield is to look inside the transmission. Also I noticed that the shield does not look like the correct one, one bolt hole doesn't line up, and the entire opening is not covered by it.

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[Maes]

The compression is perfect across all 4 cylinders. Before I start, I want to talk about the rust spots. The undercarriage has some slight surface rust, but other than that it's solid. The two bad rust spots are on driver and passenger side in thr wheel well right behind the doors. Is this worth repairing or is it a lost cause?

That would mean your rockers are rusted through possibly. If you know a body tech have him look at it and he should be able to tell you. They can be really bad. I have a 98 that's getting repaired now and it's pretty bad. I was able to get a rocker from Steve at Miller import parts for a decent deal shipped. Just an FYI.

 

[xandrew245x]

The rocker on the passenger side is completly rusted through,the driver side I believe would be easily repairable with maybe a little welding and bondo.

 

[xandrew245x]

So I got a great deal more of the engine components apart and labeled and i'm going to take this time to work on degreasing and cleaning the parts. Is it okay to pressure wash the engine components? Is there anything I should avoid getting wet? I plan on stripping down the block once its out to clean it, what is a good way to get the block clean. (I don't plan on removing the pistons) After everything is clean, I want to soda blast in prep for paint.

 

[xandrew245x]

Anyone have an advice on cleaning the engine components?

 

[chrysler kid]

You want to avoid water on electrical connections.

The best advice is to use a spray degreaser like purple power and a hard brush to loosen up all the grime. Cover up the alternator with a plastic bag before you spray down the block with water. Same process for the rest of the bay, cover up the fuse box, mass air, coil packs, electrical so they don't get wet. Internal engine components should not be exposed to water.

Also that timing belt looks like it is in bad shape. Looks like one of the oil pan bolts was put in the wrong place and the bolt is eating into the belt. Get that belt replaced asap

 

[xandrew245x]

I'm in the middle of pulling the engine, so all the components are out of the car to be cleaned. I been using a degreaser and a sand blaster with hot water to rinse everything off and its been working well so far. Once the engine is out of the car i'm going to clean and paint the components then install a new timings belt and everything else as well as new gaskets. I was wondering more if it hurt to get water inside the various parts like the turbo and cylinders on the block.

 

[xandrew245x]

It has been a while since an update, but since then I have pulled the engine, the transmission is off, clutch and flywheel, and I started taking apart the engine components to be cleaned and soda blasted. I looked all over around the timing belt to find what caused that groove to be worn into the belt and I have found nothing, so now I am a little baffled.

I plan on replacing all timing components, water pump, and all the gaskets, as well as cleaning and painting all the engine parts. One upgrade that I want to do is a bigger turbo. Now, I know there are turbos that cost in the thousand dollar range, which is way more than I want to spend, and then there are ebay turbos that around $300-$500. What is the prognosis on the turbos from ebay, are they actually complete junk, or are they okay? My car is only going to be used for street driving.

 

[ThunderChild]

ebay turbos and 98% crap. its a gamble.

look in the classifieds for a good used turbo or look into one of the vendors. i believe fp was having a good sale, idk if its still going on.

 

[xandrew245x]

ebay turbos and 98% crap. its a gamble.

look in the classifieds for a good used turbo or look into one of the vendors. i believe fp was having a good sale, idk if its still going on.

Thanks, I figured they were going to be junk, to good to be true.

How about tubular exhaust manifolds off ebay, I don't see how they could be junk if they are stainless steel and tig welded.

 

[ThunderChild]

Thanks, I figured they were going to be junk, to good to be true.

How about tubular exhaust manifolds off ebay, I don't see how they could be junk if they are stainless steel and tig welded.

most of them are not great, and wont greatly improve performance. they have a propensity for cracking at the welds after a few heat cycles.

stick with a ported 2g, evo or fp race mani. personally a ported, crack-free stock manifold would be just fine up to a reasonable power level. may not be the prettiest thing, but dont change manifolds just for looks unless your willing to fork over some good coin for a quality piece.