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2G What to look for when buying a Turbo 2G? (merged)

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Italipalm

20+ Year Contributor
44
0
Aug 15, 2002
King_of_Prussia
i currently own a honda civic w/ a jdm b16 in it. this weekend im goin to look at a 99 gst. i have a question. i was wonderng what to look at on the car to check for problem. this will b my first turbo charged car. if u guys could tell me what to look at to make sure the car is in good condition. thanks
 
Today I'm lookin to buy a 95 eclipse gsx with a 16g turbo setup this car only has 60,540 miles I will be the 3rd owner ...the car is pretty cheap they guy said everything is fine on it so my question is what are somethings to check on it before buying it? I don't want to have it for a few days and have to dump a ton of money into it......
 
Ask him how long his idle time is.
If possible do a compression test.
Check for crankwalk.

Mainly just ask simple open ended questions, it forces the seller to tell what he does and doesn't know about the car and what he's done to it! (and if he's capable of doing it correctly haha)
 
Be sure to ask him what kind of supporting mods (if any) were done to support the 16g. Look out for misplaced wires or anything that looks out of place. Look for broken sensors or wires... Also verify that the turbo is, indeed a 16g. I've seen people try to pass them off as being upgraded when they were still on the stock t25. Honestly, if he is lying in that respect, you'd be better off, since the chances of everything else being hacked up are now lower. ;) Check all the fluids and ask the seller about maintenance on it.

Also mentioned.. Look for the strut tower rust!

If the guy can answer all the questions quickly and effectively, then there's a better chance the car was taken care of. Just be on the lookout of b.s.

if it looks something like this engine bay; then run away!
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Ok, unless you can get it really cheap and are able to fix it properly!
 
Do a compression test, verify it is a 16g and has "TD05" on the compressor cover. If it does, see if you can take off the intake pipe and look at the compressor wheel on the turbo to make sure it has the twin blades (Google pictures of 16g compressor wheels versus 14b wheels and you'll see the difference). While you have the intake off, check for turbo shaft play. Also ask about supporting mods or ask what psi it was run at if it doesn't have any other mods. If he says it was run at wastegate pressure then it's not so bad. But if it has a 16g and a manual boost controller and no other mods, chances are it was beat on. Ask if he's ever done any datalogs and see if the car has a wideband O2 sensor. Check the end play in the crank. Check the shock towers for rust and also in the spare wheel well. Also check for rust in front of the rear wheel. Check the tie rods and wheel bearings for play. See if it has any leaks. If it's an auto, smell the trans fluid and look at the dipstick. If it's black and smells burnt, the trans is pretty much toast. Make sure you go there with the car cold. If you get there and the car is all warmed up, he might be hiding something. Take it for a test drive with the radio off and listen for any noises. Shift through all the gears on the test drive. After the test drive let the car idle for 5 minutes or so to see if it over heats. Ask if the timing belt has been changed along with the water pump. See if you can bring a scanner to check for any DTC's (check engine light). Make sure the car isn't all hacked up. Check to see if he has the BOV recirculated if he's still on the stock 2g MAS. If it's vented to the atmosphere, chances are he likes the noise it makes and got on it often to vent the BOV. See if he has receipts for any thing he put on the car. That's about all I can think of. Good luck and post up pics if you get it. :thumb:
 
Is there a thread on this? There should be every other day someone makes a post asking what they should look for when buying a used DSM. If there isn't one I'd like to make an official one that could be posted somewhere and everyone could just refer to it.


-dsm03
 
Invest in a Boost leak tester :thumb: not to be negative or anything but shit happens. Hope you have better luck then I did. I bought a GST 500 miles later spun a bearing. Oh well just gave me a reason to build a motor with forged internals :thumb:
 
I just joined the site yesterday and stated that I was still in high school and I know close to nothing about cars. I'm doing a lot of reading and starting to learn the basics. I rushed into my first car (98 Spyder Eclipse GS) and ran into so many problems and it's been such a headache that I just can't wait to get rid of it. When I do get rid of it though, I'm looking into getting a GST. My question is what should I be looking for? My post yesterday was similar to this but I felt as if I was too vague when asking. When I ask what I should be looking for I mean almost every detail from how many miles to what would look like it's ready to give out and what's more new. Also what kind of questions should I ask? Sorry if I'm too repetitive but I don't want to buy another headache. Any and every response helps.
 
Turn your gs into a gst and you will learn alot, by the way whats wrong with the gs?
 
Turn your gs into a gst and you will learn alot, by the way whats wrong with the gs?

Well for one this might sound silly but it's an automatic. I was forced to buy on as my first car. I would just prefer to drive a manual. But as for stuff being wrong, it isn't shifting into higher gears. Like it'll shift normally the first time but after that, it'll just keep going up in rpm's and not shift at all. We changed the speed sensor on it and it shifted perfect for a week or so and after that it went back to not shifting. My battery just went completely dead and I'm getting a new one this weekend. Is it possible that the bad battery was causing it to not shift? Also it shifts really hard sometimes.


Thanks smoker
 
130k. The transmission looks like it has some sort of foam around it. Maybe it was rebuilt and the person did a poor job? I rushed into it because I wanted a car. Stupid mistake, yes, but I don't plan on doing it again.
 
130k. The transmission looks like it has some sort of foam around it. Maybe it was rebuilt and the person did a poor job? I rushed into it because I wanted a car. Stupid mistake, yes, but I don't plan on doing it again.

well, not that yours is making boatloads of power like mine is or anything, but my trans took a shit at 131k :rolleyes:

im not expert on auto trans though. nor was this thread about your auto trans issue.
 
So is it a possibility that because the battery was so bad that the computer was messed up and causing that? Again, I'm very new so correct me if I'm wrong or sound stupid. I did a number of searches and it was said that my input/output speed censor could be bad or it could be a bad solenoid. The solenoid hasn't been changed yet though.

well, not that yours is making boatloads of power like mine is or anything, but my trans took a shit at 131k :rolleyes:

im not expert on auto trans though. nor was this thread about your auto trans issue.

So I should just go ahead and post a thread asking for auto trans help?
 
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