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What year & month does engine serial # NH0001 correspond to?

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XC92

Proven Member
1,570
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Jul 22, 2020
Queens, New_York
I need to order some odd parts for my '92 Talon TSi AWD manual's engine and the parts catalog designates engine serial # NH0001 as the cutoff for certain parts. I.e. if the # is lower get this version, if it's higher get the other version. I haven't been able to find the SN of my engine. I understand that it's on the front near the lower part of the oil stick projection, which I can't get to without removing some parts. But if anyone knows what year & month NH0001 correspond to, that would suffice.

Also, an aside, I just found out that my Talon, which I've owned for over 28 years, is even rarer than I thought. It's not only turbo, AWD & manual, already fairly uncommon, but it's both 6-bolt crank AND 4-bolt rear axle, so it was made in that very short timeframe where they didn't quite yet switch over to a 7 bolt crank but did switch over to a 4-bolt rear axle. How many of these unicorns could they have made? My car's build date is stamped May 1992. It also has ABS, A/C, power windows and a sunroof, making it even rarer. No deluxe radio or leather seats, though. I didn't want or need either.

And only $20k total purchase price! (Ok, actually $20,250.)

Is there anything else I could check to add to the rarities?

And if I restore it well enough, how much could it fetch, ballpark?

Not that I'm looking to sell anytime soon, so stop salivating. :pray:
 
I need to order some odd parts for my '92 Talon TSi AWD manual's engine and the parts catalog designates engine serial # NH0001 as the cutoff for certain parts. I.e. if the # is lower get this version, if it's higher get the other version. I haven't been able to find the SN of my engine. I understand that it's on the front near the lower part of the oil stick projection, which I can't get to without removing some parts. But if anyone knows what year & month NH0001 correspond to, that would suffice.

Also, an aside, I just found out that my Talon, which I've owned for over 28 years, is even rarer than I thought. It's not only turbo, AWD & manual, already fairly uncommon, but it's both 6-bolt crank AND 4-bolt rear axle, so it was made in that very short timeframe where they didn't quite yet switch over to a 7 bolt crank but did switch over to a 4-bolt rear axle. How many of these unicorns could they have made? My car's build date is stamped May 1992. It also has ABS, A/C, power windows and a sunroof, making it even rarer. No deluxe radio or leather seats, though. I didn't want or need either.

And only $20k total purchase price! (Ok, actually $20,250.)

Is there anything else I could check to add to the rarities?

And if I restore it well enough, how much could it fetch, ballpark?

Not that I'm looking to sell anytime soon, so stop salivating. :pray:
Its been awhile since i looked at production dates but most 92 should be 6/4 Cars. I have heard that a few early ones were 3 bolt rear and a few late ones were 7 bolt engine. This is why the 92 was very sought after when they were newer. By now so many have been swapped you just grab whatever drivetrain you want for your chassis. I still have a 6 bolt on the shelf waiting.
 
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MR8102 is my 1992 6/4 Auto cars ;motor #.
 
MR8102 is my 1992 6/4 Auto cars ;motor #.

Do you know the build month? Mine's May. IIRC it's on the driver's side door frame. But if yours is a 6 bolt it can't be much beyond May, when they started switching over to 7 bolt, so mine is probably lower than NH0001, assuming it's a sequential order without too many skips.
 
Can't recall. I'd have to look at the door jam. It is an early 92.
 
So based on the info in the link above, the NH0001 number and up seems to indicate a later 92 7 bolt motor, so since you know you have a 6 bolt you likely want or have before that number, would be my guess, and you can also confirm the engine is the original to the frame if the vin on the motor and transmission, located on the bell housing side matches the cars frame or door jam vin #.
 
April 1992 into May 1992 was the changeover, see: 6 bolt or 7 bolt. Just know that there are likely to be some outliers to this timeframe. The nature of manufacturing is you use what's available to put product out. Look at how (in)consistently EPROM ECUs came in these cars, and really for no good reason. Or the whole debacle of 22- or 23-spline transmissions / transfer cases with steel or aluminum front cases in the 1990-1991 year changeover.

Those dates are actually pulled from a Mitsubishi source, however. Here's some fairly in-depth explanations / details of how Mitusbishi's Aftermarket Sales Application (ASA) displays part numbers based on build dates: 1997 ECLIPSE 2G 4G6-Where is the oil cooler by-pass part????
And a note to that "production period" term: Power Steering Parts

Also, the 4G63 was not limited to only being offered in Eclipses, Talons, and Lasers, so that's something else to consider for the NH0001 number and where yours potentially lines up. Think US market, Japanese market, etc. There are a lot of these engines floating around worldwide.
 
Can't recall. I'd have to look at the door jam. It is an early 92.
Build date on the door jam says March 92 on my car.
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My impression was that production number defined the first seven-bolt engine. That’s why so many parts are different, right? If you know you have a six bolt, then that is what counts, and it must be before NH0001. The explanation from another recent post made it seem like it’s strictly sequential, and not code for some date. Maybe I’m missing something here.

The pages from the catalog confirm this for part 14, the flywheel bolts. For up to NH0001, six are needed, after that, calls for seven bolts.
 

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You mean my post in What block is this?

;)

Pretty sure the OP here is simply trying to understand the correlation of the engine serial number to a production time frame. After all, the NH0001 serial code had to happen at some relatively specific time. The fact we've been able to thus far identify the link between that serial number and the transition to 7-bolts is one part. We know from other sources, as listed in the other links I posted in this thread already, that the 6- to 7-bolt change occurs in roughly April-May of 1992, which is the other part. Putting those parts together and the NH0001 must correlate to that time frame.

I do absolutely agree, though. If you have a 6-bolt, there's no point worrying about a date split for engine components so long as you're purchasing 6-bolt parts. There's plenty of resources out there (and here) if you have doubts with anything.
 
It would be fun to know exactly which car had that specific engine, for sure, but yes, really just academic. It seemed to me that XC92 was just looking to order the right parts, for his car, and wasn’t connecting that NH0001 means 7-bolt, and he really already knew that answer.
I’ve become intrigued lately about the s/n with bar code tags on my trans and motor, and how those might tell if these really are original to my car. I’m envious of those who have owned their cars for a long time, and double so it their the one and only.:dsm:
 
Yes, I'm the original and only owner of a 28.5 year old 1G DSM, and have not done any true mods on the car, so everything that's not a maintenance replacement part like a filter, belt or clutch is original. Certainly the engine and trans. I found out where the SN is stamped, but it's dirty and rusty and hard to get to, so I'd have to either remove parts or get creative with long brushes.

The funny thing is that I need to know where my engine's SN falls to order relatively minor parts, 2 rubbery gaskets for the timing belt cover, for which there are 2 versions. The original ones have hardened and come out easily and break. In fact one actually fell into the timing belt compartment.

I didn't even bother to try to fish it out figuring the pulleys and belts would just grind it up without consequence and turn it into tiny remnants. Hopefully I'm right, although I do intend to replace the timing belt and other components there soon, as part of schedule maintenance.

Anyway, sounds like I'd be safe getting the pre-NH0001 parts. It would have been nice though if Mitsubishi had spelled out that this corresponds to the switchover to 7-bolt engines.
 
Forget any notion for a minute about engine serial numbers. There's two variations of rubbery gaskets for the timing belt cover for 1Gs with the 2.0L engine because there are two variations of timing belt covers for 1Gs with the 2.0L engine. All DSM 6-bolt lower timing belt covers are the same. All 1G 7-bolt lower timing belt covers are the same. And the two are not interchangeable.

As an extra, in Mitsubishi ASA, the part number splits align, again, with the April-May 1992 date mentioned previously. It's just slightly more specific with the date than the Plymouth / Eagle PDF parts catalogue available for download in the tech articles that I believe you're using. Chrysler did have a software similar to Mitsubishi ASA available, called PAIS, but I was never able to get a hold of it to compare with Mitsu's programs.

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**Note this one does show three different part numbers, but also shows the original MD030137 was superseded by MD156770, matching the other part number for 1G 6-bolts.

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Again, putting the serial number aside, there's no reason to look at any engine part number listed for the 1993-1994 model years if it is known the engine is a 6-bolt to begin with because those years came equipped with 7-bolt engines. If an item shows a part number for 1992-1994 AFTER ENGINE # NH0001, and the only other part number is for 1990-1992 UP TO ENGINE # NH0001, one should choose the former for a 7-bolt and the latter for a 6-bolt, every time.

I would recommend that if you're looking to spend money on gaskets for your 6-bolt lower timing belt cover, you may consider an alternative: Is this the same timing cover? and 6 Bolt Timing Cover On The Cheap.
 
Ouch! I did replace my 6-bolt lower with Mitsubishi oem, and it way more than $30 or so. All the gasket for both upper and lower seems to be the same x-section rubber, so if the covers are fine and just the gasket is shot, there must be a suitable generic equivalent. This is not a highly stressed area, and does not really require a perfect seal to do its job of keeping debris out of the timing set and provide a bit of cushion.
Someone posted about this a few weeks ago, and I suggest McMaster-Carr as a potential place to look, as they offer all manner of such materials, and tools, and you name it. Not sure the best dimensions for this gasket, but I would think someone will know.
Or maybe the oem gaskets are plentiful and cheap.??:hmm:
 
The only special thing I can think of about the OEM gasket pieces is that they are molded to shape to fit the cover they are meant to match.

Just ran a quick cost check, looks like the gaskets alone will run about $15 without taxes or shipping, assuming they're still available. :thumb:
 
Thanks all. Given that I have a pre-NH0001 engine it's easy enough to figure out which gasket versions I need. The only confusion is which actual gaskets. Right now I only need them for the top cover. I'll get the others when I replace the timing belt. The parts catalog is confusing as it shows 2 possible gaskets, 1 just over $1 and the other over $8. Some research suggests that the latter is for the lower cover and I don't need it now. I'll probably just order the cheaper one along with an order for other parts I was going to get, and hopefully it's what I need. I suspect that I could probably use generic gasket material cut to size. It's not a critical seal as far as I can tell. The real question I had was whethr my engine was pre or post-NH0001, and that's been answered. Thanks again.
 
Yes, I'm the original and only owner of a 28.5 year old 1G DSM, and have not done any true mods on the car, so everything that's not a maintenance replacement part like a filter, belt or clutch is original. Certainly the engine and trans. I found out where the SN is stamped, but it's dirty and rusty and hard to get to, so I'd have to either remove parts or get creative with long brushes.

The funny thing is that I need to know where my engine's SN falls to order relatively minor parts, 2 rubbery gaskets for the timing belt cover, for which there are 2 versions. The original ones have hardened and come out easily and break. In fact one actually fell into the timing belt compartment.

I didn't even bother to try to fish it out figuring the pulleys and belts would just grind it up without consequence and turn it into tiny remnants. Hopefully I'm right, although I do intend to replace the timing belt and other components there soon, as part of schedule maintenance.

Anyway, sounds like I'd be safe getting the pre-NH0001 parts. It would have been nice though if Mitsubishi had spelled out that this corresponds to the switchover to 7-bolt engines.
Any part if it's large and tough enough can chew up or skip a timing belt. I would not ignore the piece that fell in.
As for seal replacements ill probably get flamed for this but i tore mine off and ran without them for at least 15 years.
 
It's very brittle plasticized rubber that sounded like it was chopped into lots of little pieces when I ran the engine, and probably fell onto the bottom of the cover where they're unlikely to do damage. If the belt hasn't skipped by now, I doubt it will, as any real damage would likely have occurred right away. I did also drop one of the cover bolts in by accident, but fished that out with a magnet as that would have done real damage. I'll remove the remnants when I replace the TB.

Given the nature of this rubber as it decays over time and the way it fits into the top cover, were it able to cause real damage, it would represent a serious design flaw in this engine that I imagine would have come up by now. Its quite easy to accidentally drop it into the TB compartment simply by removing the top cover as there's nothing securing it to the grooves but friction and perhaps glue, with both having long since stopped being effective.

Btw, I have another minor part issue. Turns out that someone who worked on my car years ago snapped the head off the 6x25 bolt that secures one end of the battery clamp to the strut tower. There's only a stud left, which the same person probably tried to compensate for by attaching a small nut. But the nut is useless, too narrow and short to secure the clamp. I jerry-rigged a short-term solution using craft wire, the nut and a small washer, but I need to extract the stud and replace it with a proper bolt. Unfortunately it's discontinued. Would basically any 6x25 bolt with the proper thread work, with a proper washer?

It's amazing how the little things can be so annoying and sometimes debilitating, especially on an old car for which parts are becoming harder to find. An unsecured battery is trouble waiting to happen.
 
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Yes, any M6 x 1 x 25 bolt should do the trick. Obviously, the key is to ensure the end of the tie bar is held down so add a washer as needed to ensure this end is captured.

It's amazing how the little things can be so annoying and sometimes debilitating, especially on an old car for which parts are becoming harder to find.
Sure is fun, isn't it? :cool:
 
Improvising solutions? Definitely cool. Makes you realize that nothing's set in stone and there's not necessarily one "right" way to do anything, and you have the power to do things differently if not better, if you know what you're doing. This is obviously a fairly trivial example, but it's for a non-trivial application, keeping several dozen pounds of sulfuric acid and lead from leaking all over the engine bay and causing untold damage. Come to think of it, that's what this site is really all about, improving upon the original design. Hey, I'm "tuning" my battery holder! :hellyeah:

Btw, I ordered a couple of 6x25 bolts in a larger order I needed to place with an online Mitsubishi parts dealer. I got their product codes from the DSM parts catalog. They're officially for other applications but a bolt is a bolt in this instance. It's really the washer that keeps the clamp secure. One or both of them should do the trick.
 
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The battery in these cars is fairly well contained, in comparison to many cars. Mine was lacking the entire hold down when I bought it, and didn’t give me any problems driving home from Florida. Of course I got one, and have properly a secured battery now. I think unless you’re jumping the car, or get into a wreck, it wouldn’t really cause trouble. My old Dodge had the battery to the side of the unshielded, belt driven fan, resting only on a flat plate. I had it secured with a bungee for a time and lifted the hood once to find shifted and nearly being sawn open. After that I made a sturdy S.S. Hold down. That engine bay was so big it dwarfed the big block 383. In the dsm, it’s all packed so tight that there isn’t too much space for anything to migrate far.
 
Yeah, it's mainly accidents, and a rough bump or pothole, that I'm worried about. It's been like this for years and it's only now that I'm trying to address it properly. I figure if I'm restoring the car then might as well go all the way, starting with the mechanical stuff and later the aesthetic.
 
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