What do you believe to be wrong with all of these parts, particularly the wiring harness? There are two wiring harnesses that run through the engine bay, one is the main engine harness, and the other is the front chassis harness. One runs through the body under the fender on the drivers side, the other runs through the firewall on the passenger side. Both harnesses are relatively difficult to replace.

If you are able to replace the fuel tank, you should be able to do the exhaust as well, assuming you are talking about a bolt up replacement.

For someone who knows what their doing. This is cake.

But to take it in the shop, I priced struts for my car. 400 bucks (my price, I work at a shop) takes a couple of hours to do. Labor be 150-200 bucks.

Wiring problem ( that could be fun) look around $200 of course depends on problem.

Gas tank, we would charge 150-200 for labor. Depends on what my NapaTRACS says cause I go off their labor hours.

So some where under 1.5k in repairs my thought. It be good to do all maintenance work as well.

Exhaust, depends on what you would want to do.

If you have a little knowledge about taking off parts and putting it back on....
I would say you can do almost all the work, I don't know about your exhaust pipe which it needs some welding etc.
Well that's if your are doing a custom, But if you buy an aftermarket one, then you can do it your self.


Give it a try which we are here to help, But if you really can't do it, then take it to the shop.

Thanks for the quick response guys. I made a big error in my original post. It is the fuel PUMP that needs to be replaced, NOT the TANK. Sry for that. i also forgot to add that the engine had a 16G turbo added on to it in the past running about 16 pounds of boost. The existing fuel pump is also aftermarket, running at 190 LPH and supposedly screwing the car up.

Lambiablo said:

What do you believe to be wrong with all of these parts, particularly the wiring harness? There are two wiring harnesses that run through the engine bay, one is the main engine harness, and the other is the front chassis harness. One runs through the body under the fender on the drivers side, the other runs through the firewall on the passenger side. Both harnesses are relatively difficult to replace.

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The wiring that's iffy is the group of wires that extend out from directly to the right of the oil cap on top of the motor, towards the back (sry I can't give more specific details) I was told by the owner that it may need to be replaced in the future, but he didn't specify why and I have yet to bring my mechanic in to check it more closely. As far as I know it works fine but just looks a little beaten down.

The exhaust has an issue with the downpipe, I don't believe it's imperative to fix. The muffler is beat up but ok.

I wish I could be more knowledgeble on what was wrong with the fuel pump. I'll know more when my mechanic friend looks at it, but I know when test driving the car, the car was losing some boost pressure before redlining in the early gears, as if it the fuel was being cut. He also told me it was eating up gas because of the issue. He also claims it was not an injector issue. I don't know if this is a common issue or a red flag for bigger things to come? I once again apologize for my stupidity on this subject.

Otherwise, thanks for the encouragement guys. I feel much better knowing that I at least have a shot at trying to do this stuff myself. The 1.5k number is a little disheartening, but if I could cut down on even some of the labor costs i'd feel a lot better.

Eh how rusty is this car being that its from New York?

1997_GSX said:

Eh how rusty is this car being that its from New York?

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Not too bad actually. The shape of the body shocked the hell out of me. There's some rust up front underneath but nothing terrible for a 95. Car underbodys usually get eaten pretty badly up here by the winter, rocksalt and whatnot.

When the car looses power does it just bog down, or is it more similar to the sound of hitting the rev limiter?

If it is more like bogging down, then you should look for boost leaks.

As far as the fuel pump, unless there is another issue, the 190 lph will not consume more fuel than the factory pump because the computer will compensate based on what the o2 sensor reads.

The wiring you are referring to, is it the injector wiring harness? Or are you talking about the part of the harness close to the drivers strut tower close to the firewall?

Lambiablo said:

When the car looses power does it just bog down, or is it more similar to the sound of hitting the rev limiter?

If it is more like bogging down, then you should look for boost leaks.

As far as the fuel pump, unless there is another issue, the 190 lph will not consume more fuel than the factory pump because the computer will compensate based on what the o2 sensor reads.

The wiring you are referring to, is it the injector wiring harness? Or are you talking about the part of the harness close to the drivers strut tower close to the firewall?

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When the car slows it is more like bogging down. In that case, when I go back to look at this vehicle, how should I go about checking boost leaks on this engine and what would it mean to fix them? As for the pump, the owner claims that the fuel pump was faulty ever since the previous owner installed it. However, I mentioned that the O2 sensor may also be a problem since the check engine light is on, yet it disappears for a while when both the fuel pump and battery are disconnected overnight and reconnected the next day

I'm fairly confident now that the wiring in question the injector wiring harness. I don't know what the repairs to this consist of, though.

parts are usually cheap and it depends what your planning on using the car for. if you can do work yourself labor is not a factor. exhaust is easy if your planning on replacing alot of it because you can just cut bolts and sections and dont have to worry about reusing them. Id say buy if this is going to be a project not really if you need this car right now. p.s the check engine light will turn off everytime you disconnect the battery and come back on if it goes through the drive cycle and still detects the problem. fuel pump is also a pretty straight forward job there is an access hole under the rear seat. again make sure the battery is disconnected and you dont use tools that are gonna cause sparks (sparks and fuel vapors cause big boom) Anyway moral of the story is most of the stuff youve described is pretty straight forward for any diyer. good luck.

The best way to test the whole system for boost leaks would be a pressure gauge that will clamp to the inlet of your turbo. You can usually buy these pretty cheap, and they are good to have on hand. I believe they usually have a valve stem on them like on a wheel, and you can use a tire pump or if you have access to an air compressor at a shop.

With the gauge clamped to the turbo, pump 20psi or so into it, if you have any significant leaks it will leak down almost immediately. If there are leaks bad enough you will not be able to get it to hold pressure at all. Then just see if you can hear air leaking out anywhere, you may even have to put water on some spots to find any leaks.

And fixing the issue is often as simple as adjusting/tightening intercooler coupling clamps or replacing couplings and clamps. A bad/damaged throttle body gasket can produce bad boost leaks, I have found this exact issue on a dsm before.

In reading your last post again, the bogging down issue is while decelerating and not wot under boost?

And as for the wiring harness, replacing it is not for the faint of heart, it's an aggravating job 1st time doing it especially. The plugs inside the car are what makes it so difficult, I recently had to replace both harnesses on my gsx thanks to a fire. So just be sure that it is a harness issue before taking that step.

Sound like a lot of work but hey someones gotta do it... haha. if you get this car make sure your not in a big rush to get it driving. Just take your time and understand all that you are doing, so you can do it properly. Just my .02

Lambiablo said:

In reading your last post again, the bogging down issue is while decelerating and not wot under boost?

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No, the bogging down issue is while under boost. I feel as if the turbo is failing to achieve the PSI it wants, whether it be from fuel cut (owner claims) or boost leaks.

Lambiablo said:

The best way to test the whole system for boost leaks would be a pressure gauge that will clamp to the inlet of your turbo. You can usually buy these pretty cheap, and they are good to have on hand. I believe they usually have a valve stem on them like on a wheel, and you can use a tire pump or if you have access to an air compressor at a shop.

With the gauge clamped to the turbo, pump 20psi or so into it, if you have any significant leaks it will leak down almost immediately. If there are leaks bad enough you will not be able to get it to hold pressure at all. Then just see if you can hear air leaking out anywhere, you may even have to put water on some spots to find any leaks.

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This is excellent advice and I plan on doing this when I go to see the car again.

The wiring is something I'll likely leave alone for now, as its only worn rather than broken. As for everything else, I appreciate the encouragement from you all, hopefully I'll be able to do most of this work if I get this car

What psi is it boosting????

frankenstein406 said:

What psi is it boosting????

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it gets up to 13-14 psi before the bog down. Stock injectors, 190lph fuel pump and a big 16G.

Is there a mbc? Turn it down to 9 10

frankenstein406 said:

Is there a mbc? Turn it down to 9 10

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I'm not sure, I'll check tomorrow when I see it. The owner was not helpful whatsoever regarding the turbo. I'm guessing a car possessing a 16G without one of these can be a sign for rushed or uneducated modification?

It definitely sounds like boost leak, hitting fuel cut feels more severe, generally sounds like a rev limiter for a brief moment as I mentioned before, first time it happens to you it will make you think you have blown something. And anytime you upgrade the turbo it is definitely a good idea to install a mbc and aftermarket boost gauge of course, but it sounds like you do have that.

Lambiablo said:

It definitely sounds like boost leak, hitting fuel cut feels more severe, generally sounds like a rev limiter for a brief moment as I mentioned before, first time it happens to you it will make you think you have blown something. And anytime you upgrade the turbo it is definitely a good idea to install a mbc and aftermarket boost gauge of course, but it sounds like you do have that.

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Ah, I see what you mean. I have a stock turbo in fairly good shape that I could replace the 16G with, if need be. Do you think that it'd be worthwhile to do (meaning would it solve my problem) so if I can't manage stop these leaks? Or should I look to another area of the engine for the leaks?

I'd say go for it man. Those issues don't seem big to me. At least the car is running. Now if it wasn't running, and you had to figure out what was wrong, then thats a different story. I bought mines not running, the guy told me it needed an exhaust, IC piping, and a wastegate. That was about 6 months ago, and I'm still finding stuff wrong with it. Get the car and go buy a manual for it. Learn how to do this stuff yourself, that way the funds you would have spent on labor can go towards other parts.

Yea just start small, tackling the easiest tasks first gaining some experience. And of course, there are plenty of experienced guys here willing to help with any questions you may have.

The turbo will most likely not be your boost leak issue, possibly the gasket b/w the turbo and j-pipe, but not the turbo itself. Just look closely at your intercooler piping, couplings, and clamps, sometimes a boost leak can be found with just a good visual inspection.

Post pics. And I also say go for it. You have PLENTY of knowledgeable people here willing to help you. If not, maybe you may find someone in your area on the site that could lend you a hand. It doesnt seem like much..just minor issues. You should try to drive the guy down on the price, and tell him its gonna cost you to fix the issues. And with that money you save, put into fixing the minor issues. I mean if it runs, doesnt smoke...you should be good. Do a compression test also...

liljaywizzle85 said:

I'd say go for it man. Those issues don't seem big to me. At least the car is running. Now if it wasn't running, and you had to figure out what was wrong, then thats a different story. I bought mines not running, the guy told me it needed an exhaust, IC piping, and a wastegate. That was about 6 months ago, and I'm still finding stuff wrong with it. Get the car and go buy a manual for it. Learn how to do this stuff yourself, that way the funds you would have spent on labor can go towards other parts.

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Agreed.

Alright guys, I've decided to go through with it. I'll post pics and be back around for questions soon. Thanks everyone for the support!