97 Eclipse GSX replacing blown head gasket question

unfocus · Apr 6, 2014

I'm not 100% sure if I can post it here, but it is a question about repairing,

I'm thinking of trading in or selling my current eclipse as its a gs and I cannot get it to be registered to due to failing out of province inspection.

There's a 1997 Eclipse GSX, with a new engine, 70km with an evo 3 turbo, for 3,200 (that's the lowest he'll go, because he doesn't want to lose that much money)

His car unforunately has a blown head gasket, but the good news is that.

It's just the head gasket that needs replacement. There has been no mixing of coolant with oil, or fuel with coolant/oil.

There is oil leaking, but no over heating has happened. I have a friend whose repaired head gaskets before, would this be a tough job? Is it worth get this gsx, possibly spend maybe like $400 on parts roughly (am i right?). because a gsx where I live is pretty rare, and very desirable, obviously if his car was running healthy he'd be selling 6,000, probably even more.

Here's a link if you want to take a look at it.

1997 Mitsubishi Eclipse GSX | cars & trucks | Calgary | Kijiji

bryanwheat · Apr 6, 2014

I personally wouldn't pay more than 1000 bucks for it even if they are rare. Spending that much and assuming that it only needs 400 bucks of work is going to end up in great frustration and disappointment when you find out what it costs to fix it right and fix all the other problems with it. With a blown head gasket to do everything properly you are looking at gaskets, likely a resurface, you should replace valve seals, possibly a valve job, head bolts, timing belt, timing pullies, timing tensioner, balance shaft belt balance shaft tensioner, water pump , coolant and oil. That is assuming that nothing else is damaged in there. Always assume with one of these cars when buying a project that anything could be broken. It could also need suspension, brake parts, tires, exhaust work and so on.

Why is it exactly that your other car won't pass an inspection. Is this a safety or emission test?

finesse49ers · Apr 6, 2014

bryanwheat nailed it on the head. Plus that interior is jacked up. Have you seen this car in person, because the seller sure didn't do himself any favors posting the pictures he did of this car.

unfocus · Apr 6, 2014

bryanwheat said:
I personally wouldn't pay more than 1000 bucks for it even if they are rare. Spending that much and assuming that it only needs 400 bucks of work is going to end up in great frustration and disappointment when you find out what it costs to fix it right and fix all the other problems with it. With a blown head gasket to do everything properly you are looking at gaskets, likely a resurface, you should replace valve seals, possibly a valve job, head bolts, timing belt, timing pullies, timing tensioner, balance shaft belt balance shaft tensioner, water pump , coolant and oil. That is assuming that nothing else is damaged in there. Always assume with one of these cars when buying a project that anything could be broken. It could also need suspension, brake parts, tires, exhaust work and so on.

Why is it exactly that your other car won't pass an inspection. Is this a safety or emission test?

He won't go lower than that because he'll lose a ton of money, he's already losing a ton just for selling it at this price. My greasemonkey mechanic friend is already aware of replacing everything and a resurface. The car is stored a mechanic shop, and they said its only problem is the head gasket being blown and that the interior just needs work. If this car was healthy it would be selling for 6,000+ and it would have been bought no doubt.

the gsx sold here run from 5,000-9,000, and are sold usually once a year and last on the ad for 2 days.

it was a safety inspection.

Breezio69 · Apr 6, 2014

I wouldn't touch that car with a 10 ft pole. I got myself into this same mess and it was a joke. Now, the catch 22 is, I won't sell my car because of how much money I've had to throw at the damn thing.... find something else, save some more money and buy something of better quality.

It also says 71, 000 miles on rebuilt motor, how many miles are on the beat up salty nasty chassis???

Dxc545 · Apr 6, 2014

I would try to find out more about the car. If your mechanically inclined you could get the head off and rebuilt in a week. The car is pretty ruff but even shells in my area go for 1700+

Breezio69 · Apr 6, 2014

Its also been listed for what, a month and a week or two? I'm sure over a hundred people just like yourself have gone and looked at the thing and decided it was a joke. They left it, you should too.

synthetek · Apr 6, 2014

If you do it right its going to cost $1000+ if you don't change the timing components, water pump, etc... Its likely that one of those things could fail and then you will be back where you started , with a blown head gasket or worse, bent valves etc... Unless you can hear it run and drive it , assume that it has other issues and take that in to account when you decide how much you are willing to pay. $3200 + $1000 for head gasket/ machine work / timing / water pump, drive line fluids, it could need a clutch? Your getting close to $5000+. It doesn't mater if he doesn't want to lose money he has a broken car , $3200 is more than bluebook for a running 1997 gsx. If it was an easy fix and its already at a mechanic than they would would probably just fix it and sell it for $6000 if that's what there going for there. Sound like you would just be taking over someone else's problems.

unfocus · Apr 7, 2014

Wish it were that easy to find another like it is in the states, won't find one in my area for a very long time.

I should probably also mention he isn't 100% sure if it's a blown head gasket, that's just what the shop is probably saying. It's stored at a shop called Tire Pirates, they are very reliable. Also the liquids haven't mixed at all, so the engine isn't damaged. The car has 44,365 miles or 71 kilometers. Nothing has been warped, he hasn't overheated the car.

ricktb · Apr 8, 2014

IF you change the head gasket you should replace the head studs as well, might as well go ARP, and torque them in sequence to 30- 60 - and then 85 foot pounds . You will also need a 12 point socket, as the 6 point sockets wont fit.. Its a task in itself takin the head off if your so inclined.. follow the haynes manual youll be ok.

CiscoBite1Time · Apr 8, 2014

I don't know what you're really asking but I think you've already made up your mind about the car. Buy it for 3200 and wish for the best.

ervin00 · Apr 8, 2014

^^^^^^^^
What he said. It sound like you already made up your mind, but be ready to spend money!!!
Since you have the head off you should do the valve seals, clean and inspect the valves and surface the head, timing belt ect ect just like bryanwheat said. I say easy $1000 for everything.

gieri002 · Apr 8, 2014

I'd jump on a gsx with that many miles for that price. Especially if the body is clean. Everything mechanical is easily replaceable and writeups exist for almost every replacement task you can think of. In addition the knowledge you will gain while working on it will be with you your throughout your entire life. Finding a car with a clean low mile body is much more important than a simple engine/transmission problem. Go for it man!

bryanwheat · Apr 8, 2014

gieri002 said:
I'd jump on a gsx with that many miles for that price. Especially if the body is clean. Everything mechanical is easily replaceable and writeups exist for almost every replacement task you can think of. In addition the knowledge you will gain while working on it will be with you your throughout your entire life. Finding a car with a clean low mile body is much more important than a simple engine/transmission problem. Go for it man!

It is good that you are made out of money, not everyone is. Mileage is completely irrelevant with a car that has been hacked and modded. I recently had the chance to buy a 99 gsx with 71k miles, that needed the engine rebuilt and a transmission for less than 1k. I didn't because it would of cost me a ton of money to fix every little thing wrong with it. This car here that is being talked about isn't even in as good of shape as the one that i looked at. I have owned cars with 200k miles that were in real good shape, and owned cars with 80k that were falling apart.

VtecvrsTurbo · Apr 8, 2014

bryanwheat said:
It is good that you are made out of money, not everyone is. Mileage is completely irrelevant with a car that has been hacked and modded. I recently had the chance to buy a 99 gsx with 71k miles, that needed the engine rebuilt and a transmission for less than 1k. I didn't because it would of cost me a ton of money to fix every little thing wrong with it. This car here that is being talked about isn't even in as good of shape as the one that i looked at. I have owned cars with 200k miles that were in real good shape, and owned cars with 80k that were falling apart.

I bought a 99 GST (current car) for 2k. It had a blown tranny and only 72k miles. I thought I could drop like no more than 1500 on a rebuilt tranny and some other little stuff to have myself a nice, low mileage DSM.

Over 3k later I have a POS that eats my wallet. Dont think you will ever make out when buying one of these cars LOL

.

unfocus · Apr 9, 2014

CiscoBite1Time said:
I don't know what you're really asking but I think you've already made up your mind about the car. Buy it for 3200 and wish for the best.

I won't be 100% sure till I actually see what the car is like, and get compression tests for it done.

motomattx · Apr 9, 2014

Buy it if you know what your getting into.

unfocus · Apr 10, 2014

CiscoBite1Time said:
I don't know what you're really asking but I think you've already made up your mind about the car. Buy it for 3200 and wish for the best.

Breezio69 said:
I wouldn't touch that car with a 10 ft pole. I got myself into this same mess and it was a joke. Now, the catch 22 is, I won't sell my car because of how much money I've had to throw at the damn thing.... find something else, save some more money and buy something of better quality.

It also says 71, 000 miles on rebuilt motor, how many miles are on the beat up salty nasty chassis???

Well that's the thing, it'll be a long time til another gsx will be for sale. Most of the time their being sold for 6-9 grand.

BogusSVO · Apr 10, 2014

If the fluids have not mixed, then it sounds like the HG is compression blown, 2 adjoining cylinders swapping compression back and forth, commonly #2 and #3

To me $3200 is too high, unless he has $10k in receipts for fairly new parts, not counting labor to have them installed.

unfocus · Apr 10, 2014

BogusSVO said:
If the fluids have not mixed, then it sounds like the HG is compression blown, 2 adjoining cylinders swapping compression back and forth, commonly #2 and #3

To me $3200 is too high, unless he has $10k in receipts for fairly new parts, not counting labor to have them installed.

He was originally selling for 5,000, then dropped to 4,000 then 3,700, now 3,200.

How could I make him drop even lower. I understand the engine isn't healthy, but he still considers the fact that these cars in canada aren't common. There's only 1 for sale, and the other is in another province. Is there way I could negotiate him down, perhaps after I see the car? Anyone with bartering skills

BogusSVO · Apr 10, 2014

I barter all the time. But you have to be able to walk away from a deal also.

The more info you have about what is wrong, and how much the cost is to repair it is what you need to know.

How long has the HG been blown?

Can you be sure that there is no water on top of the pistons? If there is, and the rings rusted to the bores, then you need a rebuild or an engine.

Look the car over close, nit pic it, wore out tires, cracked glass, look at the common rust points, peek at the brakes.

Turn the key to the run position, play with all the switches, see what works and what doesn't.

Do not rush it, the more time you take, the more nervous the seller gets, because you will find stuff thats broken and not right.

A good chunk of "Flash cash" is good to have in your pockets. Set the price you will go after you look it over. He wants $3200, but to you it may be only worth $2200 after you see what all is wrong.

Be polite, but still be an Arse hole. I have bought tooooo many cars for $200-$500 that the people wanted $3000 or more because it was busted.

The last card to play is the standing offer, If your max is say $2300, reach in pull your flash cash out, in the center have a slip of paper with your name and contact info on it. Hand the paper to the seller, tell him you will let the offer stand for a week, or two, or however long you feel. make sure the seller knows you are in the market to buy,Then walk away.

Sometimes you will not make it back to your car before he hollers ok. Sometimes they call back in a day or two or a week, but sometimes they do not.

unfocus · Apr 10, 2014

BogusSVO said:
I barter all the time. But you have to be able to walk away from a deal also.

The more info you have about what is wrong, and how much the cost is to repair it is what you need to know.

How long has the HG been blown?

Can you be sure that there is no water on top of the pistons? If there is, and the rings rusted to the bores, then you need a rebuild or an engine.

Look the car over close, nit pic it, wore out tires, cracked glass, look at the common rust points, peek at the brakes.

Turn the key to the run position, play with all the switches, see what works and what doesn't.

Do not rush it, the more time you take, the more nervous the seller gets, because you will find stuff thats broken and not right.

A good chunk of "Flash cash" is good to have in your pockets. Set the price you will go after you look it over. He wants $3200, but to you it may be only worth $2200 after you see what all is wrong.

Be polite, but still be an Arse hole. I have bought tooooo many cars for $200-$500 that the people wanted $3000 or more because it was busted.

The last card to play is the standing offer, If your max is say $2300, reach in pull your flash cash out, in the center have a slip of paper with your name and contact info on it. Hand the paper to the seller, tell him you will let the offer stand for a week, or two, or however long you feel. make sure the seller knows you are in the market to buy,Then walk away.

Sometimes you will not make it back to your car before he hollers ok. Sometimes they call back in a day or two or a week, but sometimes they do not.

On the ad he said a couple weeks before (posting the ad) something went wrong with the car and it isn't running well. The head gasket was blown according to his thoughts but he said at tire pirates that's what they said the problem was. He hasn't driven it since he posted the ad it's just been sitting at the shop parking lot. So I guess, possibly around March 6 is when it was blown?

He himself said he would sell it as is, or rebuild the engine. But now he has no time to so hes just trying to sell it. He told me you can replace the head gasket and go, but he just said he would put another engine in it.

(On the ad he also put an update saying he will not sell the car for $2000 as he would really like to get rid of it and he doesn't want to lose too much money)

He said oil/coolant, or fuel haven't mixed from what he saw, but he said he'd double check with tire pirates. He said he does notice oil leakage. He hasn't overheated the engine.

So if there is water on pistons and its rusted its a nono? Or the other way around if there isn't water on the pistons and its rusted its a nono

BogusSVO · Apr 10, 2014

Rust in the bores is a NO no at any time.

The " I will not sell it for $2000" means to me he will go about that low, but wants the super low ballers to stay away, the ones offering $500-1000

He told you he doesn't have the time to fix it, so now it is an albatross around his neck and he wants it gone. Plus add he is gaining storage fees at the shop. So that also means he has no place to store it or work on it.

He knows he is on the losing end of the deal, but he is trying to pass along a bad deal at the best price for him to recover some of his loss, but the loss is getting bigger every day.

Call the shop and ask what the storage fee is per day....$10-15 a day I would guess.

Now if there is a outstanding bill, the shop will hold it for 30 days or more, then apply for a title. then the shop will sell it for the bill + storage fees.

Now get him to the shop, point all this out, plus what is wrong with the car. Wave $2000 under his nose and get the title.

No if he still owes cash on the car, to a car lot. He can be in a bad pinch and has to get the amount still owed on the car, so he can get the title from the car lot so he can sell the car.

No title in his hand = No cash leaving your hand

Also keep in mind, the guy selling the car will say anything, so do not trust what he has to say.

Good chance he knows less about the car than you, since he has it at a shop for a simple blown HG.

Now, since he is saying an engine swap due to a bad HG, points that there are other issues with the engine.

unfocus · Apr 10, 2014

BogusSVO said:
Rust in the bores is a NO no at any time.

The " I will not sell it for $2000" means to me he will go about that low, but wants the super low ballers to stay away, the ones offering $500-1000

He told you he doesn't have the time to fix it, so now it is an albatross around his neck and he wants it gone. Plus add he is gaining storage fees at the shop. So that also means he has no place to store it or work on it.

He knows he is on the losing end of the deal, but he is trying to pass along a bad deal at the best price for him to recover some of his loss, but the loss is getting bigger every day.

Call the shop and ask what the storage fee is per day....$10-15 a day I would guess.

Now if there is a outstanding bill, the shop will hold it for 30 days or more, then apply for a title. then the shop will sell it for the bill + storage fees.

Now get him to the shop, point all this out, plus what is wrong with the car. Wave $2000 under his nose and get the title.

No if he still owes cash on the car, to a car lot. He can be in a bad pinch and has to get the amount still owed on the car, so he can get the title from the car lot so he can sell the car.

No title in his hand = No cash leaving your hand

Also keep in mind, the guy selling the car will say anything, so do not trust what he has to say.

Good chance he knows less about the car than you, since he has it at a shop for a simple blown HG.

Now, since he is saying an engine swap due to a bad HG, points that there are other issues with the engine.

I should have mentioned he used to work at tire pirates which is why it's stored there, how do I know? He told me when I mentioned seeing it there and I creeped his Facebook.

Should I ask him why he himself would change the engine, if he tells my somethings wrong than cool.if he tells me just because of the head gasket or something stupid, than just assume he is lying and there is in issue in the engine.

zedicus · Apr 10, 2014

BogusSVO said:
Rust in the bores is a NO no at any time.

Now, since he is saying an engine swap due to a bad HG, points that there are other issues with the engine.

that makes me think the seller just has no clue about DSM's. i doubt the guy knows anything about the motor. however you do want to talk to him while you are looking things over and keep the conversation friendly. do not point out things that he says that are incorrect. if you say 'hey what brand intake is that' and he says K&N, and it says AUTOZONE in big RED letters, just go with it. (terrible example on a DSM but you get my point'

the rest of Bogus's advice is spot on though.

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97 Eclipse GSX replacing blown head gasket question

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