cornboy submitted a new DSM Profile :

Methed-up Eclipse


Read more about this vehicle here...

First week, there's an electrical short in the ignition system, which could be pretty much anything in the car minus the tailllights, so tomorrow I plan on replacing the ignition switch to see if that solves it and if not, just start f***ing around and pulling fuses. If my poor attempts at diagnosing are insufficient, I plan to take it to a shop and see if they can untangle this rat's nest.

Took the car into the shop on Wednesday, just got it back today. I wouldn't say it runs like a dream, but it at least runs and drives. Decided I'd try my luck and take it for a drive around town and within about 30 minutes it started idling at 4000rpm and overheated. Got a friend to bring me some water and filled up the radiator before heading home. Still waiting for a blow off valve flange so I can mount the Greddy BOV that fredom dsm sold me. Thinking about buying a larger radiator and new hoses to go with the BOV and intake filter that I need to buy as well.

Finally got an intake filter and some new vacuum lines so the wastegate actually works. Now instead of fuel cutting at 4500rpm because I'm at 15psi of boost, I'm getting at maximum 5-6 psi of boost. Beyond that, I also ordered new brake rotors and pads cause the ones on it felt sloppy and warped, beyond just visibly being rusted. It looks like it'll be back in the shop next Monday to get the brakes mounted, the blow off valve put in, and not f***ing up the turbo with compressor surge.

Brakes got put on, just normal Duralast brakes. Finally got the blow off valve installed, and hooked up. I'm pretty sure I have a boost leak somewhere, but for now I'm not having compressor surge.

Both a lot and not a lot has happened. I was having an issue with my car running poorly after about 40mph, where it would either lean out, or become too rich. I re-ran the vacuum lines for the blow off valve and waste gate according to the diagrams listed here: https://www.dsmtuners.com/threads/taboo-speed-shop-vacuum-diagram-and-removal-for-1g-and-2g.198327/

This didn't solve my problem, so I'm faced with a couple of potential solutions to this. I could do any of these: replace the spark plugs, replace the O2 sensor, replace the fuel pressure regulator, try running it without an air filter, try running it with a different air filter, run it without a blow off valve, run it with a different blow off valve. But ultimately I don't know if any of these would work, the person I purchased it from mentioned a bad tune, and while that might be the case, I don't know how to verify that versus just poor maintenance.

So since I will be moving to my own house with a garage and will have a job that could support it, the plan as of right now is to just replace the spark plugs in case thats an issue, clean the mass air flow sensor, and if that doesn't fix it, either drive slowly and carefully during the move, or have it towed flat bed to its new destination. From there, we can go ahead and tear the car down, have the engine looked at, and potentially rebuilt with part that I actually know are in it, install a new clutch and flywheel, have the transmission serviced, have all the differentials inspected and serviced if need be, and then actually start trying to repair some of the shoddy wiring though the engine bay.

It's been a hot minute since I last updated, but not much happened. In order to fix the air fuel ratio nonsense that was killing my power, I ended up just removing the upper intercooler pipe and replacing it with the intake pipe, essentially making it naturally aspirated, but with the turbo still attached to the exhaust manifold. With this, I was able to drive 4 hours from my parent's house to my new house.

From then, till last week, it's been sitting in the garage without much happening, but last week I decided to try and at least figure out how bad everything is. I pulled off the bumper cover, radiator, intercooler piping and intercooler, intake, hosing and a couple of other things.

From this I've come to a couple conclusions: 1) I don't think any of the radiator hoses have been replaced in the car's life, 2) the radiator is garbage, and I'll probably get a full size Mishimoto radiator or something comparable, 3) the wiring is absolutely garbage.

To this end, I'll probably try and replace the entire cooling system, hoses, radiator, thermostat, etc., though I don't know if I wanna get the engine rebuilt or not (more on that later). In addition, I'll almost certainly need to replace the wiring harness, either with one gotten from a DSM part out, or a custom one from Ohm Racing. Finally, I need new intercooler pipes, I'm thinking maybe going with the CX Racing intercooler pipes, because even if the intercooler is bad, I can always replace it with the Mishimoto one I already have.

In the future, I may go and get the engine rebuilt. I have no idea what parts are in it, and how everything in it is holding up, so it might be good to get that checked on. Plus I'd maybe want to get to 350 crank horsepower with as small a turbo as possible, to sort of emulate the feel of a naturally aspirated engine, using a 100mm crankshaft and higher compression ratio pistons to beef the engine up itself.

Though I think my first priority should be to get it driving again, and this time without over heating and without being naturally aspirated.

Dear Diary,

It's been about a year since I updated this, but I haven't made enough progress to feel like I needed to update this. Let's get caught back up to speed.

The radiator has been replaced with the Mishimoto aluminum radiator, along with an aluminum coolant overflow tank, since I didn't have one prior. Most of the hoses for coolant have been replaced, and then re-replaced. BTW, the air fuel ratio issue was a bad BOV, it might have been mentioned prior, but it was 100% correct.

I also ended up buying a VRSF front mount intercooler from a user for like $370, a replacement engine wiring harness, a turbo, a second turbo because the first was irreparable, and a bunch of odds and ends and tools.

I waited until Spring to get cracking on it in order to not freeze to death. I had a bunch of issues getting stuff fit up properly and nearly gave up, but its all finally on except for the wiring harness. I'll probably touch that up later at some point.


The more time I spend working on the car, the more I am concerned with how long it'll last and if it's all going to be worth it in the end. The car is rusting pretty badly just in front of the rear wheel wells, the front speakers don't work at all, and I still barely am able to drive the car comfortably. The engine is in good shape, compression numbers are all 160-185 with 180k miles on the block, and the transmission seems be to holding up okay. I'd hate to part the car out especially since it is drivable, but this definitely isn't some California rust-free beauty, and it wasn't taken care of by any of the other owners before me. It feels like it would be either too much to rescue, either time, money, or both.

cornboy said:

The more time I spend working on the car, the more I am concerned with how long it'll last and if it's all going to be worth it in the end. The car is rusting pretty badly just in front of the rear wheel wells, the front speakers don't work at all, and I still barely am able to drive the car comfortably. The engine is in good shape, compression numbers are all 160-185 with 180k miles on the block, and the transmission seems be to holding up okay. I'd hate to part the car out especially since it is drivable, but this definitely isn't some California rust-free beauty, and it wasn't taken care of by any of the other owners before me. It feels like it would be either too much to rescue, either time, money, or both.

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That’s the question we all ask, at various points in our projects, and the “worth it in the end” usually turns out to be ‘Yes’.

You could find more boring platforms out there that will get you from point A to B, but not with the smile on your face like driving a turbo DSM.

As you’ve mentioned, the previous owners didn’t do you any favors, but it seems with your mechanical skills and shop resources, you’re diagnosing and repairing just fine. All the information for future repairs is here on Tuners.

Being that your car is an AWD manual, the most sought after model, you will probably not lose money on your project, provided you spend the repairs and upgrades wisely. There are more than a few members on here that wish they had a running driving version of an AWD manual to start with.

Only you can answer how passionate you feel about this car. To do the resto right, it will be a several year, several $ project, but that makes you all the more proud to own it and drive it.

It’s tough to be bringing back a car while using it as a daily driver. There will be times you will need to repair or replace something that will take more than one day. The best way is to pick up a cheap daily so that the progress on your DSM will go more smoothly with less pressure.

Besides, driving the DD will make you appreciate your DSM even more.