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Why did you buy this car? Are you a fan of dsm’s? 4g63’s? This sounds like a text book example of a mistake, UNLESS this car is super clean, has some kind of nostalgic appeal or something else we’re not aware of, I guess what I’m getting at is if you really like this car, follow Pauleymans advise and check mechanical timing, and do a compression test, if you don’t know how then YouTube it, I had never done more than oil change before I bought my dsm LOL, and now I’ve pulled the motor more times than I’ve been married LOL, these cars are very rewarding if your willing to learn, their VERY hands on, but their still just cars like anything thing else on the road, I say research as much as you can, we’re here to help, nothing is impossible, it’s all just nuts and bolts, but mostly NUTZ.
 
Unless you're really attached to this car I would demand a refund from international car center.
If you intend oh keeping it you need to find out what really happened. If indeed the engine is rebuilt I put money on somebody didn't assemble it correctly. I would start by checking mechanical timing. If that is correct perform a leakdown (not compression) test. Compression test wouldnt hurt also. The first clue you have is when it had just ran well and then after you stopped it later it wouldn't start with a freshly charged battery. Whatever happened did so right then. My money is on skipped timing belt. And whatever weird start procedure dealer is telling you I don't understand. Even if that cylinder is dead it should still start. Will run like crap but that doesn't keep a car from starting. I think they are wrong. Something else isn't right. Again my money is on skipped timing belt. If that is the case it can definately be hard to start (if it starts at all). Several valves could be bent and one cylinder toast alltogether. Leakdown will show all of this. So will inspecitons of the timing belt side and likely valvetrain assembly under the valve cover.
OK, took it to a specialist, this is what they found:

COURTESY CHECK CHECK ENGINE (CUST. THINKS THEY MAY NEED NEW ENGINE) -- Performed compression test and found 140psi on all 4 cylinders. We found spark plugs were fuel fouled and battery was dead. We recharged the battery enough for testing and cleaned the plugs off. Vehicle started after this but did not want to idle when cold. We also removed the computer and inspected it for blown capacitors which is a common problem with this vehicle. We took some pictures of the condition of the circuit board, there was some corrosion found on the board in places but no direct damaged components we could detect. REPLACE BATTERY -- Completed due to battery failing load test and not holding charge even after full recharge. TEST IDLE CONTROL MOTOR -- Completed testing and found idle control motor was out of resistance spec. We removed the motor and found the throttle body had silicone inside the installation space for the motor. We cleaned this all out and installed a new idle motor. This helped the idle however the vehicle still did not start easily when cold. CHECK OIL LEAKS -- We cleaned the oil mess from the engine and then ran it on the lift for inspection of the origin of oil leaks. We found the front oil pump case leaking some oil but the valve cover inside the spark plug valley leaking very badly due to stripped holes in the cylinder head not allowing the bolts to tighten properly. This will require helicoils to be installed on all the cylinder head holes for the valve cover. CHECK FOR COMPUTER CODES -- After checking sensors, wiring, compression, fuel pressure, spark, and timing for the reason for the cold start issues, we noticed that the check engine light never illuminated. We then used an OBD1 scanner to check for codes. We found that someone may have manipulated the check engine light not to come on despite 9 codes being present. We found codes for cylinder 1 misfire, coolant temp sensor, baro sensor, tps sensor, knock sensor, intake air temp sensor, crank shaft sensor, cam sensor, and injector. This indicates that the computer itself has failed and will need replacement

BMS Courtesy Check 0.00 0.00 BMS CHECK ENGINE (Compression testing, spark plug inspection and cleaning, battery 171.50 171.50 recharge and testing) 0.00 JLL R&R computer, inspect circuit board for any blown capacitors (very common), took 55.50 55.50 some pictures of condition. 0.00 JML Oil Leak Diagnosis 55.50 55.50 JML ELECTRICAL DIAGNOSTIC TESTING FOR IDLE CONTROL MOTOR AND REPLACEMENT 95.67 111.00 206.67 Part Number Part Description Part Price Each Quantity Extended 2-19244 IDLE AIR CONTROL VALVE 95.67 1 95.67 JML Replace Battery & Service Terminals 148.45 33.30 181.75 Part Number Part Description Part Price Each Quantity Extended BATTERY CLEANER BATTERY CLEANER 1.00 1 1.00 80370 BATTERY TERMINAL PROTECTOR 1.50 1 1.50 BCW BATTERY CHEMICAL WASHER 2.00 2 4.00 MT-86 INTERSTATE MEGATRON BATTERY 5YR 141.95 1 141.95 OTHER ISSUES TO NOTE : The egr system has been disabled, no vacuum lines are run to it, the fuel pressure regulator solenoid has been bypassed with a boost gauge line improperly spliced into the vacuum signal to the regulator. The throttle body adjustment screw is either stripped or melted (will possibly need a new throttle body). This vehicle will need a Mitsubishi specialist to source difficult to find parts and possibly a stand alone engine management system installed to replace the factory ecu due to again, the difficulty of finding a known good unit. Customer has agreed to take the vehicle to shop better suited to this level of restoration/performance work or return the vehicle back to where he bought it due to the extreme nature
 
The old adage "look around real well before you leap" comes to mind here, your best bet is to read up on the plethora of information on this site and try to do the work yourself, unless you can afford to take it to someone that knows their way around a DSM... OR you can cut your losses and let it be a lesson learned, BTW is this the car you are talking about, it looks pretty clean but now it seems there were some gremlins hiding.. https://www.intlcarcenter.com/detai...ack_tsi_turbo_awd-used-4e3cg64f2pe048793.html

Have you talked to the dealer you bought this from about these issues?
 
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OK, took it to a specialist, this is what they found:

COURTESY CHECK CHECK ENGINE (CUST. THINKS THEY MAY NEED NEW ENGINE) -- Performed compression test and found 140psi on all 4 cylinders. We found spark plugs were fuel fouled and battery was dead. We recharged the battery enough for testing and cleaned the plugs off. Vehicle started after this but did not want to idle when cold. We also removed the computer and inspected it for blown capacitors which is a common problem with this vehicle. We took some pictures of the condition of the circuit board, there was some corrosion found on the board in places but no direct damaged components we could detect. REPLACE BATTERY -- Completed due to battery failing load test and not holding charge even after full recharge. TEST IDLE CONTROL MOTOR -- Completed testing and found idle control motor was out of resistance spec. We removed the motor and found the throttle body had silicone inside the installation space for the motor. We cleaned this all out and installed a new idle motor. This helped the idle however the vehicle still did not start easily when cold. CHECK OIL LEAKS -- We cleaned the oil mess from the engine and then ran it on the lift for inspection of the origin of oil leaks. We found the front oil pump case leaking some oil but the valve cover inside the spark plug valley leaking very badly due to stripped holes in the cylinder head not allowing the bolts to tighten properly. This will require helicoils to be installed on all the cylinder head holes for the valve cover. CHECK FOR COMPUTER CODES -- After checking sensors, wiring, compression, fuel pressure, spark, and timing for the reason for the cold start issues, we noticed that the check engine light never illuminated. We then used an OBD1 scanner to check for codes. We found that someone may have manipulated the check engine light not to come on despite 9 codes being present. We found codes for cylinder 1 misfire, coolant temp sensor, baro sensor, tps sensor, knock sensor, intake air temp sensor, crank shaft sensor, cam sensor, and injector. This indicates that the computer itself has failed and will need replacement

BMS Courtesy Check 0.00 0.00 BMS CHECK ENGINE (Compression testing, spark plug inspection and cleaning, battery 171.50 171.50 recharge and testing) 0.00 JLL R&R computer, inspect circuit board for any blown capacitors (very common), took 55.50 55.50 some pictures of condition. 0.00 JML Oil Leak Diagnosis 55.50 55.50 JML ELECTRICAL DIAGNOSTIC TESTING FOR IDLE CONTROL MOTOR AND REPLACEMENT 95.67 111.00 206.67 Part Number Part Description Part Price Each Quantity Extended 2-19244 IDLE AIR CONTROL VALVE 95.67 1 95.67 JML Replace Battery & Service Terminals 148.45 33.30 181.75 Part Number Part Description Part Price Each Quantity Extended BATTERY CLEANER BATTERY CLEANER 1.00 1 1.00 80370 BATTERY TERMINAL PROTECTOR 1.50 1 1.50 BCW BATTERY CHEMICAL WASHER 2.00 2 4.00 MT-86 INTERSTATE MEGATRON BATTERY 5YR 141.95 1 141.95 OTHER ISSUES TO NOTE : The egr system has been disabled, no vacuum lines are run to it, the fuel pressure regulator solenoid has been bypassed with a boost gauge line improperly spliced into the vacuum signal to the regulator. The throttle body adjustment screw is either stripped or melted (will possibly need a new throttle body). This vehicle will need a Mitsubishi specialist to source difficult to find parts and possibly a stand alone engine management system installed to replace the factory ecu due to again, the difficulty of finding a known good unit. Customer has agreed to take the vehicle to shop better suited to this level of restoration/performance work or return the vehicle back to where he bought it due to the extreme nature
I read it all. The shop is right. Somebody who knows these cars needs to deal with it. To me it doesn't sound like the motor is bad but rebuilt? Questionable.
As others have said, what is it worth to you?
 
Wow. Could be a lot worse and it actually doesn't sound THAT bad to me (although of course I'm hardly an expert on such things), but this is definitely a challenging set of issues that will require a lot of time, work and expense to get right. If the OP doesn't have the patience, time, tools and willingness to do it themselves, nor the funds to have someone who knows what they're doing do it, then there's no point in hanging onto it. If it was me I'd go the DIY route and take my time, because that's just me, but not everyone is inclined that way.

OP, FWIW last summer I started restoring my '92 Talon TSi AWD manual, and as anyone who's followed me and helped me along the way it was not easy or quick, and there's still a bunch of work left (NYC winters are not conducive to outdoor auto work). Relatively little of it was engine-related, as thankfully the engine's in good shape. But time does its thing to all cars, and DSMs are no exception, especially if not properly maintained and treated as yours appears to not have been. And even if you treat it well, some parts are prone to failure, like the ECU, which failed on me around 10 years ago, requiring a replacement unit.

What I don't get is why, if they're telling you that you need a new engine, you'd want to replace the rear seal, or anything else on the engine. But it doesn't sound like the engine needs replacing unless the timing belt skipped or snapped. Have you looked into that? I wouldn't run the engine again until you've properly looked into that or you could cause further damage that might actually require a rebuild or new engine.

Good luck, whatever you decide to do.
 
Wow. Could be a lot worse and it actually doesn't sound THAT bad to me (although of course I'm hardly an expert on such things), but this is definitely a challenging set of issues that will require a lot of time, work and expense to get right. If the OP doesn't have the patience, time, tools and willingness to do it themselves, nor the funds to have someone who knows what they're doing do it, then there's no point in hanging onto it. If it was me I'd go the DIY route and take my time, because that's just me, but not everyone is inclined that way.

Did you click the Ad? It was presented as a 1 owner clean car with "major maintenance just done" >>> ***Only 1 Adult Owner Since New >> ***Stock Except For A K&N Air Filter & Stainless Steel Muffler >> ***Major Service Just Completed. Including.....New Timing Belt, Water Pump, Valve Cover Gaskets, Spark Plugs, Alternator, Battery, Fluids & More!

Something tells me that the timing belt job might be suspect and it could be that the timing belt jumped a tooth because the installation was not done correctly, I am just guessing though based off of the information presented..
 
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Whatever the specifics, looks like the new owner's in over his head and has to either pay a ton to get it fixed right, invest a lot of time, energy and money to do it himself, or get rid of the car and cut his losses. I'd choose the DIY route but that's just me and I like a challenge.

And yes, it does sound like a timing belt issue. I'm going to have to replace mine soon and am not looking forward to it.
 
Whatever the specifics, looks like the new owner's in over his head and has to either pay a ton to get it fixed right, invest a lot of time, energy and money to do it himself, or get rid of the car and cut his losses. I'd choose the DIY route but that's just me and I like a challenge.

And yes, it does sound like a timing belt issue. I'm going to have to replace mine soon and am not looking forward to it.

There are some really good step by step videos on the interweb/dsmtuners, seek those out and bookmark them and when ready, you will find the job you thought was going to be dreadful really wasn't that bad at all.. :cool:
 
Less because it's dreadful as because if I mess it up, bad things happen. Plus it's pretty tight in there, I need special tools, etc. I'm sure it'll be ok though. I've already done a timing belt replacement on a different car (that doesn't have a hydraulic tensioner or balance belt), and it went just fine. And after all the other work I've done and still have to do, I just want it all to be over already so I can just drive and enjoy the car at last.
 
If it had ANY bent valves, the compression would be ZERO.
 
Well....I suppose that is a possibility. My White 90 GSX was 1 tooth off and getting ready to "make the jump" when I got it. It ran tho, it just didn't run the best and had a noisy tensioner that was SHOT. I was blessed to get the opportunity to buy her before bad things happened. :)
 
Maybe under quarantine :p
 
Sorry if I got this wrong, I think we were a bit hash to the OP.
He/she may have made a wrong purchase due to being a newbie, but we should have welcome him/her and treated him/her with sensitivity given the tough journey ahead. DSM's are not for the fainted heart; most of us didn't know what we were getting ourselves into...:):):)
 
Over half a year since last comment, so basically a dead thread.
 
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