2G I need some help/guidance on a used car?

Drippyice · Jul 25, 2026

I was looking at marketplace the other day and found a 98 gst for sale for $8k. He says it’s fully stock but there’s an issue with the wastegate solenoid, after talking with him he said that the car is making boost too fast/making too much boost. I was able to drop the price down to around $6750, is this car still worth purchasing or should I look away. I would love any help/info thank you in advance.

dwb · Jul 25, 2026

What are your plans/goals for the car? Are you willing to learn and prepared for wrenching on this yourself? What is your mechanical ability?

The boost control issue doesn't sound like a big deal, there's manual boost controllers available for cheap or you could safely run waste gate pressure. However, I'm guessing the seller is either not telling the whole story or doesn't really know themselves. Mostly stock, but needing some work is a better starting point than piecing together someones broken or half finished project.

That said, if you have the motivation and mechanic know-how, or at least willing to learn, then you found the right place to help you. We likely can't physically help, but this forum will be the best resource you can find hands down.

Drippyice · Jul 25, 2026

dwb said:
What are your plans/goals for the car? Are you willing to learn and prepared for wrenching on this yourself? What is your mechanical ability?

The boost control issue doesn't sound like a big deal, there's manual boost controllers available for cheap or you could safely run waste gate pressure. However, I'm guessing the seller is either not telling the whole story or doesn't really know themselves. However, mostly stock, but needing some work is a better starting point than piecing together someones broken or half finished project.

That said, if you have the motivation and mechanic know-how, or at least willing to learn, then you found the right place to help you. We likely can't physically help, but this forum will be the best resource you can find hands down.

My plans for the car is to use it as a weekend car, for now I want to keep everything oem/oem+. Maybe later down the road when I learn more about the car I’ll add other things. But yes I’m willing to learn and I want to learn how to work on these cars. I’m not the greatest mechanic but I know how to do the basics and I have some friends who are really into cars that could definitely help.

dwb · Jul 25, 2026

Sounds like you've given it some thought. I can't comment on the price without more info but DSMs aren't getting any cheaper. The one big caveat is oem parts are becoming scarce or unavailable. Specifically transmission and drivetrain parts. If it's a manual trans, make sure you test how well it shifts/downshifts, stays in gear, and doesn't grind into any gear. At least you wouldn't have to worry about transfer case/driveline/rear end since it's fwd (GST). Maybe 98 parts availability is better than my 91 but it's not too far behind. There's some aftermarket options available or comming around and fortunately the 4G63T is a very desirable powerplant. 98 was a better block/thrust bearing design than 95/96.

pauleyman · Jul 25, 2026

Drippyice said:
I was looking at marketplace the other day and found a 98 gst for sale for $8k. He says it’s fully stock but there’s an issue with the wastegate solenoid, after talking with him he said that the car is making boost too fast/making too much boost. I was able to drop the price down to around $6750, is this car still worth purchasing or should I look away. I would love any help/info thank you in advance.

Too much boost? Not because of the solenoid. Guy doesn't know what he's talking about. Wonder what else he doesnt know.

Drippyice said:
I was looking at marketplace the other day and found a 98 gst for sale for $8k. He says it’s fully stock but there’s an issue with the wastegate solenoid, after talking with him he said that the car is making boost too fast/making too much boost. I was able to drop the price down to around $6750, is this car still worth purchasing or should I look away. I would love any help/info thank you in advance.

Are there any pics? Particularly under hood. Unless ive seen it for myself I question the "all stock" comments. Too many people dont really know because they haven't been around it long enough.

Drippyice · Jul 25, 2026

pauleyman said:
Are there any pics? Particularly under hood. Unless ive seen it for myself I question the "all stock" comments. Too many people dont really know because they haven't been around it long enough.

am I able to send the link to the Facebook page, or is that not allowed. There’s a video that he shows

dwb · Jul 25, 2026

The beauty of this forum is it's not tied to things like FB. I don't think new members can post links, but you should be able to copy and paste an image if there's some good shots.

Drippyice · Jul 25, 2026

pauleyman said:
Are there any pics? Particularly under hood. Unless ive seen it for myself I question the "all stock" comments. Too many people dont really know because they haven't been around it long enough.

Sorry if the photos aren’t showing everything had to screenshot them off the video.

You must be logged in to view this image or video.

pauleyman · Jul 25, 2026

Looks stock except the spark plug cover

99dsmer4g63 · Jul 25, 2026

Is the rest of the car in the same condition as the engine bay? Vacuum line or flapper arm probably came off the waste gate or it’s bad not too much else it could be for over boosting being that stock.

-Daniel

chrysler kid · Jul 27, 2026

You can’t over boost the stock turbo, the most it will make is 19psi and then go back to 12 psi by redline. Most likely the car has a vacuum leak or the factory blow off valve is broken

I love stock engine bays and that thing is stock. I would perform a tune up like spark plugs and fuel filter and then buy a replacement blow off valve

It will need to have a timing belt and water pump replacement unless the previous owner has documentation of that work

diambo4life · Jul 27, 2026

Check for rust and as mentioned, a good shifting manual transmission.

Drippyice · Jul 30, 2026

chrysler kid said:
You can’t over boost the stock turbo, the most it will make is 19psi and then go back to 12 psi by redline. Most likely the car has a vacuum leak or the factory blow off valve is broken

I love stock engine bays and that thing is stock. I would perform a tune up like spark plugs and fuel filter and then buy a replacement blow off valve

It will need to have a timing belt and water pump replacement unless the previous owner has documentation of that work

Hey thank you for the help, I actually went to check out the car yesterday and the cel light is on and the codes it’s showing are p1104 and p1105. Could the vacuum leak be the cause of the codes?

dwb · Jul 30, 2026

No, not likely caused by a vacuum/boost leak (there could easily still be some though). More likely the p1104 is because the bcs has failed, is unplugged, or has a wiring/connection issue. 1105 points to the fuel pressure solenoid, possibly for the same reasons.

chrysler kid · Jul 31, 2026

Drippyice said:
Hey thank you for the help, I actually went to check out the car yesterday and the cel light is on and the codes it’s showing are p1104 and p1105. Could the vacuum leak be the cause of the codes?

the codes are for the solenoids then it is because the solenoids are unplugged or defective

The ecu only triggers a fault code for the solenoids if it senses that the voltage being used by the solenoids is not correct. Typically these codes do not have any affect on how the car runs and drives

The solenoids are tricky to find, new they can run $120 to $140 on eBay shipped from Japan

pauleyman · Jul 31, 2026

Engine bay looks stock enough this may be a minor issue. Hard to know. Pics show the fuel pressure solenoid in place.

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