1.8 needs a little more pep

[FadedBlue]

Hey guys brand new DSM owner here, its a 94 Eclipse base 1.8 just bought it today and looking to learn a bit more about it. I plan on changing the oil tomorrow along with the fuel filter, which it needs bad, from the maintenance records the oil was last changed around 227,000 miles its a little over 230,000 now so I think its due for that. Anyways before I change the oil I was thinking about running some seafoam through to clean it out I have seen it done on other cars is it the same with DSMs?
When the car is in neutral the oil light comes on and the oil pressure gauge is at the bottom what would the cause of that be?
Are there any aftermarket temp gauges that I could use since the stock one isn't working properly.
On to my main point this car really needs some more power, I don't need it running 10s or anything like that but I at least need some get up and go power so I'm assuming the basic bolt on mods such as intake, exhaust, and throttle bodies will help me out?
Finally what can fit in the rear hatch? I have a set of orion subs from my old neon that I plan on putting in I haven't checked to see if they fit yet, they are 12" XTRs, also what size are the stock speakers? I have pioneer 6x9s and Kicker 6" door speakers also from my old neon.

 

[Cdc1221]

My opinion, drive it, save, and get yourself a 1g turbo car for more 'pep'. There's very little to be done to a 1.8 for power short of a head swap and turbo. And on that high mileage engine, it wont last much longer anyway. As for the oil light, chances are good your oil pump is worn out or else your clearances are loose. Try running 20w-50 for your oil change. Good luck with it

 

[FadedBlue]

Ok thanks for the info I may just do that, its a nice car thats been well maintained but its so basic its gonna take some getting used to.

 

[Narish Do Urden]

4" Dash
5.25" Door
6.5" Rear

12" XTR's will probably fit best with a box made for each speaker to fit in the spot right behind the rear seat, but not off the mini ledge there.

As for bolt on parts, there's a ton. As anyone else will tell you though, start with general maintenance.
Timing Assembly, belts, plug wires, spark plugs. I learned the hard way still payin for it.
Hell if it's an automatic put a new End Clutch kit in it. Just general things you can do to increase longevity even more than it seems like it has had already.

IPT End Clutch Kit | Mitsubishi DSM | W4A33

 

[Cdc1221]

Yea its just the overall cost of making any decent power from it will buy a nice 1g awd in some cases. And the 4g37 is a horrible motor to start from as is

 

[Mischif]

A n/t 4g63 throttle body will bolt on, and port match the upper intake manifold to match it the best you can. A 4g63 cam gear will bolt on, just transfer the timing mark, shave the two screws that hold the upper rear timing cover to the head, and either shave the cam gear to match the 1.8 gear thickness or notch the driverside motor mount on the block so the cam gear clears. A underdrive pully made for the 1.8 or you can use one made for the 4g63 but you will loose the option of running a/c. Balance shaft elimination is the same for the 1.8 as the 2.0. A cam regrind from schneidercams.com. Remove the silencer in the maf housing to improve air flow.

As for your oil light coming on at idle. Your oil pump is probably worn out pretty bad. You can pick one up off of partsdinosaur.com for around 90 bucks.

 

[compression]

i started with a 1.8! quickly added nitrous, then replaced it with a turbo kit. Beings the car comes factory with about 90ish bhp even getting it to 160 whp would be a hell of a jump! even then most other cars on the road will have tons more pep.

Obviously i ended up with a gsx, and its been on downhill form there!

i do believe replacing the injectors with the 4g63 nt injectors added a few ponies if i recall correctly! wish i knew the cc 210 or 240?

 

[FadedBlue]

A n/t 4g63 throttle body will bolt on, and port match the upper intake manifold to match it the best you can. A 4g63 cam gear will bolt on, just transfer the timing mark, shave the two screws that hold the upper rear timing cover to the head, and either shave the cam gear to match the 1.8 gear thickness or notch the driverside motor mount on the block so the cam gear clears. A underdrive pully made for the 1.8 or you can use one made for the 4g63 but you will loose the option of running a/c. Balance shaft elimination is the same for the 1.8 as the 2.0. A cam regrind from schneidercams.com. Remove the silencer in the maf housing to improve air flow.

As for your oil light coming on at idle. Your oil pump is probably worn out pretty bad. You can pick one up off of partsdinosaur.com for around 90 bucks.

About how much of a power boost would I see from that? Oil pump easy to change? I gotta find a way to scrounge up the money for that as I really only have the money to get the oil, oil filter, and fuel filter

 

[Afizzle]

if you have low oil pressure and an oil light, do not drive the car until you atleast change the oil/filter. oil pump is quick and easy and can be done while changing the oil. there are plenty of write ups on it just google "1g n/t oil pump install" and go from there.

honestly sell the car or DD it until you can afford a turbo. so many come and go w/ prospects of making their n/t's faster but get a reality check of 2 real options: 1. Spend more money than you would just buying a turbo model 2. they try and fail to add little insignificant horsepower and ruin the motor.

 

[Diamond Star Werks]

Change to valveoline 20w-50 vr1. Low oil pressure can caused by bearing clearances in old engines.

 

[Mischif]

About how much of a power boost would I see from that? Oil pump easy to change? I gotta find a way to scrounge up the money for that as I really only have the money to get the oil, oil filter, and fuel filter

I dont know exact numbers, but enough power to pull over 4 car lengths on a completely stock 1.8 in a quarter mile.

As for the oil pump its pretty simple to replace. The hardest part is cracking the bolt on the crankshaft loose.

 

[Diamond Star Werks]

The hardest part is cracking the bolt on the crankshaft loose.

thats the easy part. Starter can do that for you.

 

[Mischif]

Most the time it can, but sometimes they can be stuck on there really good. The first one i ever did it was stuck like you wouldn't believe. Starter didnt work. I wound up having to put a 18" half inch extension on it, a "18 inch breaker bar with a 5 foot pipe on the end of it. And it still gave me hell. Of course i've had some that were easy to get off.

 

[Diamond Star Werks]

Most the time it can, but sometimes they can be stuck on there really good. The first one i ever did it was stuck like you wouldn't believe. Starter didnt work. I wound up having to put a 18" half inch extension on it, a "18 inch breaker bar with a 5 foot pipe on the end of it. And it still gave me hell. Of course i've had some that were easy to get off.

Wow talk about leverage .

 

[bryanwheat]

A n/t 4g63 throttle body will bolt on, and port match the upper intake manifold to match it the best you can. A 4g63 cam gear will bolt on, just transfer the timing mark, shave the two screws that hold the upper rear timing cover to the head, and either shave the cam gear to match the 1.8 gear thickness or notch the driverside motor mount on the block so the cam gear clears. A underdrive pully made for the 1.8 or you can use one made for the 4g63 but you will loose the option of running a/c. Balance shaft elimination is the same for the 1.8 as the 2.0. A cam regrind from schneidercams.com. Remove the silencer in the maf housing to improve air flow.

As for your oil light coming on at idle. Your oil pump is probably worn out pretty bad. You can pick one up off of partsdinosaur.com for around 90 bucks.

What is it that you think a 4g63 cam gear is going to do to help his 1.8 make more power?

 

[FadedBlue]

Ok well I went out and bought the oil, oil filter, and fuel filter this morning. The cheapest I can find an oil pump for is 175 from summit. I just don't have the money right now.

Also the car has been idling around 500rpm when warm this morning when I started it the car was idling about 1500rpm and oil pressure was normal. Would that confirm that it is the oil pump?

 

[bryanwheat]

Ok well I went out and bought the oil, oil filter, and fuel filter this morning. The cheapest I can find an oil pump for is 175 from summit. I just don't have the money right now.

Also the car has been idling around 500rpm when warm this morning when I started it the car was idling about 1500rpm and oil pressure was normal. Would that confirm that it is the oil pump?

Before assuming anything i would buy an aftermarket oil pressure gauge, or just a screw in gauge to test the pressure. The stock gauges and sending units in these cars are notorious for reading badly. If you truly had no oil pressure at idle the engine would be dead long ago.

 

[Mischif]

What is it that you think a 4g63 cam gear is going to do to help his 1.8 make more power?

The 2.0 cam gear stock weighs about 10 ounces less than the 1.8 cam gear. When you get the 2.0 cam gear shaved to match the 1.8 gear thickness it is just about a full lb lighter.

 

[FadedBlue]

Before assuming anything i would buy an aftermarket oil pressure gauge, or just a screw in gauge to test the pressure. The stock gauges and sending units in these cars are notorious for reading badly. If you truly had no oil pressure at idle the engine would be dead long ago.

Ok that puts me at ease a bit, but what would explain the insanely low idle? Also I tried turning on the AC earlier and at idle it was nearly shutting the car off.

 

[Mischif]

500rpm is pretty low to be idling. With an old worn, but not bad oil pump i can see it making the oil light come on. 1500 is pretty high as well. Set your idle from 800-1000rpms and then test the oil pressure.

Doing the balance shaft elimination will help increase your oil pressure. Which for a high mileage engine such as yours will be a good thing that will help extend the life of the motor.

Ok that puts me at ease a bit, but what would explain the insanely low idle? Also I tried turning on the AC earlier and at idle it was nearly shutting the car off.

Your idle screw is more than likely not set right. Its the screw with a spring on it where the throttle cable connects to the throttle body. Also your idle speed control motor is probably not adjusted correctly if the idle drops even more with the a/c on.

You will want to back out the idle speed adjusting screw all the way and unplug the harness from the idle speed motor(its hard to explain its location of its adjusting screw, i will try to get a picture of it for you). Let the motor warm up. Then set the base idle screw(the one with the spring) so that the motor idles around 750-800rpms. Then you adjust the idle speed motor screw to get the idle up to about 900-1000rpms. then plug the harness back into the idle speed motor.

 

[FadedBlue]

How do I adjust the idle? I'll try to do a quick search for the balance shaft elimination also

 

[Diamond Star Werks]

500rpm is pretty low to be idling. With an old worn, but not bad oil pump i can see it making the oil light come on. 1500 is pretty high as well. Set your idle from 800-1000rpms and then test the oil pressure.

Doing the balance shaft elimination will help increase your oil pressure. Which for a high mileage engine such as yours will be a good thing that will help extend the life of the motor.



Your idle screw is more than likely not set right. Its the screw with a spring on it where the throttle cable connects to the throttle body. Also your idle speed control motor is probably not adjusted correctly if the idle drops even more with the a/c on.

You will want to back out the idle speed adjusting screw all the way and unplug the harness from the idle speed motor(its hard to explain its location of its adjusting screw, i will try to get a picture of it for you). Let the motor warm up. Then set the base idle screw(the one with the spring) so that the motor idles around 750-800rpms. Then you adjust the idle speed motor screw to get the idle up to about 900-1000rpms. then plug the harness back into the idle speed motor.

1500 is normal for a cold start actually.

 

[Diamond Star Werks]

Ok that puts me at ease a bit, but what would explain the insanely low idle? Also I tried turning on the AC earlier and at idle it was nearly shutting the car off.

Sounds like the isc isn't working. When you say idled 1500 how long did you let it run?

 

[FadedBlue]

Sounds like the isc isn't working. When you say idled 1500 how long did you let it run?

I started it this morning then drove to the parts store, so it was probably running for about 15 minutes when I got to the store it was idling at 500

 

[Mischif]

Maybe its just me, but i dont ever like to see it idle above 1200 even during a cold start. Even above 1000 it annoys me.