95 Eclipse GST

[Al637]

This is the Build Thread for Eclipse GST 95. Reply below.

 

[Al637]

When I got the car it was way too low to the ground for me, so I put some rubber H's to see if that would help.

And it kind of did

 

[Al637]

Also, when I bought it, it was not running right, but it was running
So I started checking for problems

Seems like I've got a Bluetooth bolt passenger side transmission mount

Another one for the hydraulic steering pump

Also the BOV is vented to the atmosphere
*and you can't see but the main o2 sensor is connected to the cruise control plug

Let me rearrange those spark plug cables

Better?

 

[Al637]

It seems like it wasn't a Bluetooth bolt after all

Found the proper bolt for the trans mount, and also for the steering pump

 

[Al637]

I tried polishing the headlights

 

[Al637]

I had to take them out to see why they were not working, on the left you will see 3 cables hanging around, also on the right, they are the headlight cables. It seems that the person who connected the headlight plug thought they were a common ground, but the car is common positive. Now headlights work

 

[Al637]

So I have an ELM327 obd2 scanner, but for some reason it wasn't working on the eclipse, It had the CEL, but the key method to see the codes did not work to see what was the problem

I ended up working a little bit on the electrical stuff
The horn was not working (It was a combination of the contacts on the steering and the horn itself damaged)
RPMs did not work, even the big ugly tach was not working, and the speed gauge wasn't working either

I ended up removing the cluster and cleaning all contacts

Also I replaced the tach capacitors

And now the RPMs work and I have removed the big ugly rpm gauge, also the speed gauge "works" now

This is the cable that was "feeding" the big rpm gauge

This is how it looks now after removing the big rpm gauge, I decided not to remove the bracket that is BOLTED to the dash, the damage was already done

I also replaced the electrolytic caps on the ECU

 

[Al637]

After that I tried cleaning the intake system, and oh boy

I don't have pictures of the MAF, but it was nasty

After cleaning it, the MAF was still giving weird readings, so I did what any reasonable person would do

I took it apart

After cleaning it and making sure all contacts and pcb traces were ok, it did not dramatically improve the readings

Also I tried servicing the BOV

 

[Al637]

Also, the door handle on the driver side was not working properly, you had to push the door with some force in order to open the door. And also the window was not going up all the way

I straightened the door handle bar and that worked for the door handle, but the lock mechanism did not improve after servicing the part

Also the window now goes higher and more firmly, but still it doesn't go up all the way. I'll have to try something else in another time.

I don't know why it has this universal door locks, but next time I will try to fix the original power locks.

 

[Al637]

The exhaust was straight pipe from the turbo manifold to the end of the pipe and it sounded like a truck
I bought a couple of Vbands and now I have a removable cat

And I added a new muffler

 

[Al637]

This was the state of the springs

It didn't even added any preload to the shock

So I put this universal adjustable springs

I hope in the future I'll buy a set of coilovers

 

[Al637]

I bought the adapter for the BOV and now it is a recirculating one

 

[Al637]

I'm wondering if the wastegate is doing even something

But I don't want to take a look and loose a gasket

 

[pauleyman]

The gasket is usually a piece of metal. You won't lose it. Does this car have an external wastegate? I don't see it.

 

[Al637]

This Sunday I'll do the distribution, maybe I'll try to take a look, and not, it doesn't have an external wastegate

 

[97egl]

So I have an ELM327 obd2 scanner, but for some reason it wasn't working on the eclipse, It had the CEL, but the key method to see the codes did not work to see what was the problem

I had a 95 years ago and it was very picky which scanners it would connect to. I believe this is because OBD2 technically started in 96. I always was able to get a snap-on scanners to connect to it but other brands were hit or miss. Cheaper scanners almost never would connect. This was back in 2006-2008 when I was dealing with the issue so hopefully technology has come further and there might be a cheap scanner that will work for you. But if you've got a buddy with a snap-on scanner those always worked for me

 

[Al637]

I had a 95 years ago and it was very picky which scanners it would connect to. I believe this is because OBD2 technically started in 96. I always was able to get a snap-on scanners to connect to it but other brands were hit or miss. Cheaper scanners almost never would connect. This was back in 2006-2008 when I was dealing with the issue so hopefully technology has come further and there might be a cheap scanner that will work for you. But if you've got a buddy with a snap-on scanner those always worked for me

Hi, thanks for the info!
After the ELM327 did not work I tried a cheap one from ebay and it worked, ecarobust at300 if I'm not mistaken

 

[Al637]

Yesterday I tried installing the distribution kit that I bought a couple of weeks ago.
During the installation I found a couple of weird things.

The first one is that the timing marks for the oil pump balance shaft were out of phase.

When I removed the timing belt, I tried the trick where you let it rotate, but that didn't work since it wasn't moving freely. The other balance shaft did move freely so I found the correct orientation. I tried searching for the video or the post where they talk about a bolt on the block that lets you check the oil pump balance shaft orientation, but I didn't find it. I found the bolt, it was at the same height of the balance shaft, and around 40cm from the sprocket, I could access it from the top, it is located under the intake manifold. I don't remember if the correct orientation is when the screwdriver can go all the way in or not, but I aligned the timing mark when the screwdriver was going through.
I'm planning to rebuild the engine in 8 months, so I didn't want to take it apart for the balance shaft that is not moving freely, but that was not the main problem that I found.

For context, I know that the engine has crankwalk, the crankshaft moves from side to side around 5mm, so I'm trying to find a crank at decent price in my country, if I buy an eagle forged crank it will be almost $1050 after shipping and taxes, so I want to avoid that.
Ok, with the crankshaft info on mind, the engine had a nasty leak coming from the timing side of the engine

When the engine was running you could see drops of oil coming out of it, so I thought my problem was the oil pump seal, and since it was on the kit, I thought it was a good idea changing the whole distribution.

When I tried installing the timing belt tensioner, one bolt stripped (that's what I thought) but I didn't put any force on the bolt. After inspecting the bolts, one of them was longer than the other. I thought using the longer one on the "stripped" part and the other one on the threads that were working.

Well, after timing the engine and rotating it a couple of times by hand I tried to run the car to see if everything was fine.
And it wasn't

At the moment I thought that since I stripped the bolt, the leak was coming from my mistake. But I started digging around, and now I have other conclusion.
The previous owner or his mechanic, broke the bolt on the cast iron, and barely put the bolt on the last threads that were "working"

And that might explain a couple of things, The car was reading low oil pressure, that might be the oil coming out of the oil galleries since they were not completely tight.

Now I'm wondering what should I do next. I know a complete rebuild is the better idea, but right now I don't have the money to source all the parts, and even buying the oil pump puts me in some trouble.

The obvious thing is repairing the bolt thread, but in order to do that I will need to take out the oil pump and move the engine, since a drill will not fit on the space available. I'm wondering what is the absolute cheapest way to do the balance shaft delete, I know you can reuse the bearings and just put the oil hole in the opposite side, it is not recommended, but I think is possible. Can you cut the balance shaft? That is something I'm wondering

 

[DSMPT]

The first one is that the timing marks for the oil pump balance shaft were out of phase.

You would need to rotate the crank a bit more. All marks will be lined up once in 6 crank rotations.

the crankshaft moves from side to side around 5mm,

That's way too much. You may need to be prepared replacing the block, too.

And that might explain a couple of things, The car was reading low oil pressure, that might be the oil coming out of the oil galleries since they were not completely tight.

That location is kind of common location to leak. It won't affect the oil pressure unless the leak is massive. Your low oil pressure issue is caused by something else. I imagine most likely because of too much crankwalk.

Now I'm wondering what should I do next. I know a complete rebuild is the better idea, but right now I don't have the money to source all the parts, and even buying the oil pump puts me in some trouble.

As you already have too much crankwalk and low oil pressure, I strongly recommend you not to drive the car nor fire up the engine anymore. Just start to rebuild. Maybe you can still save the block, otherwise you will finish the block and rods for sure. That will cause more loss on money.

 

[pauleyman]

5mm? If you're sure about that it's not a good idea to go any further. If you're dead set on proceeding you have nothing to lose by taking the oil pump off and trying to see if you can extract that bolt.

 

[Al637]

I tried uploading the video. I replaced the bearings and the car is running now. I'm waiting for the oil pressure gauge to arrive, and I'm also waiting for that to update the build thread.
I know the new bearings won't last long, but I just need a couple of months and moving to a new house to start the rebuild. I'm in the process of searching a 7 bolt crankshaft, someone told me he has a couple and I'm waiting to have the money to purchase it.

 

[Al637]

Also, I have done a balance shaft delete. Looking at the video is hard to tell, I think I overestimated the amount of play, maybe it was 2.5-3.5mm? Still much more than normal and definitely the crank was damaged.

 

[DSMPT]

I know the new bearings won't last long

Correct. It won't last long.

Also, I have done a balance shaft delete. Looking at the video is hard to tell, I think I overestimated the amount of play, maybe it was 2.5-3.5mm? Still much more than normal and definitely the crank was damaged.

Doesn't matter exactly how many MM it moves, if you can recognize the crankshaft side to side movement by eyes, it's already too late. Judging by the video, your crankshaft has been walking terribly for long. As I already mentioned that you may need to replace the block, too. Even if the block survives this crankwalk, you must take the block to a machine shop to repair for sure, otherwise it will walk again sooner or later after rebuilding.

 

[chrisman287]

I liked how the thread started but not where it’s at now. I would try to source a short block even a N/A 4G63 if those are easier to find there

 

[Al637]

Well, some time has passed and I have done a couple of things since the last update
I decided to remove the oil pump, and in the process I had to take out the CKP sensor, and being honest I don't know how it was working...

I had to buy one to replace it.
From the past pictures you can't really tell, but the timing cover was abused and is in rough shape, I'm still searching for one to replace it (I put it back again)

In the meantime I took a look to the trunk and cleaned it and fixed the cargo cover

Also I took a look on why the rear wiper is not working

I'm not sure where on the tailgate there is a water leak, but there is a leak that is crammed into the tailgate covers and it ruined the rear wiper motor, now I have to buy one.

Now it looks a little bit better