96 GSX . Wow .Bad day

[kurt fuhlbrigge]

Hi everyone , I have been a member for a while but I just bought a car and this is my first post so that makes me a newby .Well today I bought the yellow 96 Gsx that is on ebay . I've wanted one for a while so this morning me and my son took a 2 1/2 hr ride to go look at the new toy . Some things were good some were bad but low mile (67,000) gsxs are getting hard to find . So we take it for a ride ,oh my god ! fastest car I've ever driven . Car was boostin 20 lbs with a 16 g turbo . At this point I'm starting to like this car but i'm still a little weiry . Car idles rough from the cams and check engine light is on so it probably won't pass NYS emmissions . So what do I do ,buy it ,talked the dealer down from 7,000 to $ 5,700 and off we went . For the first hour car ran pretty good , then it got ugly . car started running bad ,seemed like it was loading up , fumes were strong , ran for about 5 more minutes then it went bang ....bang ,and the car shut down . My son was behind me he said it flamed out the exhaust when it went bang . So I'm in the pooring rain on the side of the thruway waiting for a flatbed to take away my new car .Wow . Bad day . I hope this isn't a sign of things to come . Boy car is fast though ,was .. I'm outta my league , I don't know anything about these turbo cars . Live and learn i guess . Thanks for listening . Kurt Fuhlbrigge

 

[->PrOjEcTGS<-]

VIN: 4A3AL54F6TE262343
Vehicle: 1996 MITSUBISHI ECLIPSE GSX
Records: 21 records found in the CARFAX Vehicle History database

 

[moi1463]

Yikes!!! i would like my car carfaxed if someone got the subscription, !

 

[hondaslayer1]

It looks as if the air bag in the steering wheel was changed as it does not match the interior.they don't put diferent air bags in diferent cars unless some thing went wrong.stop venting the bov.check the tank for a walbro.and the fire ball is because u didn't have enough spark for the gas so it was over fueling.mine did that a couple of time when I first got it.get dsm link of apexi safc and get a good tune before u are doing 20# pulls with no supporting mods and venting the bov.and good luck with the car hate to c dsm s break.build break and repeat that's what dsm's are good for.

 

[->PrOjEcTGS<-]

build break and repeat that's what dsm's are good for.

I like: Break, Build, Maintain... Repeat...

 

[kurt fuhlbrigge]

There is a fuel pressure reg and gauge under the hood . Can I tell if I have an adaquit pump with that ? What do I need for fuel pressure . Thanks Kurt

 

[JEFFREYCASTGSX]

You say you started building boost then a loud bang? 99% of the time when that happens, its JUST a blown coupling, nothing big at all. For the fuel pump its easy, the whine is very noticeable just put your ear on top of the rear seat, and if you can hear a whine then its a bigger pump, if its HARD to hear then its probably not big. My 420a has a 255 and you can obviously hear it, but my gsx with leather seats deadens the sound so you have to get closer to hear the whine.

 

[GsXtC21]

Now thats a smiley face front....

 

[shockracer]

well if you still wont them to buy it back, over here you cant sell a car that will not pass emissions in an emission county. if the car doesnt pass and you dont want it or its trouble check your local laws. over here they must give you an emissions slip that says it pasted for regisration. just my .02 GL

 

[kurt fuhlbrigge]

Smiley face will be the first thing to go . Will a newer nose bolt right on ? Should hear something today .I'm nervous . I'll post after work and let ya know what happens .Thanks for all your help .I think these mods were done about 5 yrs ago and the car is still running (was) .Makes me think it's tuned somehow .It passed MASS emissions 2 months ago ,it's on the car fax .Thanks again , Kurt

 

[MidShipCivic]

Smiley face will be the first thing to go . Will a newer nose bolt right on ? Should hear something today .I'm nervous . I'll post after work and let ya know what happens .Thanks for all your help .I think these mods were done about 5 yrs ago and the car is still running (was) .Makes me think it's tuned somehow .It passed MASS emissions 2 months ago ,it's on the car fax .Thanks again , Kurt

As for cosmetic mods to newer front end yes it will bolt on do a search on that 97-99 conversion.

Don't assume that it's tuned just because it passed emissions that's blind faith since there is no visible signs of that even from those pics, and your car isn't running any more.

If you really need help you should find a local DSM'er on the forum that'd be willing to help you identify things on the car and possible diagnose it.

 

[kurt fuhlbrigge]

OK ,here we go . I just talked to the dealer ( Had to finally call him) . First thing he says is " my mech wants to know if you over reved it or missed a shift " .(already trying to blame it on me ) I said absolutely not ! No way ! Was cruisin about 2700 rpms when she went . Apparently all they have found so far is a spark plug with the gap closed . I don't understand how over reving could cause that anyway . Is this possible ? Can someone explain ? What else would cause the gap to get pounded shut ? Seems to me like something would have to break to do that . Thanks ,Kurt

 

[MidShipCivic]

OK ,here we go . I just talked to the dealer ( Had to finally call him) . First thing he says is " my mech wants to know if you over reved it or missed a shift " .(already trying to blame it on me ) I said absolutely not ! No way ! Was cruisin about 2700 rpms when she went . Apparently all they have found so far is a spark plug with the gap closed . I don't understand how over reving could cause that anyway . Is this possible ? Can someone explain ? What else would cause the gap to get pounded shut ? Seems to me like something would have to break to do that . Thanks ,Kurt

The piston makes contact with the valve and the valve collides into the spark plug closing the gap. The engine has a kevlar timing belt on it though it couldn't have snapped .

 

[GooeyGus]

Sounds like it skipped timing. Loud Backfire + spark plug gap closed = bad news...

The dealer should definitely pick up the costs on that one. At least if it DID happen, you'll be getting a rebuilt head and a fresh timing belt!

 

[kurt fuhlbrigge]

Could the adjustable cam gears have moved and caused this ?

 

[MidShipCivic]

That issue unheard of and very scarce to even be debatable.

 

[My1GLaser]

Could the adjustable cam gears have moved and caused this ?

Look and see. I have had 2 different people tell me that their Skunkworks cam gears rotated. I have a set myself and they are fine. There is also a set of adj cam gears with only 3 screws holding the gear and I can see that being a problem. I can't tell what kind you have in the pics, but they look to be the same color as mine.

 

[kurt fuhlbrigge]

AEM adjustable cam gear .

Could have been belt tensioner . Dealer didn't have time for it today . I got a feeling this is gonna to drag on for a while . We'll see . Thanks

 

[Doubleot]

Sorry for your trouble man always a hard time. I wonder if they would give you the money back. I'd take it and run, yes it is an amazing car but is it really worth all the hassel the dealer is making out of it?

 

[DeadsEvolution1]

Man they better fix that for sure

 

[dsmdeliveryboy]

Tell them you'll be taking them to small claims court if they don't settle something with you, from what I've heard when a dealer sells a car and it dies on the way home they're still responsible for it. Don't keep letting them walk all over you, put your foot down and tell them you want to atleast know when it will be done by.

 

[kurt fuhlbrigge]

Well dealer is putting a motor in the GSX . Motor is used but he said it had low miles ,and a one year warranty . Yeah I beleive ya . Could be good if it was a stock car on stock boost .Could have a ton of miles and crank walk ,Ha Ha . He wanted me to pay for half ,I said "nope" ,and then reminded him of how the lemon law reads . Apparently he had forgotten . Do you know that in Massachussettes they have lemon law attorneys and they are free . I told him I would offer a good faith gesture of $200 and the tow bill ($93.00) . I know I'm week ,nice guys finish last . He is gonna take care of the check engine light and make sure it passes emmission to so I figured it was worth it . Though he really has to do that anyway . I also want to take his dealer plate to get it home so I'll try to keep it peacefull . He said car should be done tommorrow (Sat) afternoon or Mon . I won't be able to pick it up till sometime next week (5hr round trip) . I'll keep ya posted . Thanks Kurt

 

[inneed4dsm]

you know with that bov being vented it might run a little crappy but you dont HAVE to recirculate it again you can get a maft translator and gm map sensor plus the pipe and couplers if you like how it sounds although that costs between 2 and 300 unless you buy used. Plus recirculating it is like free so do as you'd please i suppose

 

[kurt fuhlbrigge]

It's not the money it's the lack of knowledge .I'll keep reading and keep learning though .The whole tuning thing is very confusing . We 'll see how it runs when I get it back . The car was boostin 18-20 lbs , now I have to figure out how to keep it together .Thanks for the advise. Kurt

 

[TehNooB]

dont forget the after market goodies in the motor!!

 

[joe sobo]

if he asked if you over-revved it, and then told you that a plug gap closed, i would also venture to say that when this happen, it must of spun a rod bearing at the same time