97 GST spyder... walking?

[Kantide]

So... I bought this car about 3 weeks ago and believe it has the ever dreaded crankwalk. Signs so far are clutch losing pressue after a left turn and clicking when clutch pressed in. Other than that, the car runs great. No engine lights, odd idle or misfires. Fortunately I plan on replacing the enging within a few months but is there any cheap and easy temporary fix I can throw in to ensure theres no other damage done in the meantime?

 

[rush2252]

How cheap do you consider cheap? You can always throw in a set of Rods/mains they might run you 40 for the rods 40 for the mains. You can do this in a few hours with the motor in the car. Just drop the pan etc.

THats cheap insurance and should last you through your few months before a swap. If in fact its beginning to crankwalk the only real damage is going to be to the crank sensor or clutch. Eventually it will eat away at the CPS and the car will no longer run.

Kolby

 

[Kantide]

So technically I could keep replacing them indefinately until its ready to be swapped as long as its done before it gets too serious... Also, I plan to order a JDM 4G63t, are they worth it?

 

[xioca]

If you buy your motor from a reputable dealer then yes.

 

[spectr019]

Don't worry about the clicking when you push in the clutch pedal, they (some of them) do that. I remember when I did my first clutch job I had a tranny shop do it, I asked them to check it out and fix the click. They said it just happens on a lot of cars.
For the cluch losing pressure, what do you mean exactly? Symptoms of crankwalk are I believe the wheel getting stuck on a left turn (it is SOMETHING to do with a left turn, yes), but I don't know what you mean by the clutch losing pressure.

Ben

 

[jjrock5]

How cheap do you consider cheap? You can always throw in a set of Rods/mains they might run you 40 for the rods 40 for the mains. You can do this in a few hours with the motor in the car. Just drop the pan etc.

THats cheap insurance and should last you through your few months before a swap. If in fact its beginning to crankwalk the only real damage is going to be to the crank sensor or clutch. Eventually it will eat away at the CPS and the car will no longer run.

Kolby

Um since when can you replace main bearings with the engine in the car? you have to drop the crank for that... unless you have some method I dont know about.

 

[crimsondragon]

Pull the oil pan off and verify it. Gently with a pry bar, push the crank all the way to the drivers side. Measure play with feeler gauge. If it's more than .005" yeah you're ####ed.

 

[Kantide]

Don't worry about the clicking when you push in the clutch pedal, they (some of them) do that. I remember when I did my first clutch job I had a tranny shop do it, I asked them to check it out and fix the click. They said it just happens on a lot of cars.
For the cluch losing pressure, what do you mean exactly? Symptoms of crankwalk are I believe the wheel getting stuck on a left turn (it is SOMETHING to do with a left turn, yes), but I don't know what you mean by the clutch losing pressure.

Ben

So basically the clutch will not come back up. It will return very slowly or will require a few pumps after the turn to return to normal. And the clicking is a contant thing as long as the clutch is pushed in, not just one click, more like a repeated tapping.

 

[nyTalonTsi]

You check to make sure your master, slave cylinder isn't leaking? Check your clutch fluid. Sometimes it leaks inside the car and you wont notice it until you look. Don't go straight to conclusion that its CW.

 

[donniekak]

Um since when can you replace main bearings with the engine in the car? you have to drop the crank for that... unless you have some method I dont know about.

I don't do it because it's very shade tree machanic. But, people do it all of the time. You use a ground down tooth brush, or another plastic object, and push the mains around the crank. Think spun bearing, but on purpose. It's very easy if you remove the timing belt.

 

[Kantide]

You check to make sure your master, slave cylinder isn't leaking? Check your clutch fluid. Sometimes it leaks inside the car and you wont notice it until you look. Don't go straight to conclusion that its CW.

Had the clutch bled, I'll have it double checked this week.

So I did another check tonight, the tapping is coming from the belt side when the clutch is pressed in only. Also, its RPM sensitive. Anyone know if there's anything else that could cause this other than the crank hitting the CPS? Maybe a belt?

 

[viperbenz1]

i just did a jdm swap 6bolt motor to my spyder, i had some problem, cam angel sensor didnt come with it, because the jdm motors dont use it, so for me to use it i had to change the cam, also the intake manifold wont fit, if i was was you ill just try to find a 6bolt with low miles on it.

 

[Kantide]

i just did a jdm swap 6bolt motor to my spyder, i had some problem, cam angel sensor didnt come with it, because the jdm motors dont use it, so for me to use it i had to change the cam, also the intake manifold wont fit, if i was was you ill just try to find a 6bolt with low miles on it.

Anyone know a good place to get one haha

 

[rush2252]

Um since when can you replace main bearings with the engine in the car? you have to drop the crank for that... unless you have some method I dont know about.

Well not to get into a pissing match but I just accomplished this task. Once you remove the Main Cap Structure You can push the bearings around with a stiff zip tie or a rubber tipped flathead. You of course have to be very very careful but me and my father just did this. We pulled it over the pit and had the new bearings installed in less than 2 hours. That was start to finish.

-Kolby

 

[rush2252]

I don't do it because it's very shade tree machanic. But, people do it all of the time. You use a ground down tooth brush, or another plastic object, and push the mains around the crank. Think spun bearing, but on purpose. It's very easy if you remove the timing belt.

Im sorry to double post but you should stick your foot in your mouth. My father has been wrenching on cars for 20+ years. You dont have to remove the timing belt. There is enough room as you mentioned. But your "shade tree mechanic" comment wasnt necessary. I was trying to let the OP know its possible and it doesnt hurt anything. Hes trying to make his DD last and this is the right way to fix it temporarily.

Its not a ghetto rig job etc. You dont risk "blowing up the motor" and unless by some sort of user error you scratch the journal bad enough to do damage then it works. If you do damage the crank then thats user error and has nothing to do with the method.

Comments like this just Irritate me

Kolby

As for the last question. You can find a 6bolt bottom end in a few places. Look in the classifieds. You can build it and use the top end from the 2g. The heads/manifolds flow better anyways and the only major mod is tapping the head to allow for the larger 6bolt head bolts

 

[Kantide]

As for the last question. You can find a 6bolt bottom end in a few places. Look in the classifieds. You can build it and use the top end from the 2g. The heads/manifolds flow better anyways and the only major mod is tapping the head to allow for the larger 6bolt head bolts

Seems I may be in a little over my head in that dept as my mechanical knowledge is limited (just getting started learning using the service manual and a bit of reverse engineering). As for the bearings, it seems simple enough I may give it a try once I get my stands and can put the car up as the Mitsu dealer quoted me around $2000 in labor to do it today however they also quoted $2500 for the labor on the engine swap (which made me laugh) as I have another shop that quoted me $550 for the swap as long as they didn't have to prefab anything. Another interesting thing is this thing is just now getting signs of the walk at 156k miles... Other than the clutch, the engine runs great, no signs of any loss of power at this point, is that normal for CW? If not then I may just take it in and have the clutch looked at since at this point I haven't been able to check the crank for end play.

Update: So I found a few eclipses in a junk yard with the 2.0 4G63A n/t engine, this bottom end is the same as the turbo 6 bolt correct? If I snag one of those, and have it built it should run great I'm supposing and it will be pretty cheap to nab the engine and have it rebuilt with the remaining 2g parts I alreay have. Correct me if I'm wrong 8P

 

[the_mork]

You're wrong. They are identical IIRC except that the NA blocks don't have oil squirters. For a turbo car this is a big difference and absolutely not worth using an NA block.

JDM engines are fine as long as you get them at a good price but they also aren't anything special.

Check your local classifieds, there should be some local DSM forums in your area and people on those forums will be happy to sell a block to you.

 

[Kantide]

You're wrong. They are identical IIRC except that the NA blocks don't have oil squirters. For a turbo car this is a big difference and absolutely not worth using an NA block.

JDM engines are fine as long as you get them at a good price but they also aren't anything special.

Check your local classifieds, there should be some local DSM forums in your area and people on those forums will be happy to sell a block to you.

Next option: I found a 91 eagle talon turbo some guy is selling for 600, engine already out of the car for a rebuild? Would this block be the one I'm looking for? If so, I can go ahead and make it into my engine building/learning project. This just sounds like a pretty good deal for 600 espescially since I can part out the rest of the car since I only need the block.

 

[the_mork]

If the engine is already out for a rebuild try to just snag that. If not, then yes it is probably a good deal if the car is in any sort of non-stripped condition, a partout will likely get you your money back.

Just check what is wrong with the motor, you'd hate to pick up something where the block has been trashed by a rod or the cylinders are scored beyond repair.