Street Build 98 GST Resurrection

[kyler021]

This is the Build Thread for 1998 Mitsubishi Eclipse GST. Reply below.

 

[kyler021]

Alright its been a while, I'm going to try to keep this as updated as I can.

Repairs / Upgrades I've done so far:
Timing belt and pulleys, the car was running 2 teeth of the timing belt when I bought it, she starts right up and pulls good whereas before it hesitated to start.
New gates water pump
Emissions delete
Injen Intake piping
Powder-coated satin black water pump pulleys
All new accessory belts
Wrinkle red painted valve cover
Coolant drain and fill (3 times, long story )
Aisin thermostat, acdelco coolant sensor, delphi coolant temp sensor
Mishimoto aluminum radiator
Mishimoto silicone coolant hoses
Mishimoto slim fans (reverted to stock for now while I figure out how to get them to work)

Parts I have but haven't installed:
DSMlink (I messed up the ECU so time for a replacement eprom, see previous thread for a good laugh at my expense)
AEM wideband, Greddy boost gauge, and AEM Oil pressure gauge (Waiting for DSMLink to wire all these up)
Glowshift A-pillar gauge pod
Aeromotive fuel pressure regulator, waiting on fuel pressure gauge
Walbro 255 fuel pump
Exhaust manifold studs and nuts to fix my exhaust leak
Turbo return line pipe and gaskets
HKS Blowoff Valve

Mostly stock celebratory pull

That should be it for now, I'll keep my build thread as updated as possible

 

[kyler021]

A bit of a quick day today. Got some new exhaust manifold studs and nuts installed to replace some rusty nuts and a bolt someone installed in place of a stud and nut on the manifold. All I have to do now is get the old exhaust manifold gasket off and replace it. I have a nasty exhaust leak on the edge where the water pump is. It sounds like an extremely loud lifter tick when I’m on the gas. When removing one of the nuts it cross threaded on the stud and I got extremely lucky. Instead of snapping the stud, it cross threaded and actually pulled the stud out which I guess makes it easier .

 

[kyler021]

got the gasket back on today and she sounds much better. won’t be ticking away anymore hahaa. i haven’t heard the motor without this tick and she sounds sooooo good and healthy . i’ll be ready to take her home possibly this weekend (finally) after being at my shop for 4 months. here are some pics of the old gasket. it was separated right where i thought it was, at the flange near the water pump side. i’m so excited to get her driving without that stupid tick

 

[kyler021]

Drove the car for about 10 minutes today and thank god that stupid tick is gone . It may be a little bit of a placebo but I feel like the turbo spools a little bit quicker now and the throttle response seems quicker than before. I still can't figure out why my coolant is bubbling at the top of the coolant hose by the cap. It only happens after I stop the car after a drive where it gets up to around 190*. I plan on doing a pressure test, comp test, and leak-down test sometime this week. There's no smoke out the exhaust, no milkshakey oil, and the coolant still looks blue (I used Subaru coolant, sue me . We also did a combustion leak test and it didn't turn yellow so I'm stumped. Will try burping with the heat on this time as I think I forgot to keep the heat on when we burped it for the fourth time. If anyone has ideas don't hesitate please!
Kyle

 

[kyler021]

sad day today, pressure tested the cooling system, started at 16 psi, about 45 minutes later dropped to 13 psi, and no visible leaks. Starting to think its the head gasket . Leak down tested as well: Cylinder 1: 30% at 75psi and 40% at 100psi, Cylinder 2 and 3: 27% at 75 psi and cylinder 4: 25% at 75psi. maybe we did it wrong, but the car runs pretty much perfectly, or at least, much better than when I bought it. Im not even sure how to car runs this good with these results. I guess i will revisit this another day!
Kyle

 

[kyler021]

A couple weeks ago i spray painted and clear coated my front wiper arms and replaced my wiper blades. Now i should be able to see where im going instead of guessing where the cars are



Last week I got my evo wheels finished and put on the car, definitely ignore ALL the overspray on the tires, ill be getting new ones soon enough if the dsm starts to give me a break mechanically and financially. while we were in there, we noticed that the whole front drivers side suspension was loose... and after further inspection its the upper ball joints that are causing all the play in there. Im planning on replacing them with some moog units this week if i can figure out how to get it done.



I was up at the car today on my day off of work, and i wanted to see how messed up my oil cap seal was because my valve cover on that side is soaked in oil... and i tried prying it off and snap... it snapped in half trying to take it out because it was as hard as a rock. I ordered a mobil1 oil cap and an extra seal just in case i need to double seal the cap. fingers crossed!

 

[Justin DuBois]

Excellent - Enjoy the journey.

 

[kyler021]

Excellent - Enjoy the journey.

i definitely am!

good news guys! drove the car home from the dealership I work at - about a 15 -20 minute drive home and it rode really good for a 26 year old car. a bit of fuel smell in the cabin since i dont have my backseats installed right now. got a couple things i need to work out, after driving it has kinda a musty smell, but as far as i know, it only happens when driving. it feels like one of my brake rotors are warped so bad that when i drive i can feel the rotor hitting the pad, and it gets worse when im braking. im torn on getting all the stuff for a cts v brake swap (around 700 bucks all said and done) or around 150 bucks for oem equivalent rotors and pads. i dont like buying things twice if i can avoid it, but i guess i could be using the money for something else if i did the cts v swap. I took my girlfriend and mom for a ride in the car and they like it . makes boost and aside from some clunks here and there in the suspension, she runs pretty good (fingers crossed and knock on wood). I got a new oil cap and seal too, and put a new ball joint in on the drivers side.

 

[kyler021]

Couple updates!
i got the new eprom ecu and dsmlink chip onto the new eprom, and that seems to have fixed my problem with the previous eprom going crazy with the tachometer and fuel pump priming etc... held the key on for probably 5 minutes before connecting the laptop up and everything seemed good. so i fired up ecmlink on the laptop and connected her up... did a few quality of life changes, like changing the idle to 1100 rpm, setup 2 step (which i havent hit yet because im scared), and made the fuel pump prime when key is on to help with slow startups. did a few logs to make sure afrs and boost is all good and everything seems to check out. this weekend if i have time i may start wiring up the aem afr gauge to dsmlink. I have no wiring experience whatsoever though so we'll see how this goes. or i may try to setup my afpr.

Ive just been driving around recently, trying to figure out any problems. other than a power steering leak from the top fitting and a couple oil leaks, everything seems good (knock on wood). occasionally there is a smell of (possibly) burning fish??? im pretty sure it mostly happens when i turn the wheel so possibly power steering pump/fluid burning? the other option is the brakes, still havent confirmed which rotor is warped so im still wishing for the cts v brakes in the future. third and worst option is electronics burning. maybe the car would have burned down already if this was the case but i still carry around a fire extinguisher in the car just for safe keeping

 

[jesse12345]

Couple updates!
i got the new eprom ecu and dsmlink chip onto the new eprom, and that seems to have fixed my problem with the previous eprom going crazy with the tachometer and fuel pump priming etc... held the key on for probably 5 minutes before connecting the laptop up and everything seemed good. so i fired up ecmlink on the laptop and connected her up... did a few quality of life changes, like changing the idle to 1100 rpm, setup 2 step (which i havent hit yet because im scared), and made the fuel pump prime when key is on to help with slow startups. did a few logs to make sure afrs and boost is all good and everything seems to check out. this weekend if i have time i may start wiring up the aem afr gauge to dsmlink. I have no wiring experience whatsoever though so we'll see how this goes. or i may try to setup my afpr.

Ive just been driving around recently, trying to figure out any problems. other than a power steering leak from the top fitting and a couple oil leaks, everything seems good (knock on wood). occasionally there is a smell of (possibly) burning fish??? im pretty sure it mostly happens when i turn the wheel so possibly power steering pump/fluid burning? the other option is the brakes, still havent confirmed which rotor is warped so im still wishing for the cts v brakes in the future. third and worst option is electronics burning. maybe the car would have burned down already if this was the case but i still carry around a fire extinguisher in the car just for safe keeping

Awesome job on the car! If you wanted a brake upgrade you could always get some gsx rotors and calipers. That would save you some money. Otherwise me personally, I'd spend money on the maintenance if you don't know the history of the car.

 

[kyler021]

That would save you some money. Otherwise me personally, I'd spend money on the maintenance if you don't know the history of the car.

I've seen that as a possibility as well but something about seeing a big V in the wheel well gets me excited for the build. I think I've done most of the maintenance already, did timing belt water pump all the pulleys, and new serpentine belts so far. its definitely been a journey . Now that you've said something my brake fluid, clutch fluid, and manual trans fluid haven't been changed yet. and power steering fluid . thanks for the comment man it means a lot

 

[kyler021]

today i just attempted to fix my power steering leak from the top of the power steering pump fitting. the old o rings looked to be crushed and were a little hard but still flexible. hopefully that fixes it. I also smelled my power steering fluid and it smelled awful. like a burning type smell... going to run to walmart tomorrow to get some ATF to top it off and get it to the right level to see if that leak is fixed. if its not the o rings its my banjo fitting that looked like it was pitted or had a chunk of metal missing out of it... fingers crossed.

on another note does anyone know if i have to adjust my idle set screw after setting my idle higher in dsmlink? or is adjusting it in link the only thing i have to do?

thanks!
Kyle

 

[kyler021]

well it seems as though that power steering leak is fixed, topped it up and bled it, seems to be staying at the same level. i also got the side skirt garnishes on as well as the end cap. it looks much better even though the end cap is a mismatched color. parts may be slower to come in after christmas. I got my first speeding ticket today in my daily (shouldve saved the speeding for the "fast car" ). gotta hope insurance and the fine wont be too bad after court. you live and you learn. i put the front bumper on too, and noticed at least 3 or 4 broken bolts where the sides of the bumper mounts needless to say, the zipties will have to hold onto the bumper as best as they can until i can get the tools to extract the broken bolts. lots of work to come!

 

[kyler021]

I got my first speeding ticket today in my daily (shouldve saved the speeding for the "fast car" ). gotta hope insurance and the fine wont be too bad after court. you live and you learn.

Okay well first off it's been a while, hey guys . i guess to update on the court date last month, I pleaded guilty with an explanation, but my explanation was not worthy enough of a knockdown in points. Needless to say, I've been more careful with my driving.

With school and work recently I haven't really been able to do a ton to the car. I got some gauges wired by some local 4G63 guys last week, and my battery cables have been upgraded to 4GA wire so that's helped a lot with cold starts. I did also get a Megan racing downpipe and 3 inch full exhaust installed and it sounds much much better. I also resecured my rear engine mount because someone took out all the bolts holding the bracket to the trans and decided the rear mount wasn't important at all!!!!!!

Other than all that, I've really just been driving it and taking pictures and trying to enjoy it.

I did have my first problem yesterday, when I get into boost (around ~8psi) it'll hit some sort of cut (it kind of sounds like a rev limit) but at 3k - 3.5k. It stutters and refuses to keep going. From what I saw it had no issues building boost, no knock. When it hit the cut I watched the AFR go from 12ish to pegging itself at 10 which is the lowest the gauge can go. Pulling plugs today after school to see if that's an issue.

Enjoy these pics I took the other day.

 

[jesse12345]

Looking good! These cars are a blast to drive.
For your cut your getting, I'd make sure your plugs are gapped correctly and check for any boost leaks. It shouldn't be a hard fix, keep on ripping.

 

[kyler021]

Absolutely! I've only driven it around 800 miles so far but it's probably been the best 800 miles I've ever driven. Something about driving a car you built/fixed from a non-running state feels great.

I haven't changed the plugs under my ownership yet so I may just replace them if I confirm they're the problem. During a wide open pull the wideband reads 10 so I probably fouled out the plugs. Also, I took your advice on the GSX brakes. The adapters for the CTS V brakes don't work on aftermarket hubs and I didn't want to risk problems with grinding down the adapter so I sold the whole kit and bought the GSX brakes

 

[jesse12345]

Thats awesome I'm glad your enjoying it! It may give you a few problems here and there but nothing a guy can't figure out, just don't give up.
I'll be following along, I love a red 2gb eclipse.

I honestly have no complaints with my gsx brakes, but I get why people like the cts v brakes for that added stopping power. I personally think it's over kill unless your making pretty good power, but that's just me.

 

[kyler021]

Okay so, an easy fix today: the intercooler pipe that goes to the throttle body was loose, causing a massive boost leak. Tightened everything back down, and she pulls like she should now. I went around town and let her eat, everything seems to be okay. "The best fix is a 0 dollar fix" as a friend told me.

I honestly have no complaints with my gsx brakes, but I get why people like the cts v brakes for that added stopping power. I personally think it's over kill unless your making pretty good power, but that's just me.

Yeah honestly I just wanted them for the look, but they went to a good home. My friend has a clean Minden Silver GS-T, that whole setup went to him since he's just upgraded to an FP Green so he'll be making some power soon. GSX brakes should be fine for my future setup for sure.

 

[kyler021]

I also forgot to add that I did a trans service during my MIA period on the build thread. I was having issues getting into 5th gear before the service and so far it hasn't "locked" me out of 5th like it did before.

Also, the car seems to be running WAY rich. My AFR is pegged at 10 on the AEM gauge at WOT. Now this could be a combo of 2 issues, one being that the gauge is not connected to DSMLink and is not calibrated. One being that the stock tune is extremely rich, and with the EGR delete, full exhaust, intake tube and BOV, it's throwing AFR off. Anyone know if the EVO 8 fuel trims are compatible with a stock 2G fuel system and turbo? Some people have said that they have flashed EVO 8 trims on a 2G and it ran a little leaner. Obviously I will wire up the AFR gauge and calibrate it before attempting this, but I'm just trying to gather some info.

Kyle

 

[Justin DuBois]

I also forgot to add that I did a trans service during my MIA period on the build thread. I was having issues getting into 5th gear before the service and so far it hasn't "locked" me out of 5th like it did before.

Also, the car seems to be running WAY rich. My AFR is pegged at 10 on the AEM gauge at WOT. Now this could be a combo of 2 issues, one being that the gauge is not connected to DSMLink and is not calibrated. One being that the stock tune is extremely rich, and with the EGR delete, full exhaust, intake tube and BOV, it's throwing AFR off. Anyone know if the EVO 8 fuel trims are compatible with a stock 2G fuel system and turbo? Some people have said that they have flashed EVO 8 trims on a 2G and it ran a little leaner. Obviously I will wire up the AFR gauge and calibrate it before attempting this, but I'm just trying to gather some info.

Kyle

post a ECMlink log, if its running well enough, include a 3rd gear pull starting 2000rpm, to as high as you can without knock to redline

 

[kyler021]

post a ECMlink log, if its running well enough, include a 3rd gear pull starting 2000rpm, to as high as you can without knock to redline

Will do tomorrow. It's rainy here today and I have electrical connections for the side markers and fog lights hanging out since I have no front bumper on

Edit: Is the loggable calculated AFR in DSMLink any accurate or would it help more if the wideband gauge was wired up to DSMLink?

 

[Justin DuBois]

Will do tomorrow. It's rainy here today and I have electrical connections for the side markers and fog lights hanging out since I have no front bumper on

Edit: Is the loggable calculated AFR in DSMLink any accurate or would it help more if the wideband gauge was wired up to DSMLink?

You need the wideband to provide you the actual AFR. The calculated AFR (AFRest) is what the ECU THINKS is going to happen - and it plots the target AFR. Without the actual AFR from the wideband, you have no Idea if it is hitting targets or not. Likely NO. The whole of the tuning process is to calibrate link so that AFRest and WB AFR match, then you can tweak timing and AFR targets looking for power.

 

[kyler021]

You need the wideband to provide you the actual AFR. The calculated AFR (AFRest) is what the ECU THINKS is going to happen - and it plots the target AFR. Without the actual AFR from the wideband, you have no Idea if it is hitting targets or not. Likely NO. The whole of the tuning process is to calibrate link so that AFRest and WB AFR match, then you can tweak timing and AFR targets looking for power.

Gotcha gotcha. I will try to get that done this weekend or next. Finals are this Friday so I will be away from the car until then.

Just to confirm before I accidentally fry the ecu or gauge, the brown wire (analog -) goes to pin 92 (sensor ground) on the ECU, and the white wire
(analog +) goes to pin 75 (rear O2) on the ECU. I have an AEM wideband, part number 30-4110.

I've seen install guides that never mention a sensor ground (in my case the brown wire) being wired into the ECU. Some just mention wiring up the rear/front O2 wire into the ECU so I guess that's where I'm getting tripped up. I have never done any sort of wiring so I apologize for all the beginner questions.

Kyle

 

[kyler021]

Took a break from the wiring situation and installed my rear motor mount that I've had for a couple months. Those bolts that hold the mount to the subframe were absolutely disgusting and a pain in the ass to get out. Upon the first teardown, I noticed there were no bolts connecting the mount bracket to the trans which explained my clunking and jerking while under load. Hopefully this will keep that under control from now on. I am going to try to grab a spool of wire this week for the AFR gauge wiring and borrow tools from my buddies.