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pauleyman

pauleyman

DSM Wiseman
11,366
5,264
Nov 19, 2011
oklahoma city, Oklahoma
I've been wrenching on Mitsubishis for 25 years now. I'm am begging you guys, buy a factory service manual in the correct year for your car. Not a haynes manual a factory mitsubishi service manual. The forums are great but they are no subtitute for the information contained in the manual. If you have a decent skill set (or even if you don't) you can learn how to diagnose systems and make repairs properly. After this amount of time it is just plain silly to ever read about a botched tbelt job, how to do a clutch install etc. The manuals are also cheap compared to when the cars were new.
 
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AGREED... I would say first learn the science behind how a car and its components works before attempting to diagnose and repair a car or attempt to modify their own cars. I'm a ASE certified tech and a Mercedes Benz USA certified tech, I first had to learn how a car works before I attempted to repair engines, had to learn how to diagnose and repair normal cars before I attempted to modified performance cars and bikes. Its unbelievable how many ppl think they can repair an engine or modify it, and dont really understand the science of an engine or what moves the pistons up and down, most people think its the conrods and crankshaft that moves the pistons and they are wrong... Kudos to those who want to wrench their own DSM, but doing a oil change or brake job aint the same as diagnosing and trobleshooting a misfire or rebuilding an engine. If you cant understand how a engine works first, how do you expect to diagnose an engine failure without guessing and spending money changing the wrong parts like most newbies do and then they bash their DSM for being a constant nightmare, when its not the car its the hand behind the wrench plus DSM are old cars that requires regular mantainance beyond oil change and brakes like new cars...
 
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It's funny you mention this, I have a Chilton manual and they leave out A LOT of information. I'm 38 and have been working on cars for 24 years and I usually rely on my experience as a tech to get me by as I've worked on so many makes and models, but I also have access to All Data which can be spotty at times as well when it comes to specifics. I have factory repair manuals for a couple of other cars I own and they are just far more detailed. I'm gonna have to grab a factory manual for the GST, If I'd have had any sense about me I'd have tried to cop one when I had my Starion ESI-R....

How much are those manuals now anyways?

Will-
 
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I picked my FSM up on Ebay for around $17 shipped. That $17 is going to be the best spent money for this car. It has everything from wiring diagrams to troubleshooting various mechanical issues. It's really a great. It has two volumes. The body, chassis and mechanical is one volume and the other is Electrical. Pick one up, you won't regret it!
 
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Black-Out said:
It's funny you mention this, I have a Chilton manual and they leave out A LOT of information. I'm 38 and have been working on cars for 24 years and I usually rely on my experience as a tech to get me by as I've worked on so many makes and models, but I also have access to All Data which can be spotty at times as well when it comes to specifics. I have factory repair manuals for a couple of other cars I own and they are just far more detailed. I'm gonna have to grab a factory manual for the GST, If I'd have had any sense about me I'd have tried to cop one when I had my Starion ESI-R....

How much are those manuals now anyways?

Will-
Click to expand...

You can buy factory manuals in CD & PDF forms at ebay. I also have access to All Data.
 
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sypherzero said:
I'd love to get my hands on a FSM, but I've never had any luck finding one.
Click to expand...

Do a quick search on ebay and I'll almost guarantee that you'll find one. If not maybe even craigslist or amazon? They are out there just gotta look. If anything just type your model of car into the google search!:hellyeah:
 
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gabytech said:
AGREED... I would say first learn the science behind how a car and its components works before attempting to diagnose and repair a car or attempt to modify their own cars. I'm a ASE certified tech and a Mercedes Benz USA certified tech, I first had to learn how a car works before I attempted to repair engines, had to learn how to diagnose and repair normal cars before I attempted to modified performance cars and bikes. Its unbelievable how many ppl think they can repair an engine or modify it, and dont really understand the science of an engine or what moves the pistons up and down, most people think its the conrods and crankshaft that moves the pistons and they are wrong... Kudos to those who want to wrench their own DSM, but doing a oil change or brake job aint the same as diagnosing and trobleshooting a misfire or rebuilding an engine. If you cant understand how a engine works first, how do you expect to diagnose an engine failure without guessing and spending money changing the wrong parts like most newbies do and then they bash their DSM for being a constant nightmare, when its not the car its the hand behind the wrench plus DSM are old cars that requires regular mantainance beyond oil change and brakes like new cars...
Click to expand...

^^^ Amen ^^^

I'm ASE Master Certified as well and worked for Roger Beasly Porsche as a certified tech for 5-6 years, the Germans believe in the most detailed engineering behind their cars. The processes are far more complicated for building the engine on a 911 than they are for building the engine on an STI or Legacy H-6 - (using similar engine configurations as a basis for comparison. I also was a Subaru certified tech for the dealer here in ATX) I owe ALL of my diagnostic abilities to the Porsche years as I learned to look at the repair of a car from an engineering (and highly scientific) stand point. It was there that I really became a technician, and ceased being a parts changer- Understanding the cause of the failures that you come across as a tech will keep you from just replacing the parts and ensure that you actually remedy the problem-
 
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I need to pick up another FSM, I still have the original FSM and Case from 1997 haha but it needs to be restored, the pages are falling out. I personally like having the physical manual because its easier for me. I'm young and I like to read over these type of service manuals before putting in the wrench work.
 
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Outdorsman said:
I need to pick up another FSM, I still have the original FSM and Case from 1997 haha but it needs to be restored, the pages are falling out. I personally like having the physical manual because its easier for me. I'm young and I like to read over these type of service manuals before putting in the wrench work.
Click to expand...

Hey some people just retain info better when they physically have the ability to lay their hands on it- I'm similar, but over the years I've adapted- I remember having to get my service info at the Porsche dealer off of micro-phish......Some of my fellow techs hated it, But I didn't mind it so much back then. Now how ever it'd drive me a little up the wall but I have to say experiencing it from an old school stand point really allows you to appreciate the technology we have now. Hell you find the right web site you can look this shit up on your smart phone - I've done it in a pinch before LOL-

Will-
 
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*Plea. ;)

Most new members will pass right by this thread because it doesn't answer their 16.7931 problems with a one word answer while costing them next to nothing. Others will stop reading halfway through because it was too long and still others will skim it and miss the important parts.

Basic stuff like clutch jobs and timing belts are so well documented all around the internet, there should be no reason to screw them up, even without an FSM. And yet...

The availability of reference materials is not the problem.
 
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Since we are on the topic of technical resources, here are a few more life-saver links.

Visual Frequently Answered Questions - Home Page <-- go here before posting a tech question.
Talon, Laser, Eclipse 1G Info DSM <-- another set of vfaqs
1000 Already Answered Questions - Index page <-- another decent source of info
Break In Secrets--How To Break In New Motorcycle and Car Engines For More Power <-- Motor break in info
http://mmcdlogger.sourceforge.net/ <-- Free Datalogging software for Palm devices.
Automatic Dsm's <-- Automatic DSM information
RRE's Eclipse Tech Tips and Magazine Articles <-- RRE's old tech threads
Tech | Magnus Motorsports <-- Magnus old tech threads
www.kidzuku.com/StrokeOrNot.pdf <-- Stroker engine technical paper with good information
 
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It's pretty amazing what you see posted. I've managed to be a member of this site for 13 years with a post count under 100 by searching and reading. In that time I've tacked nearly every major dsm job imaginable thanks to Tuners and the wealth of info available. More than can be said of some of the other forums I've visited. Props to Chris and the mods and happy new year!
 
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You can buy factory manuals in CD & PDF forms at ebay
Click to expand...

The PDF manuals are good but they still aren't a substitute for a proper year manual. The PDF manuals attempted to scan factory manuals and they do a good job but you may miss some year specific things or not realize what does or does not apply to your specific car. I use the PDF only as a supplement to my paper manuals. Notice that's plural. I have 6 volumes now.
 
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I have to agree with everything about this thread, and i have to say i blame it on shear laziness. I post a lot to try and help, but most often i find anything i need with a search.. people PM me asking how something is done and that they coudln't find it in the search, so often times i tell them search with these words, and list the words i finhd the answer using. then i'll get another pm saying nothing turned up, at which point i know they are just being lazy and want the info spoon fed to them or want some how to get the magical instant right answer without going through the motions of trouibleshooting, when in fact in todays age, google can taech you about anything, add DSMtuners to the google search words and you'll find anything you want on this site

So i don't think it's about having a manual or not, i think it's in the same realm as why kids don't ride bikes, play outside at all and just get fat on playstation,
 
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We've been suggesting for years that people get a copy of the FSM.
Here's a few that I've picked up over the years including the copy I ordered the day I bought the car.

Anyone know if there is a body manual for the 1G's?
 

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