420A First upgrades, need help! 2G N/T

[Yufflez]

Hi, I'm new to this but I've done a few things to my car since I've bought it 2 years ago.

My mom came home with this car after she had a choice of 2 of the same model I think. She could either get a white version with a black hood which she said had a manual transmission... but the only thing wrong with that car was the clutch was going out.

She got the 2nd car. An all grey auto, seller said nothing was wrong. I ended up having to pay the 1.5k my mom bought it for. I did not even get to look at the cars before she bought them. When I asked her to only look for certain cars for me. which she thought was a great buy at the time and just had to buy it.

I left for a week or so on vacation. Came back, drove it, found out it lost all it's oil while i was gone, radiator was bad, blown head gasket and the transmission slips most of the time and all the engine mounts are broken I believe.

I ended up paying 10k to repair the car to the way it looks and runs now, just to spite her for buying a car without me looking at it first. of course it was my own money.

Now, since I've taken mechanic courses at my local college and learned more about cars, I've realized I've spent good money for nothing. The car does not run as strong as it used to since the shop messed up the timing belt by a tooth or 2 when they tried to start it. I believe the valves might be bent a bit. I'm not sure. My auto professor looked on all data and it said this car doesn't have the clearance to mess up timing. is that true?

I've changed the radiator twice in one year because I've crashed the front end into an electrical box in the rain. I've wrapped my Injen short ram intake with the 50 dollar exhaust wrap at autozone to try to keep the metal from heating up because of the engine bay. I've upgraded the battery to a yellow top ultima battery. Installed front, rear, sway bars and a rear tie rod (20 dollar ebay ones). I've installed a carbon fiber hood I got off of craig's list for 200.
New oil pan because the shop jacked my engine up with the oil pan and hit the oil filter. So now i leak oil around the new pan and at the oil filter from now on.

I've put a 2.5k (paid 1.3k since I did it myself and looked online for deals) sound system in the car, which I regret because its too powerful and could of gotten a system I don't have to dull down just to listen to for a lot cheaper.

I've taken the tint off the car and added limo tint myself just so I can learn how to tint cars. bad decision. , I can not get the rear window now =/ I recently, 2 weeks ago removed everything from the interior to clean and fabricate new fabric to the plastics. Which I haven't finished yet so I only have the driver and passenger seat in. I'm tired of the scratched plastics I have in the car. I've also removed the rear seat belts and found out if you release them, they go into a lock and now I need new seat belts, or is there a way to unlock them?

I believe all the engine mounts are broken as well. heavy vibration when in drive at idle if I don't maintain this car 100%. The car also has a small idle surge ranges from 400rpms to 550rpms at idle. Dunno if that's low, the mechanics at the shop at the time said they lowered the idle. The transmission is about to go out soon as well I believe. It usually dies when I'm going up the mountains from Cali to Vegas if i go over 45mph. Check engine gives it an over drive solenoid problem. So when it goes out, I plan to swap it to a manual transmission.

So with all these problems and whatnot i've already spent on the car. I do not plan on selling it and just want to make it a pretty quick car that's nice stock looking on the outside. Till I finish college and get my electrical engineering job and get my evo 10. then I plan on fully changing out the engine and turning it into the 1k hp cars out there

So the latest upgrade I'm probably going to do is solid engine mounts. Where can I get some polyurethane engine mounts for a decent price for the 420a engine with automatic? I've searched but don't know if I've found the right ones. where would they be located at as well on the engine? mostly need to know how to find the transmission mount though. I've found that there are 4 of them total, is that correct?

Next month I'm going to change out the brake booster since its the reason why I've been crashing my car a lot. peddle hits the firewall and car still does not come to a stop. I've flushed the brakes and installed new routers and brake pads which I should of bought green stuff or something other then autozone because I regret duralast brakes now. Its like i'm running on butter. worse then the last ones I had on. I've given up and had the brake class take a look at it and what not and they told me the brake booster is at fault.

I'm getting the engine mounts first, I can deal with the brakes for now. I currently do not have a job since I quit last year so I can't afford to do what I used to do with money and I'm worried about the upper radiator hose slipping off because of the broken engine mounts as you can see where the hose used to be.

I also plan on upgrading all the vacuum lines... I've researched and found out about RRE's Larson Silicone Hose Kits. If I never found that, I would of bought the 100 dollar kits on ebay. So where can I get solid engine mounts for all of the mounts? I don't mind the vibration I might get, but it's better then having a jerking transmission and all the other problems I'm having.

Recently bought some batman chrome vinyls and I <3 My Mitsubishi from ebay too. so any tips with installing vinyls will be appreciated. xD

Thank you!

 

[viperlp01]

Well looks like your mom F***ed you pretty bad.. I would have laughed at my mom if she told me that she had to pick my car out.. I started off with a 2g esi and did little cheap upgrades but honestly you dont really notice any gains. You might get a few hp here and there. I say you sell the damn thing before you spend another penny on the car and use that money to buy a 4g63 or save up for that evo you want. Even if you have to settle for a 1g AWD it would be better than that car. I sold my esi for 2900 and bought my GSX for 4400.. You will be so much happier AWD and turbo when you can actually notice upgrades.

I know thats not what you want to hear but honestly You could have bought a damn evo with the money you spent that that 420a. Its pointless to drop another dollar into it. I am going to school for engineering as well and there is no way I could survive with the 420a.. My DD is a 90 tsi FWD that i payed 250 bucks for and did a turbo, ecu, HG, and exhaust. It ###### cost me less than 600 bucks to get it in DD status lo

 

[92blutalon]

Tech Guide: 2G 420A Power Upgrades - DSMtuners

and my car was 500

 

[Yufflez]

haha, yea, I know I should sell it and get the AWD with the 4g63 but the thing is, I wanna build one now though. I also wanna go with the 2.4l engine instead though. would that be bad? but for now, I just wanna make the car run till I graduate at least. and I've done too much work myself in this car to spite my mom that I've grown to love it it's like my baby i've built. just don't like what the mechanics did to it when I didn't know anything about cars. =/

@92blutalon, yea, I've checked that out, but can anyone help me on where to get the solid inserts for my car? I'm buying them soon and I wanna know the right place for the right money to get them at. I love my car <3 now it's been everywhere with me think nappa might sell them? And is there a better type of brake booster or is OEM good enough?

Oh, I might change out the engine when the tranny goes. so, i might be doing more upgrades pretty soon then later. but for now, i just need to get a few things fixed before i start major upgrades like the exhaust and what not.

thanks!

 

[Yufflez]

Seems like no one wants to help. I found these motor mounts on ebay. From the looks of it, they contain 2 full sets of either the front and rear roll mounts and suspension mounts for the side and transmission mount. PROTHANE MOTOR MOUNT INSERTS ECLIPSE DSM 4G63 95-99 RED : eBay Motors (item 200447379681 end time May-05-10 22:30:52 PDT)

I did more research and actually looked at alldata for the engine mounts but thought I could just ask you guys to get a faster response since I have finals coming up.

Since all of my engine mounts are destroyed, can/should I still buy this? What am i to do with the suspension inserts with broken engine mounts? Can I still use them on broken engine mounts? Please someone respond this time with helpful info though. Is there an easy way to remove the rear engine mount? I have neither the cherry picker or the engine sling. I was thinking about using a scissor jack to jack up the car and place a jack stand under the engine close to the rear roll mount and slowly lower the car till i get the desired hight.



After this, I'm installing my new vacuum lines and removing the speed limiter on my ECU. I'm also going to start the fabrication of the upholstery on the plastics of the interior. I also bought some engine spray paint to refinish the dull black paint that's been scratch and everything else on the valve gasket. Might use the rest of the engine paint on the calipers. Pure black engine and black calipers i think might look awesome.

Some one please help this time or aid me in the right direction even if I must do more research while i'm in finals week. =/

 

[XiKeiyaZI]

Seems like no one wants to help. I found these motor mounts on ebay. From the looks of it, they contain 2 full sets of either the front and rear roll mounts and suspension mounts for the side and transmission mount. PROTHANE MOTOR MOUNT INSERTS ECLIPSE DSM 4G63 95-99 RED : eBay Motors (item 200447379681 end time May-05-10 22:30:52 PDT)

I did more research and actually looked at alldata for the engine mounts but thought I could just ask you guys to get a faster response since I have finals coming up.

Since all of my engine mounts are destroyed, can/should I still buy this? What am i to do with the suspension inserts with broken engine mounts? Can I still use them on broken engine mounts? Please someone respond this time with helpful info though. Is there an easy way to remove the rear engine mount? I have neither the cherry picker or the engine sling. I was thinking about using a scissor jack to jack up the car and place a jack stand under the engine close to the rear roll mount and slowly lower the car till i get the desired hight.



After this, I'm installing my new vacuum lines and removing the speed limiter on my ECU. I'm also going to start the fabrication of the upholstery on the plastics of the interior. I also bought some engine spray paint to refinish the dull black paint that's been scratch and everything else on the valve gasket. Might use the rest of the engine paint on the calipers. Pure black engine and black calipers i think might look awesome.

Some one please help this time or aid me in the right direction even if I must do more research while i'm in finals week. =/

I think it's because... it's almost close enough to call it a lost cause. =/

You said you paid 10K just to get it to where it is now... but you could have bought an almost brand new 2G N/T...Turbo, or AWD for less than half of that. The minute my mother would have brought me home an Auto car, I'd have dropped the keys back in her hand and told her to have fun driving it.

I've lived with someone with a 2G N/T... and he put a CAI, a Full Exhaust, larger Intake Manifold, and a 'chip' in it... and it was still God Awful slow. With an Auto, I would only expect worse. >.<

Now, I understand that you have fallen in love with your car, hell, I fell in love with my 1G N/T... but when I let it go, I choked down that lump in my throat.. bought a GSX which I am still working on, and will never regret getting rid of that car. Trust me, the moment you feel boost at the command of your foot, you fall in love. However....sine you seem to be prone to wrecks.. I wouldn't suggest anything too powerful right off.

Get rid of the car, get a 1G with the 4G63, and learn from it. Once you build that car up, (My suggestion as well as 99% of the other people in the world, the 4G is FOLDS more reliable and more powerful than the 420a) you'll be able to see how upgrades respond with the engine. Then go with a Turbo. Every little thing you do to those count. The smallest thing can make a big difference.

If you're looking for motor mounts, those you found will work.
If you're looking for more power. CAI, Intake Manifold, Full Exaust, SLIGHTLY larger Fuel Injectors, a bit of an ECU tune, and that's about where you can cut it.

^^ Glad to hear you're devoted to your car... but really... the 2G N/T engine... is not worth more than a target for paintball guns.

Note : To replace the rear engine mount... be creative. I have no idea as I don't have too much experience with the 420a engine mount locations. I know when I changed mine... I just unbolted the side mount, my tranny was already down.. and I just rocked the engine forward.

 

[Yufflez]

Well, truthfully, it wasn't me who wrecked my car. my girl did because she pressed the gas too much in the rain while at a stop and go intersection a week after I got the sway bars/tie rod end and the wheels hopped as she was turning to the left and lost control. crashed at less then 10 or 15 miles per hour.

I know what you mean, i've drove some fast cars when i worked in a shop for a few months. but as an engineer, i love my car just because i've built it/played with it. The modifications i'm doing now are just to keep it running for now since I quit my job and don't have the cash to go out and sell it and buy a turbo version let alone find one in las vegas that's in good condition that's being sold.

I'm also just doing looks that are cheap on the car so I can resell it for more money later on to those who are looking for a nice car to buy.

I've actually tried driving slow with the broken engine mounts and the transmission isn't slipping these past 2 days. So I'm thinking the transmission is good, just the engine mounts are the cause of all this. My dad's the one who's paying for the new engine mounts so I must find out what I need. I actually have a friend who wants to buy my car for 3g, just dunno if i should sell it right now. I found a nice gsx on craigs list for 4g... i just dunno where i could get an extra 1g and have money for school you know?

so for now, i'm just doing looks and minor upgrades or upgrades to make the car look fast so those buying will want it more but no ricer stuff. I recently (last night) put on the "I <3 my mitsubishi" sticker on the front window to give it some looks since my injen intake didn't come with a sticker this is my first decal on the car.

I'd really love to sell this car though and buy the gsx version, it's just the fact that i don't have a job and can't pay for it if i were to do it. plus, i need this car to get to school/future job? so i need it in top running condition till i get a job and save more for the gsx.

but thank you, i'll try rocking the engine... i do wanna do some small modifications to the car though, just so i learn and i think it'd be pretty cool to try out since some of them don't cost too much money. like the power steering modification at high speeds.

well, off i go to install the new fuel filter and vacuum lines before my calc test. thank you!

 

[XiKeiyaZI]

Well, truthfully, it wasn't me who wrecked my car. my girl did because she pressed the gas too much in the rain while at a stop and go intersection a week after I got the sway bars/tie rod end and the wheels hopped as she was turning to the left and lost control. crashed at less then 10 or 15 miles per hour.

I know what you mean, i've drove some fast cars when i worked in a shop for a few months. but as an engineer, i love my car just because i've built it/played with it. The modifications i'm doing now are just to keep it running for now since I quit my job and don't have the cash to go out and sell it and buy a turbo version let alone find one in las vegas that's in good condition that's being sold.

I'm also just doing looks that are cheap on the car so I can resell it for more money later on to those who are looking for a nice car to buy.

I've actually tried driving slow with the broken engine mounts and the transmission isn't slipping these past 2 days. So I'm thinking the transmission is good, just the engine mounts are the cause of all this. My dad's the one who's paying for the new engine mounts so I must find out what I need. I actually have a friend who wants to buy my car for 3g, just dunno if i should sell it right now. I found a nice gsx on craigs list for 4g... i just dunno where i could get an extra 1g and have money for school you know?

so for now, i'm just doing looks and minor upgrades or upgrades to make the car look fast so those buying will want it more but no ricer stuff. I recently (last night) put on the "I <3 my mitsubishi" sticker on the front window to give it some looks since my injen intake didn't come with a sticker this is my first decal on the car.

I'd really love to sell this car though and buy the gsx version, it's just the fact that i don't have a job and can't pay for it if i were to do it. plus, i need this car to get to school/future job? so i need it in top running condition till i get a job and save more for the gsx.

but thank you, i'll try rocking the engine... i do wanna do some small modifications to the car though, just so i learn and i think it'd be pretty cool to try out since some of them don't cost too much money. like the power steering modification at high speeds.

well, off i go to install the new fuel filter and vacuum lines before my calc test. thank you!

Hey man, I completely understand. When i was learning to work on my NT, It was my DD... so when it went down I had no way to go. I learned how to drain, drop, and put my trans back up within 1-2 hours. This was due to flywheel bolts backing out...

You can find a good GST or GSX for less than that... though you may have to drive a bit to pick it up. I'm sure that with a little extra cash on top, someone would drive to meet you. Place a WTB ad up here when you can, or look through the classifieds for one that is cheap that you like.

As far as the upgrades....Get you a better flowing Air Filter, relocate it and turn it into a CAI. From there, add on a betting intake manifold. Better Exhaust manifold. Then get a full exhaust. Not sure if you can there, but run a "Test Cat" for less restriction. I know our smog laws aren't NEAR as bad here. Trucks putt around all day bellowing out coal train sized clouds.

For looks, a good tint job, a wing (not super large), nice wheels, and add useless guages. Hahah.

But seriously.. you can find a good 1g or 2g Turbo'd for less than 4K. Hell, I bought mine for $250.

 

[ThomasG-1b]

Basket case. Its cool that you want to learn everything, but I would pick up a good DD so you can putz around with the other car.

 

[Yufflez]

Yea, if I can get a turbo version for 250 or something, I'd buy it and just mess with it and use this as a daily driver. I just finished installing all vacuum hoses and my new hid bulbs came in. 8000k do not look anything like the ones online say. they look more diamond white then the 6000k I have, and a whole lot less blue then the 10k I have.

I already changed out my gauges for the 10 dollar reverse gauges on ebay. they look sick and everyone loves them. Polished the plastic cover too with meguire's head light restorer kit. I decided to paint a few engine mounts and keep this engine in this car till it either dies on me or I get a nice job after college. So I need to find the gsx for cheap to work on in the sidelines.

I'm buying the polyurethane mounts from summit racing since they're located in sparks, nevada, which is just north of me and only at 65 bucks too! cheaper then the ebay ones.

Either tomorrow or monday my dad is ordering me the engine mounts and the braided steel brake lines as well as my new htc hd2 phone

After changing all the vacuum hoses, the car runs really smooth and the small idle surge i had is completely gone now. The vacuum hoses were a pain to get off, well the hidden ones that have never been removed were at least.

Oh yea, I do have a good air filter, isn't K&N 3" cone a good air filter? I just cleaned it today too. If not, i can put back on the injen air filter that came with my injen short ram.

I also removed the whole windshield wiper assembly and container as well to free up engine room since I never use windshield spray since it rarely rains here in vegas, I don't think i'll need it any time soon.

My power steering is leaking a lot though, still haven't looked at what might be causing it, but it might be the bellow on the rack and pinion though, just my guess as of right now.

New fuel filter installed, been almost 2 years since i've installed a new one on it. I can feel the difference even though i only use chevron gas. Now I'm just waiting for the two batman decals i ordered on ebay to come in, that should give me an extra 10hp bat power! jk

I need to jb weld my bumper tomorrow at the top. new bumper and it already broke because it got caught on a stupid curb at the front passenger side. I'll never park that close to a curb again. Also found out i had a nail in my new tires, front passenger side as well.

Since I'm keeping the engine in this, I guess I'll get an aftermarket header soon.

I decided to keep this car as of today so if i find the gsx for cheap, i'm going to buy it anyway to work and fix it up. but how in the world do you find a gsx for so cheap? that's cheaper then just buying the engine online. :O

oh, another thing, can you do engine braking and at the same time have the car shut off the gas lines above 1200 rpms like in the manual versions if you do engine braking by down shifting on automatics on these cars?

Snaps! I just found a 96 eclipse (does not say gsx or gs-t or anything) for sell for only 650 OBO. The car does not run but has a lot of modified/aftermarket parts. I'm going to try to get it for lower, but holy snaps, will it be hard to fix up? if anything, I can take the parts and put them on my eclipse, like that manual transmission! and i was just looking for cheap aftermarket 3" headers on craigslist only too.

 

[XiKeiyaZI]

Yea, if I can get a turbo version for 250 or something, I'd buy it and just mess with it and use this as a daily driver. I just finished installing all vacuum hoses and my new hid bulbs came in. 8000k do not look anything like the ones online say. they look more diamond white then the 6000k I have, and a whole lot less blue then the 10k I have.

I already changed out my gauges for the 10 dollar reverse gauges on ebay. they look sick and everyone loves them. Polished the plastic cover too with meguire's head light restorer kit. I decided to paint a few engine mounts and keep this engine in this car till it either dies on me or I get a nice job after college. So I need to find the gsx for cheap to work on in the sidelines.

I'm buying the polyurethane mounts from summit racing since they're located in sparks, nevada, which is just north of me and only at 65 bucks too! cheaper then the ebay ones.

Either tomorrow or monday my dad is ordering me the engine mounts and the braided steel brake lines as well as my new htc hd2 phone

After changing all the vacuum hoses, the car runs really smooth and the small idle surge i had is completely gone now. The vacuum hoses were a pain to get off, well the hidden ones that have never been removed were at least.

Oh yea, I do have a good air filter, isn't K&N 3" cone a good air filter? I just cleaned it today too. If not, i can put back on the injen air filter that came with my injen short ram.

I also removed the whole windshield wiper assembly and container as well to free up engine room since I never use windshield spray since it rarely rains here in vegas, I don't think i'll need it any time soon.

My power steering is leaking a lot though, still haven't looked at what might be causing it, but it might be the bellow on the rack and pinion though, just my guess as of right now.

New fuel filter installed, been almost 2 years since i've installed a new one on it. I can feel the difference even though i only use chevron gas. Now I'm just waiting for the two batman decals i ordered on ebay to come in, that should give me an extra 10hp bat power! jk

I need to jb weld my bumper tomorrow at the top. new bumper and it already broke because it got caught on a stupid curb at the front passenger side. I'll never park that close to a curb again. Also found out i had a nail in my new tires, front passenger side as well.

Since I'm keeping the engine in this, I guess I'll get an aftermarket header soon.

I decided to keep this car as of today so if i find the gsx for cheap, i'm going to buy it anyway to work and fix it up. but how in the world do you find a gsx for so cheap? that's cheaper then just buying the engine online. :O

oh, another thing, can you do engine braking and at the same time have the car shut off the gas lines above 1200 rpms like in the manual versions if you do engine braking by down shifting on automatics on these cars?

Snaps! I just found a 96 eclipse (does not say gsx or gs-t or anything) for sell for only 650 OBO. The car does not run but has a lot of modified/aftermarket parts. I'm going to try to get it for lower, but holy snaps, will it be hard to fix up? if anything, I can take the parts and put them on my eclipse, like that manual transmission! and i was just looking for cheap aftermarket 3" headers on craigslist only too.

It's good that you got those hoses changed, as well as found those cheaper inserts. Cheaper parts are good, but a lot of times, and keep this in mind, You get what you pay for.

The batman sticker part almost killed me. xD

I have no idea about the automatic transmission question.. >> And I know that a manual swap is a bi***...

Also... post a list of what that 96 has on it. If they onyl want $650.. you could likely sell those parts and make double that back, then sell the car itself, and then have enough money for a good, running GST or GSX.

Now for my GSX? .... I live in Arkansas... people don't know what they have. All they know is it's an " E-Clipse" with stress on the E. I looked at it, crawled under it... handed them $250, they said "okay! " handed me a title.. asked "where's your trailer?"

I popped off the spark plug cables, dried out the water in the spark plug cylinders with a rag... put the plug cables back in, boosted her off, and drove her home.

xD People have NO... idea... what these cars are here. Boosted awesomely too! Just no 2nd gear.

 

[Yufflez]

Ok, I encountered a problem and need help. I've gotten a CL now. It's because of the EGR code. I didn't get a chance to reset it, but the thing now is, i got erratic idle back. I've found out i used a 4mm hose for the 6mm fat hose. I switched it back out to the original hose and got the erratic idle back. I then switched it out for a 6mm hose and used a small hose clamp to make sure the one side doesn't come off or leak. I have yet to reset the CL so I'm not sure if it's still having a problem. I just hope the EGR isn't bad since that thing cost 89 bucks alone.

Is there any way to fix this? I have finals very soon and that CL in your face is driving me nuts. I'm thinking about just removing the bulb behind the cluster if i can't turn it off.

Today I went to costco to get a nail out of my tire. inflated the tires to 34/31 psi instead of the OEM 31/29 psi. I found out the batman decals were shipped a week ago and i haven't received them yet =/ I guess batman wanted his logos back.

I've checked everything for leaks and do not wanna go back to the original hoses on the EGR since I found out that might be where my leak was in the first place. Anyone have any ideas? If i go out and buy a new EGR valve, would it clear that code without resetting the ECU? I don't wanna unplug my battery and autozone now has a no code clearing law =/

Really need help on this part please! I'll post the parts soon, but i'll tell you one thing, the Greddy headers on the car and the catback probably is worth the price alone minus the stage 3 turbos he said he had, i forgot which ones, but I need to do my insanity workout then hit the sack.

 

[Yufflez]

Nevermind, fixed it before a reply is made. Most likely what caused the problem in the first place is the 4mm hose. I changed it to the 6mm and used the clamp and drove it for the day. the CL went off some time after driving for 15 mins.

It came back... Might be my EGR valve gone bad? if anything, i'm just going to place the old fat hose back on there instead of the new vacuum ones.

 

[XiKeiyaZI]

Nevermind, fixed it before a reply is made. Most likely what caused the problem in the first place is the 4mm hose. I changed it to the 6mm and used the clamp and drove it for the day. the CL went off some time after driving for 15 mins.

It came back... Might be my EGR valve gone bad? if anything, i'm just going to place the old fat hose back on there instead of the new vacuum ones.

Or... just eliminate your EGR completely?

 

[Yufflez]

too much of a hassle and have to worry about leaks if i do it wrong. I don't mind the blacked out intake manifold. I haven't had a problem ever since i placed the old fat hose back on. and by the way, i finally got a job again. Victoria's Secret man!

Time to save up and get that car i want.