HELP!! 97 rs PROJECT (i need guidance)

[MyDSMmakesROADKILL]

hey guys its been a while since i got out of the dsm game cause of my crappy luck with blowing them up haha. well, needless to say ive desided to get back to my roots and i found a 97 eclipse gs with the chrysler 420a for 900$. i got in an accident recently with my tastefully modded 01 maxima and now since it has 291xxx miles on it i think its time to barry her. so now i have to go get this eclipse and use it as my daily driver. just need a little guidance on things to replace, where to start looking for flaws, how to diagnose these motors, and project ideas like things that i can bolt on to make her look and feel good.

any info or advice will be greatly appreciated because i know that working on dsms are like riding bikes but ive only had 2 420a's the other 5 were 4g's.

thanks in avance,
-FAB

 

[1sick_gst]

Not really too familiar with the 420a's much but, how many miles are on it? Has it ever had any preventative maintenace done? i.e. water pump, timing belt, all fluids, spark plugs, wires, valve adjustments. If not, I would start there. Wouldn't hurt to do a compression test as well as a leak down test to check the healthiness of the engine.

 

[RallyEclipse98]

The head gasket can cause you problems. Valve cover gasket on the driver's side front is likely to leak. The two sending units that bolt to the front of the head are very fragile so take care when disconnecting. Timing belt is harder to replace than on a 4g. Overall, you shouldn't have many issues.

 

[untouchablecc]

Cam sensors are thin plastic that like to crack and leak oil into the harness running up to the head. As far as upgrades go. I like the sound of the Tsudo N1 cat back. A friend had one on his car it it was pretty impressive for a 420a

 

[95Dsm13]

I've had some troubles with the iac's but those are easy. Check the clutch master for leaks if it's a manual. Ive seen a few that were pretty bad when I was trying to buy another. And just other stuff like what's listed above.

 

[captain_kurt]

haha well it seems that everyone already pretty much nailed majority of the problems with the 420a. Its not a bad motor at all and if your creative you can do a lot of nice mods too it.

Like the catback that was suggested previously, i can agree that is sounds bad ass.

If you consider turbo charging it, it becomes quiet a challenge but definitely not impossible.

Since the motor has somewhat of a Chrysler background to it you can also do a hybrid build of the motor with a srt4 bottom end too.

The list goes on but turbo charging it as well as simple header mods makes it fun.


by the way pacesetter headers also make it sound pretty BA. I have them myself at the current moment and love them.


It is very important that you get an oil catch can as well for this engine.

 

[MyDSMmakesROADKILL]

thanks guys all the advice is much appreciated and will be taken into consideration. the guys said that the engne has what the cluster says on it which is just about 65xxx miles and the body has about 120xxx miles. the body has no rust i checked the entire car out yesterday. i test drove it and the clutch pedal seemed squshy and it had trouble going in to/staying in 5th, and reverse. it also has a check engine light for what he said was the distributer cap msd or something. you know, the things the spark plugs plug into? i have a whole bunch of spare 420a parts including the msd from my old 420 when i decided to tear it apart. he also said that he has an extra head that he said the previous owner said that he went thru cause he was gonna turbo the car. my next move today will be to bring my obd scanner to check the CEL. ill be sure to post a pic of the extra head just in case that theres anything that would stand out to you guys then it would to me. it looks like the entire head minus the cams. which i have extra from my old 420a. other than that it looks like the real deal!

and also, how would i go about doing compression tests? and if i decide to turbo, which route should i go?

 

[ohlegend]

If you have the bank, start replacing sensors.
Spark plugs and wires too.

 

[Liltazz803]

Replace all spark plugs filters sensors wires coil and if it has gas in it ill drain it put newer gas in it and use some fuel injector cleaner