How reliable has your DSM been?

[TheBlizz]

Close to a year driving the car. Never left me stranded.

If I have catastophic failure tomorrow, OP is getting his head shoved in a toilet.

 

[rossb]

Close to a year driving the car. Never left me stranded.

If I have catastophic failure tomorrow, OP is getting his head shoved in a toilet.

Too late, your DSM has heard you talking about how good it runs. It will now fail without a doubt.

 

[DSMking90]

Close to a year driving the car. Never left me stranded.

If I have catastophic failure tomorrow, OP is getting his head shoved in a toilet.

If it does then I will do it myself.

 

[blue98gst]

My dsm has been pretty good. First 20,000 miles were great no problems. Then my timing jumped a tooth. I kept driving it and it got bad to where i couldn't start it. Then my thermostat housing stuck and my car overheated and warped the head. Lastly, blown head gasket. So all in all, three times down in 1 and 1/2 years. Thats what happens to aging turbocharged sports cars, its all about maintenance. Or else your gonna pay in the long run, I learned from running 22psi on a stock turbo and fuel system.

 

[DeNoZZo]

Got mine august 3rd last year. God I was so exited that day. The first day that I got it I was taking all the people I knew for a test drive. On the second test drive, right after I got it home the clutch started slipping. I had no idea what could have been the problem because the previous owner said the clutch had just been replaced. After reading up on this website, I had decided that i was experiencing pedal pump up. So I adjusted it and that was the end of that. for a while. A few days later I ordered new manifold turbo bolts because one of them was broken. We got everything off and could not get the fricking bolt out. So we just put it back together with new bolts and pretty much solved nothing. Then had the check engine light checked out. Turned out to be the rear o2 sensor missing. It had a spark plug in the bung... and it still does. I havn't got to that yet. Next thing I did was the fuel filter. That bottom bolt was a doosy! Got that done and it ran fine. Then a few days after that, I stopped over at my friends house just to check on it and make sure it wasn't leaking. A few days later, I noticed the car bogging real bad on my way home from school. So I stopped at a friends house to check it out. I pulled of the little cover for the gas tank connections in backseat of the car and messed with some wires. Then I went around to the front of the car and put my fingers down by the filter and felt around, and when I pulled them up they smelt like gas. I pulled the batt out and got the bolts for the fuel line on the filter about 1/4 turn tighter each. Go to start the car and it fires right up, then it dies. I was like . Turns out that I bumped one of the wires loose for the fuel pump. Got that wire wiggled back on and it fired right up and didn't leak at all. Found out later that the front o2 sensor was causing the bogging, so I ordered a knew one. Thought that would be super easy, and boy was I wrong. I guess I had the wrong size wrench on there to begin with because It stripped. So I went out and bought a special socket just for it. Wrong size. So I go buy another one. And it just strips it even more. I try vice grips, and i eventually got it tore up so bad there was hardly anything left. I ended up pulling the o2 housing off and took it to a shop. They heated it up cherry red and turned it right out. Got that replaced and it ran great. Oh and I almost forgot in between those, I replaced my cracked valvecover, and in the process stripped out one of the bolt holes. Used a longer bolt and it tightened up. I guess I did the spark plugs somewhere in there too. That went pretty smoothly though. And I installed my oil pressure gauge in there too.I went to the doctors office one day missing school, and my clutch started doing the pump up thing again. Almost didn't think I was gonna make it home that day. Adjusted that again and it's been good ever since. Next up was my biggest job yet. I had been dealing with a noise coming from my transmission that went away when I pushed in the clutch. I diagnosed it as the throw out bearing and ordered the parts. I gathered up my friends and got mommy and daddys garage for a weekend and began. We tore into it on a thursday and got done on a monday. I'm just recently completely finished with that. Everything was fine when we got it back together but my alignment was off bad. I noticed that the t-case was leaking after that so I took that into the dealer and it took them a week to fix it. Had to re-adjust my clutch again and bleed it a thousand times for it to work right again. Once that was done, I ordered my tires and got them put on yesterday. The kicker is I paid for a lifetime alignment and the mounting for the four tires which was 245. I had to work at 2 yesterday and they weren't done by 1:30 so I had to have my mom drop me off at work. Then she had to go and get the keys once they got done so we could get the car once I got off work. On the drive home I noticed the steering wheel is still centered off to the left, and the car pulls to the right. I am going to have words with whoevers in charge there because that is complete bullshit. I overpaid for a simple tire mount/alignment and they didn't even do it like they said they would. They didn't even supply me a diagram of the alignment.

Well thats where I am at now. Thanks for listening.

 

[crimsondragon]

Last real time I've been stranded has to be last winter. Alternator belt came off, was stuck in the freezing rain for 5 hours before the tow truck came. Got into a fight with the ex g/f that night too. It wasn't fun.
Nowadays? Just regular maintenance is enough. I think the battery is going out the door though. Doesn't seem to retain enough cold cranking amps.

 

[Defiant]

Just got an idea of asking other members how their DSM/'s have treated them over the years.

Absolutely hideous on the 2G. I don't even let myself think how expensive the Albatross has been.

The 1G did pretty well, until a split radiator.

 

[dsmpat95]

Mine has had it share of flat bed rides home, almost 200,000 on the original motor and blow up on the track,(the only time a civic will beat me). The rest times the car has limped home. Besides those times, the car has been good.

 

[Dsmj89]

All my previous dsm's have treated me well and my current one is doing good so far. It's true what people say and it's also common logic, if you take care of your car, your car will take care of you.
Take good care of your dsm and she will run like a champ just as well as any honda or toyota yet 100x more fun.

 

[GsXdSmKingGsX]

Mines been great. I keep it in great shape.

 

[Black_Bullet]

My first dsm was n/t and after I turboed it it was completely unreliable there after..
My current dsm was reliable until the motor just recently went a week ago.
I put 20k on its old tired 6bolt that I race/tracked/ and daily boosted the shit out of.

 

[DSMking90]

Good stories guys. And this just makes me love mine that much more.

 

[thatblondechik]

I bought my first DSM back in Oct 06. Only had it for a few months before I was driving one day, I went to take a turn, and it just sputtered, backfired, and almost died until I came out of the turn. I didn't want to think it (Surely not a freakin AUTOMATIC!) but I parked it anyways at the Wal-Mart close by, turned it off, and it dieseled for about 5 seconds.
Never actually measured the crank, but you could see that pulley wobbling from a mile away...and 4 brand new balancers later...it was STILL a-wobblin'!

My current ongoing project, I bought in January of 07. I bought it not running so that doesn't really count. BUT, thinking it just had a bad TOB, I went to move it 10 feet across the yard, it had run previously in a few short bursts (very loudly and annoyingly...but ran) so moving it was no big deal. Less than 3 feet into the move, I hear metal FLYING everywhere, and the car lurched and died.

Turns out, the clutch was faulty and flew through the bell housing. Lovely.

After the tranny rebuild and such, she ran beautifully. Never left me stranded once, sprang a leak in a coolant hose once, but I just cut a little off, and shoved it on there again.

The only time I've been without my car, is when I've CHOSEN to take her down for work...pretty good as far as Dizzums go.

 

[byebyev8]

I hate when people say it depends on how the car was previously treated to determine reliability with a dsm, thats not true at all in my opinion. When i was 16 i got a 1g awd dsm and it was a POS I replaced everything you can think of even turned it back to awd as it had a fwd tranny, It broke about everyweek for the first few months including the 2nd day i got it. I finally got it reliable and drove it for about 6-9 months with no problems then i spun a bearing when that happened i had already put 5k into it and just sold it for 200 because my parents wouldn't let me have 2 cars at the house. THen i got a 2g awd with 80k that was in really good condition and basically stock. then the trans started to pop outta first gear a few days after i got it. I drove it like that for 10k then the motor c/w. So then i put in a jdm6bolt and redid everything and planned on waiting till after winter to fix the trans problem. Drove it about 2k and the TOB broke. So so far my luck has been terrible with 2 low mileage dsms.

 

[92AWDHX40]

Its a car things break, new parts dont always hold up, wear and tear, its manmade you never really know.

 

[ricktb]

if you call it baby it will run a long time rofl

 

[turboglenn]

Over the last 10 years i've been through everything from staters to short and long blocks.. but over all i must say for the beating my car takes she's been great to me all this time..sure things break(and more so being a DSM) but usually nothing i can't handle pretty quick

I love my DSM, and i love wrecnhingon it when i'm not in pain... i wouldn't trade it for an equally built honda or anything else for that matter

although my ISC went out yesterday (AGAIN) this is the third one in the 10 years i've owned her... you think i'd find one that wouldlast by now .. if nothing else i'm putting an air solenoid on it that bypases the TB and using the PWM output from thehaltech to make my own idle control setup

most of my problems have been really minor, save for blowing 2 motors (owell one and a half) and exploding a stock tranny (which was a great excuse for a TRE stage 2.5 with quaife LSD )

 

[eeeewidner]

My 92 gst has been the second most reliable one I have owned. The most reliable one was a 1.8 talon. That car took a beating and a half. I owned that car for 2yrs and never done a single oil change. It just leaked out and I kept topping it off. I sold it to a friend for 200 and he still drives it today as a dd with very minimal problems other than the oil leaks and he tops it off also.

I wish my gst is as reliable as my toyota truck...........long shot.....But for a car that has sat for 5 years untouched. It runs pretty good for what it is and not too many problems. It only left me stranded once when the fuel pump went out.

 

[shredwin]

Mine has been mechanically good since I rebuild it (November 07), the only bad thing I had since the rebuild was my alternator belt snaping on I-80 2 weeks ago, but I already took care of that... I hope nothing happens to it

 

[GSXtacy724]

FAST, CHEAP, RELIABLE.....PICK 2
that is so true

 

[crimsondragon]

DSMs breaking is a way to tell you it's time to upgrade. Tranny breaks? Give it to Shep for a stage 2. Engine blows? Anyone of our fine vendors will supply a short block with forged internals and a ported and polished head. Turbo goes out the door? Go bigger.

 

[HIGH_PSI_GST]

Just do your research. Everyone will have a different opinion on THEIR car. I say this because i have a 97 gst spyder and i have gone through 3 harmonic balancers, a tranny, and had to replace all my struts. Now, my friend has a 98 gst and has more hp to the wheels and hasn't gone through a single OEM harmonic balancer nor tranny and rides just as hard as i do when the time is right so you cant really go by what other people say but do your own research and you will come up with an opinion of your own soon enough. Good Luck!

 

[GsXtC21]

i just picked a 98 GSX about 2 months ago and already have spent about $1500 in maintenance, plus getting all the little quirks fixed that the car had to ensure as much as i can, reliability...

ps, is there any "good" manuals out there for working on specifically 2gb turbo'd cars, maybe even for AWD... i know theres haynes and such but im looking for one more soley created for working with 4g63-t motors... thanks peeps...


sidenote: i also have a completely stock 90 trbo laser fwd for sale w/ only 115k mi, runs good, no major problems so if your in the texas area hit me up for more details

 

[carusoswi]

Well, this is an old thread, but I wanted to add my experience. I have a '98 GSX all stock. Have used it as a daily driver since purchasing it new back when it was new, .

The car now has 305,000 miles on it. All service performed by the original dealer who sold me the car. Here is my list of repairs/problems:

Two master clutch cylinders (is this a weak point with the car??)

Two sets of brake pads (set two still has plenty of mileage left - I downshift a lot, and rarely touch the brakes - take it as a personal challenge, and don't mind downshifting into first when appropriate to scrub almost all speed before having to touch the brake at a stop light)

Tires - Can't remember how many sets of 'em, but quite a few tires.

Wheels - two full sets besides the stock wheels. I have a hard time seeing the road from this car, especially at night, and have hit any number of rim-bending potholes. Once, I caught the same pothole with front and rear wheels on the right side. Ruined both wheels and tires, had to be towed (well, flat-bedded).

Lots of oil changes, timing belts every 60 - 70k miles (I don't know how to do this repair, and the dealer's price isn't cheap)

Fog lamps - on my third set. These aren't cheap, either, and, while they aren't crucial to the operation of the car, in my state (PA) you either have to have 'em operating or removed in order to pass inspection. I've always wanted mine to be operating.

Pulley - don't remember which one it was, but the thing burned out right after I paid for a new timing belt. The new belt must have put more strain on an already bad pulley, or, if they aren't related, it was just a coincidence, but it was disappointing to pay for that timing belt change and have to return to the dealer the very next day to get a new pulley - someone here can speculate and wise me up as to which pulley it must have been - the thing was squealing and smoking - I thought for a moment the car was a goner.

What seems to amaze the mechanics:

That anyone would be happy driving the same car for some 12 years - I love the thing. It's as much fun to drive today as it was when I drove it off the lot for the first time.

That any original turbo-charger can still be functioning without a problem after 300k miles - mine still spools up, and I can still cause strain in the neck of a passenger when I pull away from a stop light. I don't know what a new one will cost - if it's too expensive, this might be the straw that breaks this camel's back when she goes.

That I can make a set of brake pads last as long as I do - this is pure driving technique. I'm certain many here would find my technique boring - I certainly won't win any races, but, then again, I'm not racing. While I love to drive fast (have more than one ticket for at speeds in excess of 90 mph - one at over 98 mph (can't do that again!!)), I also consider it a challenge to see how little I can use my brakes. I find that if I pay attention, I can pretty much drive through the city brake-free, or, if I use the brakes in the city, it's generally at speeds of less than 5 mph. They'll last a long time if you learn to drive that way. Since I also can't change my own brakes, I figure the money I've saved by conserving them has offset money spent for other repairs that might be considered unique to this car (clutch master cylinders, for example).

That I can pull a 14' aluminum boat with 25hp outboard behind this car. I rigged up a special trailer with a very long tongue (really long), and the boat (I call it the pod) sits back towards over the trailer wheels as much as possible (I should say as far as is safe) so that there is less weight on the tongue - just enough for the rig to be safe, but not so much that the rear of my car is over loaded. The rig rolls along just fine, and I can get the boat into and out of the water without a sweat. It's fun to pull away on some mossy ramp while all the big pick-ups smoke their tires because they can't get traction (I know, it's not just my AWD car, but a combination of that and the lighter weight of my boat, but it's a fun sight, nonetheless).

Other than the repairs and maintenance noted above, the car has had no other problems. The body is still what I would consider tight except for a couple of annoying rattles that have been with her since day one (and have always annoyed me). There is one noisy rattle in the hatch area that I have never been able to locate. I've taken off the interior panel, played around with those clips, pulled the rear passenger compartment panels off, never been able to locate that rattle.

The sound system is less than the best, but on the open road, the car is so noisy that I don't much listen to music.

I should note also that, early on, the dealer observed some unusual play in my clutch pedal and determined that my crankshaft was out of spec (guess that might be crankwalk - but I don't know). That was a major repair and was performed under warranty.

I have owned this car longer than any car in my life (previous cars included a '71 VW SuperBeetle - dependable, but not cheap to maintain or run), '76 Dodge Dart slant six stick (super cheap to run, very dependable, prone to rust and worn rear axle bearings), '78 Olds Cutlass automatic (boring but dependable), '81 Olds 98 FWD (a little less boring, but dependable), '83 Olds 88 (not dependable - boring), '88 Lincoln Continental (first FWD Continental - most undependable car I've ever owned), '94 Taurus SHO 4 speed manual (fun, fun, fun - bullet-proof engine in an otherwise plain vanilla car, would have been dependable except most Ford dealerships didn't know how to service the engine), and finally, my GSX.

I'm in that stage where I savor the time I have left to drive this car as I doubt I'll be in position to replace it with something that will be as much fun to drive, as pleasing to look at as this. Those days in my driving career may be behind me. Of the cars I've owned, this and the Taurus still hold my interest the most. The rest were just plain on transportation.

I'll leave it to y'all as to whether my experience with the GSX rates it as dependable. I would say that I've gotten out of the car what I've put into it. No doubt something more mainstream would have been cheaper to run over all these years, but I for me, the fun factor definitely comes into play, and this car, for someone who loves to drive, definitely delivers in the fun department, and teens still stop to look at it, so, I guess its appearance is as appealing to others as it is to me.

I have been fortunate to have been able to utilize the services of a small, but very competent dealer who respects my desire to keep the car running perfect. My SHO had 134k miles on her when I gave it up because the dealer's attitude was that such a high mileage car didn't deserve first rate service, and so, service related problems started keeping the SHO in the shop more than not.

Happy driving.

Caruso

 

[Cody Shaver]

How can I make my 98 Eclipse more durable so it doesn't break down as much?