Looking to buy DSM

[Snowboard_Guy]

Well im looking to buy a DSM I want a 2g talon or eclipse that's awd. If i remember from my past knowledge I should look for crank walk. is crank walk usually bad enough you can feel it or do you need a dial indicator? also for turbo shaft play do you need a dial indicator? Are there any particular areas i should look for oil leaks? ill be looking at tire sizing and checking the trans to make sure the clutch and synchros are good. What other problem areas on these cars should i look for? over all they are pretty reliable cars right? Thanx for any advice.

 

[gstxtt]

Crankwalk can be diagnosed by
1. Clutch weirdness, improper pedal pressure, strange disengage and engage points
2. Ticking or strange noise from the pulley side of the engine when clutch is depressed.
3. Crank Angle Sensor errors ( check engine light )
4. Difficulty shifting
5. RPMS decreasing significantly when clutch pedal is depressed.
6. Clutch does not return or "sticks" to the floor after being depressed(or going to the floor in a left turn.

Do not use all of those as a definite sign of crank walk until investigated further, Generally if the car does not have crank walk by 80,000-120,000 miles then you usually don't have to worry about it. I'm going on 205xxx miles with no rebuild and still have no signs of crank walk. For the turbo shaft play, it can be diagnosed by removing the intake pipe and pushing the shaft back and forth and moving it side to side and checking for any movement.

Sometimes there will be a ticking from the head it should be easy to tell apart from knock or crank walk it is just lifter tick don't worry about it it wont hurt anything.

Find out when the timing belt, water pump and tensioner have last been replaced. To maintain reliability the car must be maintained properly and up to date to the mile. (That includes timing belt change every 60,000 miles. Oil & oil filter change every 3000 miles Trans fluid ETC. and replacement of other essential engine parts that wear out.

Ball joints on almost all of these late model cars were improperly lubricated and wear out fast make sure the recall has been taken car of or that they have been properly lubricated and replaced.

If the car has any modifications make sure that it has a proper tune. If it does not this can also make it unreliable. AlWAYS MAKE SURE IT IS TUNED PROPERLY.

In the Awd models transmissions were weak if too much power was put through them.

This is as much as i can tell you at the moment, if you have any uestions just ask.

Take care of the car and it will take care of you.

 

[_JaYvEe_]

for oil leaks you might wanna check where the oil filter is...below it ...i forgot what its called but anyway...if the timing belt and balance shaft belt were replaced sometimes the bolt in the balance shaft pulley does not get silicone'd properly causing it to leak...good luck!!!

 

[BulletShiftTSi]

If you talk to or ask certian people they are going to tell you that DSM's are extremly unreliable, "crap cars" but something you really need to keep in mind is more then half the time a dsm has passed through the hands of a inexpreniced young driver who only cares about going fast, being cool and spending no money real important things like timing belt changes BEFORE THEY BREAK!'

car + mods = tune!!!!!! must have a tune or it could run like real crap

and find out the reason behind why they are selling the car.

good luck!

 

[toofast82]

gsxtt- nice informative post!

Dsms are like 5.0 Mustangs. People used to just beat the living shit out of them and didnt maintain them for the most part. But yes there are very well maintained good running examples out there if you shop around!
I would look for a bone stock one for cheap and go through the modding process yourself so you can learn! If you are looking at a modified one, I would be pretty curious about reciepts, mechanic, etc as well as how well its tuned. Also the timing belt
Obviously go over the usual car stuff like nice long test drive, leaks,belts,tires,smoke,etc. Check turbo out. I even wouldnt be afraid to ask them to do a compression test if you have the gauge with you! Someone who is selling a sure good car will not be afraid of a long test drive and possibly will do a compression test. I would recommend highway as well as city. and crusing and wide open throttle as well! Good luck

 

[Snowboard_Guy]

I guess I never though about the clutch acting funny from crank walk, but i guess the flywheel would be moving back and forth. The timing belt will be new to me, I come from the domestic world. Are they pretty easy to change on these cars? How can i tell if the ball joints are original? how much power can a stock trans hold in an awd and what fails when they do die? so I'm guessing i should do some wot runs to make sure the car does not have knock if it is modded? Thanx for all the replys.

 

[toofast82]

Check out VFAQ.com for tbelt how to along with many others. The 2g front balljoints are on recall, so you can call the dealer with the vin. Some stock trannies go 10s and some go 15s and die, that depends on many factors(fluid,driving habits,etc) Youll need to be viewing a logger to verify knock as well

 

[BulletShiftTSi]

gsxtt- nice informative post!

Dsms are like 5.0 Mustangs. People used to just beat the living shit out of them and didnt maintain them for the most part. But yes there are very well maintained good running examples out there if you shop around!
I would look for a bone stock one for cheap and go through the modding process yourself so you can learn! If you are looking at a modified one, I would be pretty curious about reciepts, mechanic, etc as well as how well its tuned. Also the timing belt
Obviously go over the usual car stuff like nice long test drive, leaks,belts,tires,smoke,etc. Check turbo out. I even wouldnt be afraid to ask them to do a compression test if you have the gauge with you! Someone who is selling a sure good car will not be afraid of a long test drive and possibly will do a compression test. I would recommend highway as well as city. and crusing and wide open throttle as well! Good luck

^^^X2 Great advice!

I wouldn't be worried about replacing the stock trans right away
My trans just has fresh internals with double scyrnco's and a slightly shorter throw and I'm running around soild mid 11's.

my other buddy i can't remember if it's completely stock or has a cromemolly shift fork in it but he just hit HIGH 9's right before winter.(on the end of its life)

again like stated above some 7 bolts walk at 30k some at 120k, same with trannys tho the trans's are a bit more consistant on durabilty with the right driving habits.

If you get a new trans i strongly recommend a staged shep trans!

 

[Snowboard_Guy]

with knock will the check engine light come on at all or will the ecu just retard the timing when it senses knock? for the trans strength I was just wondering what parts actually gave out like synchros, shift forks, gears, or shafts? I was just tryin to get an idea on price. Id prob rebuild it myself. Does the trans have paper friction material on the synchros, I ask because if it does i want to make sure no one put synthetic tranny fluid in.