"new" eclipse, have some questions/problems

[Dr Gnarlson]

alright, so i bought a 1997 eclipse rs a few weeks ago. its totally stock (to my knowledge). since ive bought it ive noticed some things.

1) when im driving, and holding it at a certain speed, the car surges. like i can feel power from time to time while staying the same rpm.

2) the day before i bought it, the previous owner replaced the tie rod and said they got it aligned. but the steering wheel has to be held some degrees sideways for it to go straight, and when i go over small bumps i hear a weird wobbling sort of noise from the front right tire area (same side the tie rod was replaced).

thats all i can think of right now. besides the idle, which from reading many posts on here that our cars have a crazy idle anyways. while im driving and i press the clutch in the idle stays between 1000-1500, but when the vehical comes to a complete stop it drops down to 800, feels like a sweet v8 or something. doesnt really bother me, just would like to know if its normal and what causes it.

any and all help would be awesome.

 

[BK85]

Try cleaning your throttle body using carb cleaner. That cleared up my strange surging problem. It's easy to get off just four bolts and a couple of connectors.

After that than you should look into the idle control motor and the throttle position sensor.

I would bet the cleaning will take care of most of the problem.

BK85

 

[nuclearr]

Sounds like it was not aligned or you could have a lose tire. I would jack it up and check for any play.

 

[Dr Gnarlson]

alright i will do both those tomorrow and let ya know if anything changes. if i take the throttle body off, should i replace the gasket there as well? or could i just use one of those liquid gaskets from a tub or something? haha im currently living in germany, so getting any parts for an american car over here is a real hassle, and you end up waiting at least a week. thanks for the help.

 

[Dr Gnarlson]

alright. so today i jacked the car up, changed the oil with mobile 1, oil and air filters are k&n and checked the wheel for play. there was no play in it at all, i tugged it in ever direction and nothing. so with the wobbling sound im lost. the surge is still there, didnt get a chance to take my TB off and clean it. but i do plan on changing the spark plugs this week, and wires this month... so maybe that will help with the surge? another thing i noticed today was that when i rev or rolling, i hear a spinning noise. sometimes pushing the clutch in stops it, and sometimes not. i searched and the only thing that sounded familiar was someone said it could be the pcv? what does the pcv do, and is it easy/cheap to replace?

 

[Fotowntalon]

pcv is easy to replace, and only costs a few dollars, might as well do a full tune-up (as with any new car) pcv, pcv tubing (if brittle) fuel filter, etc. Your idle and surge could easily be from the plugs especially if they are foul or improperly gapped, or one of the bigger noob mistakes improper heat range (stick with ngk coppers).

For the TB gasket, you can re-use it if it appears to be in good shape, those are also cheap to come by if you can find one over there, think they are only a few bucks here in the states.

 

[Coreyred95]

Did you check the other side that they didn't change the tie rod for any play in the steering? It does sound like it isn't aligned though.

+1 on the full tune up.

The spinning noise might be just some normal noise in the transmission. It's like a whining noise, right? My old ESi had it, my new TSi has it. Also I've seen a thread on here about it and ALOT of people said they notice it.

 

[Dr Gnarlson]

The spinning noise is less of a whinning and more of a rattling. Like something is spinning but moving as well. What is all included in a full tune up, to me a tune is plugs oil and airfilter haha.

 

[dalesmitsu]

Nice, 2g. Do a full tune up, check your lugs they maybe loose.

Jack your up put on jack stands both sides remove tires. Look over your tie-rods and Upper-lower control arms and ball joints too.

1995-1999 Non turbo 420a's in eagle talon and eclipse's have a recall on the lower ballojint. Call up your local Mitsubishi dealer have them run your vin to check if the recalls have been done.

Look 2gnt.com for infomation about it, that's where I found out about it.

Not sure if wheel bearings would cause the wobble also. But, if previous didn't replace them. Now would be a good time to do that to.

 

[Coreyred95]

check your axles too

a tune up would include the following:
1. spark plugs
2. spark plug wires
3. ignition coil
4. air filter
5. replace belts (including timing belt and related components if mileage is around 60k)
6. pcv valve (or just remove the damn thing, i would)
7. top off all fluids. (or if miles are around 100k, replace them)

 

[Dr Gnarlson]

alright, so i went to the parts place on base, and off base, and they only carry stuff for the gs-t and gsx, no NA parts haha. so ill have to order everything off the web. ive ran into a problem though. ive been reading on here and everyone is saying to use the NGK BKR6E, but amazon and autozone both tell me that those plugs wont fit in my car. i dont get it. but the NGK website says the BKR6E-11 fits the 1997 eclipse rs. now im ordering the NGK plugs (unless told otherwise) MSD coil and wires, and im thinking about a Airaid Throttle Body adapter. Once all that comes in ill clean my TB with Carb cleaner, and hopefully all that takes care of my surge and possibly my idle.

Last week i installed an Options Cat-back exhaust. Since then ive noticed that when i blimp the throttle, sometimes it takes awhile to start to drop, and sometimes it continues to rise a little bit after i take my foot off. Any ideas or suggestions?

The weird rattle noise ive been hearing is coming from my transmission. One of the dudes at work told me it could be my clutch or transmission bearing, and that a new one should come with a new clutch and that would take care of my noise issue. Has anyone had the same problem or anything like it?

Also, haha i know this is alot but i want to get this beast running right before winter hits here in germany, but i have an extremely squeaky belt. now it might just be a pulley in need of some wd-40, but ive never had to deal with a belt before. i mean it squeaks from the time i turn the car on until i turn it off, and i can here it inside the car... its annoying as hell. The people i bought it from said they replaced all the belts and water pump in april of this year, so could it be that i need a new belt already, or could the belt be too tight or too loose. if too tight or loose, how would i go about checking which one it is?

Alright that pretty much covers everything im dealing with at the moment. i still have the suspension issues but im ordering new springs and struts, and once those get in and installed ill get it realigned and hopefully that takes care of it. Thank You to everyone who has helped so far, and any one who decided to help in the hopefully near future haha.

 

[racker]

aligned that is the problem man

 

[Dr Gnarlson]

alright, so im having a hard time finding a decent suspension set up, and full clutch kit. i plan on turboing my car this spring, so im trying to get everything running right before i throw anything else at it. does anyone know where i can get a decent yet cheap suspension kit and clutch? id even buy used if they were in decent shape. thanks