Planning On Buying A built 93 DSM

[serjey15]

Hey guys, so im COMPLETELY new to dsms. I have owned hondas, but never owned anything else.
So I found this nice 1993 talon tsi awd. It has power sun roof, black leather seats, 125k original, rebuilt engine, 16g turbo, all this good stuff.
runs good, it just needs paint, the guy agreed on 3000 cash. but hes keepin some parts.
The thing is, im 16 years old and work weekends at wendys making minimum wage, how reliable is this car and how expensive it is to maintain.
I have 3 older brothers and they have had 3 dsms, all they said was change the timing belt in time. But I mean I just here these dsms break alot.
can I get some feed back? thanks.
Oh and heres the ad to the car, lemme know if its worth 3000.
F/S 1993 Eagle Talon Tsi AWD DSM OBO

 

[donniekak]

Well, yes. I understand that. But if he is tuning with an S-AFC, having 20% fuel increase at lower RPM will make him dump a bit more fuel.

How? The ecu doesn't add a set amount of fuel and you mess with boost until it's the right afr. Otherwise, how does your car maintain the proper afr from vacuum, all the way to your set boost level?

 

[serjey15]

ok guys its fine ill just stickk with 22psi
Idk when y brother had his first dsm, he had an intake and boost controller, he boosted it to 15psi and just drove it, didnt care about the air/fuel, didnt care about tune, in fact he didnt even know it needed tune, and the engine drove fine, it didnt blow up, just the timing belt broke.

Could I just take it to a tune shop and they can have it tuned on like low boost (14psi) and high boost (22psi)

and are you sure 170psi is good?

My brother said both his talons were 145-150psi across

 

[atruepretense]

ok guys its fine ill just stickk with 22psi
Idk when y brother had his first dsm, he had an intake and boost controller, he boosted it to 15psi and just drove it, didnt care about the air/fuel, didnt care about tune, in fact he didnt even know it needed tune, and the engine drove fine, it didnt blow up, just the timing belt broke.

Could I just take it to a tune shop and they can have it tuned on like low boost (14psi) and high boost (22psi)

and are you sure 170psi is good?

My brother said both his talons were 145-150psi across

If you're doing any kind of tuning, you should have a wideband. As for 170, that's great. Literally almost perfect. Honestly, just leave the car alone until you have a bit more knowledge . Lighten up a bit on the pedal until you're comfortable and let her rip once in a while. Trust me. 14psi is not as fun as 22psi

 

[serjey15]

So your saying buy it, just dont beat on it, then when I get money get it tuned so I have a low boost and high boost?

Can you tell me what a wideband is, i dont really know what that is.

and what are symptoms of a boost leak so Ill know when I go check out the car

 

[atruepretense]

So your saying buy it, just dont beat on it, then when I get money get it tuned so I have a low boost and high boost?

Can you tell me what a wideband is, i dont really know what that is.

and what are symptoms of a boost leak so Ill know when I go check out the car

Eh sort of. You should never "beat" your car, but you can have some fun with that, that's why you want it right? Honestly, the whole boost thing is not really like that. You don't really need to re-tune it when you're changing boost, but if you make some major changes then yes. I mean, you be the judge. If you go down to lower boost and notice any problems, then you know there is something up. The car has an S-AFC right?

A wideband is a gauge that uses a oxygen sensor that does essentially the same things as your car's O2 sensor. It analyzes the exhaust coming from your car and figures out what the ratio of air to fuel is at that current moment. It's very good to have one because it will tell you if you are running lean or rich accurately. If you are going too lean, then you know you need more fuel, too rich, you need less.

As for symptoms of a boost leak, it usually gives you a bad idle, you car can stall sometimes, you definitely lose power, etc... A boost leak affects a turbo car so much because of the fact that a car is using the MAF to calculate how much air is coming into the engine, a boost leak allows some of that air to escape, therefore the calculations are off.

ok guys its fine ill just stickk with 22psi
Idk when y brother had his first dsm, he had an intake and boost controller, he boosted it to 15psi and just drove it, didnt care about the air/fuel, didnt care about tune, in fact he didnt even know it needed tune, and the engine drove fine, it didnt blow up, just the timing belt broke.

Could I just take it to a tune shop and they can have it tuned on like low boost (14psi) and high boost (22psi)

and are you sure 170psi is good?

My brother said both his talons were 145-150psi across

Well that's a bit of a different story, if he had a completely stock DSM with just a boost controller and better intake filter and pipe, then he was using the stock turbo, which is a 14B for 1Gs and a T-25 for 2Gs.

On a 1G, i'm not too sure how high you can up the boost on it with the stock fuel system. I know on the 2Gs, the T25 runs out, and the fuel runs out around 15-16psi. Go to our tech articles here, look around, and read up. You'll gain some great knowledge about that stuff. I know there are a lot of questions you want answered right now, but this is your first DSM. Read up around here, and you'll learn quick.

My suggestion? Buy the car if you feel it's in good condition (Seems to be), and don't touch it, just drive it. When you have more knowledge, you can go ahead and start tweaking. Get it, and boost away.

 

[serjey15]

thanks dude. Im not planning on boosting it ANY MORE AT ALL! 22psi 320awhp is plenty, I would never go more, I wanna go less boost, but the guy a couple posts up said it will run to rich which is bad, and I have no idea how to use or even know what a s-afc is, I had a vafc for my prelude but never installed it.
I think he has the air fuel mixture thng.
I mean if its showing like 11.4 or something, what does that mean, or if it shows 9.8 what would that mean? Ill look around. But your such a good help I appreciate it all man.

 

[atruepretense]

thanks dude. Im not planning on boosting it ANY MORE AT ALL! 22psi 320awhp is plenty, I would never go more, I wanna go less boost, but the guy a couple posts up said it will run to rich which is bad, and I have no idea how to use or even know what a s-afc is, I had a vafc for my prelude but never installed it.
I think he has the air fuel mixture thng.
I mean if its showing like 11.4 or something, what does that mean, or if it shows 9.8 what would that mean? Ill look around. But your such a good help I appreciate it all man.

An SAFC is a piggyback device that bypasses the signals going from your MAF (Mass air flow) sensor and allows you to tune your car a bit. Up and reducing fuel, and such. The VAFC is almost for the same thing but let's you tune VTEC engagement and such. Oh by the way, running too rich isn't the bad one exactly. I don't wanna be too rich because it will make your car run like shit, but remember the rule. Better to be rich than lean, lean detonates your engine. Rich doesn't really hurt honestly.

If he has a "air fuel mixture" thing, it more than likely is a wideband, as long as it shows an actual number, and not lights pointing to lean or rich. 11.4 is considered rich, and 9.8 I believe is pretty ####ing rich haha.

Remember, the theoretical sweet spot for a/f ratio is 14.7. That is perfect theoretically. Anything higher is leaner, and lower is richer.

It's no problem dude, we're all here to help.

 

[serjey15]

Ok thanks man.
If anything new comes up Ill let you guys know

 

[newTSIguy]

Dam you snaked me kid, j/k but I sent that guy a e mail last night, I was gonna check that car out and probably buy it, of well ill just wait for a good 2g in my price range , I already have a 1g anyway, if you haven't baught it yet, better hurry,

 

[army94e]

my only thought is that i remember being 16 and not having a fast car and still beating the living guts out of it . Its gonna happen so if you do get it, treat her good and shell treat you good, but i have 2 DSM's and they still pull from my pocket ha ha. good luck whatever you do