Please help troubleshoot my 99 eclipse gst

[husker3in4]

I bought this car new in 1999, all stock equipment, has 167,000 miles. Its been a great car but have been having some issues and not sure what they mean. I cant afford to just start throwing money at it hoping to fix it with each attempt, so I was hoping for some insight from you experts on this forum. Some of my problems (unsure if they are related to each other or not):

■ Black smoke from exhaust
■ Burns some oil (a little less than a quart per 3000 miles)
■ "Chugs" or "cuts out" when flooring accelerator, but otherwise accelerates fine.
■ CEL that always reads "Cylinder 1 misfire". Plugs and wires have been changed, coil packs tested out ok.
■ Idles high (2000-3000 rpm) only on hot humid days.

Despite these issues, the car runs pretty well and gets good mpg on the highway (abt 30) although in town mileage is not very good (estimated less than 20mpg). Im thinking that the fuel:air ratio is messed up, but why I dont know. Fuel injectors? O2 sensor?

Help please!

 

[BurrowZ]

Has the turbo ever been replaced?

All stock equipment, from the sounds of it you have a boost leak and your stock plastic BOV is more than likely leaking.

 

[Abe'sGST]

Has the turbo ever been replaced?

All stock equipment, from the sounds of it you have a boost leak and your stock plastic BOV is more than likely leaking.

^^+2...I would also go ahead and do a compression test, which will let you know more about the condition your engine is.

 

[Doubleot]

I would think something to do with the turbo is the oil burning. Is it the stock t25 still? I'd take the intake pipe off and check for shaft play (in&out ,side to side). For the high idle I would check the tps, and the Biss screw on the TB. Make sure they are adjust correctly, IIRC on idle the tps should be .65v and while full throttle should be 5.0v. You can check this with a multimeter. There should be a thread on here explaining how to do it exactly, I use Dsmlink to properly adjust mine.

What kind of spark plugs are you using? The correct ones for our cars are Ngk bpr7es or 6es. 7's are just a step colder for running more boost. If you are still all stock stick with the bpr6es gapped to .028.

 

[FirstDSMTimer]

black smoke means its burning extra fuel, white smoke is coolant, blue smoke is oil. The injector for cylinder one could cause it to misfire and cause the black smoke.

 

[husker3in4]

Its still the stock turbo. I dont think its the BOV, I replaced it and it made no difference. Im not very mechanically inclined, but the BOV was pretty easy. Is the compression test what will test for boost leak? Does any mechanic place do that? What do they usually charge for that?

Sorry for my ignorance, but what does TPS and TB stand for?

Thanks guys!

 

[Abe'sGST]

No a compression test does not help find a boost leak. I know an auto shop can do compression tests but if you ask to do a boost leak test they will be likeWTF...I am strongly suspecting that your turbo is bad or that your piston rings may be on their way out. check your turbo for shaft play and to do a compression test you need a gauge, if you don't know much about cars I would ask a friend that may know how to do a compression test, it's pretty easy. Good luck.

 

[husker3in4]

Thanks for your reply. If the turbo is indeed going bad, does it affect anything negatively other than not having that extra punch on acceleration? what I mean is, if I choose not to replace it, will it hurt my cars reliability? The piston rings possibly going bad sounds expensive, is it? What does a compression test usually run?

 

[Abe'sGST]

Yes, it could be your problem for your oil consumption. If you plan on staying stock, you could find the t-25 turbo for very cheap here in the classifieds. If your piston rings are bad, yes it can be quite expensive to fix, you will need an engine rebuild. A compression test will help you find out if your rings are bad. I can't tell you how much it will cost for a compression test, I can't imagine it being too expensive, it only takes like 10-15min to do at the longest.

 

[Mitch41]

I think I would solve the misfire problem first... Which can be due to an injector causing the problem.
After that, I would proceed through the other things.
Personally i would consider half a quart of oil per oil change is nothing. I've dumped 2 quarts of oil into my Saturn over an oil change. It still starts every day and gets 45 mpg without a problem.

 

[husker3in4]

Ive run alot of fuel injector cleaner through there, what is my next move? Is there some place I can take it to have it cleaned with a machine? or do I have to buy new ones?

 

[hiwinder]

1 quart per 3k miles is normal or good for anything with 167k.
black smoke is a guaranteed fuel problem.
since you are getting Cylinder 1 misfire, and the ignition is good, that only leaves the #1 injector as the culprit.

If it were mine, I would replace all the injectors, before checking anything else.
a bad injector can cause major damage if you keep driving it.

 

[husker3in4]

Thats sound advice, but injectors are kinda pricey. Is it possible to have it repaired for less cost?

 

[hiwinder]

You can find stock tested injectors on eBay for $20, if you want to just buy 1.
This will work, and as long as you aren't modding the car, it will most likely be fine if you drive sensibly, and verify that the cel code is gone.

However, I have learned the hard way, DSM's are expensive beoches. When it comes to repairs, do it right the first time, or you always pay at some time later.

When you melt a piston due to a lean injector, you will regret not getting a whole set that has been tested for equal distribution.

Sorry, but thats the price we pay for forced induction.

 

[bryanwheat]

Pull the plugs and look at the color of them. You can easily tell if you have a bad injector that way. They should all be the same color. You can also send them off and have them flow tested for relatively cheap. Throwing parts at a problem is never a good way to fix something unless you know that it is actually bad.

Also burning a quart of oil between oil changes is not normal at all. There are plenty of perfectly healthy engines out there with that king of mileage that don't burn oil. If it were a nissan engine i would call it normal, but these engines aren't big oil burners unless there is a problem.

To me it sounds like you have a boost leak which will cause it to run like crap when you floor it and cause it to run rich and smoke.

 

[hiwinder]

agreed, pull the plugs, that should identify a bad injector. Hadn't thought of that.
my 2 cents, I wouldnt rule out a boost leak completely, but I don't understand how a boost leak would cause a consistent cylinder 1 misfire code.?? it just dos-n't add up for me? although I honestly have not had many boost leak issues.

 

[caseclipsegst]

Im sure he meant to do the boost leak test cause the car is cutting out during acceleration..not the misfire