Power phases??

[1.8laser90]

well i spoke to soon, i blew a radiator hose climbing the mountain today... idk how long it was running without cooloant, it had to of been 10 15 min or so.. the gauge never left middle but there was no coolant to give it a reading soo who knows, it seems ok now but it ###### blew a headgasket

 

[1.8laser90]

well im back home, ran good the way back. Headgasket seems fine. I just ran some sea foam threw it, smoked like a motha but stopped and runs great now. No more misfire so far i haven't driven it much but its gone, hopefully it stays that way. I found some exhaust leaks while it was running that stuff threw it, one is somewhere in the manifold. There was tons of smoke coming from under the heat shield so i guess its cracked somwhere? I guess ill have to get a header sooner than i thought anybody have any ideas on which one i can get ? ive looked and saw that the ones that are for 30 bucks or so on ebay look exactly like the ones for like 130 ? are they basicaly all the same besides 4-1 and 4-2-1 ? The one i get will probly be 4-1 soo any ideas

 

[1.8laser90]

well ive started to order my parts.. i have a decent cold air intake, header and downpipe, and hi flow cat ordered so far.. im waiting to get a Crank pulley and a cat back exhaust.. i ordered the header, CAI, and hi flow cat all for 150 shipped.. I had an estimate on an exhaust, from the cat back to the muffler i curently have on it with 2.5in pipeing for 125.00 which isn't bad. im waiting to get my header and cat installed before i have the rest done.. Can someone tell me how much a ported TB will do for me ? is it worth 125.00 off of ebay for a Profesionaly done one ? thanks for the help

 

[bullettdsm]

It sounds like you are heading in the right direction. Just to make note, do not get a cheapo E-bay UDP. Spend the money on a good AF/X unit. A crappy UDP can ruin your whole engine.

As for the TB, give us the link. Size and professionally done ARE very important. Did they just port out the "hump"? Is it a 55? The problem that I have seen with some of the port jobs is they actually port out too much for the butterfly that they are using. This allows air to get by at idle.

I would say that the TB is a very good "next" step.

Oh yeah, if you get a 55 then you should do a match port on your intake.

MB

 

[VelocitàPaola]

For an N/A car, a bored TB will make a nice difference. A few people I know with them describe the increase in performance as noticeable - they say that the throttle response is much better. 55mm is about the upper limit for the stock TB, and beyond that, you won't notice much more of a difference being N/A anyway.

$125.00 isn't a bad price; I say to go ahead and do it, just make sure the people doing it are reputable. I'm not exactly sure what eBay auction you're looking at, but AF/X (Howell Automotive) does a good job, and Concept Illusions is hit or miss. CI, is however cheaper, and they have good customer service. If someone screws your TB up there, chances are you'll get a refund and a new bored TB.

$125.00 for an exhaust, though, seems awfully cheap. Do you have any clue how this place is going to be making your exhaust? Will they chop up mandrel bends and weld them in place, or do they have a mandrel pipe bender in house? If they're going to use press bends of any kind, I would kindly tell them that you've reconsidered and found a different place to do your exhaust work. You want mandrel bends for any tubing/piping carrying fluids (air... coolant...).

 

[1.8laser90]

For an N/A car, a bored TB will make a nice difference. A few people I know with them describe the increase in performance as noticeable - they say that the throttle response is much better. 55mm is about the upper limit for the stock TB, and beyond that, you won't notice much more of a difference being N/A anyway.

$125.00 isn't a bad price; I say to go ahead and do it, just make sure the people doing it are reputable. I'm not exactly sure what eBay auction you're looking at, but AF/X (Howell Automotive) does a good job, and Concept Illusions is hit or miss. CI, is however cheaper, and they have good customer service. If someone screws your TB up there, chances are you'll get a refund and a new bored TB.

Ok a TB is my next mod... heres the auction, does this place seem pretty good ?

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/95-99-Eclipse-Talon-420a-NT-55mm-Throttle-Body_W0QQcmdZViewItemQQcategoryZ33558QQihZ002QQitemZ120009880010QQrdZ1QQsspagenameZWDVW

125.00 for an exhaust, though, seems awfully cheap. Do you have any clue how this place is going to be making your exhaust? Will they chop up mandrel bends and weld them in place, or do they have a mandrel pipe bender in house? If they're going to use press bends of any kind, I would kindly tell them that you've reconsidered and found a different place to do your exhaust work. You want mandrel bends for any tubing/piping carrying fluids (air... coolant...).

Its a good place, ive gotten all my exhaust work done there, its personally owned and he gives good prices on custom work. Im pretty sure its mandrel bent, but ill double check. As for the crank pulley, why would it kill my engine ? im not to crazy about spending 140 bucks for somthing i can get for 40-50 and get the same amount of gains from it.. does it have to do with balanceing or somthin?

One more question, ive been looking at cams at howell and i was wondering which one i should get. ive heard the first upgrade or w/e is decent but people always want the next step up afterwards ? are cams worth getting with the mods i will have ? thanks alot for your help guys

 

[bullettdsm]

That TB looks to be well done and he mentions the right info. I do like the 55 for street applications. The comments look all positive and they specifically mention the TB and the quality of it. I'd be comfortable with it, though some may mention the price. I beleive that CI's is cheaper but I have had problems (as have others) with his TB's.

As for the UDP, believe me, I would rather spend less (in general) than more. I have an E-bay intake and an e-bay exhaust. I bought my stainless valves off E-bay and I try to do everything "economically". That being said, I reccomend the "good" UDP for the very reason that you state; balancing. You can do a search on UDP's and see the problems that people have had. I have seen the problem first hand of putting an unbalanced pulley on the end of your crank. It will eventually beat it to death. I've been running mine for 2(?) years and felt confident enough to put it on my current engine.

I think you'll like the TB and UDP install,

MB

 

[1.8laser90]

well my cai arrived today. I installed it and everything and it fit very well.. i am very satisfied with it, ive heard that other ebay intakes don't fit to well or are not that great well this one fits perfect, the only thing i had to do was to shorten the rubber boot that goes from the tb to the pipe besides that it fits very well, theres no rubing on the battery which i was afraid of at first but once everything was on it came together very nice.. I reset the battery for about 25 min and hoocked it up and took it for a drive.. and it pulls very nice i could defiantly notice more throttle responce, and does it grawl when the peddles to the floor!!! i mean its scary! and when you first touch the gas it makes this ssssss noice and its sounds like a turbo haha but it sounds awesome.. heres the link for it

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=190006796793

I would recomend this cai its very well worth the 54 bucks shipped, and the people are great to deal with.

Im still waiting for the header and cat, they should be here anytime and the sooner i get that on i can finish my exhaust with the catback..

 

[1.8laser90]

well header and cats on... I drove it right afterwards and got down the road and my check engine light came on.. so i continue driving and i get on it to see how much a diference it made.. its seemed alright not to bad.. well i get back and see that my 02 sensor is broke because it lays to close to my radiator fan... anyways the next day i go out and it runs like like shit, it was missing abit when cold and was smoking blue! all the time except when cruising but i couldn't really see if it was.. so im like ok maybe its running super rich and thats why its smoking alright well i pay 70 bucks for a oem bosch 02 and get some ngk plugs... well i put everthing and reset the ecu.. it runs fine doesn't miss or anything and acc. fine but smokes badly when idleing!! Its never smoked before! it was just all of a sudden it starts pooring smoke out after i install the header and take it for a drive. i could understand if it slowly started to smoke but its not it was juist all of a sudden which tells me somting happend.. im going to do a compression check tomorrow and seee if i can get a leak down test.. but ive beening thinking about rebiulding the topend anyways but not so soon.. my cars been useing alot of oil lately, it didn't smoke and i haven't found any puddles anywhere at all. sooo im clueless! but could it be a ring? if it is i can't rebiuld it, i haven't finished rebiulding my 1.8 because i ran out of money!! so any ideas would be nice... oh i also don't have a check engine light on after replacing the o2 and reseting the ecu.. but all the help i can get will be greatly appreciated

 

[1.8laser90]

well, i did a compression check and its normal.. 180 across the board soo im guessing i need a valve job.. well im gunna get the topend kit from parts dinosaur and do all the timming and water pump also that way everything will be done. im having the head rebiult by this guy who owns his own machine shop, he does very good work and is very well known with drag racers around here. he rebiult the head on my 2.0T also.. does anyone have any tips or anything ? ill ###### start in the next week or soo. ill have to go grap a manual and read up on it before i start... thanks for the help and ill keep u guys updated

 

[1.8laser90]

i just took it to get its oil changed and they said theres oil coming down the back of my engine so im guessing the smokeing is from my headgasket which is getting worse.. ive been told that there is a service bullitin or recal on the headgaskets for the 420a and that i can just take it to the dealer and they will do it for 100 bucks... this was said to me by someone whos had it done already so its no bs but i think im just gunna do it cause theres other stuff that needs done like the timming and the head needs rebiult which i just a got a price for 175 to get the head done so ill have to start tearing it down after i get some of my other projects done.

 

[bullettdsm]

I'm not sure what your goals are right now, but this is a good opportunity to add a little comp by taking some extra off your head. If your head was going to be decked anyway, it should not cost any extra. The rough guesstimate is .005 = .1 comp. I took off .020 and I am using Crower 2 cams. This is also an opportunity to do a port and polish if you care. Again it depends on where you are going with the car now.

MB

 

[1.8laser90]

yes the head is getting decked.. I decked the head on my 1.8 and it made a hell of a diference so im hoping to get the same from the 420a. as for cams and porting i could only save up enough for one of them.. should i get cams or port? porting will probly be abit more and more time consuming so ill probably get cams but i don't know which ones to get for my setup. Is there anywhere cheeper than howell?

 

[1.8laser90]

well guys the head is coming off in the next week.. ive gotten my back up car done and running great (1g eclipse)so im ready to go now.
here are the parts im plan on replacing/ buying while doing the headgasket.

headset and headbolt set from ebay (partsdinasour)
i have one question about the headgasket on this its a mls is it really nesacary? hows just a normal replacment? im looking for performance from this engine and turbo might be in the future.
complete timing set including NEW waterpump and also a new tensioner.
now oil pump. should i replace it now ? is it somthing i should be worried about ? engine currently has a 146k. i found a new one on ebay for 70.
of course the head is getting rebiult and shaved.
i plan on doing the crank pulley now from howell, that way i only have to remove it once and i get new acc. belts with it also so thats a plus

im doing this topend rebiuld by myself and this is my first time tearing into a 420a so its all new to me. i just got done doing the topend on my 4g63 2 weeks ago but thats a totaly difrent engine and it wasnt my first time doing it to a 4g63 so i knew what to do... as for my 420a its looks like hell . Anyone have any pointers, some things not to do and things to do to make it go smoother? i wanna do all the maintance to it now that way its ready for what i wanna throw at it and not have any worries.. ive read my manual on doing this and ive gotten a good grasp on how to but everyone knows haynes isnt the best for descrition. ive also searched but came up with absolutly nothing! idk if the search is not working or what ? i tried everything i could to get atleast somthing... I appreciate the help i get.. i cant wait to start tearing into her and getting her running like NEW AGAIN!

 

[BigRand]

Doing the headwork on a 4g63 isn't that much different, if you pulled the head on it before then you should be fine.

If your looking for performance and turbo is in your future, you might as well go ahead and get the mls gasket now.

I'd say do the oil and water pump if you were doing a bottom end rebuild. Maybe leave the oil pump for now and do the water pump .

But mainly just make sure you've got all new gaskets, and make sure your EGR doesn't come in contact with any wires when your head goes back on.

 

[1.8laser90]

ok thanks,
im going to replace the oil pump now just to get that out of the way. the water pump is on my list for sure. i plan on blocking the the egr. im going to just put a block plate b/w the head and the egr that way everything is still hooked up and it wont throw a code.. but im getting the ecu for the 97 very soon.. if i completely remove the egr system will it throw a code with the the af/x ecu? i think i remember reading somwhere it wont ? thanks for the help!