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Road trip tips

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Krivis126

Probationary Member
12
0
Aug 11, 2022
Kaunas, Europe
Hello, recently me and my buddies decided to do a roadtrip around poland, around 3k km and im thinking about taking my eclipse. Recently ive rebuilt its engine, serviced its suspension, but im still not very confident in its ability to do this. Any tips for anyone who has done something similar in their 1g?
 
As long as your car is in great mechanical shape just keep an eye on oil pressure/water temps. I did 3k+ KM road trips in my turbo AWD 1G back when my wife was in Academy/College and it took it like a champ. Up steep mountain roads if I boosted a lot, it would use a little coolant, but that was the only thing(and it was a pre-existing issue).

If you're not confident in it, don't do it. It may leave you stranded or break even worse.
 
I've daily driven mine for years and taken 5-10 hr road trips without issue. If you rebuilt it very recently and haven't driven it much that would be my biggest concern. If there happened to be a clearance issue on the rebuild normally it will show up within the first 500 or so miles but it won't always show up immediately unless it was extremely critical. If you are confident in your rebuild skills I wouldn't worry though. I'm just not sure of your skill level.

I have a box with spare belts and electrical accessories (Ignitor, coil pack, ecu) I carry with me in the back in case of emergency (Ignitor, coil pack, ecu). Havent had to break into the box yet thankfully. If you daily the car now and there are no issues you shouldn't have any issues on a road trip generally. Its less stressful on a car to maintain speed than it is to be stopping and starting a bunch in a short trip.
 
Nothing like being stranded because you have an oil-soaked or rotten coolant hose that decided it was time to go. Same with the serpentine belt. Hopefully you replaced all those when you rebuilt it. I always try to carry some extra tools, at least a gallon of water, some engine oil, and make sure the spare tire is good to go. Obviously check all your fluids before you leave.

I definitely did some mountain road trips pre-kids and it was a blast. Never had any major issues (knock on wood). Kids are teens now so maybe time to plan another DSM road trip!
 
There's no doubt that you should look hard at the car before heading out.

We recently took a 2k mile trip in our DSM and we made sure that the systems that would be difficult to service on the road, were also examined along with typical belt, brake, and fluid service.

In our case that included the cooling system (flush, thermostat, temp sensors and coolant), the AC system (condenser, drier, compressor, new hoses and vac/fill) and suspension (new control arms, wheel bearings and alignment).

The things that acted up were warping the brake rotors in hot, rush hour traffic, the biss screw vibrating to a new position, and a still small leak in the AC system. But none of those were enough to make us worry about being on the road each day.

If you want, you can read more about our trip here:

Check over your car and enjoy your trip!
 
I took my dsm on a 1.7k mile road trip from Tuesday morning to Wednesday night. To be honest I had no extra tools or parts. The only problem I ran into was almost running outta gas LOL. But apparently there was a gas station before the nearest one on GPS.
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