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Should I let go of my Eclipse?

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MeteorBurn

Proven Member
53
10
Jan 9, 2016
Columbia, Maryland
Hello guys,

I haven't frequented these forums all that much, but I have gone here for advice on doing my timing belt, fixing my water leaks, and bleeding my brakes.

Unfortunately, the car has had a serious oil leak since I bought it. I did some diagnosis and found the head gasket is leaking at the driver side rear corner.

I do all the work on my family's cars (my personal car is a 1996 mercury cougar), and I can do simple to moderate difficulty repairs. However, since I have a family member who relies on this car, I figured that it would be best to have a mechanic look at it first. It's the first opinion, but according to the mechanic its got a leak from both the head gasket and the rear main seal.

I would keep driving it otherwise, but the leak drips onto the exhaust and smokes pretty badly.

I'm pretty attached to it, I just got the A/C repaired, along with replacing front and rear brakes and inner/outer tie rods myself. Last year I did a timing belt job on it.

I'm just not sure what to do. I'd hate to let it rot in a junkyard, but I'm not sure I can handle both of those repairs if do them myself, assuming what the mechanic says is accurate (I'm not convinced about the rear main seal). Mechanic says car is not worth it. Repairs would be upwards of 2k.

The engine has just over 100k on it, not much at all. Paint is good, besides a few dents and dings. It's a 1998 RS.

Should I just ground the car and find another while I make this one a project? Sell it to a forum member who'd be willing to buy it and fix it up? Take it to another shop for a 2nd opinion? I just don't know what to do. I'd just feel really sad if it went to a junkyard cause I didn't have the skills to fix it. Mechanics are just not economical. Since I'm on my summer break, I'd only have about a month left to fix it if I tried myself.

If you DSM gurus could give me some advice, I'd really appreciate it. Heck, if someone could help me out with fixing these repairs myself that'd be wonderful.
 
I'd tackle the project myself. With the exception of having the head machined (if it even needs it), the rest of the head gasket job is extremely simple and parts are relatively inexpensive.

As for the rear main, it's possible that it's leaking... But how severe it is would be something to look at once the head gasket is addressed. This job does require dropping the tranny to access the seal, but again parts are not all that expensive.

I personally would tackle the job, a month is more than enough time to knock it out.
 
If you get a chiltons/Haynes and/or a FSM from here, and take a weekend or two, you could easily perform the work with some standard tools. An engine lift and jack/jack stands would be required, but that would cut the parts cost down to a couple hundred bux.

Personally, I wouldn't save an rs unless I was doing a swap or custom project, but if its sentimental to you, I'd say save it.
 
Fix it for sure. 100K is nothing for a 420A you should be able to get 200K out of it at least before having serious issues

When you do the head gasket you'll want to shorten the head bolt that goes on rear driver side about 4 threads to keep it from bottoming out.

The main seal is cheap and should only be a one day project. Just pull the trans, replace the seal and re-install. If you have a Service Manual and regular tools youll be able to get it. One wrench you may not have is a 22MM
 
Those cars are worth absolutely nothing, especially in bad condition. However, if you like the car then go for it. It won't cost that much to buy a head gasket and a rear main seal plus the fluids that you'll have to change. You just have to be willing to do the work.
 
Thanks for the advice guys. I'm currently fixing up a few things on my other cars but I'll be getting back around to this one shortly.
Maybe I can take the time and start with the head gasket first.
 
Thanks for the advice guys. I'm currently fixing up a few things on my other cars but I'll be getting back around to this one shortly.
Maybe I can take the time and start with the head gasket first.
Do you still have the car? How did this story end? Any thoughts about the head gasket bolts?

Oh geez, I'm in this same dilemma with this cool, old classic street Spyder of mine. Been driving it and fixing it through mechanics (hubby used to fix his own cars, do head gasket jobs in the 70s) since 2005. SO now it's the head gasket, not pricey, but the STRETCH BOLTS to do the job are a 2 week wait and are $100 bucks a piece, and we need 10 of 'em. It's a dilemma. I have it posted on Craigslist and have an interested buyer (Michigan) who wants to come close to the posted price for it, but should I save it. These comments are helpful, as we work to decide.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
Yeah, apologies to everyone for not actually posting what was my conclusion, often a bad habit of mine whenever I get advice for issues with any of my cars. Things get in the way and usually I forget to post what went on, but I have been still been lurking for the past couple years or so. Wall of text warning.

Anyways, we still have the car and I am kinda sad to see that I was unsure of keeping it around back then. I was going to college at the time and was on summer break and my experience with repairs was still somewhat limited, and my sister needed the car for daily use so attempting the repair myself while not impossible was not very appealing time or skill wise.

Me and my sister decided that we just didn't want to give it up, so I called around and after talking to about 5 or 6 different shops, some of which just flat out refused to work on it, we found an indy shop that specialized in Mercedes/BMW's that actually gave a very fair price for doing both the head gasket and rear main seal. They were very cool and understanding about it and clearly ran a tight ship so I went ahead and let them handle it.

Unfortunately, the car went back several times for leaking oil again. Each time they found the valve cover gasket to be leaking, replaced it, and then it would be leaking again the next time I glanced at it. I got tired of taking it to them so I did it myself (properly) and also dealt with a leak from the camshaft position sensor o-ring as well which ended up being caused by no RTV on the camshaft end cap. The last gasket they put on, it was split visibly in 3 or 4 spots so I really don't know what was giving them so much trouble.

It still weeps a bit of oil along the passenger side rear of the engine but I never got around to tracing it out. I suspect it's because they didn't put any RTV on the camshaft caps near the camshaft gears. I only add a small amount of oil between changes, so I just decided to live with it for now. Having done a variety of repairs on my other cars since then and accumulating more tools, I would absolutely attempt it now. It has actually been quite reliable since then, it's getting a little crusty near the rear rockers and the clear coat is failing in some spots, but otherwise just basic maintenance/repairs is all it's needed. It's got about 140K on it now.

TLDR; I would keep the car because I feel as though most older non-classic (80/90s) cars really don't have a place anywhere anymore and if they are not used as a beater they end up just rotting in a junkyard. But it also all depends on what you want to do with it. Practicality-wise, no old car is a super fantastic idea, but we all keep fighting on with them because we enjoy them at the end of the day and we are not interested in their blue book value or whatever nonsense. It doesn't have to be valuable on paper to be valuable to you. As for the head bolts I mentioned the concern to the shop, they claim they used an updated bolt set direct from chrysler, but to be 100% honest I kinda doubt the new bolts were any different. Just taking a peek at rockauto you have plenty of good choices I would use, the shipping date is not surprising but I am not sure why they are 100 a piece, that's ridiculous.
 
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