Thinking about buying a 92 Mitsu Eclipse GS.. help please :)

[Diabolus]

Just need to know the reliability of this car, and what I should look out for. It's an automatic (I need one, freaking 45 mile commute one way to work in stop-and-go traffic), with 88k miles and seems in good condition from the inside and out from pictures.

I'm going to see it this weekend so if anybody has any advice please let me know as soon as possible, and what to be on the lookout for. I know some general mechanics but if there's something complicated, I'd appreciate if you can give me a more detailed description

Thanks everybody, much obliged. If the car is everything I think it might be, I'm sure I'll be posting here a lot more often asking questions

Thanks again!

 

[Aikouka]

Drive the car, and see how it feels. Also check the timing belt to see if it needs to be replaced, because if you don't do it yourself, that can be a somewhat costly job. Just bring a 23mm socket, extension and socket to turn the crankshaft pulley, and a 10mm socket to take the top timing belt cover off. Then look at it, and then rotate (clockwise) so you can look at more. With an interference engine, you can never be too careful over a timing belt.

Also, just make sure the accessories work. If it has AC, see if it's cold. If not, it'll need a recharge or possibly some of the AC components need to be replaced. Does the heater work? I doubt you want to turn that thing on in the summer, but in the winter, you'll be hitting yourself if you find out that it doesn't work. And trust me, DSMs get hot quick, so it doesn't take long for that air to get hot .

Also, you can try checking some of the hoses in the engine bay, but those are minor fixes even if you do buy the car. To check a hose, you can visibly look for cracks or just try and squeeze it. A rubber hose SHOULD be able to be pinched down. If the hose is hard, save yourself the trouble later, and just replace it. I did the same to one of my TB coolant hoses, the thing was hard as a rock, so I just pulled another off of an extra TB that I had. A nice rubbery-feeling hose.

I can't really think of too much more to babble on. Good luck, and get that DSM (if it's good, that is.)

 

[Diabolus]

Do you have any pictures of where the timing belt would be located so I don't go looking like a jackass when I'm looking it over?

Otherwise, does this model have any inherent problems in the tranny or elsewhere that I should be made aware of? I need a reliable car to transport me back and forth from work and I'm probably going to sink a few bucks into it so I have a decent stereo (no real 'system' but speakers and an amp) and make it look cosmetically nicer.

Would appreciate any information you can give, as I don't want to blow any cash on this (obviously)

Thanks again for your help.

 

[Aikouka]

This site details the parts of a turbo DSM engine. The only differences will be the intake piping, the turbo (obviously ) and a few other minor things such as vacuum lines.

http://members.shaw.ca/dsm.1000q/Engineprimer/text-index.htm

I haven't heard anything bad about the automatic, but make sure that it was serviced on time! Automatics HATE being run long without a fluid change, and if you change the fluid late, they tend to just break down faster than if you left it alone.