thinking of buying 1995 eagle talon tsi. i have questions

[caseyk]

my friends wants to buy this 1995 eagle talon tsi awd, it has 76,000. he's asking 3800 but my friend is gonna trade his 1999 Honda civic ex for it. its been sitting for a couple months, he took it to a machenic and got a new timing belt, water pump, and a new head put on it. he was telling me and my friend that it doesnt seem as strong as it use to be. Could it be because its been sitting for a while, timing, etc...?

 

[r1991_4g63t]

could be alot of things causing it but sitting is not one of them

 

[DGajre777]

my friends wants to buy this 1995 eagle talon tsi awd, it has 76,000. he's asking 3800 but my friend is gonna trade his 1999 Honda civic ex for it. its been sitting for a couple months, he took it to a machenic and got a new timing belt, water pump, and a new head put on it. he was telling me and my friend that it doesnt seem as strong as it use to be. Could it be because its been sitting for a while, timing, etc...?

I'd ask for receipts for the timing belt and waterpump and find out exactly why it needed a new head. As for it not being as strong as it used to be - that could be something as simple as a boost leak or something big like loss of compression or the mechanic fk'd up the timing belt job. Do you know if a compression check been done?

 

[the_mork]

It could be, and by that I mean it might have some buildup in the injectors but most likely it isn't. To me it seems most likely that this is a matter of a boost leak which is fairly common on these cars and also fairly easy to test for just do a search for "boost leak test". If you think it may be a boost leak this is absolutely not something to worry about.

Other options that you should check for are compression and problems with the turbo.

To check compression you will need a compression tester and the instruction booklet or someone who knows how to use it, these are fairly cheap, easy to use, and a test you should perform on just about any car you are looking at buying. Search "compression test" to be sure but I believe that accepted values are 160-180psi but most importantly that the numbers be close together for all the cylinders.

Checking the turbo is pretty easy, undo the hose clamp that holds the rubber intake snorkel onto the turbo and pull it off of the inlet, look inside and you should see fins. The fins in the turbo should be pit free and clean looking, now reach in and grab the nut on the end of those fins with your fingers and see if it wiggles, a small amount of side to side play is acceptable but any in and out play means the turbo is going bad, the fins should also not come into contact with the housing anywhere.

 

[caseyk]

Well my friend looked at the 1995 eagle talon tsi awd and the reason why it had no power is that it was rotted to h#ll. The only time the boost would kick in is at 6000 to 6500 rpms.
We only got to 3rd gear on a mile long road. We only got to 60mph on a 1 mile road. OUCH! that car was super slow. His 1999 honda civic ex is way faster than that car (which is really sad to say since they are RICE) After he got on it we stopped the car to check the motor and it was making a wierd noise from the anti-freeze hose.So we started our way back to his house and it took forever to start and when it finally did it sounded like it was going to die really bad. We thought it was going to break down on the way back. Trust me though he told me he will never buy it. WE WERE ALL DISAPPOINTED!!!! We drove for an hour to drive a POS TSI. He told me that he would rather have his civic for now until he can find a GOOD tsi awd.

 

[giovanniv]

Well i guess it's a good thing that you didn't buy it. Just wait and be patient and the right one will come up sooner or later.

 

[AiR]

If I had to guess I would say the timing is off or a bad boost leak, or both

 

[caseyk]

yea i asked him if the rpms dropped from pressing in the clutch from idle and he said it did, wouldnt that mean crankwalk which i have read on this forum it is?
we did like 20-60mph in like 12-14 seconds then got off. the talon pretty much had a open downpipe. it was pretty loud but sounded kinda nice.
But yea were gonna keep lookin for a talon tsi awd for him until we find a decent one that runs good.

 

[dsmmaniac12787]

My rpm's dropped like that right before my act went out. The springs were shattered. Replaced it and the rpm thing went away.

 

[the_mork]

Could be a missing cylinder too, a $2 spark plug might fix the whole problem.

It sounds exactly like there is no boost at all getting to the motor or the car isn't counting it. If you still want to trouble shoot it then make a boost leak tester and try it, if there isn't a major boost leak (as in a missing intercooler pipe) then it could easily be a maf problem that either the maf isn't plugged in or the maf is bad.

I've had a similar experience with no more problem than a broken vacuum line.

 

[caseyk]

well he decided not to get it. but thanks you to all of you guys for the help though.

 

[MichaelSuch]

Could be the old, bad gas causing part of the problem. But your friend were to buy it would need work done to it either way it sounds like.