okay guys my 97 gst crapped out on me again. i have lost compression in cylinder number one and its leaking into my block and only holding about 15% of what it should be. i had a mechanic look at it and to rebuild this properly he said it would be a few grand like 4 or 5. i am getting tons of blue smoke at idle and it really feels like it has lost power. i am parking it in my garage until i can either sell it or rebuild it. do you have to drop the motor out of the car to do a complete rebuild? i probably cant do it myself is why im wondering. is there anything i should do to prep my car for sitting for a few months? it has about 1/3 tank of gas let me know guys thanks for the help. another sad day [/align]

 

sounds like a head gasket to me. I would get a second opinion, because that price is rediculous

 

yeah that price is outstanding. buy a used motor and drop it in. its not that hard to to do a engine swap. even if u dont know a crap loud about cars.

 

well the mechanic i took it to did the leak down test to figure that out and he said we could redo just like the piston rings and gaskets for less but it would eventually break down in about a year. this motor was rebuilt 24 months ago and i thought it would last longer. i dont know at this point if im going to sell it or fix it. i still owe 4800 dollars on it so if i can sell it i wouldnt be making anything. i guess it would be smart to have another mechanic look at it. what would you guys do? fix it or sell it. i have already spent 12g's on this 5 g car and thats excluding this rebuild/engine swap

 

Do u have a 6 bolt, b/c it might be a good time to do a swap.

 

that price is rediculous. engine swaps are easy if you have a friend to help every once in a while. would take a few weeks if ya dont really know what your doing and take your time. you can get a fully built engine and head for 4-5k.. and drop it in yourself. what i would do is find another shop to check it out. honestly... even if the rings are bad and blahablahblah... you could always find a perfectly good stock engine for around a grand tops. and be on your merry way. don't get rid of the car.... if it were me... i would bull the engine put it on a stand and tear that bitch down and go from there... take lots of pictures if you don't have a photo memory like me and can't remember how to put **** together. all you really NEED to do first before pulling your motor, i would just pull the head off to see wtf is going on. could be only minor damage. dont let some dumbass mechanic tell you that kinda ****... it would be cheaper if you shipped it to my house n back and had me fix it. that price is just stupidly way too high. good luck with your car man.

 

well thank you guys for your opinions my gf just got a 2000 audi a6 2.7t so im not in a giant hurry to fix it and can save up some money. i love my eclipse but i dont want this to happen every two years. i dont know how i could have this bad of luck this engine in the car now is its 3rd and if i get a 6 bolt it would be the 4th engine. its crazy and ya right now its a 7 bolt. well thanks again and if anyone else has opinions im still open. i will probably keep the car take some auto classes at school mayberebuild it myself with some upgraded parts. and TE there is a little oil coming out between the head and the block as well does that necessarly tell ya anything?

 

I think TE is right, its probably a head gasket. Do a dry and wet compression test and that will tell you if you need rings or not.

 

yeah def sound like a head gasket. replace it and see what happens. and if that oesnt work. jsut get a 6 bolt.

 

if there is oil coming out it is almost surely a headgasket... i would say pull the head, if that is the problem then you can replace that and hope all is good. (after you resurface the head and allthat of course). but, any one of us with the knowhow can walk you thru a headgasket replacement.