Hi,
I have been looking at a 1997 Eclipse GST on E-bay. It was 130 000miles and is in Texas. Paint, engine compartment, and interior look flawless. BUT it has 130 000 miles. I talked to the salesman on the phone because I will need to import this car to canada. The bidding ends on Friday. He told me the turbo still boosts great the clutch doesnt slip and the interior is flawless. This will be my first car so its a big purchase. he is going to sell in for 3900... what do you think of this price?? Also he said the only problem is that when you start up the car and allow it to idle for a period of time some white smoke begins to come out of the exhaust but as soon as you start driving he says it goes away instantly...

1. What could this problem be? I had a 3 way call with him and a mitsubishi dealership in Dallas and the mechanic said that on any eclipse w/ more that 70 000miles this is a common problem and all that needs to be changed is the Valve seals.. Is this true?

2. I've also read in another post that someone stated it may be a problem with the turbo? could that be a possibility? it passed the e-test in August, so is this a serious deal or just a minor fix?

Any advice is Much appreciated cuz to tell you the truth I dont have an extra 2000 to throw into a new engine/turbo..

THANKS

 

Any car with over 100k will smoke a bit. Its either the valve seals, rings, or turbo seals. Valve sealse are pretty common expecially in a dohc motor. Theres so many of them. If its the turbo seals its a pretty quick fix and fairly cheap. Now if its the rings thats antoher story. With a performance car you get what you pay for, personally If you dont have alot of money to drop in a car dont get it. Things will break. But if you have a steady job and dont mind stuff breaking once in a while do it, its a good price and a really fun car. Just try to keep it under 100

 

Yeah it sounds like it needs new valve stem seals. However according to Consumer Reports the 1997 year eclipses got a bad rating. it is the year that is most likly to get crank walk but it's your money not mine.

 

Does this problem with the smoke also happen on the GS/RS?? also you mentioned the consumer report for the 97 having the crank walk.... was this problem fixed in 1998??

 

Also because of the mileage on this car...do you think that in the near future a turbo replacement will be needed.

 

I thinkk at 130K the stock T25 has prob. been well spent ...Time fore a 16G. and I always thought crankwalk was affected in all 7Bolts or they all had a chance for it to happen. not sure though

 

miles dont matter as much as what happened to the car during those miles and how it was driven. You dont know and are just trusting what he tells you. I wouldnt buy a car that smokes no matter how many miles it has, its only going to be going down hill, but thats just me. with such a cheap price expect to put some more money into it. Why not fly up there and test drive it/have an inspection done on it? Id say its worth it.

 

i dont know if the im test up there make him im the car and show u the result that can tell you what it is doing.

 

Someone mentioned earlier the problem w/ mitsu eclipse gst in 97 having the crankwalk....was this fixed in 98...also is this smoking problem common in all eclipse models over 100 000miles or just the Turbo models?

 

Well the turbo seal on the T25 at that point may be shot, my Buddy has 135k on his T25 and it leaks oil and burns it up a bit. You pull the intake off and there is quit a bit of oil in the pipe. I think the 97-99 were less prone to crank walk but still could I may be wrong.

As stated before if the car smokes expect to put in some $$ to get it running right. Also my buddy needed new vavle seals at 100k it was leaking oil up threw the spark plugs into the top of the valve cover and burning there as well. I wouldnt but a car that smokes and has 130K on it without looking at it and driveing it. Hell I wouldnt car at a car even if it was new without driving it first. that is just me though