Hi Folks. Noob with a couple of quick questions on what to look for on a car I'm thinking about buying. It's a 98GST with about 75K miles on the rollers. Couple easy questions...

I hear of the timing belt problems with these engines - is it on the turbo, or only the NA that they used an interference valve train? (WTF were they thinking?)

What should I look for engine wise to know if this thing is going to hold up or not. Any advice is appreciated. I already figure on doing a compression test, but aside from that, I'm not familiar with Mitsu engines so aside from the obvious, I'm out of ideas. If someone can point out the quirks for me that would be great.

Thanks a bunch!

 

Okay you can find this all over this forum by using the search bar. But im bored... and im feeling nice so i will type it all out : )

When inspecting the car look for the following:

1) Check the oil cap for2 things. Sniff it for a gas smell... and look under the cap for a white goop. If you find white goop.. walk away.
2) Look around the top of the valve cover gasket. If you see a lot of oil that has leaked out of it, the car has been driven enthusiastically...not a bad thing.. but its just nice to know.
3) Check the oil dip stick. Ask the owner when he changed the oil...then get a paper towel and wipe the dip stick clean.. it should be a golden brown. If the owner says it was changed recently and its like black.... hes a lieing little f uck... and walk away.
4) Look for smoke coming from the exhaust on start up and under load (when driving). To make sure... start it when its cold. When warm... rev it up to about 5k and look for smoke. NOTE: a little black smoke under acceleration is normal.
5) Look for an oddly clean engine bay. If you see a random clean spot... then beware. Some people like myself are just OCD about cleaning... so it may just be nothing.
6) There might be a little tick in the top of the engine. This is nothing to worry about so dont be scared : )

Things to look out for when driving the car:

1) Remember to hit every single gear including reverse. Dont be scared about a little grind into reverse... its normal.
2) When in fifth gear go full throttle to check for clutch slip
3) Take it to redline a couple times : ) Make sure the owner is okay with it... dont want to **** him off

Remember to ask for all reciepts and proof of any work done etc...

 

good write-up sebba. This thread may need to get pinned

 

Thanks Sebba - it was more of the specific stuff like the leak around the valve cover that I'm unaware of with these cars.

 

Yeah thats a big teller. My moms GST had NO valve cover leakage... until i first drove it lol.

I dont think its something that would make me walk away from a sale... but its nice to know.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/Mitsu...spagenameZWDVW

Right there ^^^ is a car that has been babied. Not a speck on the valve cover.

http://www.automotiveforums.com/jaco...M%20Engine.JPG

That one ^^^ has been beaten to absolute ****. See the oil?

 

i didnt catch the "oddly clean engine bay" part... why is that bad?

 

Like... if you see one random clean patch?

 

One other recommendation, drive it over a few bumps (railroad crossing would be nice). At 75,000 suspension is probably all original. Eclips has a fixed ball joint on all three of the suspension parts. When they wear out, replacement is about your only option. Not a major expense such as an engine, and not a hard job, but the 4 eclipes we test drove all had bad suspensions. Of course they all had 120,000 + miles.

 

yea... does that mean that they cleaned that spot really well to cover up something?

 

No it means that work was recently done... possibly big problems