Hi,

I'm having problems trying to change the factory air filter on my Eclipse GT V6 2006.

The repair manual isn't much help and just says to unclip the housing and replace the air filter!

When I unclip the air element housing there doesn't seem to be any room to lift off the housing and no room to lift out the air filter element to replace.

The only way I see I can remove it is to disconnect all the small bore vacuum pipes and the main air duct between the air filter case and the throttle body further back...but this seems a lot of work just to replace the filter.

Am I missing something that makes this easier?

Thanks for any assistance

 

I've done this twice on my sister's 2008 GT. You need to unscrew the 3-4" rubber intake pipe from the filter housing and pull it off a bit. I also removed the resonator because it gets in the way, it's a little plastic container on the side of the pipe. That's the only way I was able to open up the filter container so that I could pull the filter element out of there. Just be careful with the rubber intake pipe, so that you don't damage it - it's a tight fit. Good luck.

EDIT: It's your lucky day, hope this clears up any confusion.

 

Thanks a lot. Much appreciated. You've confirmed my suspicions on exactly how to do this.

Why the official service manual suggests a simple unclip of the air filter housing to replace the filter is beyond me!

While I'm here...Have you checked/re-adjusted the intake valve clearances on your sister's car? My schedule suggests to check at 36K I think (The exhaust valves are auto adjusting according to the official repair manual but the intake valves need to be done by hand.) Just wondering how easy/difficult this is?

Thanks again for the reply on changing the air filter and the useful photo guide!

 

I was thinking of doing it, but it seems like a big pain in the ***. Why Miitsubishi decided to use hydraulic lifters on only half of the engine, is beyond me. Most forums that I checked suggest that the valves do not need any adjustment - not necessary.

If you wanted to do it, you would have to remove the Intake Plenum in order to get access to the Right Bank of the Engine (the side that's next to the windshield), and in order to remove the Intake Plenum(aside from a bunch of wires and hoses) you also need to remove the Strut Brace. I mean it doesn't sound that hard to do and there are some guides online which are very helpful, but I don't know if it's worth doing at 36k.

Our car is at 59k, and I'm thinking of doing some major work at 60k as part of the mile stone. Some things that are on my list are: Power Steering Fluid, Transmission Fluid and maybe the Valve Clearance (but I would only do it if the spark plugs need to be changed). And I'm still trying to figure out what Spark Plugs are in this car and for how many miles they are rated.

 

I wasn't sure whether it was worth bothering to do or just leaving till it was more convenient while servicing something else, like the timing belt at the same time. The guy at the dealership said it should be done at 60K and he's seen Mitsu belts snap soon after this. I don't know if the Eclipse belt holds up longer but the manual gives ambiguous recommendations based on California laws etc and up to 60k-105K. Are you doing your timing belt?

My Eclipse uses those new NGK Iridium plugs. They're meant to be good past 100K as they wear down very slow. I know my platinums in my Honda last at least 70K so I'm sure these Iridium's should go the distance.

I have the full official Eclipse 2006 Service and Repair Manual in soft form. PM me if you want to know how to get a copy.

 

I just checked the Maintenance Manual under the Regular Use, and it says the Timing Belt along with Iridium Spark Plugs is good until 105,000. And because I don't have the tools to do it, I'll hold off till 100k. One thing I did notice is it talks about changing the Engine Coolant at 60k, doesn't this car have long life coolant? I thought those usually lasted until 100k.

So now my list includes Power Steering, Tranmission, Valve Clearance, and possibly Coolant.

 

The coolant only lasts 4 years from brand new. After that you're meant to change every 2 years no matter what the miles.

I've learned by bad experience not to leave the coolant more than about 3 years between ongoing replacement. It will go very acidic over time and reak havoc on the internals if left too long. Time is just as important as miles when it comes to coolant. Those so called 5 year/150K long life coolants don't last that long in reality.

You need to remove the drain plugs on the cylinder blocks to flush out all the coolant as well as the radiator which is a bit of a pain.

With the power steering I would say it's fine to just suck out as much of the old fluid from the filler/container using a brake vacuum hand tool and refilling with fresh fluid every few years or so. Trying to flush out all the fluid from the steering rack is not worth it.


Draining and filling the manual Transaxle was easy. I have no idea for the auto tran.

The service list gets longer!

 

Alright, well it's been 3 years since the Fall of 2007 (the car is an '08), so I'l definitely include the Coolant. I feel like the Right Bank will be the hardest to drain, since the drain plug is all the way under the Intake Plenum.

Do you recommend that I use a Flush from Prestone(that soap-like liquid that supposedly cleans everything out)? And would it cause any problems if I filled up the system through my water hose instead of distilled water, just to flush everything out? I won't keep this water inside for long, just to activate the cleaner and then to flush it out. So it will be two fill ups of plain water.

About the Power Steering(I read the service manual for the procedure). I might as well do a complete flush, since I'm gonna be taking out the spark plugs as part of the Valve Clearance adjustment. The manual says to crank the engine with the Ignition Coils unplugged, in order to drain the remaining fluid.

When it finally comes time to replace the Timing Belt, what else do I need to replace? I know you need to do the Water Pump(since you're already there), and I heard some mechanics recommend the tensioner. Is that it? Also, if I've never done a Timing Belt change, and I don't have an impact gun(but I am considering of getting an electric one), how difficult would it be? I know the procedure is a bit complicated, but it seems doable, and it will be a great learning experience.

 

If it's only 3 years old then you're fine for 1 more year. A brand new car can go 4 years on the initial coolant as the internals are so new and clean initially. The schedule recommends every 2 years to flush and change after that, but you're probably safe going 3 years, but def no more.
Yes, that should be fine. I would use the pre-mixed 50/50 stuff for the final fill as they use distilled water in the packaged coolant. Prestone is fine for flush or refill. I've used it many times no problem.

Yes, that's fine but I've never bothered completely draining power steering fluid as it seems like a little too much hassle for me. I'm also worried about running the pump dry while it continues to turn. So I just suck out what's in the filler and refill that. It's normally replacing at least 50% of the capacity each time and I do this about every 50K/5 years on past cars without any issues to the steering pump. I've never had to replace a pump and I've done 160K+ on all my past cars.

I've done the timing belt on several Hondas and the hardest part is getting the pulley bolt off. Even with my Milwaukee electric impact driver rated at 300 ft/lb I couldn't budge the bolt rated at 190 ft/lb correct tightened torque. I had to resort to shocking it off with a basic hand held hammer against the socket drive...but it wasn't pleasant. So whatever gun you get make sure it's rated at least double the tightened torque of the bolt you're removing. The correct way though is to use the Mitsubishi pulley holder with long handle but I've never used such a tool in the past.

I would also recommend you scribe or paint alignment marks on the pulley bolt and the pulley as a reference for exactly where the pulley was last tightened before you begin to loosen it off. This is a great aid for knowing if you've tightened it enough when finally tightening the pulley back on after you've replaced the belt, water pump and tensioner etc, especially if you use the impact driver to tighten it back on!

At 105K I would def swap out the water pump. I never needed to do the tensioner on Hondas but I have heard it's recommended to do on past Mitsubishi models as they tend to not hold after you replace the belt. I've read numerous posts where owners of older Eclipses and 3000 GTs have experienced failed old tensioners soon after the belt was replaced.

On my Hondas I just replaced the belt and pump. Maybe the odd small bolt too if the heads got chewed up on loosening for whatever reason.

 

Okay, thanks. I've seen a few different techniques on removing the crank pulley bolt. One was to use a torch and heat up the bolt before using an impact gun. Another way was a hand method and the person basically made his own pulley holder by substituting it with a chain wrench. He then used a long pipe on top of the breaker bar to break the bolt loose. I also think I'm gonna need a new torque wrench, since my 1/2 inch only goes up to 180(if I recall correctly).

Where did you get your timing belt/water pump? It seems like Gates has a monopoly over timing belts. And I think they sell them as kits with pulleys and such.