Hi, all, I bought a lower mileage 2002 Galant 4 cylinder automatic and am fixing it up. Mileage is 105000 miles. I thought I would keep a list of what I notice, check and fix in case it can help someone else. If there is a better approach to take, let me know:

Pre-purchase checks:

The car ad attracted me because of the low mileage (105k) and low price ($800).

Body: Some surface rust, not much though. Rocker panels intact and rust free. Small fold on hood in front from a slow speed collision. Effectively cosmetic. I didn't care. Bumpers peeling and scratched. Glass and lenses are intact. Right front headlight is new, consistent with collision. (I missed seeing a damaged rear spoiler.) Lots of tread on each tire, but older tires. Water in trunk, apparently recent.

Interior was in good condition, smoke free, not musty. Leather seats intact and in good condition. Dash lights functional. Blower fan works. Turn signals work. Lights work. No check engine light, no OBDII codes, no pending codes.

Engine bay: Coolant clean, no sign of oil in coolant. Engine cold start. No knock, lots of pulley and belt related noise. Some valve ticking when cold, but goes away when warms. Car was sitting several days without starting, apparently. When warmed up, engine idles well and is rather quiet. No coolant smell. Old coolant hoses will need changing. Filthy engine--leaky valve cover gasket. No pale brown goo at head to block junction that might indicate a head gasket issue. Power steering pump clean. No sign of timing belt having been changed, and previous owner confirms it has not been changed. Excessive blowby, perhaps, but not consistent with a good sounding, low mileage engine. Chose to wait and see on that issue. On a higher mileage engine I would have walked away.

Short drive test: Brakes are responsive, a bit long in the pedal but not bad. No grinding or squealing from brakes. Transmission shifts well. Shocks seem OK, a little bit of wallowing, but not much. Steers straight, does not wander. Rattle from Left Front suspension.

Post purchase work:

Issue 1: Timing belt was badly, badly, badly overdue, probably the original one.
Status: Replaced timing belt and related components. Was careful to get the oil pump position right.


Issue 2: Noise from the accessory system was keeping me from hearing the rest of the engine, especially the valve train.

I changed the timing belt, balance shaft belt, the three related pulleys and hydraulic tensioner. I changed the water pump (which had a slow leak from the weep hole), but I damaged the o-ring while installing, creating a nasty coolant leak (!). I changed the noisy and badly worn idler pulley for the power steering belt. I inspected alternator for bearing noise and decided to keep existing alternator for now. I changed both accessory belts.

Current status: Timing belt and components replaced. Noisy accessory pulley replaced. Alternator is not very noisy. Engine is now much quieter, but now leaks coolant. I need to tear it back apart and redo the water pump o ring and gasket, using proper lubricant or sealants this time. I may remove the crossover coolant pipe to change the o ring on the other end as well. Not sure yet.


Issue 3: No heat in the cabin: These cars have a coolant shut off motor that dies at about 100K miles. Blower works. Upper radiator hose is warm. Checked Youtube, found several videos. Opened dash and found coolant shut off motor was locked in the closed position (toward firewall and front of car). Cycled heat dial to cold. Motor did not move. Cycled heat dial to warm. Motor should have opened but did not move. Removed motor. Replacement costs almost $140 US, so decided to not replace. Rigged a wire to the valve arm, using a rubber pen grip, a shirt hanger and piece of a crimped-on electrical connector.

Current status: Heat is working again. I rigged a wire onto the arm of the heater valve and reassembled dash with the wire snaked to the glove compartment. But I twisted the wire while assembling dash and pried it loose. I will try again when the weather is warmer, but I think a wire will work.

Issue 4: Brake pedal travel: When I test-drove the car, I noticed the pedal travel was a bit more than a new car, but not enough to worry about. When inspecting the brakes, I pulled each caliper slide pin and re-greased them (with special caliper grease), and inspected the boots. I found one pin that was hard to remove and almost frozen in place. The brake pedal travel went back to feeling like a new car after that.

Status: Front brakes working correctly and properly lubricated. Inexpensive fix. I dodged a replacement caliper so am glad.

Issue 5: Rear brake cylinder leak: When inspecting the rear brakes for poor hardware and excessive wear, I noticed one cylinder had a very slow brake fluid leak. I ordered two cylinders and will replace both sides. I will bleed the brake system on all for corners to replace the brake fluid and remove any air.

Status: Will be fixed soon. Inexpensive fix. Glad to find the problem and nip it early. Brake shoes have lots of life left and hardware was not rusty, so left everything intact and just changed the cylinders.

Issue 6: Valve lifter ticking: Valve lifters ticked several times when engine was cold. I did the Mitsubishi valve lifter procedure and the problem went away and now I get no ticking even on cold starts. The engine has fresh oil in it from the previous owner. I do not know the weight of the oil in it.

Status: Fixed, but will revisit after changing the oil.

Issue 7: Leaking valve cover gasket: The valve cover gasket was leaking engine oil all over the head and most of the block. I changed the gasket, as well as the spark plug tube gaskets. Three of four of the spark plug tubes had oil in them. Spark plugs were in very good condition so I reused them. I may replace them later, but not for now. Plug wires appeared to be OK, so I reused them.

Status: Fixed. Gaskets replaced. Will go back in and inspect valve springs and cam lobes. Found all hoses in the area to be hardened and in poor condition. May clean off engine, maybe not.

Issue 8: Hardened hoses: Lots of hoses around the engine are hardened. The coolant hoses are also due for a refresh. On Mitsus, there are two one-way valves, one on an EGR hose and one on the brake booster hose, so must be careful. EGR and PCV systems need inspecting and cleaning at the same time...

Status: Pending.

Issue 9. May have excessive blowby. When engine is running, if I open the oil fill cap on the valve cover, there is a lot of air blowing out. I am not familiar with these engines, so I may have nothing wrong. There is no blue smoke in the exhaust. Idles very smoothly. Valve train is quiet.

Current status: I should do a compression test and leak down test. Idle control, EGR and PCV systems appear to be functioning, but if I change the hoses I may find there is a problem. A visual inspection of cam lobes and valve springs would be good to do.

Issue 10: Analysis of idle: No real issue here, just information. The idle is correct and smooth, indicating Idle Air Control system is working properly. Warmed engine up and watched idle speeds. RPMs drop smoothly to 650 as it warms up. Engine idles correctly at 2000 when cold, then steps down to 1100, 950 and then 650 when it is fully warm. Idle is very smooth at all RPMs.

Status: Working correctly.

Issue 11: Throttle sticking: Throttle felt sticky when stepping on pedal. Cleaned throttle body and butterfly valve with carb cleaner and rag.

Status: Fixed.

Issue 11: Air supply hose inspection: Verified no splits in the hose. Found one of the large ring clamps loose by MAF sensor, probably throwing off the MAF sensor somewhat. although no error codes have occurred.

Status: Fixed.

Issue 12. Slow cranking: Starts with a rather metallic sound from starter--not sure of what, if anything, is wrong, and cranks a little slower than I would expect. Charged battery. It holds a charge at 13+ volts and the charging system charges at 14.5 volts. Battery is small for the car. I will replace. Cleaned ground strap at battery. Cleaned battery grounds on engine and onto relay block. Cleaned positive cable at battery. No evidence of a parasitic draw occurring.

Status: Need to continue down the battery cables and clean connections. Main fuse area, alternator area, starter area, engine grounds, computer grounds.

Issue 13. Suspension rattles in the left front when hitting bumps with left front tire. Upper strut mount, probably. Suspension wallows a bit. Alignment is OK, and vehicle does not wander.

2/27/2020 Diagnosis: I located at least one of the sources of the rattle--it was a wheel well plastic shroud. I drilled a hole in the body, and installed a self-tapping screw with a washer to remove the rattle.

Current status: I will:
a. Do the bounce test on each corner of the car. I can tell from driving that the struts are rather tired.
b. Inspect the front and rear strut tower coil springs for breaks.
c. Inspect all four struts for leaks.
d. Inspect all ball joints, wheel bearings, end links, and tie rod ends for wear. While there, I will inspect steering rack and both oil pans for gasket leaks.
f. Evaluate my budget for replacement parts.