Our Community is 940,000 Strong. Join Us.


Really crappy acceleration/power on 98 eclipse


XMASTERX87
11-02-2006, 12:44 PM
My brother owns a 98 4cyl 2.0 mitsubishi eclipse (automatic) and recently, ive been working on it, but it seems as if it has no power whatsoever. i changed the plugs to denso iridiums and i changed the wireset, air filter, and oil filter, but i havent had time to change the fuel filter or pcv valve. is there anything else i should change in order to complete the tuneup??

we bought the car used about 2 summers ago and he told me that it has been like that since he bought it, but im sure it has to have more power... at a red light... it takes its time to get up to speed, but it doesnt choke, its just very slow at speeding up quick... now i hear the motor working strong, i just dont feel it.

about 6 months ago we had a problem with the trnasmission so we got it rebuilt by AAMCO ofr about 2,100 cause the converter and some other stuff was damaged.

recently i found out that the previous owner also had already rebuilt the transmission once before.

i dont know if its the transmission or something else, but its really pissing me off. its a great car, runs smooth, but its got no power...or well... it takes long to get to speed... NO ACCELERATION....i think it takes to long to go from first gear onto second gear...

more or less when should it shift out of first onto second, and second onto third, etc??

help me out here plz? i ned to get more acceleration from it... my girl has a 1993 v4 toyota corolla and THAT has more push then the 98 eclipse... help please???

l_eclipse_l
11-02-2006, 02:12 PM
For the tune-up, you should include a radiator flush and make sure the plugs are gapped properly.

As far as your problem with no acceleration, the car only has maybe 110 hp to the wheels if it's a non-turbo, which I will assume. It's not going to move that quick man.

XMASTERX87
11-02-2006, 02:24 PM
well, i dont mean like i want it to be quick, but like, i would expect it to at least be able to move with 4 ppl in it.... when i have 4 ppl in the car, it barely tugs along.... its noticable...
could that be normal though??

steviek
11-02-2006, 03:11 PM
SO it is NT right? yea anyways those cars come 140hp so its not like it has that much more than that toyota. But anyways my bet is compression test and see if your getting good numbers across the board. My bet is your engine is tired and worn, sorry to say.

Black99GST
11-02-2006, 03:13 PM
my OEM GS stock, put down 102 WHP w/ about 110ft lbs of torque... so... with 2 people in the car, its slow, with just a driver it can get to 60 ok... and i dont know how it drives without me in it... but it sucks! sell it! thats what i did... ;)

XMASTERX87
11-02-2006, 03:14 PM
my bet is compression test and see if your getting good numbers across the board. My bet is your engine is tired and worn.

can you please elaborate on the compression test, and how to do it and stuff... and what i would need... i dont think the engine is that worn, it only has about 140k miles... mostly highway i think... could it be that i need to change/replace gaskets or something??

EDIT
my OEM GS stock, put down 102 WHP w/ about 110ft lbs of torque... so... with 2 people in the car, its slow, with just a driver it can get to 60 ok... and i dont know how it drives without me in it... but it sucks! sell it! thats what i did... :wink:.

well the car can hit 80-90 easy with 3 ppl... so i dont know.. its just not like... "hmm its ok" but its more like "wow, it can go fast, but it takes years to get there..." kinda thing

eclipsed at 3am
11-02-2006, 05:50 PM
as far as a compression test goes, get a compression tester. it should come with instructions, but if it doesnt...

take one spark plug out, and then fit the adapter connected to the tester into the spark plug well. then let the engine crank for a second, without starting it, and see what the numbers are. then do the same for the 3 other cylinders.

i might be missing a few steps, but thats the basic thing to do. someone else may know how long to crank, if you should disconnect any fuel lines, etc, and also what numbers a N/T car is putting out for compression.

gthompson97
11-02-2006, 06:13 PM
Xmaster, have you checked to see if the parking brake isn't stuck or something? And I would do a compression test too, just to be safe.

I pulled compression numbers off of 2gnt.com and it says 170-225. They shouldn't vary more than 5-10 between one another though.
Follow the procedure like eclipsed said, but un-plug the coil pack so the car doesn't want to start, and crank it for 2-3 seconds.

XMASTERX87
11-02-2006, 09:54 PM
Hmmm... ill see what i can do. i have work on saturday, so ill see if i can borrow it from there.... i dont think the E-brake is stuck becuase it rolls fine on drive...if the car is empty....lol ill take a quick look at the E-brake, but im definately gonna check compression.

ill keep you guys informed, and thanks for helping me out.

eclipsed at 3am
11-02-2006, 10:55 PM
try replacing that fuel filter and pcv. also run some different chemicals, like stp oil treatment and fuel system cleaner. clean the throttle body out. is your throttle cable good too? that would suck if your plate isnt opening up fully. um...check everything for anything blocking something lol. hopefully maybe its something small.

get a gst.

XMASTERX87
11-03-2006, 12:16 AM
try replacing that fuel filter and pcv. also run some different chemicals, like stp oil treatment and fuel system cleaner. clean the throttle body out. is your throttle cable good too? that would suck if your plate isnt opening up fully. um...check everything for anything blocking something lol. hopefully maybe its something small.

get a gst.

The fuel filter and PCV, i will be doing this weekend, but i heard that the additives are bad for the engine...or the car... something like that... or at least the additives for transmission is bad...

ill take a look at the throttle cable, but im sure its set ok cause when you hit full, you feel it kick, and you hear the engine roar, but it putts along...

i think it could probably be compression... i have no idea... ill have to figure it out tomorrow probably.

what do you mean by "get a GST" ??

gthompson97
11-03-2006, 02:28 AM
Does the car smoke at all? I would never run tranny additives, but fuel system additives are ok. Try dumping in a bottle of fuel injector cleaner (or maybe 2, maybe it's really really dirty).

"Get a GST" means what it says, get a GST. It's the FWD turbo version of the Eclipse. Turbo Eclipse = fast as hell.

XMASTERX87
11-03-2006, 01:25 PM
nah, the car doesnt smoke at all. the car is in great condition from what i see... the only thing i can see is that i have to change the drive belt soon...or the tensioner... it squeeks every time i turn on the car in the morning...

but as for the fuel injector additives, wouldnt it be better if i actually removed the fuel injectors and cleaned them that way or is putting in the additive the same as cleaning them yourself individually?? which is actually better for the car? or does it matter at all??

well its my brothers car, so i dont have a say in whether i can sell it or not, even though i have the money for my own car, but insurance is crazy expensive, so for the time being, i treat his car as mine...although a GST does sound nice...

eclipsed at 3am
11-03-2006, 03:53 PM
have you ever owned your own car before? if so what kind? maybe you're just not used to a slower car. maybe when they rebuilt the trans the first time they put a messed up gear in there or something, and then aamco didnt notice. what gear do you put it in to drive? i dont know how an automatic looks like, but are you sure you have it in "D" or what?

XMASTERX87
11-03-2006, 05:11 PM
have you ever owned your own car before? if so what kind? maybe you're just not used to a slower car. maybe when they rebuilt the trans the first time they put a messed up gear in there or something, and then aamco didnt notice. what gear do you put it in to drive? i dont know how an automatic looks like, but are you sure you have it in "D" or what?

Haha i have never owned my own, but i have access to 5 different cars all year round. my father owns a dodge pickup (manual) in colombia, which im there for almost half the year, my mother owns a plymouth grand voyager (minivan), and my girl owns a honda accord, and we also use the toyota corolla on special occasions, and my brothers mitsubishi eclipse... so yea... ive drive different cars, so i could more or less know how kinda power it should have. the pickup is a V8, the minivan is a V6, the accord is a v6, the corolla is a v4, and the eclipse is also a v4...

manual has different gears, which i prefer driving...

but here in the US, im forced to use an automatic until next year... the eclipse had P,N,D,2,1, in this order. its always on D when im using it.

As for the transmission... thats the only thing i can think of.... if all is well, then all it comes down to would be the transmission... maybe not tuned right....or maybe they didnt completely repair, or properly repair it...im not too sure... im going to check the compression on the engine first, change the fuel filter, and the PCV valve... then as a final attempt before adding performance parts would be checking transmission, E-brake, and throttle.

ill see if i can get around to that this weekend.

l_eclipse_l
11-03-2006, 05:16 PM
the corolla is a v4, and the eclipse is also a v4...


Not a V4, an I4 just an FYI

V4 are extremely rare, mostly because they sucked and I don't know of any modern cars that have them

Thor06
11-03-2006, 05:24 PM
Those are I4's not V4's. I dont think I've ever seen a V4...

Heres what I think. Its a 100 hp automatic car with 4 people in it. Of course its going to be slow. I dont think your problem is in the engine, its in the passengers.

On a side note, how the hell did you fit two people in those tiny ass DSM back seats? :lol:

eclipsed at 3am
11-03-2006, 07:45 PM
the back seat isnt that small imo

gthompson97
11-03-2006, 09:09 PM
Hell yes it's small! But I've fit 6 people in my car before. Granted we could hardly get the door shut and only went 1/2 block, but it was still accomplished.

l_eclipse_l
11-04-2006, 12:43 AM
the back seat isnt that small imo

They are tiny as fuck dude if you have the front seats pushed back enough to sit comfortably. I could only fit one friend back there, and he just laid across both seats. Granted he was like 6' 220 lbs, but still. That was the only time I attempted to fit anyone back there lol.

eclipsed at 3am
11-04-2006, 12:47 AM
when i look at my backseats, they dont look very tiny...but i am starting to agree with you guys. i used to have a 91 ages ago, and i would cart people around with me all the time. yeah, it was pretty packed out, with only 4 people. my 98 is a little bit bigger, but still definetly too small for people. i never have people in the backseat now, i have the harnesses strapped to the back, and ricaro racing seats which are a pain in the butt to tilt forward. only a 2 person car for me!!

XMASTERX87
11-04-2006, 02:13 PM
well.. ok that makes sense... but even alone... its acceleration is not good. top end is pretty good... but acceleration is really really bad... im going to change the fuel filter and the PCV valve today, then well see what happens...
i think its 140 hp.

whats the difference between v and I??

gthompson97
11-04-2006, 07:05 PM
140 to the crank, about ~100 to the wheels.

XMASTERX87
11-05-2006, 09:37 PM
Ok... so ive decided to fix up the eclipse... and add preformance parts... what do you guys suggest i do to it??? what or where sould i start??

gthompson97
11-05-2006, 09:49 PM
2.5" exhaust, CAI (short ram ebay intake and true K&N filter) ported TB, header. Those are good starts. Also make sure you do a tune up before you start modding.

Thor06
11-05-2006, 11:11 PM
I and V refer to how the cylinders are oriented. If you look at an inline engine, all the cylinders are in one line. The V engines will have clyinders angled off to each side.

eclipsed at 3am
11-05-2006, 11:13 PM
I and V refer to how the cylinders are oriented. If you look at an inline engine, all the cylinders are in one line. The V engines will have clyinders angled off to each side.

I and V can also mean "1" and "5". thats how they get ya, with the roman numerals.

XMASTERX87
11-05-2006, 11:56 PM
2.5" exhaust, CAI (short ram ebay intake and true K&N filter) ported TB, header. Those are good starts. Also make sure you do a tune up before you start modding.

Whats the difference between Short ram CAI or regular long ram CAI???? appart from the fact that the long ram is LONG.... which is better for the car??

As for the 2.5" exhust.... is there a certain website or product that any of you would recommend?? (same for the Ported TB and header)

what else should i get for the car??

eclipsed at 3am
11-06-2006, 12:25 AM
short ram cai is basically just metal piping instead of rubber. with a regular long cai, the filter is either relocated to the bottom of the engine and longer piping is added, or else the filter stays around the same place and there is piping routed from a lower more exposed area to the filter.

l_eclipse_l
11-06-2006, 12:53 AM
Whats the difference between Short ram CAI or regular long ram CAI???? appart from the fact that the long ram is LONG.... which is better for the car??

As for the 2.5" exhust.... is there a certain website or product that any of you would recommend?? (same for the Ported TB and header)

what else should i get for the car??

Short ram = filter sits in engine bay

Real CAI = filter sits in bumper (BETTER)

As for exhaust, a shop could bend you some custom pipe and weld it up and it would be just as good as something you could buy anywhere. It would also be a lot cheaper.

Read the FAQ and use the search feature in this forum, you will find loads of information about stuff.

gthompson97
11-06-2006, 01:07 AM
I disagree with the real CAI. They are wayyyy more expensive and aren't worth it, they don't out-perform the short ram by much anyways, if any at all. And you always have that risk of it getting waterlogged and locking the engine (although you've gotta drive in a BIG ass puddle), but still, it's not worth the money, IMO.

XMASTERX87
11-06-2006, 08:35 AM
ok. i ordered the CAI from ebay last night, so ill be putting that in as soon as i get it.... im gonna get the K&N filter today if i can find it...

as for the TB and header, is there any specific place i should get it at or any specific one i should get??

do you guys think it is possible to add turbo on the car?? if so, should i do it?

eclipsed at 3am
11-06-2006, 04:27 PM
do you guys think it is possible to add turbo on the car?? if so, should i do it?

yeah its quite possible, but why the hell would you want a turbo? it just wastes a lot of gas...:iceslolan

gthompson97
11-06-2006, 07:08 PM
Yeah you could run a turbo, but it will drastically reduce the life of your engine unless you build it up. There's a writeup in the tech section of www.2gnt.com for a DIY turbo kit for ~$800. (granted you are mechanically inclined)

Any ported ebay TB will do, unless again you like doing your own mods. In that case, check out this bad boy. http://www.dimensia.com:81/jimbo/JeepTBfor2gnt.html

As for a header, I'd either go with OBX or PaceSetter. I've heard some negative things about Pacesetter though (cracking), but I've also heard alot of good ones. It's your money, so you make the call. You can find an OBX on Ebay for about $145, otherwise you could try order from an actual vendor.

Add your comment to this topic!