Turbo Crankwalk

I am looking into purchasing a 95-99 GS-T or GSX, but I am scared about crankwalk. I've heard the 6-bolt engines don't develop this problem, but the 7-bolt ones do...I have no clue how to tell which ones are which. How do I avoid a car that has or is developing crankwalk, and how I can prevent it?

Check out the sticky thread on CW in the forum site in my sig. It should answer most of your quesiotns. CW is still very rare, unless you give it a reason to (run out of oil, filter backs off, coolant in oil from bad HG, etc). 6 bolt can walk bu much less often than 2g 7 bolts do. 90-91 all have 6 bolts, and 99.999% of 92s have 6 bolt as well. Everything after that is 7 bolt.

Thanks for the quick reply...also, what are your thoughts on reliability; on my budget, I'm looking at buying a GS-T or GSX with 80-95k miles. A 3yr/36k mile warranty on one would be like $1300, but do you think I would have enough problems to need it?

Its hard to say. Some poeple never have trouble, while others always do. IF you can afford the warranty you might as well get it, unless you plan to mod the car right away therby voiding the warranty. ;) Also, with that kind of mileage, the motor would have CWed by now, so you may be ok unless it was already replaced. Get the service records for that VIN checked out.

are u saying a 2nd gen with more then 80 miles is gonna CW? [not going to, but really likely to]

He was saying that if the motor will crankwalk, it should have happened before 80k miles. It usually happens nearer to 40k than 80.

see, im in a constant debate weather to put in a 6 bolt engine or to just rebuild my 7 bolt...its pretty expsensive either way, but with the 6 bolt u gotta have a laptop and DSM link to fix the random misfires associated with 7 to 6 bolt swaps.

Yea, from what I've heard, most crankwalk occurs near or around 60k. I've also been given to understand that it is pretty obvious to identify cars that have it, because they won't even idle properly. But is there a way this could be disguised in used cars, so someone could sell a car in the early stages of cw that they can trick a buyer into thinking is fine? Are there specific signs to look for?

always give the car a test drive, some early signs of CW is that the clutch will stick to the floor.

CW and idle quality are unrelated.

You dont "need" DSMlink to fix RM CELs, but it really is the right way to do it. I tuned for a year or so with a 6 bolt using the "baro wire mod" mentioned on the magnus pages. But at high airflow (20g or bigger) I dont trust it as much. Its your call, and not an easy decision.

Also I crankwalked 3 motors and the clutch never behaved any different than normal. The earliest possible sign is actually a slight drop in RPM, 50 or so, seen on a digital tach like on the AFC, when you step on the clutch. The only way to catch it earlier is to measure every so often ;) But I have also seen cars that drop 50 rpm be right in spec, so dont everyone panic if your RPM drops on the AFC when you step on the clutch :D

But what exactly would detecting it early do to help? I've never heard of anything definitive to protect against it, or stop it from continuing. And did you not get frustrated after the first 3 motors crankwalked? I guess it really speaks to how much you love gsx's that you kept going back to 'em.

There isnt much you can do but ride it out, or get the replacement over with. I'm installing motor number 6 this week, and I dont have any intention of getting rid of the car or changing to another type. AWD turbo DSMs are the only thing I build and race. And there is a reason for that :)

Oh yea, and Kevin, other than the SIX ENGINES you've gone through lol, someone said you only put about $1800 in mods into your GSX to run low 12's...that true?

I ran 12s with 1800 in power mods. That figure doenst (and shouldnt) include my repairs, which some people probaly wont have to go through. The car is also my daily driver. When the last motor went I picked up a beater though, but I wont be driving it much when the car is running agian I'm sure ;)

First motor was CW at 30k. Next one was at 70 (40 more). Third one was at 50k (120 on car). Then I smartened up and went 6 bolt. Put a 100k mile motor in there, ran 12s until it had 130 on it (150 on car). Took that motor out (it was fine) and put a stage 2 block in there. 20k miles later number 2 spark plug came apart and took out the cylinder, piston, and ring perhaps. Motor was fine otherwise. 6 is now in and running, but the car wont be done till next week. We'll see how this one does.

Even after 3 95 motors CWed on my car, I will still stress that it is quite rare. In my case the 2nd and 3rd motors were given a reason to CW. 2nd motor was the oil cooler loosening up after a filter change (very common! Check that stud before you put the new filter on, it sould be around 18 ftlbs (check manual)). The third was a dent in the bottom of the oil pan. The first was the original owner, but I'm sure it was the true accidental CW.

It costs money, but I got the first one done for 1000 at the dealer on a technicality, and the rest I did myself saving countless thousands in labor. I do all my own work. I can have my tranny out in 1 hours, and the motor out in another. So its not that bad. Its all the custom work that drags these projects out forever. ;)

But enough about me... :D

That's amazing man...I would feel a lot more comfortable buying a GSX if I knew that I could just put in a new motor myself if the current one cw'd, instead of having to pay some shop like 2 grand in labor. However, I am definitely not at that stage yet. How did you learn to do the swaps/all the other work you do? Did you just pick up the GSX shop manual and start reading?

hehe, I honestly do mean to pick up a service manual someday, lots of good info in there. When I bought the GSX, it was the beginning of the end. I was always pretty good with cars, but a clutch swap was a pretty scary experience for me, around the time I first got the car. My brother was a big help. So over the last 4 years, I've come to this point. I got some good help on the way, and these things just make sense to me. I just have to get the balls to try it, and it usually works out. You just need all the fundamentals (in my case from old v8 cars, I had built some 350s, etc) and you can take your time and learn it all. I have made mistakes, and paid for them. But I also learned from them. There is no school where poeple go to learn the things we talk about. Its all from experienced members of the DSM community who have tried these things. This is why I try to give back what was given to me as I was learning how these things work. :) And for those still in school, pay attention in physics class, I wish I did :D But enough about me...