What other cars have the 420A motor?

I am looking at buying a 95 Esi Talon for my girlfriend. She always wanted one after I got my Tsi. I found a real fixer upper. From the way it sounds, it threw a rod. It still runs, but it's making a slapping metal sound. But for $1,200 Canadian, who can say no?

I've heard that there are a number of cars that have the 420A motor. 95 to 99 Neon, 95 to 98 avenger, and of course 95 to 99 eclipse RS and GS. Can you guys tell me if this is true? And if there are any problems with any of these.

Also, do you think that the head has been damaged as well? Supposedly the guy only drove the car a few days after he first heard the problem. I'm going to pull some plugs tommorow to see if there has been contact with the spark plugs. I wonder if the cylinder wall would be scored too much to over bore? What do you guys think?

It's also making a clunking noise coming from the rear of the car that matches the revolution of the wheels. Any ideas what to check?

Always appreciate the feed back, thanks guys.

Why not just keep searching for a non-fixer-upper?

Well we're trying to put something together on a small budget. And every 2G Talon we've looked at is in the $5,000 to $10,000 range. I'm just hoping to pull this out of my hat for cheap and still get her in the car she wants.

the only 420A's that will swap directly into DSM's are the ones from 2.0L Avengers and Sebring Coupes. Neon 420A's will not swap into DSM's.

Do you happen to know the years?

lol my friend bought a 95 eagle talon 420a for 300 bucks ran fine but the guy hit a barb wire fence at about 80 in it...

.......Now if we put the two cars together that would be a nice cheap ride!

Well I just bought her the car. It seems to me that the engine noise is either a rod or piston pin. The rear end noise started to go away, In think it might just be associated with the brakes.

I'll be replacing the motor. Has anyone had any experience with Japan Auto? I hear that they import low kms engines.

Also does anyone know if there is any difference in quality between the J-spec and american version 420A?

there is no "JSPEC" 420A

all Eclipses were built in Illinois and all Eclipses sold outside North America were sold with 4G63's.

Ohhhhhhhhh.

Well then, I should either pickup a low kms motor from a junk yard or rebuild the one I've got. If if did turn out to be the wrist pin or a rod, do you think that the head would have been damaged? If I can get away with rebuiding the bottom end, plane the head and a new clutch while the engines out then I would have something for her that will last a long time.

If the side of the cylinder wall has been scored too much, can I get sleeves for this perticular motor? And are they any good?