bought my first turbo

[noreaga0221]

finally after more than a month of searching i bought a turbo eclipse, 1990 fwd. the motor has 101,000 miles on it and the price was only 2500 after i talked him down 200. well anyway the turbo still seems to running strong but this is my first time driving a turbocharged car so i'm not sure. i planning on upgrading the suspension first because i think the current compentents have seen much better days. i dont really need adjustable height so i was thinking sport springs and shocks. anybody have suggestions about those?

when i was driving home today at night i went to turn on my high beams and my radio went off and the high beams werent nearly as bright as they should be. i couldnt turn my radio back on either. when i got homei let the car rest for a couple mins to let the turbo cool down. i shut off the engine and went back to turn it on and the engine didnt crank over, not like when you try to start it without pressing in the clutch its like the battery died but it shouldnt have. please help!

[aves911]

Sport shocks and springs will be fine, they are a good improvement over the stock equipment, especially in older higher milage cars where the shock/struts have worn.

As far as your car dying, check the alternator. I had problems very similar to your one night on my 94 DSM, not enough juice to run the radio and headlights, eventually the car just turned off while I was driving and when I went to restart it, nothing happened. In my case, my alternator had gone out and I had been running on straight battery power for a couple days and just completely drained my battery. Wost case you need a new alternator and battery. Best case you can still recharge your battery and your alternator just needs to be repaired. Look into it.

Peace

[noreaga0221]

another question... what does the oil pan look like on a '90 gst?

[noreaga0221]

ahh now my engine is misfiring or at least it sounds that way, we pulled the spark plugs and one was bad so we replaced all 4 with platinum tipped ones. still misfiring-- its idling very rough right now and i can hear the lifters tapping. anybody have this happen? and when you open the oil cap should you see oil there? i'm not sure how much oil leaked out when the dipstick wasnt in all the way.

[Polygon]

1. As far as suspension goes I would get Eibach springs and KYB shocks and struts.

2. The battery might be bad. You can get a volt meter to see how many volts it is putting out. If it is putting out less than 12 you need a new one. Now, the question is, when you turn the key what happens? Does the car turn over and just not start or do you just hear a clicking noise? This can be a few different things; I just need a little more info.

3. I don't know about the oil pan, sorry.

4. Misfiring can be caused by a weak ignition, burned plugs, bad wires, or an incorrect gap. It is caused by the ignition not being able to breach the gap on the plugs on one or more cylinders. This can be as simple as checking the gap on your plugs. What kind of platinum spark plugs did you buy?

5. You can here a clicking sound? Coming from the head or timing belt, around that area? If so, take it in to have the timing checked ASAP even if is off a degree or two you could be smashing you injectors into the pistons. I saw this on another DSM lately.

6. As for the oil. Oil will be up in the head to lubricate the rockers and what not so, I would say yes, but I am not and expert with the 2.0L in your car.

[noreaga0221]

well before my dad jumped my car i would just hear a clicking sound but its started when we jumped it. so we got it started and it seemed a cylinder was misfiring, we pulled the plugs, no.1 was bad so we replaced all over them. we didnt have a gapper so we put them right in. the engine stopped shaking as much but it still is idling rough at around 750rpm when before it was at around 1000rpm. should i get the plugs gapped to within specs ASAP or when i get my oil changed which would be soon..

now if the alternator was dead and everything was running off of the battery would the engine be running poorly, ie bad idling, slow to start, . i have not been able to put a voltage meter on the alternator to see if it is working or not. also the interior and headlights are not bright like the should be..

the tapping are the lifters because it sounds like a typewriter. maybe the low oil level is causing that, i'm not sure.

[Polygon]

1. Well, if the lights and the dash are dim it sounds like the alternator could be bad or the belt might be loose. It just seems the alternator can't keep up with the demand for power. Check the belt first, if it's fine I would have the alternator checked.

2. The reason I asked what kind of plugs you bought was because Bosch platinum plugs are horribly designed. The electrode is buried in the insulator and they burn very easily. They work fine for about a month and they are toast, I just threw a set away. None of them were gapped even close for my car and I had to change the gap for each one. I would check the plug gaps ASAP.

3. Well, a few things could cause the engine to idle too low of too high; retarded timing, vacuum leak, or a bad throttle position sensor. If the TPS was bad you would mist likely get a check engine light, but you might want to have it checked anyway. If it were a vacuum leak it would most likely be a hose, look around while the engine is running to see where you have a leak. As for the timing, no matter what I would have that checked, if the timing is off even one degree you could destroy the head and pistons. It could be any one of those three things, I would check them ASAP.

4. As for being able to hear the lifters, you might be due for an oil change. Check the oil level and color. If it is black, definitely time to change it. Also you might have some thin oil in there and perhaps that is why you can hear the lifters. I would suggest filling the engine with 10W 30 oil.

[noreaga0221]

well its all fixxedddddddd. this is what the dealer said was wrong with it. the boost somehow decided to run past 11psi and got too hot and/or caused detontation which melted an exhaust valve which is why it was running like shit. well they replaced the valve, they gave me a new stock boost controller and changed the oil for me. also a new alternator and new battery. all this for free even though i bought the car as is. i really luckedout. lol



here's a pic of the bad plug and a good one, the bad one is the plug for the same cyclinder that the exhaust valve melted on.

[noreaga0221]

well its all fixxedddddddd. this is what the dealer said was wrong with it. the boost somehow decided to run past 11psi and got too hot and/or caused detontation which melted an exhaust valve which is why it was running like shit. well they replaced the valve, they gave me a new stock boost controller and changed the oil for me. also a new alternator and new battery. all this for free even though i bought the car as is. i really luckedout. lol



here's a pic of the bad plug and a good one, the bad one is the plug for the same cyclinder that the exhaust valve melted on.