Buying GSX. What to ask mechanic to check for?

[Nayr747]

I might be buying a 99 GSX 5 speed. I need to know what to ask the mechanic to check for. Crank end play obviously but what else?

[scottsee]

i would strongly suggest if your having a mechanic check out the car, use a certified mitsu mechanic. go down to the dealership and have them do their "$75 used car diaognostic" every dealership has it. thats the only sure fire way you'll get the best result. and most likly you can get any service history on the car if any.

i wish they had their 10year 100,000 mile warrenty when the dsm's came out. thats bullshit.

[Nayr747]

Thanks for the advice scottsee. So the mitsu dealer will check for end play or will I have to ask them? Is it usually more or less expensive to get this sort of thing done at a dealer? Cause most of the time they're a little pricey for parts right? The car is two states away from me though so I dont know if I'll be able to find a mitsu dealer. Any other suggestions?

[Shpyder]

u know....i actually did that "check up" thing from a mitsu dealrship....it was a rip off. They did visual check on the interior and engine bay, they did not test any equippment (except AC, lights, wipers, and other useless bullshit. At the end of the day, I got a litle cheklist with everything ticked, with stuff saying "Coolant level: good", "Tread wear: 55%" and etc.... no mention of anything technical at all.

not being a buzz kill, but i was charged $195 for this "complete checkup" and it was ALL crap. Stuff I couldve done on my own. Just be careful.

[dsmodder]

look for rust under the car. look for rust on suspension like a arms adn stuff. check for rush under the hood on. have them do a compression check, check to see if itappears any aftermarket parts were once on the car, CHECK FOR LEAKS UNDER THE CAR. check oil of course, cant think of anything else but im sure thers alot more

[scottsee]

well, thats true. some dealerships will do that. thats why you have to ask them up front what they check for. if it conserns you devise a list of things you would like checked out and hand it to the service advisor and ask him how much in labor that will cost. you CAN and SHOULD negotiate the hourly rate to around 40-50 an hour.

[Nayr747]

Anything alse to check for?

[97GSTspyder]

there are some things that you can check yourself....like the clutch for example...check to see if it slips when you drive it. does it engage rough? also pay attention to clutch pedal pressure. does it seem normal? clutch slippage can occur from oil or some other substance on the clutch plate/flywheel, or worn clutch disc. rough engage could be bad t/o bearing, or warped clutch plate/flywheel. check to see if it grinds any gears. especially 2nd and 3rd. grinding of gears could indicate bad/worn tranny synchros, bad clutch, or clutch not disengaging completely. if your mechanic won't check for crank end play, there is a website with instructions on how to do it yourself. can't remember the link, though. listen to the motor at idle. look for any oil leaks (actually there's something wrong with it if it's not leaking oil lol j/p). when listening to the motor, listen closely for a scraping sound. if you hear a loud, fairly fast scraping, it could more than likely be the crank angle sensor scraping on the plate, which is a sign of crankwalk. usually this is the last sign you'll have before the motor is rendered useless. but listen for it just incase. don't get this noise confused with lifter tap. all dsm's from my experience have lifter tap. using Lucas Oil Treatment helps A LOT with lifter tap. other than that, check to see if the car pulls in either direction. if it does, it needs aligned/new tires. look for any rust on the body. any imperfections in the paint work. also when driving it, try to notice if there are any boost leaks. you'll definitely now if there are when you reach boost and the car seems like it just doesn't want to accelerate like it should. when i had a boost leak, my car would hardly accelerate at boost and my car would be real jerky.

in my opinion, i wouldn't waste the money to take it to a mechanic. you can check for any problems yourself. even run a leak tester on the car to see if there really are any boost leaks. there are instructions on the internet on how to build your own leak tester. this nice little device saves a lot of headaches. when/if you go to buy it, ask the seller how well he/she treated the car. ask how often the oil was changed, how it was driven, ask if there are any problems with it. don't expect them to be 100% honest, though. oh, and also check to see if the clutch pedal sticks to the floor after left turns. this is a sign of CW. if the clutch engage point wanders around, this is another sign of CW.

also check to make sure all the electronics work. headlights, tailights, mirrors, windows, sunroof, antenna, cd player, ignition, interior lights, etc etc. don't let something small and simple prevent you from buying it, though. like a small rip on the seat, or a tiny microscopic scratch in the paint.

do you know how many miles are on the car? also how much is it? also are there any mods done to it?

hope this post helps you out.

[Nayr747]

Thanks a lot 97GSTspyder. The car has 47,000 miles and seems to be in good shape. Hardly driven (by a girl too) and has no mods accept for a removed turbo timer and an intake. I had my friend drive it and he said the clutch felt really good and it drove really well. He didn't say anything about the clutch sticking or anything. I can't check anything myself though cause I'm 2 states away from the car. The only thing that's wrong with it is the fender needs touch up or repainting from a small accident. He's asking $11k for it which seems decent. KBB is around $10,500.

One other question. Does anyone know any good shops in San Francisco?

[Legionofone]

offer KBB or less if it had a boost controler and intake she might of drove it hard (chicks can race

[97GSTspyder]

doh, it was a chick who owned it? most every chicks around here except for 2 that i know always ride/slip the hell out of their clutch. i'm not saying every girl is a bad stick driver, it's just most that i know aren't good at all. you might wanna look into replacing that clutch not too long after you get it. if she drives like most girls i know, that clutch is probably heated up...then again if she drives like my one friend crystal you should have nothing to worry about. i don't know what's up with a lot of girls riding the clutch, seems like their foot is superglued to the pedal. 47,000miles, is that original mileage or "miles on a new/rebuilt motor"? if those are original you shouldn't really have to worry about crankwalk....yet. although i've heared of these things getting CW anywhere from 40,xxx miles +..mine got CW just after 60,000. was like 61,032 or somethin. bought the car with 59,962. i was pretty pissed.

[Nayr747]

No, it's original miles. She bought the car with 12 miles on it. So what did you do after your motor walked? I was gonna put in a 1g oil filter and disable the clutch start switch and maybe a higher pressure oil pump to try to prevent it. Think that would work? I dont want it to walk too soon after I get it. I want to have done some mechanical stuff before I have to do something like a 1g motor install.

[gthompson97]

there's not really much you can do to "prevent" walking. the theory behind crankwalk is that the factory cranks weren't machined perefectly to specs so what happens is it wears down the center thrust bearing. after it wears down so far it starts to "knock" and wobble and what not. this eventually takes out the crank sensor which shuts down the whole car.
also you said something about a turbo timer and intake. this could mean 2 things, either she was somewhat mechanically inclined and knew that a turbo timer is actually a life-preserver of the turbo and had the intake for better mileage OR she put the intake on for performace and the turbo timer on because.........she wanted to??

[97GSTspyder]

gthompson97 is right...there really is nothing you can do to prevent CW....there are steps to take to make your car last a lot longer though. if the motor is gonna CW, then it'll CW....but you can delay it until later down the road. always use full synthetic motor oil, a good filter, disconnect clutch start switch, don't beat the hell out of it daily, don't launch from every stop light...and as for other things, always use at least 92+ octane, use another set of the stock NGK plugs when it comes time to change them, and make sure they are gapped perfect. .028 i think? change all fluids when you are suppose to, don't ride/slip the clutch, no side-stepping the clutch , check anything else that needs checked. i'm not saying drive it like a grandpa, just take care of it the best you can. that way it will last longer and you won't have any headaches in the future.

[Nayr747]

HOOOOOOOOORRRRRAAAAAAYYYYYYYYY!!! After 2 years of searchig every day I finally have my first DSM! I just gave him what he was asking-$11,000 but oh well at least I have my car now. Now I dont have to go to bed deaming about one day getting that car down there V.
The idiots at the shop I got the car taken to didn't even know what crank end play was. So they just did their normal check which was $120. So when I drive it up here from Reno (where my friend is taking it) I'll have to check the end play and everything else when I get back. First mod I'm going to do-boost gauge.