Theres a guy in town here that has a 98 eclipse gsx for sale that I'm thinking about picking up for my next project. A buddy of mine had a 1st gen gsx and I knew he was working on it ALL OF THE TIME, so my question is what problem areas should I look for in this car? I've already driven it and it handles launching beautifly. Its lowered on coilovers, not sure on the brand, apexi exhaust, aftermarket bov and boost gauge, 18's and sway bars. The car has 67k on it and I've got him talked down to $3500. Any help you can give me is greatly appreciated!
for that price and the w/ the miles! i'd buy it!
WiGM-Tuners member.
For that price its a good deal
crank walk,
Ball Joints
center diff in the tranny
Are some of the starting key points lol you ALWAYS see broken ball joints on a DSM and tierod ends
Thanks guys keep the info coming if you have it.
Timing Belt, water pump, tensioner is supposed to be changed at 60K. Parts are cheap, but labor is expensive if you don't do it yourself. Check for signs of crankwalk:
-Clicking or ticking coming from the lower timing belt area.
-RPMs drop when pushing the clutch in
-Poor clutch engagement/disengagement results in some gear exhanges grinding, or being blocked out.
-Clutch pedal sticks down during hard left hand turns.
I had a 96 Talon TSI for 2 years. Drove it for roughly 20-30k miles before I was so sick of dealing with problems and finally got rid of it. Best of luck regardless of what you do.
The Few, The Proud, The 2.3s
Ive had a 96 GST for the past 7 years and the only problem I had with it was the transmission (auto). Currently has 225k miles on it...original motor AND turbo, and it still runs hard and strong.
Basically it all comes down to what you plan on doing with it. If you are planning on trying to run 10's with it....things can and will break quite regularly.
They can be made into decently powered, and reliable car's. Mine never left me stranded on the side of the road.
If its a project car than who cares about the issues since you're redoing it anyway right?
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I wont start tearing into it right away. If I pick it up I'm going to drive it daily...just looking for problem areas so I dont end up in the same bucket I did when I bought my cav.
buy buy buy lol. pics would help also
I'll get some pics this afternoon and post them up