Hey guys, Ive been watching your board for awhile and attained a lot of info and i appreciate what you guys do. I was hoping you guys would help me out on a little problem i gots...

My eclipse which only gots bout 80000 miles (95) is running but i gots this clanking sound, almost like a rattle or a knock, which gets faster and louder with higher rpms....i talked to a few specialists and they both agreed that it is coming from my motor and its sounds like its a rod, or lifters. They suggested i just find a used motor and get a swap rather than looking into getting it fixed.
The thing is i aint the richest dude (im a full time college student)thus my options are limited....but it would almost be cheaper to go that way. I havent gotten it diagnosed so i dont know the extent of the damages. It runs, but i dunno for how long.
The problem started when i blew a radiator hose and it overheated. I dunno if i got a blown or cracked head, but i do know my head gasket is bad since i gots oil around my plugs and seeping though the valve cover.
What do you guys think i should do?

the oil around your plugs is normal - the valve cover gromets that seal the spark plug wells leak. Very common, not your headgasket.

When you have the time, drop your oil pan. Check all your rod ends for play in thier journals. If you can wiggle a rod with your hand, you have a bearing problem. Bearing problems are common on 420As that have run low on oil. I do not know if extreme temps can cause the same thing.

When you replace your valvecover gasket (to stop all that oil :)) check your camd and followers for any signs of excessiver wear. if there is a groove on a cam lobe that isn't there on every lobe (the things are supposed to be smooth) you have a problem.

Other than that .. Dunno. Record the sound, and email it to me - dino@2gnt.com

OK I'll put my 2c up in here on this one, to rebuild or replace that's the ?. I called satan to get a quote yesterday on a rebuild-price range 2000 to 2500, rebuild kit not included add another 1000 to 2000 if you want performance. On the other hand remanufactured 1800 to 2200 with 5yr warranty, 950 to 2000 for used engines with 35 to 80k on them. My answer is going to be long to so here goes, I know we here are all big fans and we love our cars, but we have been let down in the quality dept, these engines are a piece of shit and I wish I could tell Mitsu and Chrysler to go to hell, cars should knock and smoke until well over a 100k and with all the horror stories I've read on these pages we've been let down. 95 to 99 eclipse was one of most appealing cars to me thats why I bought one, little did I know the engine was junk, and if it wasn't enough 2000 they went ahead and f@ked up the rest of the car, what were they thinking, it looks like a cross between a vw bug and a dodge intrepid. Anyway if you can tear your engine apart and rebuild it go for, but you still will have to pay a machinist to bore it and everything, then if you don't know how to tear it down and put it back together thats extra cash for satan, most guys here could probably do this, but for us with limited mechanical skills the cheap way is just to swap out. look around on the net you maybe able to find some good deals on a remanufactured engine check here. http://www.automotiveengine.com/MitsubishiLongblocks.htm
Good Luck

hey guys, thanks for your input....just a little follow up...
my landlord is a bitch and whenever im in my carport reving my engine she freaks out and dropping my oil pan just my get me evicting out of my condo (no really, shes just looking for the slightest reason to rip up oour contract) thus dropping my oil pan and such doesnt seem too feasible but ill see what i can do...
i called a place today and asked what they can do, they said they could do a wet and dry compression test to diagnose the possible extent of the damage, however, they're asking 74 bucks....is this a good price? do i really need this diagnosis?
Called another place about a motor and found a guy who would give me a 420a with about 40,000 miles on it for 1235 bucks with the swap out the door...but then again....i dont want to spend 1235 bucks if only a 600 dollar problem.....
One more thing.....if anyone on this board (and i know there a few of you) who are in the san diego area and know of good, honest mechanics (do they exist anymore?) who can do diagnosis for cheap, let me know, thanks.....

well jes to let ya know. these engines are not a POS! fuck. its all about you really. you dont take care of it she kicks you in the ass. you take car of her and she purrs. i have over 160k miles on my car and i also have hrc stg 2. besdies regular maintenece the only prob ive had with this car was of my fault not of the car. not that these are the best in the world but cmon man, this car lived up to my expectations and surpased them. not to be rude or anything jes didnt want newbies thinkin they fucked up geting these cars. you actually made an excellent dicision.

insperational words by Jon :)

o and about the rebuilding shit. all you have to do is get the bottom end kit from howell. and plz dont go to satan to do that shit. go to a respectable shop or sumthin. and its not going to cost as much as satan would for the same results. or you can allways ask for help on the net. no boreing is neccesary unless you want the .20 over bore. if not then dont worrie bout it. good luck.

another thing. bout the compression testing. 73 bux is steep. jes buy a comp tester from a local auto shop and do it your self. takes 10 min. if you need anyhelp were allways here for ya. you can do it at a buddies house or sumthin so you dont get chewd out by your landlord. and dont buy a new engine. jes rebuild. that way you will have built internals allready if you wanna go turbo someday or maybe nos. save you money in the long run if you think about it that way. later


"Proud to be, a 2gnt"


-mitsuman

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exhaust
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eclipse804)
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i remember when mine did the samething. i heard this knock, and got faster and louder the higher i went up the rpm range. it was from my first cylinder bearing. i have the bearing with me right now. you can see where the bare metals were touching. i got it replaced and the car runs just like it always has. so in my mine, that could be a problem.
later

I don't know how you maintain your car but these motors are solid. I bought mine dec,95 and so far it withstand 5yrs of NA abuse and almost a yr. of stage 2 abuse. Car still running strong.

You gotta realize that ALL DSM's are very picky and gotta be tuned perfectly and when they do they kick ass. As long as you do all your services and dont rag on your car you will be straight. Also that rebuild price seems kinda high unless u cant find a local guy, maybe on the board who can help you out. Im pretty sure if I wanna rebuils w/ howell kit Id be spending 2200-2500 including kit, sending bottom end to machine shop and putting everything back together which is still steep but better then what most shops will charge (Extreme wanted to charge me 5 G's. I now realize why Extreme has such fast cars. Cause they rape everyone in their prices. A**)
-Dave

woops also I just spent 1000 on motor w/ 58K and thats pretty cheap around here. I didn't have enough to rebuild my motor especially since we dont know whats wrong for sure w/ it.
-Dave

well it's time for my 2 cents. i've owened the 420a engine . i would have to say the chysler engine IS crap. i had so many problems with my RS that were from design flaw cause i took care of it. ignition coil going out, headgasket leak and many other stupid $h!t. i think they shoulda let toyota design the damn thing instead of chrysler. chrysler couldn't desing a reliably vehicle to save thier life

Yes I agree totally, I'm not a novice when it comes to engine maintenance, my 96 GS is not my only car, I also have a Suburban With over 120K on it and I treat both my cars with plenty of TLC, I've not had any problems with the chevy other than replacing the battery and brake pads, and yes I do most all my own repairs,with my eclipse I'm looking at a possible rebuild at 74k, thats outrageous and you can't say that it is because of poor maintenance, it's because of pis poor manufacturing, no I'm not hating on my car, I'm just frustrated that decent people can't buy a decent product that will last. I SWEAR TO GOD ONE MORE PROBLEM AND IM TORCHING THE MF AND POSTING IT UP ON THE CHRYSLER WEB SITE.

$1235 for an engine with 40k installed is a good price.

-Tony 98'GST


eclipzgst@charter.net
http://eclipzgst.dyndns.org

I don't know why some people are just on opposite sides of the spectrum here. My eclipse rs is an absolute tank... I've never had problems with it, the motor is solid. I take great care of it, but you may think I'm crazy to say that the 1990-something honda's and toyota's in my household have caused so much more trouble for me than the mitsu. My dad has a gst spyder and it's awesome too, but I hear more about the japanese built 4g63 than 420a stuff (that is, unless you go to the turbo board)