I have a question on the difference between the 97' 98' and 99' GSX's. Are there any differences in engine performance in the three? If so which is the best? What other types of differences are there in the GSX's? Any interior or Exterior differences? Any handling or suspension differences?
Thanks

Chris

"you may be able to kick the shit out of me but i have a few knuckle draging friends who would make you a bitch"

probably the wrong board. i don't think there's a performance difference but i think the 99 turbo's are the only 2g's that don't have to worry about crank walk.

What crank walk???

ok lemme say it again What IS Crank walk? hehe :+

but i think the 99 turbo's are the only
>2g's that don't have to worry about crank walk.


theyre all prone to walk

From club dsm

What is crankwalk?

A 'walking' crankshaft is a crankshaft that moves too much inside the engine. This is also known as excessive thrust bearing play. The movement is usually due to the crankshaft not fitting inside its bearings correctly. While not bad for the crankshaft, the movement can place excessive or uneven loads on the bearings, causing premature failures.

Many 2G owners have suffered from walking crankshafts. It appears that Mitsubishi built many 2G engines using defective crankshafts, which were machined out of specification and are thus capable of moving around too much inside the block. All 2G model years appear to be affected to some degree.

To fix this problem, Mitsubishi has designed several versions of matching crankshaft bearings. This allows the defective motor to retain the crankshaft, yet matches the bearings correctly so as to eliminate the excessive crankshaft movement. Matching the bearings in this manner is tricky and requires exact information about when the crankshaft was manufactured, which may be determined by color markings on the crankshaft itself. The 2G factory manual includes information on how to match crankshafts to bearings.

1G owners do not generally need to worry, as there are no chronic problems with crankwalk in per-1995 cars. However, it is possible for any engine to experience crankwalk if there is a problem with the crankshaft bearings. It has been reported that 'small rod' / 7-bolt flywheel motors (manufactured from later 1992 through 1994 on 1Gs) are more prone to crankwalk than 'big rod' / 6-bolt flywheel engines (manufactured from 1989 to early 1992). However, there can be no guarantees, since big block V8s and all other engines can also suffer from crankwalk.

It can be difficult to tell if a particular car is experiencing crankwalk. Symptoms are usually indirect and difficult to diagnose until major damage occurs.

Since the clutch places pressure on the crankshaft, many owners have reported clutch or shifting problems associated with the walking crank. Having the clutch 'stick' down on left-hand turns is often a telltale sign of crankwalk. Other symptoms include inconsistent engagement height, poor or rough engagement, difficulty shifting, ticking noises and varying pedal height or pressure. Another possibility is having the engine RPM decrease significantly when the clutch pedal is down.

Another problem with crankwalk is that the crankshaft may move so much as to literally tear up and destroy the 2G crankshaft angle sensor. This problem usually manifests itself as a ticking noise coming from the timing belt area, as the sensor is literally and slowly ground away by the crankshaft. Any such noise should be investigated right away to prevent serious problems.

Unfortunately, cranshaft angle sensor failure usually leads to a replacement sensor, rather than a replacement crankshaft, as mechanics fail to diagnose the underlying problem. 2G owners who have experienced premature failure of the crankshaft angle sensor should investigate the possibility of a walking crankshaft immediately.

For more information, read this post by Paul Estavez, which describes the crank walk problem in detail. Also read Road Race Engineering's archive of posts that contains all of the Talon Digest posts about the walking crankshaft problem. Those who appreciate that a picture is worth a thousand words will appreciate the Crank Walk Photo Archive.

Although 2G DSM owners have been anxiously awaiting a recall or TSB on the crankwalk problem, there is none as yet. According to Paul's second post on the subject, there may never be a TSB, although some members of DSM Canada are pushing for one in this thread on their discussion board. As a result, it is doubly important that affected 2G owners get their bearings (or blocks, if necessary) replaced before their warranty expires. This might be difficult for owners of aftermarket clutches, as dealerships often claim the aftermarket pressure plates are the cause of the problem.

There was just a write-up in Sport Compact's mag on the 4g63 last month. In the article it states that although Mitsu never admitted to manufacturing problem and there was no recall, the crankwalk problem was fixed for the 97's and up. I believe there was a stat in that article too that said only like 15% of cars sold have had this problem. Somebody might have to check me on that.

To answer your question, NO, there is difference in exterior/interior/or performance of a 97-99 GSX and yes.... you are on the wrong board.

.
Yes officer, the windows are mirrored.

1999 GS Special Edition

Oh ok thanks...what board should i be on???

Well, good question. There is a 4G63 engine forum here at 2GNT that you can post questions like this, it's a few boxes down below "engine/performance". Other boards out there like DSMTalk and the DSM message board deal much more with the 4G63 engine. Although, you will find guys on this board that know quite a bit about both engines. Good luck.