Hi everyone--
Was wondering who has experienced leaky head gasket problems...I had heard this problem was notorious in 2G Eclipses, especially the '95-'96 ones. I have a '96 Non Turbo Eclipse with 70K on it, and have just been told that I will need to replace the head gasket. I was expecting this from the oil leak and from stories I had heard about 2G leaking head gaskets, but I wanted to know if anyone had replaced the head gasket and had problems later, or did the replacing fix the problem?
Thanks...

The 420A is known asw the headgasket leaker. They have an upgraded head gasket with a copper rings get it from the dealer. This will fix your problem. One thing is when you get it done is to get the head decked. Send it out to the machine shop. what they will do is make sure that the head is not warped.

I had a leaky head gasket and replaced it this summer. So far so good, no reoccurance. I wouldn't worry about getting the head decked unless you had a major coolant leak that caused you to overheat or something. Whoever does it (you or shop) should check the head for warpage and pitting. Mine was fine, so I cleaned it and put it back on. The new gasket is MLS (multi-layer steel), no copper as far as I know. Although I did use a gasket sealer with copper in it.


Corbin

'95 ESI-T
HRC+FMIC+ETC...

corbin, is the mls the stock head gasket? what do you recommend when and if i do change my head gasket later?
thanks
Michael 99gs-t'd

I had a leaky headgasket. After reading the posts on here I found out a couple of things. 1. mitsubishi uses the MLS (multi layer steel) to replace the cheap one that they put on when the cars were made. 2. The hole for the #7 head bolt was not drilled just a little bit to shallow. The fix for the head bolt is to either find a head bolt thats a tiny bit shorter or cut off about a 1/4 inch or so off your stock or replacement head bolt.
Long story short I decided to put in a MLS gasket and shorten the bolt but at the end got lazy and just loosended all of the bolts, trimmed the #7 and then retorqued them in order at the proper torque and I haven't had a leak since.

Dean.

Yeap...MLS is the updated OEM gasket. You should trim the #7 bolt as mentioned. I also replaced all of the head bolts just to make sure that I would never have to pull the head again. The head bolts are supposed to stretch some to keep the seal tight. Sometimes they can stretch too much (that makes them unuseable). If you hold the threads of a good bolt against a questionable bolt, they will only mesh if the threads match (indicates no stretch).


Corbin

'95 ESI-T
HRC+FMIC+ETC...