hi again,

i have a stock 95 eclipse GS with a new engine...

im thinking of going the turbo route over the basic non turbo upgrades...and i was directed to Hahn turbo stage 2 as the best for me...

i am new to all this so please bear with me, im trying to learn and want to learn ... after readin, im realizing there is alot more to turbos than i thought...heh, psi, boost :(

either way, my question is, is will a turbo damage my engine since it is stock with no turbo? people have told me that adding a turbo to a non-turbo engine will blow my engine very quick unless i spen alot of money and upgrade my cams?pistons? etc?

or with a Hahn stage 2, will i be fine?

thanks
larry

also, ive read somewhere on here you guys said to install it yourself....is that recommended if i dont really know my way around the engine? i only know basic stuff and locations but if its easy to do and it will save me $$, should i?

If you look at the hahn site, their turbo system is designed for STOCK engines. Now if you put in forged internals ect ect, you will always be better off.
There are pleanty of guys on the board here that have gone Thousands, and Thousands of miles with their turbo systems.
Could your engine blow? Yes. Will it blow. Dunno.
Do a compression check. If your over 180 on every cyl. then go for it.
Also, you can do a "stage 2" with a FMIC instead of the side mount that hahn gives you. I beleive that the intercooler is the only difference between stage one and two.

Installing it yourself is always a good idea. Gets you intimate with your engine :). I think that it is about an 6-8 hr install for a mechanic shop. So @ 65/hr that is going to run you between 390 and 520 to get installed. hmmmm if you do it yourself, yup, you just saved the cost of the FMIC you bought instead of the hahn side mount one.

where do i get a compression check? at any local garage?


and if my engine did blow, does that mean another 5k to get a new engine, or by "engine blow" do they mean something fixable without gettnig a new engine?

see, my goal is, is to make this car a very fun car for the next 5 years i will have it.... where i live, Mustangs, civics, integras rule my roads....not too many eclipses here that ive seen....and being a new Eclipse owner, i feel its my duty to represent here in SI heh

>where do i get a compression check? at any local garage?


having said that i think it would be wise to do a lot of reading before you decide to purchase a turbo kit. you have A LOT of responsibility when you put a turbo on a car that is not supposed to have one. if you want a fun, reliable eclipse, go the easy way and get a gst or a gsx. now that i have had a turbo kit on mine and its gone now, i feel its a better idea to have a factory turbo car. but thats just me.

Joe

Turbo Will not kill your motor. Mistakes with turbo, or serious malfunctions with it will blow your engine. All engines will go sometime, are you making it come quicker than it would, who knows. This engine will hold up to a lot of abuse. It all depends on you (and some luck) how you install things, if you get boost happy, if you make a mistake tuning it. Basicly I would say this, if you never want to have to rebuild your engine under any circumstances, or don't like more maintance then this prolly isn't a good idea. Not because turbo will kill your engine it just adds a lot of extra stuff that could go wrong and that you have to keep track of.... so in short no turbo will not kill your engine you will if it happens.

"With great powers, come great responsibilites!!!".........hmmmmmm, what movie was that. In any case, that statement couldn't be any more true with having a kit. You can't just slap that thing in there and never look at it again.

Well if your engine blows "usually" it's rebuildable. Most of the time it doesn't crack a block or anything. But you will be looking anywhere between 1-3 grand to fix it depending on who does the work and all that.

hmm you all make very good points, but please realize that i am willing to learn and most importantly, want to learn every aspect of my car. i guess it just comes from experience

my deal is, is ive had other cars before ...crappy ones..but this is one i actually like and want to make the best it can be...at least for me... little by little im learning how to fix many things in the car and i was hoping to somehow find information to teach me about turbos and shit

does anyone know any forum posts that can help me?

well after reading alot of posts, ive realized financially, i have the funds to cover whatever damage may happen...but i just dont think i have the knowledge to safely monitor everything and know what everything means..

well, my other alternate route of gaining a little more power the non turbo way...ie: air intake, exhaust, headers, cat conv, msd, fuel pressure regulator, comp chip, err....what else was there....performance tuneup?

can anyone think of anything else?

i basically just wanted more power, torque etc...and i was directed to Turbo which is originally got me on all this but if its not advisable than maybe ill go with my original idea...

:(

Well if turbo is what you want in the future then don't waste money buying things it will replace. Do alot more reading here on the board and don't forget the archive. Turbo is not easy but it's not "that" hard until you get to the higher stages. With my star kit I just watch my fuel pressures, O2 voltages and EGT's. You have to learn the mechanical stuff and you will learn alot about that by installing it yourself. You always have this board just know what your getting into.

yes it will kill it, it'll suck the life out, run it over a million times, and murder it viciously. haha that's what I would say if I didn't read the post and just the subject. Nah it won't kill your engine if you take good care of it. You might wanna check the compression first to see if you should rebuild it first. Cuz you don't want mega lag.

Buying a turbo unlocks a whole new world of possibility. I don't think it should be in the same subject as BPM.
If you're looking for the safest possible route, go with your BPM, but if not, i'd definitely go with a turbo. One turbo now, and you have roughly 5psi non-i/c, and you have...50 more hp and torque than with the basics. Keep it, have fun with it, and a year down the road, you can buy an intercooler, yay, 8psi for another 600 bucks. Now, you have 75 more hp than with BPM. Throw in some injectors, you can push 10psi. 115 more hp than with BPM. Even bigger injectors (400), AFC (300), ignition and timing control (400), and you can run 15psi! (Keep in mind, the latter requires the fully built engine). I guess what i'm trying to get across is the turbo has extreme potential that can be kept under your belt for the time being, until you have the green to add supplies. If you drop 1500 on BPM, you're kinda stuck with it.

Hmm...thinking about it, i would definitely throw in a cat-back, regardless of what route you take.

Also, no one flame me for my extremely off-the-top-of-the-head HP estimates, i tried to be as close as possible!



Jon

1997 Eclipse RS

14.21@101mph 10/4/02

MODS: 8.8:1 JE Pistons / Eagle rods / Stage 1 Hahn turbocharger / Melling Oil Pump / Autometer 5" tach / 4 JL 12" W0 subwoofers / Clarion 230w amp / short shifter mod / GReddy EVO exhaust / custom 2 1/2" downpipe / no cat con / CM Stage 1 / 30lb Mustang injectors / TurboXS MBC / 1G SMIC / Eibach Sportline springs / KYB GR-2 struts / GReddy 52mm EGT

>Hmm...thinking about it, i would definitely throw in a
>cat-back, regardless of what route you take.
>
>Also, no one flame me for my extremely
>off-the-top-of-the-head HP estimates, i tried to be as close
>as possible!
>
>
>
>Jon
>

errr...i thought the turbo kits came with a whole new exhaust? like muffler, cat etc? i thought i read taht somewhere

You should look into a book titled "Maximum Boost" by Corky Bell. It can be found in some book stores and online at numorous sites, It contains a ton of extremely valuable info on turbo systems that will answer most, if not all, of your questions.

thanks guys, youve all been very helpful...and i really do appreciate the many emails i received from people helping me out :D i swear this forum is a godsend :D

ive talked to one of my friends and he said if i get the turbo, he would teach me everything i need to know about it and maintaining it..

most likely he will install it and ill stand behind him going... "whats that?" "whats that?" "whats that?" lol :D

hey, you gotta learn somewhere right :D

is a turbo advisable if i have to commute 40 miles each way to work every day? all highway... or is that too much wear and tear ?

Yeah, it's fine, i put between 80 and 100 miles a day on my car.



Jon

1997 Eclipse RS

14.21@101mph 10/4/02

MODS: 8.8:1 JE Pistons / Eagle rods / Stage 1 Hahn turbocharger / Melling Oil Pump / Autometer 5" tach / 4 JL 12" W0 subwoofers / Clarion 230w amp / short shifter mod / GReddy EVO exhaust / custom 2 1/2" downpipe / no cat con / CM Stage 1 / 30lb Mustang injectors / TurboXS MBC / 1G SMIC / Eibach Sportline springs / KYB GR-2 struts / GReddy 52mm EGT