ATTN eclipse owners (GST & GSX)

[zooq]

how much hp can the stock bottom end take?
can the car make 300 whp without custom rods and pistons?
and how hard is it to hit low13s high-mid 12s in a gst or a gsx?
and what is crank walk? can it be fixed and how much?
thanks

[zooq]

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[GReddy Celica]

Hey, Im not sure about the other queations you asked but I know about crank walk. My friend had a 1997 eclipse GST and had to sell it due to this. Apparently it is a very bad problem eclipses have with the crank position and size as I understand. My friend went through $6,000 is repair bills and rebuilt the engine 3 times and ended up getting rid of it. According to him and many others, it is a common problem that affects about 90% of all second gen. eclipses and it is a problem Mitsubishi does not want to recognize. So my suggestion is, get rid of it ASAP because even though it is a cool fast car, it has a lot of problems and it will spend a lot of time in the shop, not to mention it will drain your wallet.

As much as I know, hope it helps.

[RCKid]

First off, crankwalk is not that prominent. 90%? Kinda high percentage if you ask me.

And for everyone's info, crankwalk CAN be fixed and is not a good reason to not get a car you like.

And, if you do get it and catch it early, and don't feel like paying the money to fix it right, you can do a band-aid fix for $18 that will last you another 10K miles. I know 4 people who did this while they saved for a fix... and they all had 12 second cars.

Onto the original questions:
It is easy to hit the 12s/13s in a GST/GSX. For a 2G, exhaust, boost controller, intake, and BOV gets you 13s. Turbo upgrade and fuel pump/injector upgrade gets you 12s and a FMIC or Supra SMIC gets you consistent mid 12s and lower. If you have a 1G, it is easier since the stock turbo can go 12s.

Untouched, the engine can easily and reliably handle 300whp every day. I know of many (about 11) people running 400whp+ everyday on a stock bottom end. And these are people I know, not people I heard about.

My 97K mile 2G has run 20psi, everyday for the past 2.5 years (35K miles) without issue. According to those drag HP calulators, I am making 296HP to the wheels (about 335 to the crank). Motor is untouched and DOESN'T HAVE CRANKWALK.

[CeLicAxTrD]

i agree i own a 97 GST now and replace my motor due to crank walk... its not worth it.... never runs the same again...trust me on it....should sell ASAP... although im geting screwed geting the CELICA!

i think no matter what car you get, once you start moddin your screwed :)..

is it true though that you can just put in a 1st gen block and you should be fine??

[MarkyMark]

haha, I knew RCKid would answer this :) how about Andre's GSX?? Something like 400 HP....

[RCKid]

MarkyMark... you been calling Miss Cleo again? how'd you know I'd post here?

Yes, I have a friend, Andre, who had his 99 GSX dynoed at over 400HP to the wheels on pump gas at 20 psi. If he took the skirt off and boosted to 26, like the turbo he has is supposed to, he would have that much more power, but he has retained the stock bottom end and has one hell of a car. His car has been without problem until recently. Seems he keeps breaking the teeth of of 3rd, 4th and 5th gears!

A 1G motor drops in with barely any work. You retain the stock head and everything else and you are good to go. You have to trim one piece of something and that is it.

I know 2 others who went the other route of keeping the block and replaced the cranks, bearings, etc and balanced the whole assembly and have had no incidence of good ol' CW for over 15K miles. These are the only people I know personally who have gotten crankwalk.

Now, I have heard the other side too, like CeLicAxTrD, where they replace the block or do some fix and it doesn't work or they say it isn't the same. As for it never running the same, either the work wasn't done right, or they didn't fix the problem.

In the end, your decision will come down to you on whether you buy a GST or a GSX. Listen to all sides of the arguement and formulate your on decision. If you do get a DSM and, God-forbid, you end up with CW, you asked for cost and no on answered. To put a band aid on the problem and just do the bearings, you can easily do that in an afternoon for $18 and that will fix it temorarily. To get it done right and fix the problem, it will run you around $1500 to have a KNOWLEDGABLE shop do the work. If you were to replace the whole engine and build it while you are in there, I just built a motor top to bottom for my 1G for $2500, although I did all the work minus the machining, so that saved me a lot of money in labor cost. To just do the bottom end or buy a 1G motor will cost roughly the same after labor... $2500 for a used 1G motor installed.

[Bryan H]

rckid pretty much answered it.
the stock bottom end can handle upwards of 450+ hp depending on what mods are there. if the car is well maintained and take care of in general. pretty much like any car.

there are different ways of reaching 12's or 13's
the stock sidemount can be pushed to run 11's and can support over 350 hp. but this requires a lot of tuning and a lot of money spent in other places. there is only a few nationwide that have done this. my car, mike murphy from sst racing in omaha and a few others.
the stock fuel pump can run mid 12's just requires a standalone to do it.

like i said depends on which way you want to go, one extreme or the other

BTw mines still forsale and with a lot more money sunk into it for the same price.
tranny. turbo and more gizmo's

[X-EVIL-X]

all these people talking about turbo's...
its making me crazy:D
it will be fun to see what kind of times a 300 hp gts would put down.

yes..it shall be interesting..

[jlevy]

Out of curiosity, what exactly about the design causes the crank walk? I assume it's premature wear on the thrust bearing, but what can be done to correct the problem?