1994 Mitsubishi Eclipse GS

[carguy996]

I am considering purchasing a 1994 Eclipse GS, unsure if it has the 1.8 or the 2.0. The selling price is only $400 and the owner states it has 155,000 miles on it w/ a new timing belt at 135,000. The Body has some rust on the rear qtr panels and some clearcoat de-lamination on the hood and roof - he states the car uses a 1qt of oil every 1500 miles on it but still runs smooth - I am looking at this car tonight, what should I look for? Is this a good deal regardless, I am not worried about the rust & paint, those items come w/ time. The car does have a 5 speed manual trans. If anyone if familiar w/ these engines, I would assume its a 1.8 but it may be a 2.0, which is the better engine?

 

[Quest]

Mitsu Eclipse (or better yet, Mitsu in general), their gasoline engines are known to be good until they went past 60,000miles or approx 100,000kms before they all experience smoking (engine oil burning) due to bad valve guides and/or seals.

Also, given it's age, these cars just like Civics of that era, are oftentimes subjected to severe abuse (jackrabbits, gearbox clashing due to rapid shifting duirng streetdrags, etc.)

 

[CBDFrontier06]

A GS will have the 2.0. (I had one). I know nothing of the 1.8, but I know the 2.0 is prone to noisy lifters. Mine sounded horrible when the engine was cold, but when it warmed up, it purred. I'm not sure what mechanical implications come from being noisy (if lift is compromised) but the car ran great despite the noise on cold mornings.

If the timing belt has been changed, that's good...BUT....A friend and I changed the belt on mine, and it broke about a year later. Not sure if it was a shoddy belt, or if we kinked it sometime during the install. It had 15K miles on it, maximum. How long it lasts depends on who made it and who installed it.

Be thankful of the 5-speed, but make sure it shifts into 2nd gear without protest. My 2nd gear synchro was starting to 'complain' when I sold it...something that doesn't often get better on its own.

The only other thing I can think of that's an inherent problem with the 2.0 is the idle air control valve. When they get dirty, they sometimes have a hard time deciding where idle is. Sometimes mine would bounce between 900 and 1500 until it got fully warmed up. And, if I ever unhooked the battery, it would completely forget how to idle and would die at stoplights for a few miles, and finally operated normally. Take it for a test drive to look for any signs of this. Sometimes this can be fixed with a throttle body cleaning...other times it requires a new IACV.

Taking all this into account, I'd say $400 is a pretty good deal.

 

[CBDFrontier06]

P.S. I guess mine had good care by its previous owner. It did't smoke at all nor use any oil. BUT...I did give it a tune-up one day and found Champion spark plugs in it.

 

[carguy996]

I had a 1991 and that goofy idle drove me nuts, luckily they fixed that in 1993 when they went to a fixed idle motor w/ no adjustment. I did some research online and I found out in 93 and 94 there was a GS 1.8 and a GS 2.0 for those years, since this one has the 14 inch alloys I would presume its a 1.8. I know nothing about the 1.8 engine other than it was in the Mirage GS.

 

[FowVay]

I did some work on a 1990 model a little over a year ago. The car had the timing belt changed but the owner never changed the balance shaft belt which rides inboard of the timing belt. The balance shaft belt had broken and destroyed the timing belt and all of the valves and valve guides also.

The car had 119,000 miles on it at the time of failure. When I had the cylinder head off of the car I noticed that the cylinder walls looked perfect. No upper cylinder wear or ridge deposits were present and all of the hone marks were still dominant.

My opinion of this car was favorable. The engine was nicely made and well thought out. It was a California version so it did have a EGR valve which was not common on the normal Federal Emissions models. The owner never reported it using oil and the car is still on the original radiator and accessories to this day (16 years old).

The downside to this car is the interior. It has simply fallen apart with age. Poor quality plastics have turned this thing into a hideos looking wreck. However, asthetics aside, the car starts easily, idles and runs perfectly, and the automatic transmission is working wonderfully.

If you buy one of these cars I'd go over it with a fine tooth comb and make sure that it hasn't been neglected to the point of leaving you stranded someplace. After that,, enjoy your cheap transportation for as long as it is economical to operate.

 

[BrianWC]

Quote:

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P.S. I guess mine had good care by its previous owner. It did't smoke at all nor use any oil. BUT...I did give it a tune-up one day and found Champion spark plugs in it.

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Oh...any old oil will do but not any old spark plug?


I, too, had a 94 GS 2.0 in the family. Same issues. Noisey lifters. Timing belt broke at about 60k miles and bent a valve or two. Never ran perfect after that.... But was still much more enjoyable than the 1.8l

 

[Brogy]

Check the clutch for slippage. Replacing it would cost at least $700, $300 in parts if you wanted to do it yourself.

Also like said above, check for neglect. I looked at a car that was neglected, usually very obvious. The radiator hoses were leaking, the radiator was collapsing from rust, the dipstick didn't read so it was at least 2 quarts low, the engine was covered with sludge from a leaking head gasket, the spark plug wires were original. Basically if you pop open the hood and everything is original you dont want it.

 

[Brogy]

Oh and also, may seem obvious, but confirm everything the owner says. For example, I went with my dad to look at a car for my sister, the ad said 125k on it, the guy told us it was 125k, and we were too busy looking at the mechanical aspects of the car to realize it had 145k on it, which we didn't realize until we paid and got home. Called the guy and he told us he didn't really know anything because he was selling it for a friend.