19th Jul 2007, 17:19
Hi, my name is Chris Erickson and I live in Anchorage, Alaska and my Eagle Talon 2.0L TSI Turbo has about 138,000 miles on it. Overall I have to say that I have had a great experience with this car. The single biggest negative I have is that it is too small! Adults can't fit in the back seat and a certain number have trouble with the front seats too.
I had a major tuneup and belt replacement at 80,000 miles and have never had any problems with anything under the hood except the Hall-effect top dead center detector (cam angle sensor), which went deader than a rock at 120,000 miles. In the old days we called these "the ignition points." I was blown out of the water when the dealer wanted about $1,000 for the stupid sensor! After figuring out what the common name for this thing was, I was able to find a compatible replacement (optical sensor type from a '91 Talon) on eBay for about $30. eBay rules! I even got about a 20% increase in gas mileage when I switched to the replacement, older, optical type sensor. I also had the clutch rebuilt around 100,000 miles.
The car is beginning to show its years. The black plastic coat on the trim around the door windows is cracking and coming off. I think there is air in the hydraulic clutch line that wasn't there before the clutch rebuild and hasn't been resolved after two return visits. Smashing the clutch pedal to the floor seems to barely release the clutch enough to shift gears and more often than not any more, there is a grind when going into gears. The AM/FM/CD/cassette deck started acting up around 90,000 miles and I took it out and re-soldered all of the connectors on the back of the circuit boards, which fixed it right up. There is a hole worn in left upper side the driver's seat, where I slide past it getting in and out. And possibly most annoying of all, the rear brakes sing like tuning forks on warm days. Always the same pitch, irrespective of braking activity or vehicle speed. I have heard that there was a service note that addressed a retrofit clip that was supposed to stop the brake singing, but the local Mitsubishi dealer seemed clueless and indifferent about it.
If anyone has any suggestions for me on the brake singing or the hydraulic clutch, I would love to hear them!
The car handles wonderfully, gets great mileage and has addictive power. I wish I could find a reliable, mid-sized SUV that had the power and handled even remotely as well as this Eagle.
-Christopher Erickson.
24th Sep 2007, 22:25
I'm so glad to hear about how good your Talon runs! Mine's a 93 as well. My spoiler's clear coat is bubbling badly, and it ticks sometimes... but other than that, mine's still going great...
Part of this is that it was barely driven before I owned it. It has only 137 000 KM on it now. A beautiful car, despite that my friends don't care for the back seat on road trips. It's great for me though, as I'm a 16 year old girl, haha.
Hope you make the 300 000 mile mark. :) Good luck. I'll have to check back for updates.
6th Nov 2007, 09:22
Phil from Madison.
I have a '93 Eagle Talon DL. Driver-side door lock will occasionally be inoperable. I won't even be able to operate the lock from the inside. I have to dukes of hazard my way in and out, but winter is coming so I can't just leave my window open anymore, and I'm not moving to Hazzard county Georgia. I guess I'll have to open the thing up and see what I can do.
It seems to happen when I lock the door from the inside with the door open, like most people lock their door. When the door is closed, something loose or broken in the mechanism then gets jarred out of place, and jams the lock. To prevent this, I have been closing the door and locking it from the outside with the key. It seems to help a lot, but every once in a while, especially at the most inconvenient time, it gets a wild hair up its butt and jams anyway.
17th Jun 2007, 15:12
Hi again.
In response to the last plea for help, I can tell you that the tapping is caused by one or more worn out lifters. I replaced all of mine a few thousand miles ago, and that made the tapping go away.
My A/C has been deep sixed for a few years; however here in Pennsylvania, I have to reset the idle speed. There is a screw in the throttle cable body that lets you slow down or speed up the idle. For winter I have to set it a bit high, and for summer I set it back to normal. The noisy lifters won't wreck your car.
One more note about fixing a Talon. I believe in factory parts or parts from a good auto parts store. I have very good luck with Advance Auto Parts. Trust nothing but the best for your car. Always choose an American, Canadian, or Mexican built part. I had to search for my last set of timing and cam belts to find a U.S.A. made belt. To me it is a piece of mind. A bargain belt made somewhere else could cost you your car.
I've had the same Mitsubishi air cleaner on my car for about 150,000 miles. I take it out, blow it off, and put it back in. I haven't had any problems with it.
Some parts, like my water pump, are only available from China. I had one installed when I had the last set of timing belts installed and it seems to work fine.
I never bought an alternator from Advance. The original alternator went out on mine at 188,000 miles, and I got an American made remanufactured unit for $130, which was a great deal. I expect that one to last until 250,000 miles.
For a quick update, my Talon is sitting at 210,000 miles. It continues to run just fine. I'm about to take it on an 800 mile round trip vacation.
As per my last update, I haven't gotten to any of the parts that need to be replaced. The car is due for inspection in September, so I will have some of the items replaced at the next oil change.
The oil leak that it has had for a few years is actually getting to the point of leaving a dime sized spot overnight, which is not bad at all for 210,000 miles.
Valve seals need to be replaced, however, since I change the oil every 3,000 miles and keep an eye on it between changes, I'm not too worried about the oil leak getting worse.
It will be due for another timing/cam belt change at 237,000 miles. If I'm still driving it at that point, I will be sure to give it the works - valve seals, water pump, cam belt, timing belt, etc...
The Talon still shines up just fine and looks great. I still have no plans about getting rid of it. It keeps doing its thing and never misses a beat. I'd like to see it make it to the 300,000 mile mark. You think Mitsubishi/Chrysler would send me a congratulatory paper and a discount for a new Mitsubishi if it did make it?