1992 Mitsubishi Eclipse GS from North America - Comments

Some colors of paint are bad to start with.. I work at a junkyard, and I have looked at these cars and I have dismantled many of these cars.. Recently I parted out a 91 with 107k on it. This thing was beautiful, Silver, not a scratch, not a dent, not a single spot of rust. I like the silver paint. I think this color looks best on these cars anyway.

The shifter problem you all have is a suspect one.. You see, that shifter is a cable-control shifter. There are two cables that run from your shifter to the transmission and when they get cold they are GONNA stick, unless you lube them. If you lube them, they'll be fine.

I don't know what to say about the smokey engines other than it's probably best to just rebuild the thing.. The 2.0 DOHC costs over a grand used. Think of it this way: you got over 100k on the stock engine build.. Do it again, you will get another 100k - it's worth the money. As far as timing chains - Inspect them every 10k. Keep an eye on those or the car will turn around and bite you in the ass.. This isn't just the Eclipse, it's everything with a timing belt.

And you guys with tons of rust - you may as well give up on it, because rust is a killer.. You may think you will end up fixing it, but that is a very rare thing to happen so such a common car.. Admit it.. you aren't going to fix those big rust holes.. Let your local salvage yard have it, or sell it to some young sucker who thinks that he'll fix the rust.. Rust is a horrible thing.. Don't let it happen is the only advice there is..

I think this car stinks... I used to love it, but after I bought my Integra I realize that this car has become nothing more then a money pit. I have put more money keeping it running then it is worth. I will be happy to get rid of it!

I have a 92 laser turbo AWD, similar problems. Burns oil, low compression on one cylinder, have had to replace the brakes, clutch, and manifold. I have had a lot of fun in the car, but it is a lot more maintiance than any Honda I have owned. I think that this car is one of the best sports cars in its class, (without any after market mods) but with that comes a lot of money to maintain it. A lot of sports cars are like that actually. I know people that have sunk a lot of money just maintaining MR2s and Stealths. I am not sorry I got this car as I was looking for a sports car, but I think my next purchase will be a Honda, or Acura. (Although I have been checking out the Subaru WRXs that they put out last year, with about 220 HP and all wheel drive, I think that would be a pretty sweet ride!)

I don't have a stock cd player, but the person that said the stock systems in most cars are garbage is wrong. My best friend works for a car stereo shop. He tells me most systems put in cars are made by good companies like alpine etc. The speakers are also usually right for the power output of the system as well, which usually creates a better system than most of the ones that are after market. The reason for this is a lot of times people end up too little power to the speakers. (For some reason a lot of people buy great speakers and don't give then enough power, creating awful sound.)

Jim/San Diego.

I have owned a 1990 GSX since 1994. I have always been and I am still impressed with the overall performance of this vehicle. I bought with 59K miles and it now has 170K miles. It does burn some oil, I do not think that it is the O2 sensor problem. I have replaced the timing belt twice for preventive maintenance. There has always been an issue with the plastic molding falling off in the interior, but one day I went through and replaced fasteners, problem solved. Something to remember about these vehicles, they are precision mechanisms designed to squeeze an amazing amount of power from a relatively small engine. This means that constant vigil must be maintained to get maximum performance. You can't use ARCO gas, you cannot use bargain oil. Keep an eye on the battery water level. Change those spark plug wires once a year. Go to the DSM Club site to find out how to clean your valves and rings to get back that old performance. You cannot buy a better performing vehicle without spending another $20K. White and silver are the most enduring colors because they reflect heat. Black and red are the worst, look around. Dunlop SP8000 tires are an excellent performance/durability tire for this vehicle (30K miles). Do the research and the work, these are good vehicles. I plan to buy another soon.

I have a 1992 GS 2 Liter DOHC.

The belt squeals when I start the car and I just put a new one in it. Otherwise, it is a really great car. I bought it with 116k and have driven it for 5000 miles. So far I only have had to get new spark plug wires. They totally failed on me and the car would just die all the sudden. Anyways, older cars usually have problems unless their previous owner took PERFECT care of it, like not ever hot-rodding it and always changing the oil, etc.

I like my car though, it looks nice and it's a fun car. I have 16" Elite Chrome Finish Wheels and Low-profiles, a new paint job (black with violet pearl), and I bought a super-style spoiler for it. It looks really really nice.

Hey there all, I seen that a few of you are looking for replacement engines. I found a couple of sites that sell 1G Eclipse engines with 50k miles or less on them.

Take a look at these:

http://www.jspecengines.8m.com/mitsubishipage.html (recommended)

Or.

http://www.a1jdmengines.com/home.htm.

My fiance' owns a 1992 Mitsubishi Eclipse Turbo 2wd. He has sun roof problems. This is due to leakage. He has sealed the sun roof off completely. He has 170k miles on his and it still runs like a charm. He even drag races with it and wins. The body is in perfect condition (white paint) with red accents (he added to it). When he bought it the clutch was going out. He has replaced that and the trans.

I am the original owner of a 1991 Eclipse 2.0 non turbo. I am not a person who works on cars - but I love this car. I took super care of it and the engine finally went at 191,000 miles. The timing belt was first replaced at 90,000. Never replaced the clutch. Never had a problem with burning oil. I just got my mechanic neighbor to put in a used engine with 26000 miles on it and replace the clutch and I guess I am good for another 170,000 miles or so.

The paint job (silver gray) needs to be re-done, but the radio works great. I agree about the plastic interior coming off, but I just buy the little parts needed and put it back together. Anyway, the rebuild with a paint job was a lot cheaper than a new car.

Hey I have a 1991 eagle talon non turbo... I love the car to death... I have a dragon z front bumper in my basement waiting for the rest of the bodykit... I'm looking for cheap ones like bumper caps that just stick on the the stock rear bumper and side skirts... I have changed the timing belt once and it runs good... it ticks because it needs new fuel injectors... I have 17 inch white motegi mr12's on it, its lowered 2 inches, custom interior work... painting/fabricating/lighting... its really nice looking and I wish I could find the rest of my bodykit... oh well sucks to be me haha thanks for listning to me babble about my car lol.

I bought a 92 Eclipse GS 2.0L DOHC for $2500. Although I love the car, I have just sunk in as much money as I did paying for it to have the Cylinder Head and Head Gasket done, while having the timing belt and required filters replaced. Got the car back, and a day later it wouldn't start. The keepers on the valves were not opening, causing the car to turn over, but not start. It also loses bits of power every time it's started until it sits for a long period of time (overnight).

It is currently getting put back together and should be ready tomorrow. My advice is to anyone who reads this and is thinking about getting a car like this. GET A COMPRESSION CHECK BEFORE YOU BUY IT!!! An electrical systems diagnostic at your local autozone wouldn't help either. As I said... I love this car, but being in situations like this can be very... VERY irritating.

Well the thing is I got my baby, a 1992 white Mitsubishi eclipse for my 16th birthday. That was in October, by December the engine was blown (along with the clutch and a few other minor problems). I had a used engine put in by a crappy mechanic. I could finally drive again. About 2 months later the transmission went and the slave cylinder. I had a transmission put in by the same mechanic. Not too long after I got it back it was making a funny noise, all the time. The whole car would shake, it was horrible. One day I was driving down the rode when the transmission broke, again. So I had it towed to that mechanic and he was supposed to look at it, but almost 3 moths went by and he never looked at the car, he was never home when I called. Then one day he called and said that he was moving and he was going to drop my car off at my house. When he dropped it off he said that he was going to get in touch when he moved into his new house. He never called. My car has been sitting in my drive-way for 7 months now. I was ripped off once and now I have no money for its third transmission :- (