Hello,

Brand new to the forums and new to the Mitsubishi world. Just picked up a used 1998 Eclipse Spyder GS-T - 64,000mi. As far as I know, I believe it came with an aftermarket turbo, short throw shifter and cold air intake. The car was misfiring, so I pulled the plugs on it and they were dry and white. The gaps were way off from factory specs, and the resistor part of one of them was busted, I'm assuming because that cylinder was detonating. To get it running, I replaced plugs with NGK 4s and put gap to OEM spec tolerance (And I put the gap the exact same on all 4 cylinders). So what do I do? I obviously need to make the vehicle run richer, correct? I've never seen a stock 2.0L Turbo on one of these cars, so I have no starting point... Is there any easy/cheap way to make it run richer? Do I need to buy a computer programmer? If so, what? Finally, is there possibly another problem?

Also, I am getting oil leaking from the oil fil cover onto my valve cover. Is this blow by? Or can I fix with a new cap? Only happens when I have laid into the turbo a few times.

Thanks for your help in advance,
Dan

if its white smoke then you are burning water.

I do burn a little white smoke. So you think that is just water burnt onto my plugs? My oil is as clean as can be, and I don't see any major leakage around the head gasket on the outside portions. What are your recommendations for a good head gasket? How much of a job is it on the 2.0L turbo motors? I've done a few on other motors.

Thanks,
Dan

white = water

white w/ blue tint = oil

black = diesel lol

If you put new plugs in and you're still a little lean, keep in mind it has an aftermarket turbo on stock injectors.

Yeah, that's what I'm thinking... Any suggestions? What should I get for injectors? Do I need to find out more about the turbo? If so, where do I look on the turbo? Sorry for my ignorance.

Thanks,
Dan

no need to be sorry :thumbsup:

can you post a pic of the turbo? the easiest way to check the turbo is look at the compressor housing. if the outlet is at the bottom then it could be stock but someone turned the boost up. if the outlet is on the top and there is a j shaped pipe (j-pipe) that is attached to it then the turbo is not stock.

what boost level are you running?

Thanks for getting to me so fast guys! The pressure side outlet is on the top, with a (what should be but is not) j pipe. The previous owner welded up some horrible adapter that needs to be replaced with a formal j pipe. Right now I had to put a different hose on that did not kink (like he had it) to get by. I do not know how many psi I am pulling. I will have to throw a psi gauge on and take a look. I really appreciate your help because I want to get a lot of life out of this motor if I can. I'm not into beating/racing it. I believe the previous owner may have been, or attempted. :)

Dan

Yeah as soon as the dsm guys see what turbo you are running they will be able to help. They are a very knowledgeable group.

Find a serial number on the turbo, top of the compressor housing. Find out what turbo it is online.

or post it here I will tell you in a heartbeat :P

since you mentioned that the outlet is on top and there is a J type pipe in there it can only be one of 5 turbos.
49178-01430(01400): 14b
49178-01420(01450): Big 16G
49178-01520: Small 16G
49178-01470: EVO III 16G
Knock off Evo III 16g


The actual mitsubishi turbos will ALL have a compressor housing that looks like this (14b on the right):


the knock off will look like this, and is primarily found on Ebay:


you can see the number plate on the knock off turbo. Mitsu never used a number plate except on their JDM Evo turbos.

Thanks a lot for the help. I will take a look and let you guys know. It may be a day or so, since I'm working later this evening. Once I know what it is, then I can get some help on what injectors to go with before I melt a hole in one of my pistons :-)

Dan

make sure you look around for a boost controller and close it the whole way if there is one on there.

the easiest way to find it (if someone installed it right) is follow the vacuum line from the wastegate actuator on the turbo. if it goes to a sensor and then to the intake pipe you are good.

if it goes from the actuator to a wierd looking object then from the object to the intake pipe that is your manual boost controller (MBC). usually, spinning it clockwise will adjust it down and you will be good. To be sure, look for a + and - marked on it and adjust it as far - as you can.

bigger injectors could actually hurt your car worse without a bigger fuel pump or fuel pressure regulator,,,,depending on how big you go

I'll take a look and let you know this as well...

I hear you on the injectors. I just want the car to run dependably, without having to try to put it all back to stock. Everything is fine except this white plug issue...

Thanks again for the quick replies and thorough responses!

Dan

whoa hold the phone! If I understand correctly the (and i hope i'm wrong) the vacuum line goes from the wastegate actuator directly to the intake BEFORE the turbo and there is nothing in between? Or the vacuum line goes from the wastegate actuator to an intake pipe AFTER the turbo?(please let it be this one)

Let me check this. I'm sorry, I briefly confused the blow off valve with the wastegate. Silly me :P

I could not get the smaller numbers off from the turbo yet, but I did see something that hopefully should help: TD03

I did some googling and that is supposedly a Mitsu turbo? So am I ok so far then?

Maybe the mods are just the blow off valve and intake... (hopefully)

If so, then do you know the specs of the turbo?

Thanks as always,
Dan

P.S. -I'm working on getting pics up soon...

I coulda sworn the stock turbo was larger then a TD03

Mitsu never put a TD03 stock turbo on anycar unless the 13g is considered a td03.

Take a look again and make sure it doesn't say td04 or td05.

the td03 came on chrysler vehicles like the lebaron and stuff like that.

I will take another closer look and let you all know. Gosh I hope this doesn't turn into a mess...

Thanks,
Dan