i'm 17, and i have a 94 3000GT base model auto. tranny. Ive noticed a decent amount of light blue smoke coming out, meaning im burning oil right? Well my oil bar has been about half full inside the car, but hasnt gone down from there. I took it to the local mitsu dealership and i stopped listening to him after he named a few things that might need to be done and he said it might be 3000 or more... What all would more than likely need to be done in order to repair it myself?

Oh yea, and going back to the original topic posted, when you were talking about the cost of insurance, i pay 500 per 6 months with 500 deductible on my base model. The reason the base and probably SL will be cheaper is that its not listed as a sports car on your insurance, or at least mine isnt. Once you get to the twin turbo, you lose that. Im not sure if someone had already said that, my video card fried and for some reason these forums dont come out very clear on my screen

I wanted to ask this, I am buying a 3000GT VR-4 1991. Is it good thing to do? Consider the insuarance, repair and everything else.

lol, the oil gauge is pressure, not volume, but is the oil coming out at idle, after idle, under acceleration?? does it go away after a few mins?? probably valve guides, it doesnt hurt anything, but after a while, it can damage catalytic converter, and/or the o2 sensors...

wow, ttangel hit the nail right on the head, Chadinvan is completely wrong, 480?? for the timing belt... hmmm. maybe the timing belt, did you get the waterpump changed?? tensioner?? idler??? that's all necessary with a 60k, it's all just as important as the timing belt, if you know someone or if you look on 3si, people do 60k tune ups for about 250-300 dollars (american) after you buy all the parts, so it will cost you about 550-600 all together, and obviously you dont work on your own car or you would see the rear turbo, it's right there in the open, as ttangel said you can see it very clearly if you look, the tranny is on the rear of the engine (passenger side), the turbos are exhaust driven, hence, they are on the exhaust manifolds,one turbo is on the front head,(which is the right head) one on the rear head, (on the left head)... sorry to burst your bubble, no electrical problems here, only a switch for my rear wiper, which took me a total of 5 mins to replace.... these cars are not that hard to work on, and they are not much more than an NA on insurance because they are awd, they have abs, and dual airbags, but nice try though :thumbsup:

as far as i know, it only comes out during acceleration. I dont know if it goes away after i start driving but i know it does it for at least the first and second time i accelerate from a stop

Even though this is a 3000gt forum i must recomend the 300zx Twin Turbo > 3000gt VR4 just by expierence ( Not by speed). I had a 1996 VR4 before i sold it due to me being 16 and the insurance kicked my ****. But, my friend had a 1996 TT 300zx and i must say, much easier to work on and it drove much smoother. Even though it has RWD it has 4W steering. It may be alittle slower but in the long run, i would <3 to have the 300zx. Just my .02

except the 300zx is an ugly mother ****** where the 3000GT might actually get you a chick. ;)

could be worn piston rings, letting oil by into the combustion chamber.

check your compression.

HOW DARE YOU j/k, maybe his car drove smoother, but in my opinion, sports cars are supposed to be rough and tight, not all of those had 4ws, and I think all vr4's from 91-96 had aws, but also awd, it maybe a bit easier to work on, but I doubt it, I removed a head from a vr4 recently, and it didnt even take a day, with mickey mouse tools..... and they dont look as cool, nor do they have active aero, (91-96), or dual mode exhaust (91-96), nor do they have dual mode suspension (91-96)..... I personally like the 3s b/c it's a neat car, and there is nothing else like it, not sure about 300zx, but I know personally that a vr4 will cruise nicely at 120mph....

Mel, heh i hit 140 in mine :P, was sad to see it go but i couldnt afford it :(. Since all my friends at school have either a GS-T or TSI, I recently bought a 1999 Eclipse GS (OZ edition) to be my new project car. 420a sleeper is my dream :)

with all do respect, you can build a sleeper out of anything, the best thing to build a sleeper out of is a geo, but make sure you make a roll cage in it, and make it invisible to people outside of your car.... I said cruise nicely at 120, I have hit 140 in mine also, nothing above that though, but it will cruise nicely at 120, sticks to the road, and it feels rock solid, stock a vr4 is rated to do 160mph, I have heard of people doing over that with a stock car, but I have also heard that the stock speedo in the 1st gens isnt exactly correct at higher speeds, I know mine is b/c I have taken a handheld GPS with me in the car.... I like mitsu's products and their engineering, honda also has good engineering, I feel bad for them b/c it's the stupid people (usually the young kids with blond hair and blue eyes) that give honda a bad name, they are actually excellently engineered cars...... too bad

Nice topic, helped me a lot. Im looking for a 3000gt also and this helped with some stuff about the car.

Also Whats the recall you talk about?


Also I want to eventually be able to do work on the car myself so any sites that would show things having to do with a 300gt (like 3si.org mentioned earlier) would be greatly appreciated.

Welcome aboard spazz.

the transfer case recall only applies to Twin turbos. It is the small gear box that recieves power from the transmission and sends it to the rear wheels.

the hold very little oil, and the seals would typically leak, meaning all the oil would seep out in a very short time. this would heat up the whole unit, and fry a viscous coupling, and could potentially lock up at highway speeds, and kill people. Not to mention wreck everything drivetrain related in your car.

When ever you by a twin turbo model look under the car for leaks. the trouble is, the oil they use in the transfer case is the same as the tranny, and looks similar to engine oil. So all the mitsu mechanics have been briefed to "claim" it's something else leaking. I'm not sure if this is because all dealerships are bass turds, or because mitsu is a slowly sinking ship.

To combat this, I put a different color synthetic in my tranny, and my transfer case. I have redline synthetic in my tranny (blood red. no mistaking a tranny leak anymore.) That way I can tell just by the color of the fluid, and the dealer cant screw me.

Also, they will typically tell you that "the recall has been done already." This is the largest pile of horse sh*t ever, as the recall is for the life of the vehicle, no matter how many times it's been done. This is because mitsu never changed the seal design, they just put a new one in that will eventually start leaking. If it has been done before, they can ask you pay them to take it apart, but should refund your money if it is leaking/ and or it's busted cause there is no oil left inside it.

Remember, it's your safety. don't take a grease monkey's word that hardly sees twin turbos. Tell them you want to be there while they work on your car. you have the right. make them drain the fluid in front of you.

If they do give you ANY grief, at least in the US, call the national transportation department. I'll post the number if anyone needs it.

Sorry to go off, but I've had this happen to me, and to save a few hundred bucks versus fix the dammn seal design mitsu just tries to screw me and I'm not happy about it. It's my safety on the highway that they seem unconcerned for. losers.

Oh, and your "work on it" site.
www.stealth316.com <-- great site.

Wow thanks a ton TTAngel

Sorry for the double post but...
Heres my dilemma. I am 16, have a decent paying job making about 15k a year so insurance isn't that big of a factor, while its still big. I'd prolly end up paying about 2-2.5k a year (thats what my friend pays for his gsx). I currently own a junker 94 Mercury Villager. I share this car with a brother and use it as a daily driver. I want to get a 3000gt and cant decide between a vr4 and a SL. I would use this car only on weekends with friends and me and my bro would use the villager to get to school. As you might have guessed from me earlier post, I dont know a lot about gt's but I really wanna learn and be able to do stuff with my car. You guys have said that twin turbos require a lot of maintenance, that that kinda pushes me toward the sl but I want the power and awd of the vr4. I need your guys opinions thanks.

they are no more maintenance than any other car, the only difference is the boost leaks, build a pressure tester, and it's pretty easy to find them...... but it's no more maintenance than any other car, it's the same, just treat it good, and it will treat you good, there is something in someone's sig on 3si, not sure who's sig it is, but it goes,

Your car can be:
Fast
Reliable
Cheap

PICK TWO....... true for every car.......

That's matt's sig from Dynamic Racing. He's got the fastest stealth in the world... :)

There's a lot more "stuff" under the hood, but it's not really that much harder than the NAs. It still has the same basic motor. same timing belt. just added a couple turbos, and lowered the compression. oh, and a drive shaft.

more moving parts means more crap to break, but like Mel said. find a good one, treat it right, it'll love you back for a long time.

Hi, i am thinking about getting a 91' 3000gt Sl
with 67k miles on it.
I am 17 years old.
I have been driving a 1989 plymouth voyager for the past 2 years (during driver ed)


here is a picture.


http://i46.photobucket.com/albums/f134/fro...listpics136.jpg

what do you guys think?

hard to tell from one picture on the internet, but the owner seemed to like it enough to put time into it.

check it for the average mechanical things. make sure it's a car you like.

and at that mileage make sure the 60k maintenance was done.

can i get a check list for the 60k work that needs to be done so i know eactly what to ask?