The contents of this FAQ are (c) 2001 by Michael Robinson, with the exception of parts not written by myself. This document may be reproduced freely but not sold for a profit.
The information in this FAQ is largely derrived from personal knowledge and postings made on the Club3g webboards. Additional information required to answer questions in this FAQ were obtained from various sources on the internet. As a result, it is quite possible that information contained in this FAQ is wrong. Every effort has been taken to assure the accuracy of this FAQ, but all information should be independantly verified before acting on that information.
As a result, I take no responsibility for injuries obtained or damage caused due to following the information contained in this FAQ.
This FAQ attempts to answer questions and problems which commonly arise on the Club3g webboards. It is highly biased towards the GT, but information about the RS/GS is included where it is known.
Interesting or largely unknown information about the 3rd generation Eclipse may also be included.
You'll notice that each subject covered in the FAQ has a date listed in small type under it. This date is updated each time the information in that section of the FAQ is modified. Additionally, a last modified date is kept at the top of the FAQ, as well as a version number.
Generally new topics are appended to the end of the FAQ.
Please send a private message to Keeper @ home on the Club3g message forums.
Yes. The contents of this FAQ are contained entirely in one document. Use the find function in your webbrowser.
Visit the Club3g webboards and search the forums. If you can't find an answer to your question, ask it in the appropriate forum.
YES! The nose bra can damage paint if it is not used properly.
If rocks or dirt get trapped under the bra, it will rub against the paint causing scratches. If the dirt remains under the bra for extended periods, paint will eventually be rubbed off.
The area covered by the bra, over time, will also appear darker than the rest of the car (due to UV exposure).
The bra should be removed when it is raining or before washing a car. A wet bra should never be left on a car.
It is recommended that the bra be used only on long trips to protect the front of the car from bugs and rocks.
Good results have been obtained with products manufactured by Zano Brothers, Meguiars, and Mothers.
The lights in the front turn signals are dual filament bulbs, size 1157.
The following portions of the front seat are leather:
All other seating surfaces in the car are vinyl. This includes the backseats and other portions of the front seats.
Get a small bucket and fill it with warm water. Pour in some vinegar. Wash the windows with a rag of some sort. Wipe them off with a towel or crumpled newspaper.
The type of vinegar used does not matter.
Window cleaners like Windex can be used, but are not as effective.
Good results have been obtained with productes made by Meguiars, Mothers, and Lexol.
Good results have been obtained with productes made by Meguiars, 303, and Lexol.
Armor All is not recommended. Over time it will damage the vinyl and plastic.
The lights in the rearview mirror are size 194.
The lights in the clock pod are size 74.
For the GT:
If you live in a climate where the temperatures go below freezing, you want to use 5w30.
If you live in a climate that is always warm, use 10w30.
The numbers on the oil label represent the viscocity of the oil when cold and warm. The larger the difference between the two numbers the more the oil has to "stretch" between cold and warm temperatures. The more the oil has to stretch, the quicker it breaks down. This means you want to choose an oil that changes the least while still serving the needs of the engine.
Do not use heaver or lighter weight oils. Some people think that using a lower viscocity oil is somehow better because it reduces friction. A lower viscocity oil doesn't generate as much friction and allows the engine to spin easier, but they do not offer the protection required for the engine. The lower viscocity allows metal parts to come in contact with each other more frequently, accelerating engine wear -- this is a bad thing. Others think that a heaver weight oil will give the engine more protection. A heavier oil gums things up, preventing oil from flowing where it needs to be; this means parts don't get lubricated, also causing engine damage. Your engine needs the proper oil viscocity to perform well and last a long time; don't use oil weights that the manufacturer doesn't recommend.
Use 91 or better for the GT, 87 for the RS/GS.
Octane is essentially a measure of how well the fuel resists detonation -- the ignition of fuel without spark. If your car is not suffering from knock or detonation, putting in a higher octane fuel does not give you anything. You won't get better gas mileage, nor will performance be improved.
If you put less than 91 octane fuel in the GT, the vehicle will still run without blowing up the engine. When the computer senses the engine knocking it will retard the engine timing to prevent damage. This will result in reduce performance and fuel economy.
If you are running some form of forced induction (NOS/turbo/supercharger), the use of a higher octane fuel may be worth investigating -- but only if your engine is suffering from detonation.
On the GT:
The current instructions available for changing sparkplugs are somewhat ... lacking. Some people are working on making a step by step guide on how to change the sparkplugs with pictures. Until that guide is finished, I have two different versions of instructions available. Hopefully you'll find it better than nothing.
The original set of instructions:
The first bank of cyliders is easy to get to and change, so instructions are not provided for them.A different set of instructions written by GenoS:The three cyliders on the back side of the engine are significantly harder to access.
To get to the rear bank, the intake plenum needs to be lifted (or removed). This isn't as easy as it sounds. The following items need to be disconnected/removed:
You should now be able to lift the plenum high enough to reach the sparkplugs. You may also want to remove the bolts for the accelerator cable for easier access. A jar can be used to prop the plenum open.
- the intake needs to be disconnected from the throttle body
- vacuum lines on top of the throttle body need to be disconnected
- the pressure sensor at the top of the intake plennim needs to be disconnected
- the sensor arrangement on top of the passenger and driver side of the plennim need to be unbolted
- the front wiring harness for the injectors needs to be unbolted (doesn't have to be removed, just moved out of the way of the plenum)
- three support bolts at the rear of the plenum need to be removed
- two bolts that hold the downpipe need to be removed (don't lose the gasket)
- a brace bracket is bolted to the left front of the plennum that also attaches to the frame just under the lip of the coolant overflow bottle
When you've finished changing the sparkplugs, reattach everything you removed. The bolts for the plenum need to be torqued to 13ft/lbs.
If you are not planning on pulling the engine out of the car, you can leave the bolts which attach to the eye-hook bracket loose, or just leave them off all together.
- If you are replacing sparks and wires, remove the CAI. This frees up the Distributor cap.
- Remove the screws from the sensors/injectors wire housing. There are 2 on the front top and a couple on the right side of the block. - you're not going to remove this housing, just loosen it up so you can move it a little to free up the front plenum flange.
- On the left, there is a large black metal brace...remove that screw and loosen the screw on the other end...it's just under the coolant overflow bottle. When loose, move the plenum-end out of the way. On the left side of the plenum (passenger side) there are 4 bolts that screw into the plenum and hold 2 sensor brackets in place. Need to remove these bolts so the brackets may be moved out of the way.
- On the rear of the Plenum, remove the two bolts that hold the vacuum line connector in place. I removed the Throttle body ends of the vacuum lines and could lay this large metal connector out of the way.
- Still on the rear, remove the two bolts that hold the throttle cable. then remove the two bolts that hold the sensor on the top of the plenum, and remove the sensor. Carefully lay these items to the left of the plenum.
- On the rear of the plenum, there are three brace bolts spaced from left,middle,right. Remove these. Then remove the two bolts that hold the EGR downpipe - BE CAREFUL - there is a metal gasket that will need to be reinstalled. Note the Tab position of the gasket, and reinstall the same way.
- On the right side ( driver ) of the plenum there is a sensor bracket about midway to the rear. Remove the bolt from that bracket. There are two "grounding" wires on the right front of the plenum that need to be removed.
- On the front of the plenum there are 5 bolts and two nuts that need to be removed.....I marked the bolt positions and reinstalled the bolts in the same positions.
- With a little shuffling around, you should be able to "lift" the plenum. I braced the plenum up high enough to work, and went from there. I also replaced the Plenum gasket, but some say it's not necessary if the orig looks ok.
- From there you should be able to work around the wires and plugs on the rear bank.
- Important - The front plenum bolts and nuts are torqued to 13 ftlbs. The sparkplugs are torqued to 18 ftlbs. The EGR pipe bolts should be very tight - I couldn't get a torque wrench in there, so I had to hand tighten them as best I could. All the rest of the bracket/sensor bolts are snugged tight.
- When finished with the plugs/wires, reverse the uninstall.
- Remember, any leftover bolts, etc., simply reduce your vehicle weight - and this is a good thing
On the RS/GS:
The sparkplugs on 4 cylinder are very easy to access. To access the two sparkplugs in the middle, the coils above them need to be removed. A 10mm wrench is required. More detailed instructions have not been provided yet.
The stock plugs in the Eclipse GT are platinum plugs with a heat range of 6. The gap should be set to a range between 0.039 and 0.043in.
If you are running some sort of forced induction or have increased the engine compression, you should use copper plugs a heat range colder than stock. The general rule of thumb is to go a range cooler for each 75-100hp you add to the engine. If you need to go a heat range cooler than stock, you should also reduce the gap of the sparkplugs -- nothing wider than 0.032in; good results have been reported with a gap around 0.030in with low boost (<10psi) levels.
If you are not running any sort of forced induction, you can replace the stock plugs with copper or iridium plugs as well. Copper plugs give a better spark, but wear out much sooner than platinums. Iridium plugs last longer than platinum plugs, and are supposed to provide a better spark than platinums as well -- the tradeoff is cost; iridium plugs are much more expensive than platinum plugs.
Recommend fluids/fluid mixtures for a manual transmission:
Tire rotations should be performed roughly every 7500 miles. It's a very simple task to perform -- easier than changing your oil, but about as time consuming.
Park your car on a fairly level surface -- slight incline is ok, but do not jack the car up on a steep surface. Place the car in park and set the parking brake. Get two bricks and put them behind the tires (or in front of them, depending on the grade you are working on). If you're on level ground, put bricks in front of and behind the tires.
Take a look under the car and locate the main frame. There are two frames to the car. One to the outside near the doors, to be used by the spare tire jack provided with the car. This frame is designed to support the load of one tire. Do not jack up the entire side of the car using this frame. The second frame is located closer to the center of the car. This frame is what you'll use to lift the entire side of the car.
Get a hydraulic jack capable of lifting at least 1.5 tons and slide it under the car, about where the middle of the seats are inside of the car. Be careful when sliding the jack under the car, as there may not be enough clearance to fit it under the car. If you don't have enough clearance, use the spare tire jack to lift one of the tires enough to slide the full sized jack under the car.
Once you have the jack under the car, lift the car high enough into the air such that both front and back tires are no longer on the ground. You may want to put a set of jack stands under the car after you have jacked it up for additional safety.
Now that the tires are in the air, break all of the lugnuts of the front tire loose. Remove the lugnuts and the front tire. When you loosen and remove the lugnuts, do so in a star pattern. Now remove the front tire. Now would be a good time to clean the hard-to-access areas of the rim, and inspect them for damage. You may also want to inspect the front suspention and brakes for wear and damage. Perform the same steps on the back of the car.
Take the tire that was on the front of the car and put it on the back. Put the lugnuts back on in a star pattern. Tighten the bolts in several stages in a star like pattern. You want to torque the bolts to 73ft/lbs. It is important to tighten the lugs in stages, so that the tire is attached with an even force. It is equally important to tighten them with the proper amount of torque. Too much pressure may cause your brake rotors to warp, or may cause you to snap a stud; too little could result in a tire falling off. Perform the same steps on the front.
You have now completed one side. Remove the jackstands from underneigth the car, and lower the side you were working on. Perform the same steps on the other side of the car.
After you have completed both sides, drive to your local gas station with a tire pressure guage. Adjust the pressures in all four tires. After you have adjusted the pressures, drive back home and retorque all of the lugnuts on each tire (still following the star pattern) to 73ft/lbs.
Mitsubishi recommends running the front tires at 32psi and the rear tires at
29psi for normal driving.
For extended high speed driving they recommend 36psi at the front and 33psi at
the rear.
I personally recommend running a few 33-34psi at the front and 30-31psi at the rear; at 32psi the front tires look nearly flat and don't offer the rims much protection against road hazards.
Be sure to maintain a 3psi differental between the front and rear tires. If you don't, the car will feel unstable at highway speeds and will not want to travel in a straight line. This kind of behavior is not desired and can be dangerous. The differential is needed due to the weight distribution of the car. Most of the car's weight is on the front two tires.
These recommendations are for normal driving conditions. The pressures listed here would not be optimum for 1/4mi runs or at the AutoX track.
The fuel injectors on the GT flow at 210cc/min.
The fuel injectors on the RS/GS flow at 240cc/min.
The coefficient of drag is 0.30Cd for the coupe.
The coefficient of drag for the spyder is unknown.
The Eclipse's gas tank can hold 16.4 gallons.
| 5spd GT | Auto GT | 5spd RS/GS | Auto RS/GS | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1st gear | 3.333 | n/a | n/a | n/a |
| 2nd gear | 2.105 | n/a | n/a | n/a |
| 3rd gear | 1.407 | n/a | n/a | n/a |
| 4th gear | 1.031 | n/a | n/a | n/a |
| 5th gear | 0.761 | --- | n/a | --- |
| Final | 3.74 | 3.74 | 3.72 | 4.04 |
| Reverse | 3.416 | n/a | n/a | n/a |
Wheelbase: 101"
Overall length: 175.4"
Overall width: 68.9"
Overall height: 51.8"
Cargo volume: 16.9 cubic feet
Passenger area volume: 78.0 cubic feet
Passenger area dimensions:
| Front | Back | |
|---|---|---|
| Legroom | 42.3" | 30.0" |
| Headroom | 37.9" | 34.9" |
| Hiproom | 51.9" | 44.3" |
| Shoulder room | 52.2" | 52.0" |
The turning radius for the GT is 40'. Turning radius for the RS/GS is 35.4'.
For the GT:
' is degrees
Front Back Toe 0mm +/- 3mm 3mm +/- 3mm Caster 3'00" +/- 30" 0'00" +/- 9" Camber 0'00" +/- 30" -1'20" +/- 30"
6 spoke GT rims: Less than 20lbs
2 piece GSX rims: 22.5lbs
1 piece GSX rims: unknown
The color code of your particular car can be found on some sort of sticker attached to the firewall. It's located near the edge of the intake plennim, on the passenger side. It has a mitsubishi logo on it at the top followed by several lines of text. On it, there is a line labeled "color trim". The 3 digits that follow are the color code for the paint on your car.
The following table contains a summary of paint colors available on the Eclipse, along with their respective paint code and the years that particular color was available on a vehicle.
| Color | Code | Years |
|---|---|---|
| Chrome Blue (Spyder only) | 2002+ | |
| Dover White Pearl | W69
| 2001+ |
| Flash Blue Pearl | 2002+ | |
| Huntington Blue Pearl | T67
| 2000-2001 |
| Kalapana Black | X13
| 2000+ |
| Modern Metalic Blue | T67B
| 2000 |
| Monarch Green Pearl | G56
| 2000 |
| Northstar White | W12
| 2000 |
| Patriot Red Pearl or Primal Red Pearl | R70
| 2000+ |
| Saronno Red or Radiant Fire Red | R87
| 2000+ |
| Sherwood Green Pearl | G41
| 2001+ |
| Sterling Silver Metallic or Ice Silver Metalic | A68
| 2000+ |
| Tampa Blue Pearl | T45
| 2000 |
| Titanium Pearl | H32
| 2002+ |
The following table lists the theoretical speed of an Eclipse in each gear at 6200rpm, using the stock tires:
| Gear | Manual GT | Auto GT | Manual GS | Auto GS | Manual RS | Auto RS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1st | 37.71 | 44.34 | n/a | n/a | n/a | n/a |
| 2nd | 59.52 | 83.95 | n/a | n/a | n/a | n/a |
| 3rd | 89.07 | 125.92 | n/a | n/a | n/a | n/a |
| 4th | 121.93 | 172.50 | n/a | n/a | n/a | n/a |
| 5th | 165.25 | --- | n/a | --- | n/a | --- |
For the GT:
The stock tires on the GT are 215/50R17 Goodyear RSAs.For the GS:
The stock rims are 17x6.5 with an offset of +46mm and a bolt pattern of 5x114.3.
The GS uses 16" wheels with a bolt pattern of 5x114.3.For the RS:
Other information not currently available.
The RS uses 15" wheels with a bolt pattern of 5x114.3.
Other information not currently available.
The stock exhaust piping on the Eclipse GT is 2.25" in diameter.
No. The 3rd generation Eclipse is only available as a front wheel drive vehicle. For some reason, some dealerships list the vehicle as "Four Wheel Drive"; it is generally assumed that the person entering the information misinterpreted "FWD" as "Four Wheel Drive" as opposed to "Front Wheel Drive".
Replacing the stock intake with an aftermarket one is probably the easiest and most cost effective performance modification that can be currently done on the Eclipse. It's also the topic of many newbie conversations. The next series of questions in the FAQ should cover most newbie questions.
All of the intakes currently available offer the same power gains. There isn't one that is "better" with regards to power gains.
What is really boils down to is how much do you want to spend for what "quality" of intake? Generally the AEM is considered to be the highest quality intake available -- it's also by far the most expensive. The other intakes available are of similar quality with similar prices.
The work required to install each intake is very similar.
The CAI generally keeps the temperature of the air drawn into the engine about 20-25 degrees lower than the short ram. The temperature of the air taken into the engine also increases less than the WAI does at a stop.
What does this mean, in terms of performance? Generally, for each 10 degrees you drop in temperature, you gain an additional 1% in horsepower. This would mean the CAI would be putting roughly 3 more hp to the wheels than the short ram. Is it worth the extra cost? Well, that's up to you to decide.
Just about all of the intakes install the same way. There are a few minor differences between each version, but nothing significant. RRE has put together a few articles describing how to install the AEM and Injen intakes.
Some people have difficulty getting the rubber boot to fit over the throttle body. If you have trouble getting it to fit, try heating up the boot to expand it. This may make it easier to slide into place.
When installing the Injen intake, wrap a rubber hose around the battery tie down if you see the intake rubbing against it.
The beaded part of the MAS adapter needs to be cut off. This removes about a half inch of material from the adapter. If you purchased your bypass valve while ordering the AEM intake from RRE, this has already been done to your MAS adapter (they cut it for you).
The adapter itself can cover up to half of the bypass valve without effecting it's function. If more of it is covered up, it is not guaranteed to work when needed.
The spare tire will no longer fit on the front tires. It should still fit on the rear tires.
For the 2000 model year, Stant model 11501 can be used.
For the 2001 model year, things get to be more complicated. Not only did Mitsubishi change the cap between 2000 & 2001, they changed it from a threaded cap to a "quick on" cap at some point during the 2001 production year as well. Stant model 55104 or 11504 can be used to replace the threaded cap. As of this writing, Stant does not have a replacement for the "quick on" cap. You can also go into a Dodge dealership and ask for a locking gas cap which fits the 2001 Dodge Stratus R/T coupe -- Dodge should have both threaded and quick-on caps.
It is important to use the appropriate cap, as the thread pattern has changed on a number of occasions. If you use the wrong cap, the Check Engine light will activate.
No. The resonators present on the GT do not restrict exhaust flow. They just reduce the volume of the exhaust. They can be replaced with a straight pipe without any adverse effects to increase the exhaust volume if desired.
Installing a replacement rear swaybar is a rather simple procedure. The use of a jack to prop up the back is recommended, but not required. Installation is fairly straight forward, but there are a few things that may give the average person some trouble.
The biggest difficulty installing a replacement rear swaybar is removing the old one. The endlink bolts may be extreemely difficult to remove due to rust. If removing them proves to be a problem, you can try spraying them with WD-40. Locking vice clamps and wrenches may prove to be usefull. Do not attempt to heat the bolt -- the endlinks have a flexable joint with material that may melt when heated. If all else fails, you may have to cut the bolts off and replace them.
You may have clearance problems with the ST swaybar and HKS exhaust.
The ST swaybar is adjustable. The "soft" setting is comparable to the stock swaybar. The "firm" and "stiff" settings tighten the back more than the stock settings.
Removing the vehicle badging is pretty simple. They're held on with a strong adhesive, but they come off easily if you use a piece of dental floss to "saw" the badge off. Warming up the badge with a hair dryer may also help. The adhesive remaining on the paint can be taken off with something like Goo Gone.
The ECU in the Eclipse doesn't have a replaceable chip. This means that a chip replacement isn't possible in the traditional sense. It may be possible to reprogram the ECU, but there are no devices available to for consumer use which perform this application. There are no companies which will modify the stock ECU. There is a factory device known as the 'Medic' which can reprogram the flash memory in the ECU.
There are other devices available that can intercept values that the computer reads and replace them with other values, to provoke the ECU to perform the desired operation.
Pull the ABS fuse. This also (obviously) disables ABS as well.
The S-AFC is an Air/Fuel Computer made by Apexi. It allows you to alter the air/fuel mix by changing values that the car's computer reads or outputs.
There are two ways that the S-AFC can be installed, depending on which RPM fix you want to use. Installation for each method is identical, aside from the actual solution to clean up the RPM signal and which wire should be tapped for the RPM signal.
To install the S-AFC you need to be confortable with splicing, soldering, and shrink wrapping wires. You're playing with signals sent to and from the car's ECU; "I think this is the right wire" isn't something you want to be saying to yourself while doing the install.
That being said, if you're patient and don't have problems working with a soldering iron, it's a pretty straightforward install.
RRE has put together some excellent tips on how to tune with the S-AFC. It isn't geared exclusively for the 3g, but it should have enough information to get you safely started.
If you turn the screw in, the engine will run richer. If you back the screw out, the engine will run leaner. No noticable difference in performance will be noticed in a stock Eclipse by adjusting the MAF.
Adjusting the MAF screw changes how much air the computer in the car detects entering the engine, which in effect changes the air/fuel mixture entering the engine.
Every car is different. There isn't a fixed amount that you ought to turn it. If you really want to play with it, you should find some way to obtain O2 sensor readings. You want to lean out the mix until the O2 sensor is reading in the neighborhood of 0.9 volts. O2 sensors also tend to vary a bit, but on any sensor 0.9v should still be safe. You probably won't be able to turn the screw far enough to get readings that low. You'll need a device like an S-AFC to accomplish that.
Yes, stock rims 16" sold with the GS will be usable after installing the AEM big brake kit.
This is probably the most common newbie question. Of all of the mods currently available, there are three very good beginner mods available. If you are looking to increase engine performance, an aftermarket air intake is the best way to go (it doesn't really matter which one; all yield near identical performance gains). If you want to improve handing, the ST swaybar or RRE strut tower brace are very good modifications to make. All of these modifications are relatively inexpensive, can be installed in a weekend afternoon by a novice, and yield noticable changes in performance.
Refer to the Magnuson-Moss Warranty Act. SEMA has a good writeup covering the subject as well.
Essentially, what the law says is that the manufacturer must proof that an aftermarket part caused a particular problem in the vehicle to refuse waranty service.
That's what the law says. However, some dealerships are slippery eel like entities and try to slip out/shift blame/flat out refuse to uphold their end of the waranty if you changed anything on the car.
I'd suggest you ask one of the techs at your dealership their perspective on it, to determine if you'll have any headaches by performing modifications to your car. Then you can decide if 1) you think you'll have a problem with your car during the waranty period and 2) if it'd be worth fighting your dealership tooth and nail over if they're the slimey type.
Simply put, forced induction is a way forcing air/fuel into the combustion chamber by a means other than vacuum pressure. Normally, an engine sucks air into the engine. With forced induction, you push it into the engine -- this normally involves cramming in much more air than the engine could suck in on it's own.
NOS is Nitrous Oxide -- N2O. It is a gas which breaks down into it's component elements at high temperatures -- Nitrogen and Oxygen. NOS isn't technically a form of forced induction, but many of the principles are the same; as such, it is included in this section of the FAQ.
There are three things NOS does:
NOS is made up of two nitrogen atoms and one oxygen atom. By weight, NOS is 36% oxygen. Ambiant air has a lower percentage of oxygen. The nitrogen molecules break away from the oxygen molecules at ~572 degrees, which is achieved in the combustion chamber as the air/fuel mix is compressed. More oxygen by itself doesn't really give you anything aside from a cleaner burn. It does allow you to burn more fuel; by injecting more fuel with the NOS you'll see some serious power gains.
When NOS is injected, it is in a pressurized liquid form. As it is released it "boils", which dramatically reduces it's temperature (to about -130 degrees). This reduced temperature also effects surrounding air, possibly by as much as 70 degrees. The colder the air, the more power you make (about 1% more hp for each 10 degree temperature drop). This is also a decent power increase.
The nitrogen doesn't really increase power, however it does help prevent control the combustion process and helps prevent knock from developing.
How Stuff Works has a pretty good article on the subject.
No. "Superchargers" based off of electric motors powered by the car's battery/alternator do nothing other than make a lot of noise. It has been well documented that these sorts of devices are a waste of money.
There is no "simple" engine swap available on the 3g eclipse. The most commonly asked variation of this question is if the turbo engine from a 1g or 2g Eclipse could be swapped in. The engine in the 3g Eclipse is mounted "backwards" compared to other past models made by mitsubishi, which makes it difficult if not impossible to swap older Mitsu engines into our car.
The "complicated" answer to this question is "Yes", with the understanding that just about anything is possible with enough time and money. From a cost/performance standpoint, it probably wouldn't be worth it.
No. While the AC compressor is a belt operated device, when it is off it is not robbing the engine of any power. The AC compressor is controlled via a clutch like device; when the clutch is not engaged, the pulley spins freely -- while it does take energy to spin it, the amount is immesurable. The clutch is engaged when the AC turns on, and only then does it rob power from the engine.
If you need to ask this question, leave the MAS honeycombs alone! They're designed to straighten out the airflow so the MAS can obtain accurate airflow readings.
Taking them out will reduce the air flowing over the MAS, which makes the readings innaccurate. A person with enough knowledge to be dangerous may reply "but all you're doing is reducing the airflow count, leaning out the engine a bit" -- which is correct to a certain extent. However, the innacuracy introduced by doing this is not linear with flow. The errors aren't even constant with the same airflow. This is especially bad at low rpms; your car may not even be able to idle without stalling if you do this.
If you really know what you're doing, you can probably get away with removing the honeycombs and compensate for the errors by using a datalogger and tuning things with a S-AFC; but if you know enough to do that, you wouldn't need to ask this question in the first place.
Unfortunately, not much. There are only two options available: replace them with the OEM part (not a good option if you drive a lowered car) or you can modify the stock strut housing to hold a Koni front insert.
RRE has taken some pictures of the process. The DSM V-FAQ also has a good set of instructions on how to install the Koni inserts as well. It's not as scarry as it sounds, but I highly recommend you have at least one person helping with this modification -- parts of the procedure are much easier if you've got another set of hands.
ForesterGT came up with a pretty simple set of instructions:
- Take your old knob off, it just unscrews.
- Find the rubber cap that fits on top of the exposed stick tightly.
- Unscrew the ring under the knob and slide it (the ring) on to the stick.
- Put the longer allen screws into the Momo knob.
- Slide the knob onto the stick and push down until it seats firmly.
- Tighten the screws evenly around the stick.
- Screw the ring on to the bottom of the knob and VOILA!! You are done!!
If you have a gap under the knob your choices are either to live with it, get a new boot or take off the old boot and snug it up to the knob with some grommets or something similar.
The gas cap threads changed. Gas caps that will fit a 2000 Eclipse will not fit a 2001 Eclipse and vice versa. Additionally, the gas cap was changed a 2nd time during the 2001 production year. Installing a gas cap which does not fit properly will cause the Check Engine light to activate.
There is no longer a "flap" covering the fill nozzle of the gas tank.
When installing a new gas cap or fuel lid, be sure to stuff a rag into the opening to prevent debris (such as screws) from falling into the gas tank.
Nearly all 2001 Eclipses produced have California emissions equipment, regardless of the state the vehicle was to be sold in.
A few 2001 Eclipses were manufactured with Federal emissions equipment. So far, all known Fed spec 2001 Eclipses were manufactured near the changover from 2000-2001 models.
The front calipers on 2001 GT's changed from a dual piston design to a single piston design. The replacement piston is a large piston, and the size of the pad is similar to the one used in 2000 models. However, the pad is not the same as what was used on the 2000 models. As a result, pads that fit a 2000 Eclipse will not fit the 2001 GT.
This change reduces performance under racing conditions.
Rear calipers remained the same.
An additional resonator was added to the exhaust for the 2001 models in order to quiet the exhaust.
The precat flanges on Cali emissions vehicles were changed. In 2000, the precats were bolted on to the exhaust piping. In 2001, the precats were welded onto the exhaust piping.
Foglights are no longer available on the GS trim.
The text on the valve cover changed from:
MITSUBISHIto:
V6 24 VALVE
3.0L V6
24 VALVE
2001 models now have a temperature and compass display available on GT coups with the premium package. It is not available on the RS, GS, or any Spyder.
This feature was originally supposed to be available on 2000 model cars but was dropped due to the unavailability of some parts required.
The diamond Mitsubishi emblems on the 2002 Eclipse are now chrome. The emblems on the 2000-2001 Eclipse are red with a chrome outline..
A light was added to the vanity mirrors for the 2002 Eclipse.
There are two different emissions standards that the Eclipse was built to meet in 2000. The first was the standards set in California (California emissions). The second was the rest of the country (Federal Emissions).
Federal emissions vehicles simply have a single catalyitic converter underneigth the car. Fed spec cars are rated at 205hp.
California has some of the strictest emissions regulations in the country. In order to meet this requirements, the Cali emissions cars have, in addition to the cat found on fed spec cars, two precats. These precats are near each bank of cylinders on the GT. The precats heat up quickly due to close proximity to the engine, and are designed to reduce emissions of the vehicle until the main cat warms up. However, they are really restrictive and cut peak horsepower down to 200hp.
There are two ways to do this.
On the GT, the easiest is to slide under the front of the car, near the passenger tire. Look up. If you see a big bulky rectangular thing with some pipes coming out of it, you've got Cali emissions. If don't, you've got fed emmissions.
The second way involves looking at some numbers and appears to be valid for 2000 model year Eclipses only. Pop the hood of the car. There is a sticker on the firewall behind the engine. It's behind the intake plenum, on the plenum's passenger side. On that sticker is a series of numbers and letters. If the 2nd to last number is a 9, you've got Cali emissions. If it's a 4, you've got a Fed spec car.
There may be a third way, though there hasn't been enough discussion to determine the accuracy of this method. Pop the hood and look along the fuel injector rail. If you see a wire bundle, you've got Cali emissions. If you don't, it's a Fedederal emissions vehicle.
The GT has come with 3 different types of rims. Originally the GT was shipped with a 6-spoke aluminum alloy design. Sometime during the first year of production, Mitsubishi ran out of these rims. They subsituted the two piece rims found on the 2G Eclipse GSX. These rims were known as GSX rims.
The problem with the GSX rims is that they are, apparently, very easy to damage. They are easily dented and the clearcoat would often be found peeling a short time after purchase. Mitsubishi has since replaced the 2 piece GSX rims with a one piece rim, similar in style. So far the new version of the rim appears to be very sturdy.
There is no special significance between the different rims found on the car. Currently there should only be two styles being sold -- the 6 spoke design and the one piece GSX design.
Only GT's with the Premium Package have ABS. If you don't know what package you have, there are two other ways of determining the presence of ABS.
The easiest is by far to look at the lights on the dash when starting the vehicle. There will be a light labled "ABS" or "Anti/Lock" which will illuminate when the vehicle is started. If no such light starts, ABS is not present.
For the second, you need to pop the hood. On the left side of the engine bay, on the firewall, there will be a rectangular box with several tubes/hoses coming out of/going into it. It's in a direct line with the belts on the engine.
The glove box lock will often rattle soon after purchasing the car.
This is a common problem, and your dealership should have no problem correcting it.
If the noise is too annoying for you to deal with before taking it to the dealership, locking the glove box will silence the rattle.
If you don't want to take it to the dealership at all, you can take the lock out, wrap it a few times with electrical tape, and put it back in.
It is not uncommon for the SRS light to activate. It usually turns on after the passenger seat has been moved back or forwards. Sometimes it will activate after moving the driver's side seat around.
The problem is covered by warantee. I have been told by my dealership that there is no chance of accidental activation of the airbags while the light is on. The solution usually involves replacing the seatback of the seat in question.
If the vibration occures only when using the brakes, the likely culprit is a warped rotor. This type of vibration is most apparent while lightly braking at highway speeds.
If warped rotors aren't the the cause of the problem, then the vibration is most likely consistant, or worsens with speed.
If you have done nothing to your wheels lately, it's possible you've put a dent into one of the rims. If a dent is not present, check to see if any of the balancing weights have come off of the rims. If a balancing weight is missing, that wheel will need to be rebalanced.
If you have rotated your tires recently (or got new tires and/or rims), make sure you torqued the bolts to the proper spec (~73ft/lbs) and tightened them in a star pattern. If you did not (or did not perform the tire rotation yourself), take the wheels off and retorque the lugs properly. Make sure to do so with the tire in the air. If this doesn't solve the problem, odds are a wheel needs to be rebalanced.
There are several other possible things which may cause the steering wheel to vibrate, but these are by far the most common.
This section of the FAQ is meant to address persistant problems with the sunroof, not random glitches.
There are many different patterns to the problem. They include a sunroof which will never close without reopening itself. Others have sunroofs which won't open without closing itself. Some have a sunroof which will "wobble" to the left and the right while opening.
These problems are all related to the rails the sunroof travels in. Something in the rails is making it difficult for the sunroof to open or close. This sometimes triggers the "person with head sticking out window" safety feature, which causes the window motor to reverse itself.
This problem is covered by waranty. There does not yet appear to be a global solution to this problem yet. Most dealerships end up regreasing the rails or replacing the rails that the window travels on. Regreasing the rails never seems to permanately fix the problem. Replacing the rails has worked for some people, failed for others.
The 2 piece GSX style rims are extreemely easy to bend on the GT. The two piece style rims are no longer being manufactured, have been replaced by mitsubishi with a one piece rim, with a similar design. Bent rims are not supposed to be covered by waranty. Some people have experienced luck in getting their dealership to replace dented GSX rims with new ones.
The problem is that the metal that makes the GSX rims appears to be very soft in nature. This alone wouldn't be a big deal, but starts to be compounded by the fact that the cars come with relatively low profile tires. On top of that, the tire pressure the fronts are supposed to run at is also relatively low.
It is definately easier to dent the rims on lower profile tires. They don't have the large "cusion" that 14 & 15" rims have. As a result it is much easier to dent the rims by going over a pothole. The risk can be reduced somewhat by running with a higher tire pressure.
Sometimes a headlight isn't sealed properly, which allows moisture to enter into the headlight assembly. Usually after washing your car you'll see some sort of condensation under the headlight lens.
The dealership usually replaces the entire headlamp assembly. This repair is covered by waranty.
If your car does not track in a straight line on flat level pavement, make sure the tire pressure in the front left tire matches the pressure in the front right tire. Additionally make sure the pressure in the back left tire matches the back right tire. If one tire has a much higher pressure than the other, the car will not track in a straight line.
If the tire pressures are correct, then an alignment is probably in order.
It is normal for the car to favor a direction on bumpy or unlevel pavement.
The bar which the rear decklid is attached to (and swivels on) sometimes "detaches." The reason is that the bar somehow binds up -- it gets stuck. When you close your trunk lid, it forces the deck lid down, breaking it from the bar.
The repair for this problem consists of replacing the rear decklid and bar is covered under warantee.
Also known as the TOB, this problem seems to be effecting many of the manual transmission GT's. The RS and GS are unaffected by this problem.
The problem with the TOB is described as a rattling from the left side of the engine compartment while the clutch is not engaged. The noise gets worse over time. Some people also experience a stuttering that goes away after the vehicle warms up.
A solution to this problem has not been found yet. Some dealerships have replaced entire transmissions in an attempt to solve the problem. After a repair attempt, the noise is gone temporarily but always comes back (sometimes only a few hours after leaving the dealership).
The first time windows are rolled down after a heavy rain or a carwash, a musty or moldy odor is often observed.
The fix should involve replacing the weatherstripping that lines the top of the door with an anti-fungal version of the weather stripping.
This problem is reported most frequently in areas subjected to winter conditions (snow & salt).
Most people have had no problem returning the corroding cap to the dealership for a replacement. The problem is that the new cap will start to corrode over time as well.
A solution which seems to work well is to wax the lid, in order to protect it from the environment.
After installing the UR crank pulley, during hard driving the SES light may activate. The cause of the light is currently unknown. The SES light activates because the ECU thinks it detected a misfire in the engine.
There is currently no solution to this problem aside from reinstalling the OEM crank pulley.
If a window switch position is in the up position when the vehicle is started, that particular window will not function.
This may happen if the switch is defective. To test for a defective switch, pull up on it as if you were going to close your window, then let go. If it stays "up", the switch is defective.
Your dealership should be able to replace the switch under waranty.
If your door doesn't close properly after rolling up the windows, the window stops in side of the door need adjusting.
This is a simple repair that should be performed under waranty.
This usually happens after someone disconnects the battery. The radio for the Eclipse has an anti-theft feature which requires a code to be entered after being powered up before it will function.
You should have received a red card with the vehicle with a 4 digit number. Enter the number by pressing the numbered preset keys on the radio. You can attempt to enter the number 3 times before the radio disables itself. If the radio does happen to disable itself, unplug the battery again, let it sit for a few hours, plug it back in and give it another go.
If you can't find your card with the code on it, you'll have to talk to your dealership to get the information required.
It is not uncommon for a car shipped via rail to have what appears to be rust spots all over the paint. These are actually little specks of metal from the rail road tracks which have embedded themselves into the paint.
Purchase a clay bar from your local autoparts store to remove the rail dust. You may also be able to convince your dealership to correct the problem.
There are hundreds of possible reasons why the SES light may come on. The very first thing you should do is make sure that the gas cap is on properly and was clicked shut at least 3 times. This is most likely the cause if the SES light activated shortly after filling up the gas tank.
If the light still doesn't go out after a day or two, or if the car is running abnormally, it'd be best to schedule an appointment with your dealer to determine the cause of the problem.
This is normal -- cars have this problem. It is usually the worse the day after washing the car, or the day after a rain storm. The rust will be worn off after the first few stops. During those stops it may feel like the brakes are grabbing. You may also hear the brakes squeel. This is due to the rust. These symptoms should go away after the first stop or two as well.
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A common misconception is that horsepower numbers add together. If you've got an air intake that adds 9hp, and a pulley which adds 4hp, then you should have gained 13hp.
It seems like a reasonable statement to make. Unfortunately, it's wrong.
If you add an air intake that has been dyno proven to increase horsepower by 9hp to the wheels, you do get an increase of 9hp. The problem is that you aren't getting 9 peak horsepower. That 9 horsepower increase is not at the point where the car was making it's most power. That 9hp gain may be a 4000rpm, instead of 5500rpm. At 5500 rpm, you may actually be making 174whp instead of 179whp. You may even change the point where the car is making it's peak horsepower.
Now, when you add that pulley, it adds it's power to a different range in the powerband than the intake does.
Hopefully I've sufficiently demonstrated why the numbers can't just be added together.
(the numbers used in this example are hypothetical, and any resemblence to real life numbers was the result of a lucky guess)
Horsepower is really just a function of torque and rpm.
hp = torque * rpm / 5252I won't get into the math explaining where the magic number 5252 comes from. It's the result of converting the definition of 1hp over one revolution of the engine.
So what does this all mean? Well, the most interesting observation is that the torque produced at 5252rpm is the exact same as the hp produced at 5252 rpm.
Secondly, it tells us that torque is what is really responsible for pushing you into the back of your seat when you floor it. The larger the area under the torque curve the better.
So what good is horsepower then? It seems like a meaningless number doesn't it? Well, that's not quite true either. Horsepower is a measure of the ability to do work over time. Let's say you've got an engine that produces 200ft/lbs of torque at 4000rpm. Your engine is exerting 200ft/lbs of work 4000 times per minute. If you were making 200ft/lbs of torque at 2000rpm you'd only be exerting 200ft/lbs of torque 2000 times per minute; ie: you're doing half the work -- you're still exerting the same force, but you aren't doing as much with it. What if you were making 190ft/lbs of torque at 5500rpm? It isn't as much force as 200ft/lbs, but you're doing a lot more work.
So to summarize: torque is the push you feel in the back of the seat, while horsepower gives you an idea of how you'll do on the 1/4mi.
The 2002 Lancer showing up in car dealerships across the county are meant to replace the Mirage. They're cheap, lower powered, econoboxes. A plain jane Lancer is not an Evo. It's not a detuned version of the Evo, rather the Evo is a souped up version of the Lancer.
The Evo is a high performance vehicle that shares a few thing with the normal Lancer, like the basic body style and the fact that it holds 4 people. However, the engine, suspention, brakes ... nearly everything on the car relating to performance ... is better. MUCH better. From a tubo'd 4 producing more than 300hp, to an AWD drivetrain, to brembo brakes...everything is better.
Do not confuse the two vehicles. The Evo is not currently sold in the United States by Mitsubishi. The normal Lancer is.
The gross vehicle weight of the Eclipse is 3991lbs. This is not what the vehicle weighs, sitting in your garage. Rather, this weight represents how much the car would weigh with a full tank of gas and the amount of cargo the vehicle is rated to carry (including the passengers). In other words, the GVW is the most the vehicle will ever weight.
What you are getting the GVW confused with is the curb weight of the vehicle. The curb weight is the weight of the car with NOTHING in it.
While this FAQ covers a lot of information specific to the 3G, there is a lot more generalized information that applies to cars everwhere. Below you will find links to good sources of information about cars in general. I highly recommend you spend some time reading these things.
This is a feature intended to make it easier to post a link to the FAQ on a webboard. You have a choice of two different formats: a raw HTML link, or a UBB style link. Clicking on "Copy HTML" or "Copy UBB" will automatically copy the actual link to your clipboard. All you have to do is paste it into the message you are composing.
Primarily to make maintaining the FAQ easier. The table of contents of the FAQ is constantly being shuffled around in order to make it easy to find information at a glance. This shuffling of the contents takes a significant amount of time. It would take forever to organize the contents of the FAQ to match. The FAQ isn't meant to be read from front to back; it's meant to be a place to quickly find answers to commonly asked questions.
Most people recommend using a caliper paint made by G2 or Folia Tech. It's a paint that must be brushed on by hand, and requires prepping of the surface as well as a lengthy drying time. However, it appears to hold up quite well over time and gives a nice finish.
You can also purchase spray-on caliper paint for much cheaper. You need to make sure you mask off with newspaper the entire wheel well, rotor, and the section of the car you are working on in order avoid painting parts other than your rotors. Additionally, it would be advisable to do this when it is not windy outside.
Engine paint should not be used. The temperature of a brake caliper can far exceed the operating temperature of your engine. If this happens the paint will peel off.
Regardless of the type of paint you decide on, it would be best to leave the caliper in place to do the painting. Be sure to mask off anything that shouldn't be painted but is at risk of exposure. If you decide to take the caliper off of the rotor before painting, do NOT let it dangle by the brake line. When you are done, follow the directions on the paint and wait long enough for it to dry before putting the tires back on your car and driving it.
Be prepared to spend a weekend on this project to do it right.
The Venom 400 is a device which claims to improve non WOT performance by 20 to 30 percent. Sounds great right? All from a simple device you plug into the ODBII connection on your computer.
Read what it does again carefully. When you don't have the car floored, acceleration is increased by 20 to 30 percent. When the car is floored, performance is identical.
So what is it doing? Say you have the gas pedal at 50%. The Venom 400 tells the computer that you've really got the gas pedal at 70%. It "feels" like the car has more oomph, but it doesn't; the device is just fooling you into thinking your car is accelerating faster. You can get the same effect for free by pushing down on the gas pedal further, which is really all the Venom 400 is doing for you.
The purpose of a swaybar (sometimes referred to as an anti-swaybar, rollbar, anti-rollbar, or stabilizer bar) is to keep the body of the car parallel with the wheels during a turn; this helps to reduce body roll.
Body roll is undesirable; the more the body rolls, the more weight is shifted to the outside wheels. When the weight is distributed more evenly, the inside tires can do some of the work that the outside tires were doing before, allowing for more "grip" while turning.
This also has the effect of altering the load caried by an end of the car. Stiffening the rear swaybar increases the load carried by the back end of the car while cornering. Stiffening the front swaybar increases the load of the front of the car while cornering. The more load an end of the car carries, the harder it is for that end of the car to turn. Using a stiffer swaybar in the back of the car causes the back to carry more load which in turn allows the front of the car to turn better -- reducing understeer (or increasing oversteer). You're basically manipulating the car's center of gravity while turning.
The suspention in your car is designed to work with a static geometry; in other words, strut towers aren't supposed to move. When the strut towers bend inwards or outwards, the geometry has changed; when this happens the camber of your wheels is altered, which alters how much of your tires are in contact with the ground -- generally reducing traction. A strut tower bar is essentially a metal bar that runs from the top of one strut tower to the other. The idea is to keep the suspention geometry constant by tying the strut towers together.
How does tying them together help? There are two ways the strut towers can deflect: towards each other, or away from each other.
When hitting a bump, the strut towers want to bend inward. A strut tower brace forces each tower push against each other. This means most of the force of the deflection is cancelled out, preventing the geometry from being altered significantly.
When a car is cornering, the explanation gets a bit complicated. The strut towers are actually being pulled by the car towards the outside of the corner. Most of this force is centered on the outside strut tower, so it is deflecting the most. The inside tower isn't deflecting very much, as the forces aren't as great. The strut tower bar makes the outside strut tower pull on the inside strut tower. This pull helps keep the outside strut tower from bending outward, while bending pulling the inside strut tower inwards. This "steals" some traction from the inside corner of the car while giving more traction to the outside corner of the car. Remember that the inside corner of the car isn't working very hard in the first place; the net result is more available traction through a turn.
There is a single screw holding the OEM turn signal in place. Use a screwdriver to remove the screw and pull the stock part out. Turn the lightbulb socket a quarter turn to remove the light from the turn signal assembly. Remove the felt and plastic cap from the stock turn signal and place it on the clear corner (this should prevent water from entering the clear corner). Change the turn signal lightbulb (if desired) and install the bulb assembly in the new signal.
To put the clear corner on the car, line it up correctly and screw it back in.
Be sure to use the correct turn signal -- the left and right turn signals aren't the same; they can be installed upside down, but won't look quite right.
The most popular product appears to be Meguiars Endurance. Other products people have recommended are Eagle One Tire Wet and Black Magic.
No. One set of bolts does the same thing as the other.
No! PVC pipe is not heat tolerant. If your engine bay gets hot enough, the piping will melt releasing toxic fumes. To make things worse, those fumes are also corrosive to the aluminum found in your engine.
A hissing or whistling noise from the intake at around 2,000rpm is normal. The stock intake had resonators to eliminate noises. Aftermarket intakes are, for all intensive purposes, a pipe with a filter on the end; no resonators.
The ABS system in the Eclipse is a 4 channel system. This means that the ABS system can pulse the brakes on all 4 tires individually.
I have gotten a number of people asking me about safc installations so far. I've been kind of out of this club right now as I'm in the middle of research for my masters thesis. I'm sorry if I've neglected you. I don't mean to. Just didn't have the time.
If you have a Fed, I'm sorry, but I don't have the time right now to verify the connections. I know what is below WILL work for the Cali M/T GT, as this is what I used.
Keep in mind that this is not for those that do NOT have patience. Playing with your ECM requires a lot of anal retentiveness and patience. You're playing around with your computer's brain. Don't try this unless you're comfortable with splicing, soldering and shrink wrapping wires. If you are, then the whole process is quite easy, and just takes time.
*UNPLUG YOUR BATTERY BEFORE STARTING.
Anyway, there is at least one other fix for the RPM problem out there (kudos to Kaeyo121), but being the stubborn guy I am, I came up with my own (with help from my dad).
I had to hand draw some pics because I forgot to get them, and I'm not gonna tear apart my dash again.
The APEXi US update manual says to use pin 45 from the ECU. I decided to use pin 11, and here's why:
Here's the signal from pin 45. Hand drawn This is a 440v peak, with lots of bleed off signals: Figure 1
Ugly...
Here's the much nicer signal from pin 11: Figure 2
There are problems with the pin 11 signal, but they are easier to deal with. The first problem is that it is only 2.2 volts. The SAFC takes 3 volts to trigger. Our first attempt was to build a transistor based gate that bumped the signal to the battery voltage (14v). However, the SAFC had a problem with jumpy RPMs until 4K RPM, at which point it got rock stable. We took a much much closer look at pin 11's signal, and found this: Figure 3
This glitch is typical of a MOS FET circuit, so that must be what they used to drive the ignition coil.
The dip was causing the SAFC to double trigger, at which point it gave up. As close as these triggers were, it would have been if for every 1 spark plug fire, you actually had the car at 400k RPM, then 700 RPM, then 400k for the next spark, etc. I can't imagine how bad the double triggering would have been using pin 45 (looking at my poorly drawn pic).
Our new solution, and one that works really really well (and should work on 99% of GTs) is a Schmidt trigger. This circuit is basically just a slow responding circuit, so it makes the dip go away and weeds out noise. Also, as with the transistor one we made, it recreates the signal... straight 14v current as the signal when it's open, nothing when it's closed.
Here's the schematic and parts list, for those who know how to read them: Figure 4
A pin out of the chip: Figure 5
A crude TOP DOWN diagram (tap the power and ground, cut the RPM signal wire): Figure 6
The circuit: Figure 7
A bottom view (I packed all the resistors underneath.. BOTTOM UP view): Figure 8
The obligatory size comparison: Figure 9
I cut off the unused pins and put heat shrink on everything I could to reduce the chance of a short: Figure 10
Then I put heat shrink on the whole unit to protect it: Figure 11
I spliced the circuit in on the SAFC side of the cable that splices into the ECU: Figure 12
And the final touch, electical tape: Figure 13
Here is a (hand drawn) pic of the final signal compared to the original pin 11 signal (purple = circuit, blue = pin 11): Figure 14
Yes, it's an inverted signal. The circuit opens when there is no signal, and closes when there is. Nothing to worry about, as it sends the same amount of times per minute.
The result is a rock steady RPM on the SAFC, no worry about tempurature, and can tame most pin 11 signals, in case you have a different glitch than mine.
Original problem: The signal from rpm line are 500V pulses. Problem? there are also 50V noise pulses, that were triggering and ultimately fooling the S-afc, causing jumpy readings.
Solution: I attached a potentiometer on the S-afc side. A 1Mega-ohm (1 million ohms) potentimeter(aka variable resistor) has 3 pins (universal), and acts as a variable voltage divider. One of the outer pins connects to ground, the other connects to the incoming 500V signal from the ignition coil. The middle pin of the potentiometer connects the green s'afc line.
By shifting the noise level BELOW the TTL Logic voltage of the S-afc, it no longer sees the noise peaks. It only sees the pulses.
This resistor is only drawing 500microamps from the ECM, which is much smaller than that a computer CPU uses, so it should be safe by far.
I connected the resistor and just started twising in the direction that gave me a signal. You can't hurt anything by turning it the wrong way. I turned it until I got a good signal from my oscilloscope, and saw that I was getting a signal from the s-afc as well. Rev your engine to 6k, to make sure you get correct readings all throughout the band.
The only thing you must keep in mind is that resistance values depend on temperature. I had to adjust my resistance a little bit because when I started the car in the morning, it was a little colder, and thus was not getting a RPM reading.
On the road trip, the rpm rarely fluctuated more than +/- 5rpm. The karmen signal was stable as well..to within 3 Hz or so. At WOT and 6k rpms, max karmen signal was around 1.2k Hz.
The S-AFC is unable to read what RPM the engine is turning at without modification of the RPM signal. There are two ways the signal can be modified. Each method has it's strengths and weaknesses. Each method also taps different wires for the RPM signal, so be aware of this while installing the S-AFC.
Kaeyo's method is simple to make, but it needs to be adjusted based on temperature.
Satchmo's method is more complicated to assemble, but should work properly independantly of temperature. However, some people report that it takes a few minutes before the S-AFC picks up the RPM signal after the car is started.
There is no speed governor on the Eclipse. The car's top speed is limited by drag only.
When warm, the V6 should idle at roughly 600rpm (give or take 100rpm or so). In cold weather, the engine will start idling between 1,000 to 1,500rpm and drop to 600rpm once the engine has warmed up. The idle speed may vary if the air conditioner is on.
Information on the 4 cylider has not been provided.
On the V6, the rev limiter kicks in after 6,200rpm. It generally seems to be between 6,300 and 6,500rpm on most cars, and appears to vary a bit from car to car.
Information on the 4 cylider has not been provided.
All of the catback exhausts available yield the same power gains ... roughly 3-4hp at best. The stock catback is pretty well designed.
There isn't information availble about which exhaust gives more power in combination with a downpipe or set of headers.
What sounds "good" is very subjective. It will vary from one person to another. Some people like an exhaust that outright roars, some just like a deep tone, some like their car to sound like a bumblebee. The line between sounding good and bad can be very fine between some people. For example, what's the difference between loud and too loud?
This means a recommendation can't really be made.
No. The front strut tower brace that comes with the GT is actually very well designed; it bolts to the firewall in two places, which makes it very stiff. An aftermarket brace will have a lot of trouble improving on the stock design, which means that it would be more of a show upgrade than a performance upgrade.
The AC bracket used in the 2001 Eclipse is different than the bracket used in the 2000 model.
2002 model year Eclipses how have a lighted glove box.
The 2002 model year Eclipses no longer have a metal titanium accent "Eclipse" plate on the running boards. They can be purchased from the dealership if you want them.
Instructions based primarily off of a set daveg posted:
Tools needed:
- 17mm socket or wrench
- oil filter wrench
- oil drain pan
- ramps or jackstands
- funnel
Here's what to do:
- Let the car warm up
- If using ramps, pull onto the ramps and turn off the car
- If using jackstands, turn off the car and jack up the car
- Take off the oil fill cap
- Get the drain pan and place it under the drain plug
- Remove the drain plug (17mm)
- Once the flow of oil has slowed to a drip, position the drain pan (if you have one big enough) to catch what runs out of the filter
- Losen the old filter untill oil runs out of it
- When the oil stops dripping, remove the old filter; make sure the gasket comes off with it
- Let the oil drain (the longer the better)
- While waiting: change the gasket on the drain plug, fill the new filter with oil, and change the little reminder sticker
- If the gasket didn't completely come off with the filter, scrape off the rest of it
- Spread some oil on the new filter's gasket
- Screw on the new filter (hand tighten only)
- Replace the drain plug
- Fill with just over 4 quarts of oil
- Start the car and check for leaks
- If using ramps, back the car off of the rams and stop the car
- If using jackstands, stop the car and lower it back onto the ground
- Check the oil level with the dipstick and add more oil if needed
- Dispose of the old oil properly
The lug bolts used on the Eclipse are 12mm x 1.5.
The Eclipse has two coats of clear on it.
Some people suggest using a bug and tar remover. The only specific brand I've seen mentioned is Meguiars.
Others have suggested using a claybar, some sort of car polish, or washing the area with dish soap. If you follow any of these suggestions, rewax the area when done; the wax will be stripped off.
If you've got a very pesky bug problem and nothing else seems to do the trick, you can go out and buy a "bug sponge"; using this will scratch the clearcoat of your paint, but it will take the bugs off.
The front bumper of the Eclipse is 4 inches off of the ground, stock.
Either silicon or white lithium grease will do the job.
Yes and no. The GS doesn't have the mounting points on the firewall that the GT has. The strut tower brace from the front of the GT can still be installed, but it won't be as effective. To add the mounting points, they must be welded to the firewall; this will scorch the paint and would probably lead to rust in the future. Adding the mounting points is not recommended for this reason.
The passenger side of the 2002 Eclipse no longer has a keyhole.
The information contained in this document is based largely off of posts residing on the Club3g forums. This document wouldn't exist if it wern't due to information provided on the 3g webboards. Listed below are many of the people who wrote information crucial to sections of this FAQ. They are (in no particular order):
lordvadr, mayurb, opusx, wavmixer, TheViciousOne, dpatino, DesertFox,
RochesterRed, kyp275, Mike W, eslai, The Artist, MattS, GenoS, VT3G, Taz2w,
Strider, wibble, lunatic68, sagi, TheFranchiseGT, RyanS, baldwine,
TOTLECLIPSE, Phinhead54, DjRoked, hozed, tracer bullet, Phinhead54, eslai,
markrey78, JamesW, GregGT, ffixer, Kaeyo121, kklobb, Unowned, Khein, element0,
daveg, SilverBullet, TsPlayer56, Joonera, SpyHawk, wallacem002, Shub
Niggurath, scruffynerf, ctopher, Krondor, Hw50cal, Tmc225usc, Merc4life,
besheer, Ganema, 007GT, r-gordon-7, r_casino, grfxguy, Satchmo, jca001,
mitsumerlin, Deldrin, ECLPSGT, dvs3g, x79red, Eclipse510, RADmitsu, Black3gGT,
ForesterGT, KrisL, thelife, Bri01Spyder, tool, Green Beast, DBL-E, daveg,
mlnovns, GTXX '00, rmoon, SolarEclipse, animal, mitsu2, Viper, QiGGer
This FAQ was merged with a FAQ RyanS (the Club3g site maintainer) was working on, shortly after this FAQ's creation.
Most of the inspiration for the original design and layout of this FAQ was obtained from the CDRecordable FAQ. It has since "evolved".
