Thread: Maybe DSMs ARE POS cars..

Since I picked the car up (literally that same damn night) I've had nothing but problems with it.. All however were minor and easily fixed. It got to a point were I thought that nothing else could possibly be left to go wrong. (You know were this is going don't you...)

Welp I finally figure out why my transmition had been shifting like sh*t since I got it and after a simple tweak and tighten of some bolts I was good to go. The car shifting flawlessly. 2nd gear still was far too difficult to get into than it should be but it was toleratable. Of course with this new boost of hope I drove my car all around South Sacramento until it was time to goto Manny's house to pick up my logger cable. So heading down Florin road I'm passing the 3rd or so light getting ready to jump onto 99N and sunddenly my car just STOPS in mid gear change (WTF??!, there is NO way anything else could go wrong) Welp as the saying goes, "Fix one thing, something else breaks" well I guess it proved to be true. I was dead on the side of the road on Florin road right before the light that you take to get on the freeway at about 5PM (Rush hour traffic) with no way to get out and push my car into the Les Shwab's parking lot just yards away.. By 7PM I am finally able to get out and (along with help from some bummy lookin guy and the guy who came from AAA to check if I needed a jump *which my battery tested out 100% charged..*) push it into the lot and wait for the special ordered flat bed (AWD) to pick me up. (It actually wasn't too hard getting it on the FB with the suspension drop the Talon has, but getting it off was a trick, mainly due to the exhaust)

Time goes on (days) and I'm being told that it can be a list of things, anywhere from timing to ECU. I picked up an ECU from Manny and that proved not to be the issue, so next I checked the fuel system.. perfect. So of course the onlything left was my ignition system, the only thing that would be able to just shut off and kill my car in mid flight.. So of course I'm fighting for room in this over cramped engine bay to get to the coil to test it out. First step: Take off timing belt cover... But WTF is this? My belt looks loose as f**k. (I spent the whole previous night fixng the timing belt on a friends ITR swapped Del Sol.. last thing I wanted to look at was another f**kin timing belt!) So as I go to yank on it to see if it will tighten up, the entire end pops out, and then I reach on the other side and viola, problem solved! The damn tow guy was right, kinda... (It did have to do with timing after all)



So yep now I'm scared to even open the head and what kind of carnage ensued. With those bigger 101200 com cams in there I'm sure that would only make things worse. When my parents find out I know all hell will break loose (they told me not to buy the car in the first place) Hahaha, my grandmother was already threatening me to get the car back running and smogged within 2 weeks or I'd have to sell it. Looks like I may just have to sell it after all. I doubt I have the time, money and especially the motivation to have this fixed (how much do you think it will run?)

Anyways, depending on cost of repair this car may go back up for sale, either with all the mods or back to stock. If I put it back to stock I'll be selling off all the mod parts, so keep posted. I'll hit you guys up before I put it on ebay, Autotrader, Craigslist, or DSM tuner. In the end I just hope I can have it fixed. DSMs may be POS cars but this one is growing on me, its a badass lookin car and as far as owning a 4 banger goes I'd never pick any other car over it...

Originally Posted by Jon

What year is it, and what mods are on it? (I'm actually looking for parts, so if it goes stock I may want your mods)

It's a '92 and had enough mods to run darn near 11s if you put your foot into it and cross your fingers..

Originally Posted by 98spydert

Did you buy Manny's car?

Yep. I don't blame him for anything though. Who ever had the car for the short period of time before me f**k'd up enough stuff. After fixing all of that this was just the icing on the cake..

Anyone know how much it'll cost to have it repaired? :?:

Originally Posted by 98spydert

Most likely, it'll need valves, guides, and seals. Hopefully nothing else. You could probably just get another head for $150-$500 depending on condition and work done (if any). Plus a timing belt kit ($200+ ?).

If you're trying to get it running as cheap as possible without cutting major corners, you could get away with around $400.
Used head $150-$200 +$75 to resurface the head at the machine shop
Timing belt and tentioner $150

Hopefully you can do the wrench work yourself. Otherwise, throw another $250+ in there.

I can't stand that engine bay. My hands are big as is, it was hard enough trying to move them around in my VR4, this thing is just unbareable. Hahaha. Oh well. Seems like the amount of money alone is gunna push me too far to get it fixed. It sucks but it has to go...

Originally Posted by 98spydert

Imagine being 6'5" and bending over these damn low cars lol. I put them on jack stands even if I'm not getting under it :p

I'm knockin on 6'4" so I totally understand lol...

Originally Posted by TSimage

I can't stand that engine bay. My hands are big as is, it was hard enough trying to move them around in my VR4, this thing is just unbareable. Hahaha. Oh well. Seems like the amount of money alone is gunna push me too far to get it fixed. It sucks but it has to go...

it has more room than a VR4(i trust youre talking bout a 3kGT, if galant then nevermind this post). not that hard of a job. not like its a 420a where you have to lift the engine to do a timing belt job.