Any Eclipse guys here?

I

iwannadie

NAXJA Forum User
Location
Gilbert, Az
So, a buddy at work was selling his old 99 na eclipse for 500 bucks. I talked my family into buying it for my nieces first car thinking 500 bucks why not. The motor in it is a 2L DOHC and he said it had slight rod knock. He had it sitting for a year because he didn't want to drive it with rod knock. He bought a 2nd motor and was planning to swap it in but never had the time so he decided to just sell it. I believe what he says about the car because I work with him and have herd about it for the past couple years before he ever planned to sell it. Plus, 500 bucks I am not complaining.

However, now that I got the car and motor I realize the 2nd motor is a SOHC motor. It looks like it's going to take a lot of work to swap these motors now. The SOHC motor has the intake and exhaust on the opposite sides of the DOHC motor. It just looks like a lot of parts would be needed to change to the other style motor.

I am thinking about just staying with the DOHC because it seems like a better motor and trying to get it going instead of hassling with a different motor. I know he spent a lot and had the SOHC motor shipped out to him so it wasn't cheap, just the shipping alone was a lot. I was also thinking maybe swap the bottom ends as a cure to the rod knock, if they are interchangeable?

Does anyone have experience with these cars that I could ask questions or just found out exactly what it is I have ha.
 
Thanks for that I am going to try and hit him up. I was just talking to a buddy of mine and he said the SOHC motor is not worth trying to swap into the car. They sit mirrored of each other and would take way to much work to make worth while. They said just pull the motor and rebuild the bottom end. Sell the SOHC motor to offset some of the cost and call it done.
 
Stay with the dual cam -- The 420A can be a very reliable motor (well, as far as Chrysler products go, anyway) if they are maintained correctly. For the amount of fab work it would take you to get the SOHC motor to work, you may as well go buy a used EVO8/9 motor and drop it in instead. I mean, atleast that way you could have some power to reward all your hard work/time/money invested in the project...

My advice is to sell the SOHC POS and look for a used 420A engine on craiglist, or even give Jasper a call if you want one with a warranty/labor coverage if something goes wrong (however, that would most likely cost around $2000 for a longblock).

Option three is to sell your current bundle of parts and vehicle and simply buy my build AWD/turbo project DSM. ;)

Good luck and feel free to hit me up with any questions you may have -- I work long days, but usually try to jump on here in the evenings. :)
 
Yea after reading and chatting to a few people it's clear the SOHC is not going in and now I am left wondering what my friend was trying to push over on me. He is a big DSM guy and either didn't know what motor he had or was just out right lying to me.

Spending any amount of money on this car is not going to happen either and also no plans to gain power. It is for me 18 year old first time driver niece, she doesn't need power ha.

You wouldn't say sell the SOHC and rebuild the motor I have? I hate the idea of buying another motor and hope that it runs you know. At least I know what I have now and if it's rebuilt I know it'll be good. I could buy a used 420a and have it in the same shape as what I have now.

Any clue what I could sell the SOHC motor for ballpark? I know he paid a lot and shipping alone had to cost a lot.

It's funny the guy I got it from has an AWD big turbo project he's been trying to get running for a few years now I swear. The last I saw of it, it cranks but won't start and the boost gauge is off the chats while cranking. He gave up working on it and towed it to a shop.

You replied before I had the chance to PM ; p .
 
You could rebuild the 420a yourself, but that is really labor intensive and time consuming. If you were to have a machine shop rebuild it for you, it would still cost quite a bit and still take a good while to have it done. I can tell you right now that if you were to run the car through my shop just to have new rod/main bearings tossed in and the crank polished, it would be right around 2000 in labor alone. That is ASSUMING that the rotating assembly is not damaged and parts can be reused (i.e. no scoring on the crank journals, piston, rod, or cylinder wall damage, ect.) My point here is that you can get a used engine for cheaper than rebuilding the current one.

If it were me, I would try to find one that is still in car and can be heard/seen running and checked over to make sure compression is solid. If you're on more of a time crunch and can/will splurge and spend a little more, you can get used, low mileage engines with a warranty (around 75k miles, IIRC). However, with companies such as that, you often have to replace parts on the used engine prior to installation in order to not void the warranty (timing belt, water pump, cam/crank seals, various gaskets, ect.)

As for the what the SOHC is worth, that depends on a few things:

-Mileage/condition
-What engine it actually is (displacement, what vehicle it came from, year)


unds to me like this uber knowledgeable DSM guy was only good at blowing smoke up asses. Sorry you got potentially suckered into this situation. :P
 
Wow, I didn't think the bottom end rebuild would be that much. I may take a whack at it myself, I can take the time to do it because 2 grand isn't going to happen. Is the 2 grand with the block out of the car? I would pull the motor myself and take the bottom end to a shop for the work...

I am trying to find out more info on the SOHC motor. The guy I got it from was under the impression it was a DOHC motor and never looked at it. It was on a pallet wrapped up and stayed that way until I unwrapped it.

Right now being into this car for 500 bucks is not bad so I'm ok sofar ;) .
 
It would be about 15-20 hours labor to do it with the engine in-car, and my shop's labor rate is $108/hour so if my math is correct, that should be right around $2000. If you do decide to do it yourself, make sure you take your time and make sure you do it right. Anyone can rebuild an engine, but the worst thing you can do is rush through it. Go to Autozone and pick up a copy of Alldata Pro. It's a great computer-based repair manual that usually gives pretty good step-by-step instructions, all current factory TSB's, scheduled maintenance times/info, and many more helpful options. Only downside is that the copies sold in stores are for made to be one copy per vehicle. i.e. you could only use that copy for your Eclipse, and if you wanted to use the program for another vehicle, you would have to buy another copy. Get it? Got it. Good.

Ah, gotcha. Read what is written on the Valve cover and/or oil cap, as those are the typical spots manufactures will advertise the engine's size/vehicle make.
 
ClarkPeach said:
It would be about 15-20 hours labor to do it with the engine in-car, and my shop's labor rate is $108/hour so if my math is correct, that should be right around $2000.
Click to expand...


:eek: My mechanic charges me 25 an hour! Helps that he is a very good friend of mine! :D
 
ClarkPeach said:
It would be about 15-20 hours labor to do it with the engine in-car, and my shop's labor rate is $108/hour so if my math is correct, that should be right around $2000. If you do decide to do it yourself, make sure you take your time and make sure you do it right. Anyone can rebuild an engine, but the worst thing you can do is rush through it. Go to Autozone and pick up a copy of Alldata Pro. It's a great computer-based repair manual that usually gives pretty good step-by-step instructions, all current factory TSB's, scheduled maintenance times/info, and many more helpful options. Only downside is that the copies sold in stores are for made to be one copy per vehicle. i.e. you could only use that copy for your Eclipse, and if you wanted to use the program for another vehicle, you would have to buy another copy. Get it? Got it. Good.

Ah, gotcha. Read what is written on the Valve cover and/or oil cap, as those are the typical spots manufactures will advertise the engine's size/vehicle make.
Click to expand...

Yea no way I would pay a shop to pull the motor, like I said I would take them the bottom end to do the work. That is if I don't end up doing it myself which seems like the way I'm heading right now since it was such a light knock.

I actually have a factory service manual for the eclipse and all my vehicles, I like alldata(I have it for my XJ) but the FSM is so much better. Alldata is my go to for quick stuff like torque specs and fluid specs or exploded views.

If I get some pictures and more info on where the motor came from could you help me figure out a fair asking price on the SOHC motor? I know the guy told me last night that he paid $300 plus shipping for that motor. I am hoping to get 200-250 and that would help offset or pay for the cost of the rebuild.
 
This thing is fighting me every step of the way. I picked up new spark plugs to see if that would help smooth the idle out and it won't start and I have no power to anything now. The last time I started it the car cranked right over. My battery is good, I have a battery tender and it shows a full charge(confirmed with multi meter).

I get no gauges, no lights, no power windows or anything now, I don't get it. Fuses all are fine but I will triple check them tomorrow.
 
I thought I would update this, I got the starting/electrical figured out which was easy enough, battery terminals were the cause there d'oh.

I did a compression test a while back and got 0psi on cylinder #2 with 120 on the others. Today I went to do a leak down test and was setting it to TDC I noticed #2 piston was seized up.

How my "friend" was driving this with a seized piston is beyond me. I am thinking now a nice used motor thrown in is the way to go.
 
in4aride said:
Damn that sucks. At least you caught it before you dumped money into the thing
Click to expand...

I am mostly glad I caught it before I had it in my garage with the motor out ha. That has been my big worry is getting into my garage torn apart and have the problem be something major.

I am curious how the piston is stuck and where the rod is broken or disconnected from the piston. I didn't see a giant hole in the block at least lol.
 
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