Missing my 1st Gen DSM lately. They're really cheap now.
Missing my 1st Gen DSM lately. They're really cheap now.
I have to say it, trade it on a Ford or Mazda
What issues do DSMs have? I Was a wrench at a Jeep/Eagle dealership. I dont remember anything bad about them. We would do timing belts at 60K, clutches when they were beat on, short blocks when said timing belts weren't done on time, and long blocks when the owner tried to forde water.
IME the issue that most surviving DSMs have is the person you bought one from. And the owner before that...
the issue they had was the fact that it was really easy to turn up the boost. So most got ragged within an inch of their life. That was what I did with mine and the Colt I transplanted the 4g63T into. I have to say both lasted to over 150K miles before they tossed the tranny innards to the pavement.
Gas cap trick always works pretty well on those.
Gas cap trick?
Bought a '91 eclipse new in 91. In three years the second gear synchro went three times, the timing belt broke before the change interval, the exhaust blew apart 4 times (E36 M3ty stainless welds), the battery died, and the little spring that popped the fuel door open failed half a dozen times. Thank the FSM for warrantees.
And mine wasn't even a turbo.
I'll second the gas cap trick. I've had a few friends use that with great results.
They seem pretty reliable when you don't try to squeeze 600hp out of its 4G63.
Had to go figure what the berkeley a "DSM was? Forgot about that footnote in automotive history.
After doing timing belts on a few hundred of these at the shop, I will never own one. They're an easy enough job, but the oil pressure tensioners are pathetic. Sometime take the covers off and watch the timing belt. The area between the cam pulleys dances like an E-string on a bass.
There is also an issue with some of the blocks where the back of the blind-tapped hole for the lower timing belt tensioner bolt is very thin. Torquing it back in place can crack the bottom of the hole and let oil leak out onto the belt and big booms happen quickly.
Replacement engines are cheap, but good luck finding any with compression. They suffer from the same Dodge piston rings that start burning oil after a few years.
Cranks walk, main and rod bearings tend to wear out a little quicker than you'd expect, and I've had a few that the exhaust valve seats get pitted and don't seal. After 100k, most of the manuals get sloppier than a gluten-free noodle. Shift forks bend relatively easily, and since most of them were driven by 16-year-olds with baggy pants and backwards hats, they're bent for sure.
They also have that annoying braided flex-joint in the exhaust that seems to fail a lot.
Other than that, they're a great car 
Europe had the Yugo, America had the Pinto, and Japan has the DSM. Every continent has a pile of E36 M3, and 90s Mitsu was Japan's.
curtis73 wrote: After doing timing belts on a few hundred of these at the shop, I will never own one. They're an easy enough job, but the oil pressure tensioners are pathetic. Sometime take the covers off and watch the timing belt. The area between the cam pulleys dances like an E-string on a bass. There is also an issue with some of the blocks where the back of the blind-tapped hole for the lower timing belt tensioner bolt is very thin. Torquing it back in place can crack the bottom of the hole and let oil leak out onto the belt and big booms happen quickly. Replacement engines are cheap, but good luck finding any with compression. They suffer from the same Dodge piston rings that start burning oil after a few years. Cranks walk, main and rod bearings tend to wear out a little quicker than you'd expect, and I've had a few that the exhaust valve seats get pitted and don't seal. After 100k, most of the manuals get sloppier than a gluten-free noodle. Shift forks bend relatively easily, and since most of them were driven by 16-year-olds with baggy pants and backwards hats, they're bent for sure. They also have that annoying braided flex-joint in the exhaust that seems to fail a lot. Other than that, they're a great car
You're basically hitting what I was referring to, the first motor in mine, the timing belt jumped off after 30,000 miles of being changed. Second motor blew oil after 80,000.
Crankwalk happened on a ridiculously small percentage of these and only during a small window of model years. Every shifter i've ever shifted with over 50k miles could use a rebuild.
Bearing life i don't know about. I've driven a couple with over 200k that felt ok, but that's just anecdotes.
Turbo awd car in the 90s built to a price point. Surprise! 
Tom Suddard wrote: I'll second the gas cap trick. I've had a few friends use that with great results.
replace with rag, light rag?
mndsm wrote:Tom Suddard wrote: I'll second the gas cap trick. I've had a few friends use that with great results.replace with rag, light rag?
Remove gas cap
Drive new car under gas cap.
Install gas cap.
hmmm my 1g was reliable until I decided to run it at 30+ psi and that lasted about 5k of me being hard on it loL. My gvr4 (not a dsm) was reliable too.
I saw a GVR4 on the highway for the first time in many years. I sometime wonder back to picking up a 1st gen again... then again, the most reliable car I have ever owned was a B5 A4.
curtis73 - DSM where built in Illinois. I don't know who gets more credit on the design and build, Japan or USA
I think it's called a Subaru.
Wow... a whole-lotta trash talk on here about DSM.
I have a 1993 1gb and these cars suffer from 2 problems
1) Owners who do maintenance they should leave to a real mechanic
2) Fast and Furious posers who ebay build their entire car with the wrong parts
My 1gb currently generates 606awhp and is just as reliable as I would expect any car running 42 psi of boost to be.
^Stock internals.
THIS is why i love DSMs. I should buy one before clean cheap ones hit unicorn status.
Kenny_McCormic wrote: I think it's called a Subaru.
He said reliable.
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