Jump to content

DSM reliability; the real scoop?


Science Abuse

Recommended Posts

This is what I'm presented with:

I also have a 96 talon daily driver that I am looking to get rid of. It is really a winter beater, non-turbo, front wheel driver hatch. Engine and manual trans out of a 97 with 65,000 miles. Car runs well, body has 197000 miles. Body looks rather good for that many miles, but not perfect.

As something of a trade for the Cougar. I want a rally/winter car. I need it to run long and hard (thats how I like it, after all). What is there to worry about?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

From everything I've heard, the only really unreliable ones where the second gen turbo cars. The fix was dropping in a first gen turbo motor. That car should be just as reliable for rally racing as anything else, you'll only be breaking parts in rally's that you would be breaking racing whatever other FWD in a rally.
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I agree with what BAM614 and copperhead said. The only other thing I would say is I remember what you were asking for the Cougar, and unless you've drastically dropped your expectations of what you want to get out of it, you're getting the bad end of the deal if it's a straight trade. I'd ask for some cash to go along with it or something else they might want to get rid of.

 

I would expect that car to go for $2-3k in good condition; NADA and KBB agree with me. Edmunds thinks something more like 1.5k, but they are always lower, and the 'normal' amount of miles for this car is 89k according to them. :rolleyes: IMHO these cars don't demand a lot because everyone wants the turbo/awd ones and there are a ton of them out there. I’d shoot for closer to $2k for a little bit of a deal ,because regardless of the newer tranny and engine, all of the normal wear items still have 200kmi on them. That’s half of what you were asking for the Cougar, food for though.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

dsm's are reliable untill you really get into performace and mod them. mine stock ran 100% perfect w.o any problem! but once you start doing this and that of course shit is going to break. 1/2dsm's out there are broke because ppl mod them!

 

you can find a nice 1g awd for about 2k with 115-170k on body and motor.

 

2g's are around 3500-5500 for a nice one, just depends how good of a deal you get. and the have the 7bolt motor that is notorious for crankwalking, thats why the 1g (6bolt motor is an up-grade)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

From what I've seen the 420a seems to be a competent motor that can take some abuse. A car is only as reliable as the the owner makes it, most people's dsm's become unreliable because they believe they can build them to 500hp for $500 and drive it all day and abuse them. Everyone seems to think you can build race cars out of them for uber cheap and it's just not the case.

I've had 3 dsm's so far and all have been good cars to me and all have been moderately modified.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Simply from what you described in your first post i'd stay away from this. ANY car that has a major overhaul (ie, engine swap even if it is the same type of engine) will be unreliable for daily use. Other than that the NT 420a motor's are fairly dependable if unmodded, it's only a neon powerplant. Regular maintenance should net you dependable results.

 

And Mike C. was right, their completely differenent cars (4g63 / 420a). If your going rally racing, i'd suggest something simple, light, fwd to start off with. Drive a slow car quick etc... I've seen alot of civic's and integra's rally racing in Grassroots Motorsports Mag.

 

oh and whoever said it was right, there's no way in hell this would be a fair straight up trade.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

you can find a nice 1g awd for about 2k with 115-170k on body and motor.

 

2g's are around 3500-5500 for a nice one, just depends how good of a deal you get. and the have the 7bolt motor that is notorious for crankwalking, thats why the 1g (6bolt motor is an up-grade)

 

Just wanted to clarify so he isn't confused with my post that you are talking about turbo (maybe with AWD). He's looking at an n/a car, which is what I was commenting about price wise.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Mine 1990 TSI has been very reliable to me. Except for the ecu randomly dieing.

 

http://www.tmo.com/howto/ecu1g/caps.htm

 

Do this ASAP. They will leak out and destroy the board, then you have to buy a whole new ECU. I had to buy a new TCU (tranny control unit) because of this. Check the continuity on the traces around where any caps leaked and very carefully clean up any crap that's leaked onto the board.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Just wanted to clarify so he isn't confused with my post that you are talking about turbo (maybe with AWD). He's looking at an n/a car, which is what I was commenting about price wise.

 

yeah i though he was talkin about purchasing a turbo, now that i have re-read the post, i agree any car that the motor has been rebuilt or a new motor put in has been abused, and you never know what else can go wrong. But thoes 420a cars are very reliable.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

http://www.tmo.com/howto/ecu1g/caps.htm

 

Do this ASAP. They will leak out and destroy the board, then you have to buy a whole new ECU. I had to buy a new TCU (tranny control unit) because of this. Check the continuity on the traces around where any caps leaked and very carefully clean up any crap that's leaked onto the board.

 

 

Eh I already shelled out 200 bucks for a re-made one...

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Guest 78novaman

A friend of mine at work has a purple/maroon '98 Eagle Talon TSI. 4 banger N/A 5sp. no mods. 120,000 miles and the only problems are a rotted out radiator that I helped him replace and the sunroof leaks a bit. He gets 30mpg in the city too. I always ragged on them, but they're actually not a bad little cars. Just keep in mind it's going to eat half shafts all the time if you mod it a lot. I've been in advance and seen multiple people buying them for thier DSM's.

 

 

He's thinking about selling it if you are interested PM me.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

A friend of mine at work has a purple/maroon '98 Eagle Talon TSI. 4 banger N/A 5sp. no mods. 120,000 miles and the only problems are a rotted out radiator that I helped him replace and the sunroof leaks a bit. He gets 30mpg in the city too. I always ragged on them, but they're actually not a bad little cars. Just keep in mind it's going to eat half shafts all the time if you mod it a lot. I've been in advance and seen multiple people buying them for thier DSM's.

 

 

He's thinking about selling it if you are interested PM me.

 

 

The TSI is the turbocharged version of the talon, not the N/A

Link to comment
Share on other sites

The TSI is the turbocharged version of the talon, not the N/A

 

Thank you for correcting him in a constructive manner before I sounded like an asshole.

 

The reason you see a lot of people buying axles from auto zone (or any other auto parts chain) is because they buy axles from auto zone. No, the axles aren't indestructible, just like any car, they will break at some point, and you can't expect to replace them with (poorly) rebuilt stock (if that) axles and have them last any amount of time. It comes back to the fact that people are cheap at modifying these cars and an axle from you cost <$100 instead of the $200ish it would cost to get one from Raxles that's stronger and will last.

 

Having said that and coming back to the point of it being n/a, I don't see why he would have any issues, other than the normal wear and tear, with his axles.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Thank you for correcting him in a constructive manner before I sounded like an asshole.

 

The reason you see a lot of people buying axles from auto zone (or any other auto parts chain) is because they buy axles from auto zone.

 

yeah autozone is cheap, but oem is the way to go. i know my uncle bought a "Brand New" alternator from them and they didnt test it and it was bad. and his buddy went through 3 of them from autozone, all they said were "New in perfect condition"

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

×
×
  • Create New...