1998 Eclipse GST Problems
 

I have a 1998 Eclipse gst 5 speed.

problem 1- Belt squeal.
When i start my car the belt squeals non stop. I tested to see what belt was squealing and it is the alternator belt. The belt is new, the water pump pulleys are newer oem ones, and the harmonic balancer was an after market one but i replace it with a used oem one. and the alternator is brand new but the squeal keeps going. i have tried loosening the belts tighten them but the squeal just keeps coming back. if there is anyone that can help please do.


problem 2- Idle problem/white smoke.
My car also developed an idling problem, I put a good oem fuel rail on after my oem one cracked and now the car is idling funny. It idles around 800rpm and when i give it gas and the rpms go up to about 3k, when i release the gas it drops all the way down to where it is about to stall. i replaced the pcv nothing happened. i just want to know what could be maybe the iac valve. also now there is some white smoke coming out the tail pipe that didnt before and it is constant. its not much white smoke but could that be a sign the turbo is bad. I dont think its a head gasket because its not that much.


if anyone could help with these problems that would be cool. ill test everything and update with results.
thanks

Re: 1998 Eclipse GST Problems
 

Did you check the used one before you put it on? I would only replace that part with a new OEM.

Yeah, the iac is a good place to start. If you have a way of measuring resistance, you can test the iac pretty quickly by measuring the resistance between the coils and ensuring it opens/closes correctly with the ignition.

The idle problems are notorious on these cars. Boost leak test is always a good idea, and pretty easy to do as well.

Since you said you swapped out the fuel rail, did you touch anything else while doing that? Maybe hit the cruise control/throttle cable/tps or anything while doing it? Look around where you worked or anything else you touched while doing the fuel rail.

If all else fails, type in "dsm idle" into google and you'll get about 100 threads to go through.

Re: 1998 Eclipse GST Problems
 

thanks heat

Re: 1998 Eclipse GST Problems
 

Belt squeal is gone and all leaks were fixed now the car starts up fine until warm then stalls.

Re: 1998 Eclipse GST Problems
 

Well, good news you fixed a few of the issues. Bad news is, the dieing when warm can be a lot of different things that are hard to diagnose.

I'll go with the obvious here and hope it's the case. You messed with the fuel rail. Are you able to measure your fuel pressure? I'd hope that it's a fuel leak, check for visible signs or check your pressure, should be 50psi I believe.

If it's not that...well there are a lot of things to check.

Are you getting a CEL?

Re: 1998 Eclipse GST Problems
 

it is idling well now, just when i give it gas and let go the rpms drop to 100-200 rpm (when warm) or it just stalls. but i check the TPS and its up to the specs. I even pulled the fuel filter to see if it was clogged but its good, also there is a bluish smoke that comes out of the tail pipe so next thing i am going to check is fuel injector seals. but i have not checked the IAC, fuel pressure, or crankshaft position sensor, once i get time i will check all of that. Im also going to pull the spark plugs and check the gaps and also check the wires and coils. and there are no CEL.

thanks for the help, ill update once i do all the above.

Re: 1998 Eclipse GST Problems
 

I checked the TPS and IAC, even cleaned it really good. I pulled the plugs and gap them to spec. I replaced the fuel filter as well. I dont have the tool to check the fuel pressure and i havent checked the CPS. I also did a compression seems good. I read that the smoke could be from a seal in the turbo but i am not sure yet. Nothing has changed still the rpms drop when warm. may just have to bring it to the dealer.

Re: 1998 Eclipse GST Problems
 

Have you done a boost leak test? Do you know someone with an ECU you can swap in for kicks?

Re: 1998 Eclipse GST Problems
 

Is this a stock car or has there been anything done to it? Intercooler, blow off valve, yada yada yada

Re: 1998 Eclipse GST Problems
 

I have done a boost leak test. and i dont know anyone with another gst

It does have a bigger turbo, intercooler, greddy bov, megan exhaust, K&N air filter. thats about it there is only 75,600 miles on the car.