[sdktheta]

Hey guys,

So yesterday I picked up my new 1991 dodge stealth tt with 62k miles. It appears to be in nearly perfect shape. I've been wanting one of these cars for over 15 years and finally made it happen. I towed it the 230 miles home but I probably could have driven it. The car was kept in a climate controlled garage and is in incredibly good shape. Going to change all the fluids and belts and see where I'm at. It feels amazing to know that I finally have one of these cars.

 

[gawdzinner]

Nice! I hope you towed it on a flat deck so that there was no damage to the AWD system.

 

[shmoo]

congrats man!! i bet you already know, but you could always start with the water pump, tensioner, tensioner (idler?) pulley, and water pump if you don't know how to initially spend 800 bucks. plus fluids of course

i really like maximalperformance to buy parts, but 3sx has taken decent care of me, and everyone trusts ninjaperformance as well.

is that car white, or pearl white?

welcome though, post more pictures, and let us know if you need anything.

 

[lawdogg]

Congrats! Woo pearl white! Keep us updated on your progress with it!

 

[sdktheta]

Thanks guys. I've owned my fair share of DSMs so I'm fairly aware of the importance of a flat bed for AWD cars. I actually tell the tow company I have a Mercedes whenever I get an AWD mitsu towed since they are required to send a flat bed for certain mercs. When I tell them I have a Mitsubishi they always send a standard tow truck and use a dolly for the rear wheels which I hate. The timing belt is the main reason why I got it towed. My plan is fluids (engine, drivetrain, brakes, etc), timing belt/water pump, fuel filter, and possibly the clutch (flywheel/pressureplate/clutch disk). The throw out bearing made some noise the first time I started it up but hasn't since so I need to investigate more. Also the pedal pressure is just so light to me I want to get a stiffer clutch in there just so I can feel the engagement point better. I believe the 91 turbos were pearl white but I'm not sure.

For pictures, Ill try and get some sooner rather than later. In general I do things particularly slowly as I live a busy life. When it comes to cars I have to split my time between my starion, DSM, DD, and now this. At least this thing runs though, haha. Long term my plan is to build it for ~600 hp and convert to the JDM final drive 6 speed. The more I look at part prices that might change though. The starion is a track day car and the DSM is an autocross car so this will just be the Friday/weekend joy ride car. That being said I'm sure the car will get coil overs and a swaybar. That SCE torsen center diff looks amazing but the price is hard to swallow.

 

[shmoo]

don't forget that we are now able to use evo 8/9 coilovers, and evo 8/9/X brakes. super car sells the adapters for the coilovers. i use the rears.

and what pray tell do you daily drive? and shots of the starion please

 

[Unlogic]

The SCE torsen center diff is amazing but it kills the bank. However that together with Ohlins suspension is the best mods I've done to my car.

 

[NOMIEZVR-4]

Keep it mild at 450whp and it will keep you happy for a very long time. sometimes its easy to not appreciate a simple bolt-on car that runs well with no issues.

congrats

 

[sdktheta]

don't forget that we are now able to use evo 8/9 coilovers, and evo 8/9/X brakes. super car sells the adapters for the coilovers. i use the rears.

and what pray tell do you daily drive? and shots of the starion please

I actually saw their rear adapters and machined some up for my DSM, so technically I could use the same set if I wanted to or just make another set. We have a wire EDM at work so it's painless. DD is just a clk350. Here's a link to my starion build, but it's fairly outdated: My 4g63 and t-56 swap (TONS OF PICTURES - Engine Swappers - StarQuestClub.com

The SCE torsen center diff is amazing but it kills the bank. However that together with Ohlins suspension is the best mods I've done to my car.

I imagine. I've been racing a 50/50 power distribution DSM for the last couple of years and the prospect of 20/80 is so tempting.

Keep it mild at 450whp and it will keep you happy for a very long time. sometimes its easy to not appreciate a simple bolt-on car that runs well with no issues.

congrats

600 isn't a simple bolt on car that runs with no issues? I guess for me anything that doesn't involve a welder is a bolt on part so perhaps we have different definitions of simple haha.


As a general update I just ordered some maintenance parts from ninja. Their slow shipping should match my lack of time for working on cars. I literally haven't touched the car since the day I bought it.

 

[John Monnin]

I would get the Capacitors changed in the ECU and change the timing belt if it hasn't been done yet. Congratulations, that is a great low mileage car, I am sure you will love it

 

[sdktheta]

as a little update, I still haven't driven the car since the day I got it. I got the following done thus far:

replaced tires
ecu caps
spark plugs
changed oil/filter
skateboard bearings on the shifter cables
new fuel filter
flushed the brake fluid and clutch fluid
rebuilt the throttle body (shaft seals, isc, etc)
new heater hoses
new rear turbo coolant lines
new throttle body coolant lines

I still plan on doing the timing belt before driving it but otherwise the the rest of the maintenance I plan on doing after driving the car a little bit to see what else may need replacing.

 

[sdktheta]

An update: I've finally driven the car now, albeit just about 3/8 of a mile. I finished all the timing belt stuff quite a while ago and was about to put everything back together when I decided to change the valve cover gaskets at the last minute. I'm really glad I decided this as there was an incredible amount of sludge in the cylinder heads. I've never seen more sludge on an engine component in my life. I'm guessing this car had conventional oil in it for years at a time given the low milage, and probably only saw spirited driving with long periods of rest in between. Anyways, I decided to go out and buy a 20 gallon parts washer from harbor freight to deal with all of the mess. I cleaned the valve covers themselves, but I also pulled all the cam caps and shafts and cleaned those too. I cleaned the rockers and while I was in there decided to replace the lifters with 3g lifters. I was surprised by how difficult some of the lifters were to get out. I would say I completely destroyed about 5 of them. I was thinking the bores were possibly distorted but the new lifters slid in no problem so its a bit confusing. I was able to clean the camshafts without pulling the timing covers again so I was pretty happy about that. Just made sure to do them one at a time and have everything clamped down really well and indexed. The timing cover actually has some kind of mounts for the cam gears to rest on too which helps. While I was in there I also changed out the cam shaft seals and the cam angle sensor seal / end shaft seals. I didn't want to clean the cylinder heads themselves because I was afraid of flakes getting into the oil pan and clogging the pickup tube. I'm now planning on doing some religious seafoaming as well as pulling the oil pan and cleaning what I can on the under side at the next oil change.

Once all that nonsense was all done I put the car back together and went to start it. To my surprise it did not start. I was able to quickly identify that the car was not getting fuel and then after some tests went to pull the fuel pump. It nearly crumbled in my hands. Luckily I had a spare oem supra fuel pump I could use but unluckily I was not able to source many of the OEM rubber components in the fuel pump assembly. I ended up buying an autobest fuel pump (Chinese knock off) from rock auto for about 20 bucks which came with a fuel pump isolator pad that was somewhat close to the correct shape. Some light modifications to it made it work. I also picked up a walbro install kit for about 13 bucks which had a new o ring and top plastic piece for the fuel pump. Denso does sell replacement strainers for the fuel pump so I put a new one on given that much of the old fuel pump is probably suspended in the gas tank. I was not able to find a replacement boot for the positive terminal so I ended up grabbing a tube of permatex motoseal and coating the original one in that. I then wrapped it in a stainless steel zip tie.

Now that that was remedied I was able to start the car no problem and bleed the coolant system. I still want to double check the timing and tps position but the car seems to run really great. I would have driven it more but after thinking about it I decided I want to double check the fluid level in the transfer case. I originally was going to wait until I get a new clutch/flywheel combo but the thought of a completely dry transfer case is now haunting me. It hasn't leaked as long as I've got it so it's either good or dry. I definitely will be removing the clutch booster however as the pedal is entirely too soft. (I did flush the fluid)

 

[lawdogg]

That's great progress and reminds me of things I had to do when I first got my '92. Get all those things checked off and enjoy it!

 

[gawdzinner]

Good work! my front valve cover and front valve train was sludged up took a lot of chemicals to get it clean! I ended up just pulling the heads and having a valve job, it gave me access to the top of the pistons, which were also covered in carbon, so I got them nice and shiny! lol
I didn't read where it said you replaced your valve stem seals so I'm assuming you didn't do that. Watch for the tell tale puff of blue smoke when the car has sat for a while after a good run, I suspect your valve stem seals are hardened to the point of not sealing oil from the valve guides. It's a pain in the butt job to change the valve stem seals.

 

[sdktheta]

Correct, I did not replace the valve stem seals. I've heard of some people who replace them without removing the heads on other platforms and I imagine you could probably do it on this platform too but I wasn't terribly interested in risking dropping a valve into the chamber or a keeper into the pan. The car did smoke quite a bit of white smoke when I first started it up but I was assuming that may have been from spilling coolant everywhere, albeit I have no explanation as to how it would have gotten into the intake given that I had blocked all the open ports while working on the car.

I filled the transfer case up with fluid, it took some and my garage isn't flat so it's hard to say how low it was before. It's definitely a touchdown over filled now based on the slope of my garage. Unfortunately I went to start the car again the other day and it appears the fuel pump is dead again. I did some more checks and the only conclusion I can come to is that the gas in the tank is so old it somehow kills pumps. The gas may be as old as 2001 although if I had to guess I would say someone filled it up around the time I bought it with an E10 blend. I plan to clean out the fuel lines and drain the tank before installing another pump. The pump I put in was used so it is possible that that pump was on its last legs too. I've started disassembling the oem pump to see what the failure mode is.

I also decided to pull the clutch booster system as well as the second fuel pump relay and fuel pump resistor. It is now wired to give full voltage all the time. I also have a 3sx shorty antenna so I don't have to listen to that motor anymore.

Wish me luck on some day driving this thing more than 3/8 of a mile!

 

[lawdogg]

Correct, I did not replace the valve stem seals. I've heard of some people who replace them without removing the heads on other platforms and I imagine you could probably do it on this platform too but I wasn't terribly interested in risking dropping a valve into the chamber or a keeper into the pan. The car did smoke quite a bit of white smoke when I first started it up but I was assuming that may have been from spilling coolant everywhere, albeit I have no explanation as to how it would have gotten into the intake given that I had blocked all the open ports while working on the car.

I filled the transfer case up with fluid, it took some and my garage isn't flat so it's hard to say how low it was before. It's definitely a touchdown over filled now based on the slope of my garage. Unfortunately I went to start the car again the other day and it appears the fuel pump is dead again. I did some more checks and the only conclusion I can come to is that the gas in the tank is so old it somehow kills pumps. The gas may be as old as 2001 although if I had to guess I would say someone filled it up around the time I bought it with an E10 blend. I plan to clean out the fuel lines and drain the tank before installing another pump. The pump I put in was used so it is possible that that pump was on its last legs too. I've started disassembling the oem pump to see what the failure mode is.

I also decided to pull the clutch booster system as well as the second fuel pump relay and fuel pump resistor. It is now wired to give full voltage all the time. I also have a 3sx shorty antenna so I don't have to listen to that motor anymore.

Wish me luck on some day driving this thing more than 3/8 of a mile!

White smoke from the exhaust, or white smoke coming up out of the engine bay?

That's OK on the TC fluid.

Dropping the tank isn't too hard, if draining the fluid didn't get all the sludge out that's gumming up your pumps. I've never tried it before, but can you take your pump apart to verify it's just gummed up and not electrically dead? If it is, I imagine cleaning the gunk out would bring it back to life?

 

[Chris @ Rvenge Performance]

nice car!

 

[sdktheta]

Yes white smoke out of the exhaust. This is something I never noticed after it warmed up nor the first day I got the car driving it into and off tow trucks as well as into my garage. It was quite a lot so the fact that it went away completely once warming up was confusing.

I have started to take the pump apart however I may just cut it since they appear to be pressed together. The fuel in the tank is rather clear so I'm expecting it to somehow be rust that killed these pumps.

 

[lawdogg]

Huh, interesting. I suppose the smoke could be VSS related too.

 

[sdktheta]

I'm thinking that the white smoke may have been water in the intake manifold. I cleaned the intake manifold out quite a bit and dried it out as best I could but perhaps there was a crevice with water or something I missed. It was rather smokey when it happened and not blue.

I went to the Junkyard Saturday and was able to make out with a few things. The main reason I went was to find some differential parts for the conquest which I struck out on but I did manage to get some parts for my Dsm as well as a climate control from a Diamante and a pocket insert for below the cd player off of a Montero. I plan to upgrade the head unit and want a place to put my phone. I was hoping to find a fuel pump isolator pad as well but couldn't, nor could I find a rubber boot for the positive terminal of the fuel pump.

Today I took the fuel pump assembly out. The green fuel pump I put in came out looking like a white popsicle. I don't know what the fuzzy crap on it was but I'm pretty convinced that the gas is bad. I tore down the other fuel pump and found that there was some slight rust on the bearing for the DC motor. Once I cleaned it it spun freely and probably would work if re assembled. Also, for anyone concerned about positive terminals being exposed to gasoline in your tank, know that the inside of the fuel pump has exposed wires that are submerged in fuel. It clearly doesn't matter otherwise all these cars with this style pump would fail. I decided to drain the tank and put the Chinese fuel pump I bought for the isolator pad back in. This way if it is something else that is killing the fuel pumps I wont be out a lot of money. I didn't bother dropping the tank and cleaning it extensively since I was planning on mixing in the old fuel anyways. Thinking about it now, the gas was most likely my source of water / white smoke.

I put in 5 gallons of fresh gas and started driving the car to the gas station. Strangely the car seemed to want to die whenever I came to a stop. This was pretty disheartening but again, thinking about it now I realize that I didn't really set the tps correctly (idle switch) and the boss screw is all the way down. Remember the isc is new and I completely rebuilt the throttle body. I'll also double check my vac lines to be sure one of them didn't get disconnected while I was removing the clutch booster lines. Only other thing I can think of is to check the base timing. I did remove the fuel pump resistor but I should think that Mitsubishi would be smarter than to use that to control the fuel pressure at idle versus the fuel pressure regulator. I drove the car around the block about three times and it makes good power and the turbos make boost so now its in the details.