Friend looking to buy '93 Talon

[DrumminBoy]

1993 Eagle Talon, 95K miles, automatic, air with extras. $2000.

Think it would be a good deal? He basically wants something that will be reliable and a good value. What kind of things should he look out for on the car? Any help would be great, thanks.

 

[Ryan]

"Talon" and "reliable" are two words that do not belong together.

 

[bootymac]

You don't have to lie to us, we all know it's you buying that Talon

 

[Heisenberg]

Is it AWD? Those things are a b!tch to have worked on.

 

[DrumminBoy]

Originally posted by: Heisenberg
Is it AWD? Those things are a b!tch to have worked on.

I dont believe so.

 

[LAUST]

99 to 1 the engine smokes

 

[halik]

Alright first of all dont listen to all these people, they never had one...

If you get tsi awd, the car will be FAST (turbo AWD) and there are people that have 200k on their cars and run 12s on the quarter mile.
Check out http://www.dsmtuners.com for some substantial info.

AWD is not really pain to work on, you just gotta drop more stuff to get to what you need (ie transfer case). And Talon are pretty reliable, there are no big problems to watch out for. Like i said theres people with ~200k on their cars that still run low 12s

 

[halik]

Originally posted by: LAUST
99 to 1 the engine smokes

99 to 1 LAUST is smoking something...

 

[mAdD INDIAN]

My friend bought a 95 Talon with 134k km for $7000CDN. Of course it was the base model, FWD, non turbo, 5-spd with a sunroof. He didn't want the AWD+turbo model due to incrased cost in maintaince and insurance. Its still a nice car actually...I was more than surprised at how peppy it was and how well it handled corners. Not a nice highway car though.

LAUST: Your back!! I was wondering where'd u had gone. So how's the ole Truck doing? More boost??

 

[Vic]

All DSM's, including Talons, are good cars... but you have to watch out for the different models. The TSi model with or without AWD (but preferably with) is the one to want. It has a 205hp 2.0L turbo I4 and IIRC, it only comes in manual. The base model with the auto is not worth buying.
The 4G63 is not an engine known for oil consumption.

 

[iamwiz82]

Originally posted by: halik

Originally posted by: LAUST
99 to 1 the engine smokes

99 to 1 LAUST is smoking something...

I would tend to bet that he is right. Actprincess' brother has had 2 and both have been nightmares when it comes to breakdowns.

 

[Wingznut]

Originally posted by: halik
Alright first of all dont listen to all these people, they never had one...

If you get tsi awd, the car will be FAST (turbo AWD) and there are people that have 200k on their cars and run 12s on the quarter mile.
Check out http://www.dsmtuners.com for some substantial info.

AWD is not really pain to work on, you just gotta drop more stuff to get to what you need (ie transfer case). And Talon are pretty reliable, there are no big problems to watch out for. Like i said theres people with ~200k on their cars that still run low 12s

Not only did I own one, but I was a Dodge/Jeep/Eagle (ASE Master certified) mechanic for 10 years.

The 2.0L Turbo engines have a few "big problems" that are very common.

• A turbo lasts about 50-60k... Less, if it's not taken care of... More, if you are lucky.
• The head will last about 80-120k before it cracks, drops valve guides, or (if you're lucky) just blows the gasket.
• The AWD transfer case tends to leak like a sieve... They even had a recall on this.

200,00 miles (with no major work) and run in the 12's? Sorry, not buying that. First off, you need major work to get the car into the 12's, since they run 14.xx stock. And since we are talking about heavily modified cars, this in incredibly irrelevant to the topic at hand.

(Btw, I also owned a '73 Duster that ran 12.90's @ 108... So, I know what it takes to get a street car into the 12's. Imho, the majority of people who say their street car run 12-second quarter mile times are lying. Just ask notfred... He's done a lot of work to his Mustang, and I believe he hasn't made it into the 12's yet.)

Don't get me wrong... The Talon AWD Turbo is an insane amount of fun. It just comes with a price.


[/b]DrumminBoy...[/b] Which engine does the car have? Since it's an A/T, I'm guessing it's not an AWD Turbo... In which case you needn't worry about the transfer case or the turbo... Or even the head, to some extent, since there's a lot less stress on it without a turbo.
And if it's the 1.8L, then it'll (most likely) be quite reliable. Fairly underpowered when paired with an A/T... But reliable.

 

[Templeton]

http://www.tmo.com/howto/ecu1g/caps.htm
Replace the capacitors in the ecu, this is not a suggestion or recommendation, you need to do this. Even if its not displaying any of the symptons right now, the caps are leaking, and the board is being eaten up. Fix the problem before the computer fries itself and you're out a couple hundred bucks. With that said, you shouldn't have too many other problems with the car, might want to run a compression test on the engine first just to make sure its in good shape, if it's non turbo though, I wouldn't worry too much about it. Make sure you find out when the timing belt was last replaced, if the previous owner doesn't know, that should be your first order of business.

 

[LAUST]

Originally posted by: mAdD INDIAN

LAUST: Your back!! I was wondering where'd u had gone. So how's the ole Truck doing? More boost??

it's doin good, no real changes to it... spening all my time and money on my new house lately.




99 to 1 LAUST is smoking something

LOL, oh well, just seems like almost every Talon/Eclipse I see that is more then 6 years old is a smoke wagon is all, same with Caravan's and Lebarons. Don't know what it is about those 4.. but it just seems to me when they are around there are also no mesqitos.

 

[LAUST]

Originally posted by: Wingznut
The 2.0L Turbo engines have a few "big problems" that are very common.
The head will last about 80-120k before it cracks, drops valve guides, or (if you're lucky) just blows the gasket.

scratches goat and looks over at Halik

 

[mAdD INDIAN]

Off topic, but Wingutz, how'd you go from being a ASE Certified mechanic for 10 years to being a Litho tech at Intel?

 

[shabby]

DSM's has been making home mechanics since 1989, if you dont know how to turn a wrench you shouldnt buy a dsm.
Mine has been fairly reliable, but i take care of it pretty good.
Just buy a civic, its safe/slow/reliable and fun to pick on when you have a modded awd dsm

 

[Wingznut]

Originally posted by: mAdD INDIAN
Off topic, but Wingutz, how'd you go from being a ASE Certified mechanic for 10 years to being a Litho tech at Intel?

I was absolutely miserable as a mechanic.

I hadn't gotten a raise in 3 years, because I was already making more than everyone in the area. Not only that, but I found that as my skills increased, and others coming into the field had less and less skills, I kept getting the most difficult (usually warranty) work because I was the most capable. Unfortunately, that work doesn't pay nearly as well as the preventative maintanence services. Frankly, I think the quality/calibur of mechanics is just going to keep spiraling down, until they somehow make it more enticing for the skilled people of the world. I just don't think that kids with natural mechanical skills are going to go down that path. There are so many more choices now.

It just grew and grew more frustrating, and I had to get out. So, I studied microelectronics and semiconductors on my own until I could convince Intel to grant me an interview. (I own an immeasurable amount of thanks to a friend, also. )

Almost 3 years later, and I couldn't be happier. I never realized how important it was to have a job that you actually enjoy, instead of one that just "pays my salary".

Moral of the story: If you hate your job or line of work... GET OUT ASAP!

 

[Wingznut]

Originally posted by: LAUST

Originally posted by: Wingznut
The 2.0L Turbo engines have a few "big problems" that are very common.
The head will last about 80-120k before it cracks, drops valve guides, or (if you're lucky) just blows the gasket.

scratches goat and looks over at Halik

Yep, that's the smoke you were talking about. When I finally traded mine in, it had 110,000 miles on it, and was beyond embarrasing to drive. (Being a mechanic, that last thing I wanted to do was spend hours of my free time to work on a car past its prime. )

The other Chrysler products that you mentioned, are undoubtedly 3.0L Mitsubishi engines. They have a bad habit of dropping the valve guides, rendering the valve seals useless. I made A LOT of money in my lifetime by knocking those valve guides back into place (and then cutting a ridge and installing snap rings, so they don't drop again). If I recall correctly, the job paid ~13 hours, and I could do them in under 4.

 

[Acanthus]

my mom had a '93 talon TSi AWD Turbo started at 60k miles ended at 92k miles (she sold it)

The only reliability issue she had was the computer went 4 times. At $900 a pop.

 

[shabby]

Originally posted by: Wingznut
The 2.0L Turbo engines have a few "big problems" that are very common.

• A turbo lasts about 50-60k... Less, if it's not taken care of... More, if you are lucky.
• The head will last about 80-120k before it cracks, drops valve guides, or (if you're lucky) just blows the gasket.
• The AWD transfer case tends to leak like a sieve... They even had a recall on this.

200,00 miles (with no major work) and run in the 12's? Sorry, not buying that. First off, you need major work to get the car into the 12's, since they run 14.xx stock. And since we are talking about heavily modified cars, this in incredibly irrelevant to the topic at hand.

Turbo's only fail if you dont do proper oil changes and dont cool it off after a hard run. My friend recently sold his stock 14b that had 160km on it and it never burned any oil and had no shaft play(ran a 12.8@107mph with it too).
I have never heard of the head cracking on a 4g63 or losing valve guides. I've seen blown headgaskets, but thats only because the stock head studs cant hold it down when your run excessive amount of boost, people usually upgrade to arp studs.
The tcase does leak ill give you that, unlimited replacements thanks to the recall.

 

[halik]

Originally posted by: Wingznut

Originally posted by: halik
Alright first of all dont listen to all these people, they never had one...

If you get tsi awd, the car will be FAST (turbo AWD) and there are people that have 200k on their cars and run 12s on the quarter mile.
Check out http://www.dsmtuners.com for some substantial info.

AWD is not really pain to work on, you just gotta drop more stuff to get to what you need (ie transfer case). And Talon are pretty reliable, there are no big problems to watch out for. Like i said theres people with ~200k on their cars that still run low 12s

Not only did I own one, but I was a Dodge/Jeep/Eagle (ASE Master certified) mechanic for 10 years.

The 2.0L Turbo engines have a few "big problems" that are very common.

• A turbo lasts about 50-60k... Less, if it's not taken care of... More, if you are lucky.
• The head will last about 80-120k before it cracks, drops valve guides, or (if you're lucky) just blows the gasket.
• The AWD transfer case tends to leak like a sieve... They even had a recall on this.

200,00 miles (with no major work) and run in the 12's? Sorry, not buying that. First off, you need major work to get the car into the 12's, since they run 14.xx stock. And since we are talking about heavily modified cars, this in incredibly irrelevant to the topic at hand.

(Btw, I also owned a '73 Duster that ran 12.90's @ 108... So, I know what it takes to get a street car into the 12's. Imho, the majority of people who say their street car run 12-second quarter mile times are lying. Just ask notfred... He's done a lot of work to his Mustang, and I believe he hasn't made it into the 12's yet.)

Don't get me wrong... The Talon AWD Turbo is an insane amount of fun. It just comes with a price.


[/b]DrumminBoy...[/b] Which engine does the car have? Since it's an A/T, I'm guessing it's not an AWD Turbo... In which case you needn't worry about the transfer case or the turbo... Or even the head, to some extent, since there's a lot less stress on it without a turbo.
And if it's the 1.8L, then it'll (most likely) be quite reliable. Fairly underpowered when paired with an A/T... But reliable.

I currently own two talons (one n/t and one tsi awd).
First you dont need that many mods to get an DSM into 12 - cat back, intake, boost controller and a bigger turbo. AFC is always a plus. Majority of people that run 12s on 1gs have over 100k miles on em (just because of the age), check out the 1/4 mile times at http://www.dsmtuners.com . There has been a recall on the transfer case (i've gotten mine done last year ), but the stuff you said about turbos is simply untrue. If you use synthetic / turbo timer / let the car idle after hard run, the turbo wont have any problems. My car has almost 90k and theres virtually no shaft play. I've NEVER heard of anyone having problems with their heads, other than broken timing belt and stuff they f%$^$% themselves (20psi with stock rods...etc ). Theres a kid that i know that has 120k on his 1g and runs 12s with stock internals on pump gas...

 

[KokomoGST]

1st Gen Talon... good stuff.

Jeff Hill over at Turbotrix as well as more than a few DSMers in my area have tried to convince me to sell my WWD 2nd Gen for a nice AWD 1G. I'm just too attached to this car to get rid of it now. 1st Generation with the 4G63 6bolt motors are pretty much bulletproof. I've seen very nice examples of manual AWD turbos going for 2-3K. Transfer case is a recall so no problems there. Turbos can be had for $200 or less... I've seen turbos last well beyond 100k miles without a problem.

Head gasket? Only for 420A Chrysler powered cars since that's an issue for that motor and that's also a recall in Neons. Not sure if it applies for Talons & Eclipses but 1st gens didn't use the 420.

I know more than a few people who drove the CRAP out of their AWD DSM and got them into the 12s. AWD = SICK 60fts and easy low ETs. The WRX weighs about the same and people have smacked that bitch into the 13s stock. I've seen good drivers smack 1Gs into 13s with nothing more than a $20 boost controller. I've seen many people go into 12s with race gas and under $1k in mods.

http://www.dsmtalk.com/ & http://www.dsmtimes.org/ and look for all the entries for 14B turbos... LOTS of people into 12s thanks to AWD holeshot. Lets see YOU get a 1.8second 60ft without slicks/drag radials or AWD. And YES they did make AWD turbos with A/Ts.