What's making my 1990 eclipse gs turbo leak oil and smoke from the exhaust?

Asked by 90gs_t Aug 23, 2012 at 07:18 PM about the 1990 Mitsubishi Eclipse GS Turbo

Question type: Maintenance & Repair

The car starts fine but when it idles its smokes a little bit from what it looks like the end of the headers where it
connects to the cadilac converter. When I press on the gas it smokes really bad..... I don't know what to do or where
to Start fixing it!!!

9 Answers

6,450

Its a 1990 Eclipse turbo. Chances are its very high mileage and the previous owner beat the crap out of it. Most likely the turbo is shot, possibly the bottom end as well.

1 people found this helpful.

How can I find out if that's what that is... I'm very low on cash and I have to move my car because I'm moving....what's the best way to stop it from smoking until I can take it apart??

200,985

Does it smoke all the time or only at start up and or long periods of idling(like waiting at a traffic light)

1 people found this helpful.

it starts smokin when i press on the gas... When its idling its smokes a lil bit...it leaks oil as soon as i turn the car on and im not sure where its comin from??

200,985

My 91 gt was doing similar and it was a bad pcv valve. Was building up to much crank case pressure causing the oil to be pushed by the valve guide seals( causing it to smoke) and also by the valve cover gaskets( bad oil leak) I would check it first you might get lucky too.

should i buy the book for the car so i can get all the tourque specs?? or is there somewhere i can go online and download it...

6,450

a quick way to check for turbo failure is by checking for shaft play. there should be no movement whatsoever. smoke on startup and initial accel is likely failing piston rings. do a compression test, record the numbers, then squirt some oil...not wd40, actual engine oil...into the cylinders via the spark plug bores and compression test again. if compression numbers go up by more then just a few points then youve got bad rings. a cylinder leakdown test can tell you where the leak is coming from. google how to do it...its easy and the tools can be bought for cheap at harbor freight.

1 people found this helpful.

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