Mitsubishi Engine

[Wigwam Jones]

I have a 1994 Mitsubishi Mirage with a 1.5 L four in it, mated to a 3-speed automatic transaxle. I bought it cheap on eBay and it's done well. But it needs a set of front brakes, and they're well gone, so new calipers, rotors and pads are required. Looking at $450 or so.

Deciding whether to go ahead and get it done (car has 114K miles on it) or consider it having given its all and moving on to another used car.

Engine is running fine, but going through about a quart of oil every 3,000 miles.

I was thinking that if I sink the money into the brakes, I might as well consider the car a keeper for awhile longer and start saving up for a motor in the next year or so.

The engine is the Mitsubishi base 1.5-liter 4G15 engine rated at 69 kW (92 hp). However the next level up sedans (I have the base model S), the ES and LS sedans came with a 1.8-liter 4G93 engine rated at 84 kW (113 hp).

I understand it's an easy swap. Just considering options here. Would be nice to get a bit more grunt getting on and off the highway; the car will barely do 70 MPH, and with the AC on, accelerating from a dead stop is kind of like a sad go-cart.

What do you mechanical types think?

 

[Mrv8q]

If you can stand how it looks, I'd spend the money. Are you sure it needs calipers? Can you turn the rotors and save that cost?

A quart of oil every 3K is $3....

Unless it's nickel and dimeing you every month, or you really want a new car,
that's only a single car payment...

 

[Doctordirt]

IIRC, in order to change that engine, you'll have to drop the whole drivetrain, struts, transaxle and all, if your up for that.

 

[beat_truck]

Personally, I would just do some preventative maintenance like replacing the timing belt and tensioner, so it doesn't break and destroy the motor if it's an interference type, change the transmission fluid and filter, and just drive it 'till it drops. Really, to me 114k isn't that many miles.

 

[zebra03]

3000 miles and ONLY 1 quart of oil ? You are way ahead of the curve .

 

[eteller]

I agree with everyone else, look into rebuilding the calipers. Rockauto.com should have the parts.

 

[mhardy6647]

what kind of car can you buy for $450 to replace it? If you cannot do better (fully netted out, so to speak), repair rather than replace.

Ron Blue once said "the least expensive car you can have is the one you're already driving"... it's not always literally true, but it usually is. We replace 'em only when the cost of ownership (repair) curve starts increasing without bound. It's usually pretty obvious.

In the interest of full and complete disclosure, our most typical modus operandi is to buy new, buy cheap (i.e., lower-end rather than higher), run 'em into the ground, and then donate the remains to a decent charitable organization for the (meager) tax write-off.... but we also approach the used cars pretty much the same way.

 

[Wigwam Jones]

If you can stand how it looks, I'd spend the money. Are you sure it needs calipers? Can you turn the rotors and save that cost?

A quart of oil every 3K is $3....

Unless it's nickel and dimeing you every month, or you really want a new car,
that's only a single car payment...

Good points, and I'm the guy who is usually arguing for amortized cost-per-mile as the deciding factor. No, I do not want a new car, or car payments.

As to the rotor, that's kind of a funny story.

I believe in PM, and I have it done regularly. I haven't turned a wrench in years, so I have a good mechanic. I never did disc brakes anyway, only drum brakes back in the day. The closest thing I ever did to 'real' mechanic work was to rebuild an auto transmission, which worked but I had some parts left over...oops.

Anyway, the brakes.

Seems I've always been a guy who doesn't hit the brakes much. I tend to plan in advance and slow down well in advance of needing to stop; I use the motor to slow me down quite a bit, even automatics. As a result, I tend to get 100K or more from a set of brakes.

I bought this car on eBay with 73K miles on it, had my mechanic look it over. I've replaced the radiator, the water pump, the distributor on it. I also had the timing belt done at 80K, since my mechanic told me it had oil on it from a leaking front seal (had the seal replaced as well of course). He told me my brakes were fine when I bought the car.

Whenever I brought it in to have the oil changed, I would also have the tires rotated and ask about the brakes. They were always fine, he said.

Well, recently (back in June), the car's 'check engine' light came on, and I had it in to the mechanic. He gave me bad news. O2 sensor and EGR, which together would cost me over $600 to fix. Good news, he said, just ignore it. The car's old, not worth that kind of investment, and it will drive fine without those two items working.

The worse news, he told me, was that he had been wrong for years about the brakes. When he was checking things over, he saw that the rotors were heavily scored, and when he tried to pull the calipers, they were frozen. He said they were so heavily corroded, they could not be rebuilt. I don't know that's true, but I do trust my mechanic. He says I was driving around on rear brakes only for years. I suspect he's right; I always noticed it didn't have a lot of stopping power, but given the way I drive, I hardly noticed.

So that's the story on the brakes. The mechanic says yeah, new rotors, new calipers, new pads. And he has historically never overcharged me or told stories; he knows me and knows my financial situation. He's done work for me without charging at times. I do trust him.

So the car's been sitting since June, waiting for brakes. My wife doesn't want me to spend the money to get the brakes fixed; she thinks it's good money after bad, since the car's so old and it has a permanent check engine light on now.

 

[Wigwam Jones]

Personally, I would just do some preventative maintenance like replacing the timing belt and tensioner, so it doesn't break and destroy the motor if it's an interference type, change the transmission fluid and filter, and just drive it 'till it drops. Really, to me 114k isn't that many miles.

It's true, it's not that many miles, and I have done the PM since I bought it. Keep the oil changed, replaced the timing belt at 80K (it is an interference type, I am told).

 

[Wigwam Jones]

what kind of car can you buy for $450 to replace it? If you cannot do better (fully netted out, so to speak), repair rather than replace.

Ron Blue once said "the least expensive car you can have is the one you're already driving"... it's not always literally true, but it usually is. We replace 'em only when the cost of ownership (repair) curve starts increasing without bound. It's usually pretty obvious.

In the interest of full and complete disclosure, our most typical modus operandi is to buy new, buy cheap (i.e., lower-end rather than higher), run 'em into the ground, and then donate the remains to a decent charitable organization for the (meager) tax write-off.... but we also approach the used cars pretty much the same way.

All good points. I'm inclined to keep the car myself, but the wife doesn't like the idea of me pouring money into it at this point. She thinks mine is near that point where 'donation' is the next step. I actually bought it on eBay about six or seven years ago from a charity where it had been donated. So it's already in the bonus round.

 

[mhardy6647]

It's all around a good gut-centered assessment of "pouring money".

Case in point - the second time the starter motor fell off of our 1980 "X-body" Olds Omega, I said, "time to go car shopping"! That car was a hand-me-down from my in-laws after our first child was born, back in grad school days; I will always be grateful to them for doing so, but that car was just a money vacuum.

I guess I do kind of look back fondly on the bordello red velour upholstery, though...

(and, as an aside, upholstery is a danged hard word to spell)

 

[Wigwam Jones]

It's all around a good gut-centered assessment of "pouring money".

Case in point - the second time the starter motor fell off of our 1980 "X-body" Olds Omega, I said, "time to go car shopping"! That car was a hand-me-down from my in-laws after our first child was born, back in grad school days; I will always be grateful to them for doing so, but that car was just a money vacuum.

I guess I do kind of look back fondly on the bordello red velour upholstery, though...

(and, as an aside, upholstery is a danged hard word to spell)

Yes, I understand and agree. I am personally inclined to keep the car, but about that engine swap; that's more like me ruminating on a possible 'upgrade' just for the sake of having a bit more oomph. Wondering how difficult it is to actually do, in terms of labor cost. I once had an engine rebuilt in a 1996 Chevy Lumina, it was a $4500 experience in pain, but on the bright side, it was a wonderful car for ten years after that. I am hoping a 1.8 L used-engine swap would cost less.

 

[RossW]

IMHO, engine swaps are almost never worth it unless you can do the labor yourself. Front brakes are <$150 in parts and generally not a huge amount of labor (I had to do rotors and pads on my corolla and the longest part was removing the rusted on rims). I'd fix the brakes and keep on driving.

 

[Wigwam Jones]

IMHO, engine swaps are almost never worth it unless you can do the labor yourself. Front brakes are <$150 in parts and generally not a huge amount of labor (I had to do rotors and pads on my corolla and the longest part was removing the rusted on rims). I'd fix the brakes and keep on driving.

Can you be specific? Not worth it in what way? They don't work well, they cost too much, etc? Sorry, trying to pick the brains of those who know more about this subject than I do, but "it's not a good idea" isn't enough detail. Thanks!

 

[Andyman]

Really? $450 for brakes? It's harx to beleive that parts are that much. I'll check Rock when I get home, but I have a hard time beleiving $220 or more.
Brakes are about as easy as it gets. It usually takes more time to jack up the car and get the wheels off than change the brakes.

 

[Rodzilla]

brakes are a maintainance item...if the rest of the car is ok and you're ok with driving it...it's a pain but really not a big deal,chances are if you buy another used car in the lower end price bracket,it's probably gonna need brakes,and could quite likely need other things too!sometimes it really is better to deal with the devil you know...shop around yourself,there is often a shockingly WIDE range of prices for brake parts.450 doesn't really sound too bad,all things considered,but you still might be able to shave some off that...

 

[noogies]

1. Keep the car.
2. Do the brakes -- rotors, calipers and all. If your mechanic will allow you to source parts, you might save a buck by checking prices at Rockauto, et al.
3. Don't replace the engine. It will likely be fine for many miles to come. A quart between changes is nothing.
4. Get some electrician's tape to cover the CEL. Just make sure to get your guy to scan it at every oil change to make sure no new issues are cropping up.

 

[Mark W.]

Your engine is in excellent condition if it is currently going 3000 miles on a quart of oil you should get another 50-75K out of it before you need to worry.

If you go to Autozone

Reman calipers $34.00 to $50.00 ea
Pads $25.00 to 35.00 set

Rotors $20-$28.00 ea

lets say you need new mounting bolts add $8.00 for both sides

So your looking at $200.00 in parts and a couple hours of fiddling around.

Takes about an hour for the untrained to change out front brakes. I taught my son to do his Mitsubishi Lancers Brakes in 2 hours.

I think you should rebuild your brakes in an afternoon and drive the car for the next 7-8 years.

Be happy Be Green

 

[Wigwam Jones]

Your engine is in excellent condition if it is currently going 3000 miles on a quart of oil you should get another 50-75K out of it before you need to worry.

If you go to Autozone

Reman calipers $34.00 to $50.00 ea
Pads $25.00 to 35.00 set

Rotors $20-$28.00 ea

lets say you need new mounting bolts add $8.00 for both sides

Takes about an hour for the untrained to change out front brakes. I taught my son to do his Mitsubishi Lancers Brakes in 2 hours.

I think you should rebuild your brakes in an afternoon and drive the car for the next 7-8 years.

Be happy Be Green

Thanks, I do appreciate it, but I am not in a position to do my own brakes. No tools, no experience, and brakes are kind of important. I'll have them done by my mechanic if I keep the car. I think I agree with your logic on getting them fixed.

In any case, my question was about engine swaps. Brakes I agree must be done if I keep the car.

 

[Mark W.]

OK back to my reply. If your car has 114K on the clock that is about 86K short of what I would expect that car to be able to do (granted if you live in the rust belt and the road salt eats the car away before that then all bets are off) But I would only swap an engine in a car like that if it was the cheapest way to get more life out of the investment. In your case the investment hasn't even reached maturity yet. You are less then 60% through the life of that engine.

Use as much of that remaining 40% as you can before wasting money on basic transportation.

What your talking about doing is like the little old ladies back in 79 did here in town a number of them were driving cars like 6cyl Chevy IIs and little Dodge darts and Ford Falcons that got 25+ MPG and they all wanted to buy NEW Hondas that got 38-40MPG. Yet the mileage of the new car would never in the cars lifetime pay back the cost of the new car. Not to mention none of the little old ladies who never left town would ever drive enough miles to even make the new car worth while.

And yet almost all of them went ahead and bought new. Even though those of us that serviced their cars told them what a bad investment buying new to try to save money actually was.