Tach not working, Hard shifting, And oil in the plug wells

I recently bought a 98 gst with 85,xxx miles

I got it with the stock tach not working, i took out the cluster cleaned the contacts back there and it still dont work. Everything lights up, just the tach does not work. What could be the problem?

Also, It often takes quite a bit a pressure to shift gears, especially into 3rd and 5th and it pops out of reverse 9 times out of 10. The clutch seems to be fine, no leaks (that i can find) and really easy to push in. What could be the issue there?

And finally. i keep finding oil on top of the motor under the plastic plate that covers the plug wire (thats the valve cover mabey?) and down around the top of the spark plugs (need to get rid of those platinums by the way) Is this a bad valve cover seal?

Its kinda sluggish when you first start it up and even while accelerating, it kind seems like its miss firing or something.

I know this seems like alot, but for a guy wanting to sell it for 6k and getting for 4.5k, what can ya ask for?

Thanks for any help.

Sounds like you bought a problem car.

Tranny is looking at a rebuild - Tach has a voltage regulator from what I understand and can burn up and stop working - The plug seals are probably toast - Misfire/sluggish feeling could be due to multiple or a single thing. Compression test , Boost leak , Check the timing , Listen & look for broken/rotted vacuum lines.

Just because the car has 85,xxx miles doesn't mean they were an easy 85,xxx miles.

First off, I want to commend you on a good first post. Thanks, I know I (and I am sure others) appreciate it. :thumbsup:

With regards to the tach, unless I am mistaken there tach signal comes from the coil, so I think that would be the next spot to check. If the car runs the coil shouldnt be 100% fucked, but maybe something is unplugged or loose. Not sure on that though, but it might be a place to jump off.

Popping out of gear sounds like a clutch to me, but if its only hard to go into gear on one "side" of the shift pattern then I'd guess its a maladjusted cable or somethign like that.

The oil under the plug wire cover is probably a leaky oil fill cap, a very common DSM thing. New ones are cheap, not a huge deal.

This is what i found out just today...
Kid my age owned the car before me...ran the hell outta it his parents said.
They had the tranny rebuilt before trading it out to the car lot i bought it from.

So i could deffinintly see where it may need some adjusting. They didnt say anything about a new cluth or anything. That'll get checked when my dad takes it to a buddy of his. Looked at the plug seals...one of them litereally looks as if a chunk is missing from it...those are getting replaced along with the valve cover seal just to be on the safe side. I guess ill have em check for boost leaks and compressions tests to while their at it to lol

And uh as for the coil, not to sound like a dumbass, where is it? I mess with chevys most of the time, thats no prob for me, but im not to savy with these dsm's.

Thanks for quick response guys! I just want this thing to run good and make it last as long as possible.

BTW what in the hell is "crank walk" ? Everyone that knows a little bit about these cars says theres a good chance i may run into it.

the ignition coil is on the engine bay passenger side, they put it right between then intake manifold and the fuel injector rail.

Crankwalk is a condition that occurs in maybe 20-30% of 2g dsm's, although you may get different percentages depending on who you talk to. Basically, due to a misalignment of the main bores when they were machined, affected machines will experience premature and chronic thrust bearing failure, causing your crankshaft to flop from side to side (also know as excessive endplay). The standard Mitsubishi dealer fix is to just put in new thrust bearings, but these too will wear out very shortly. You'll know that you have crankwalk, because when you make hard left turns, your clutch will drop to the floor. Do a forum search for more details if you want. Anyways, if this happens, the only way to fix this is a new short block. You can either get a 6-bolt block, which never crankwalks, though you'll have to make some small mods to get it in, or you can get a 7-bolt block that is "fixed" to prevent the crankwalk problem. So bottom line is, you either get it or you don't with a 7 bolt, and you don't get it for sure with a 6-bolt engine. Your car has a 7-bolt engine, and may or may not get it.


Best of luck with your repairs! I have a 97 GST that I bought with 87000 very gentle miles (old lady owned) and aside from preventative maintenance, all I've done is cam seals and all my upgrades. It now has nearly 124000 miles with no crankwalk, and no major mechanical problems *knock on wood*

Thanks to everyone so far for the help and clarification of things.
So now at this point in time my car no longer falls on its face...she has new belts, cept the timing, fesh Mobil 1 oil, mobil 1 filter, k&n air filter, new NGK BKR6E-11 plugs gapped to .28 i think is what i put em all at and Borg & Warner wires.

When i bought the car, it had a bad boost leak, not that i knew what that was when i bought it, which soon turned into a mojor leak...see pic below of the coupling coming off the top of the stock SMIC.

Newest found issue(s)...clutch master cylinder leak under the dash, it seems to be coming from some sort of rubber boot on the fire wall. And leaking window seals up by the dash...

My tach still does not work, it appears that the coil pack was replaced at one point in time, due to bolt heads that are about stripped and a bolt missing...:screwy: If anyone knows where the tach hooks up, and the routing of the wiring for it, i really need it pleeeeeas lol its so weird driving a clutch with no tach to watch...

And now im being told not only do i just need a clutch cable adjustment, but mabey a new synchros for reverse? I dunno, but ima just drive the sucker till its completly fried i suppose and be sure to not park where i gotta go backwards...since it always wants to pop out lol

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