heres one of the guides from GTOUK
So you want to buy a GTO.
ENGINE;
From my own personal experience I would insist on the engine being cold before you view the motor, a warm engine can mask quite a few faults, this of course applies to any vehicle and is not just GTO specific.
Open the bonnet, the lever is at the bottom right hand side of the drivers side dash. Check the bonnet opens smoothly and both rams operate correctly, the bonnet stays open. Check all the fluid and oil levels, if you don’t know what’s what, ask the owner, much may be revealed here, he may well have it serviced but i’m sure that the majority of GTO owners know every check under the bonnet. Check the oil level, make sure there’s enough in there, excessively low oil levels in these motors definitely spells neglect, also check the colour of the oil. It is recommended that oil changes occur every 4500 miles on turbo models and 7500 on non turbo versions. Have a good look at the brake fluid level and colour, it should be nice and clean and up to the max level. A low level may well indicate worn pads, dirty fluid will almost certainly mean that it has probably not been changed for a long time or ever. This is detriment to the braking performance. The majority of imports that I have seen have probably never had the brake fluid changed.
Ask the owner to start the engine, the reason for this is simple, if he starts it and revs the nuts off it, forget it at that point and walk away. These are twin turbocharged engines and as such should be started and allowed to run at modest revs for a couple of minutes[especially when cold] to allow the oil to circulate and get pumped around the turbo bearings, this will prolong their life. Whilst the engine is being started look at the exhaust emissions, there will probably be some initial vapour content, due to condensation in the massive exhaust system as long as this disappears it’s o.k. What you’re really looking for is dark or a blue smoke indicating burnt oil, probably from either worn engine internals, ie , piston rings, valve guides or the turbos’, if any of this is present you should really walk away, this obviously depends on how much you can haggle the point and your own understanding of engine repair etc. If everything is o.k. it will be a white grey colour which will disappear as soon as the engine warms up. If starting from cold the emissions will probably only be evident from one side of the tail pipes, normally the left hand side. This is due to the system having one straight through pipe that splits into two rear silencers, the emissions will follow the easiest way out until revs are increased and the pressure will bring both sides into use. Of course this last part is irrelevant if the system has been upgraded and only has one exit pipe.
Return to the engine bay, the hydraulic cam followers[tappets] have a tendency to be a bit noisey especially on initial start up, not all GTOs’ suffer from this but some do. As long as the oil level is correct the noise should reduce soon, in most cases it will go away altogether but may return intermittently, as long as it doesn’t sound like a bag of nails with no improvement at all it should be o.k. There’s plenty of info on this subject in other areas of the board. The earlier cam followers had a 1mm in the top, this was later enlarged and the latest spec cam followers have a 3mm hole which should cure this fault. These followers are easily interchangeable and the heads do not have to be removed to do so.
Listen to the turbos’,there’s not much you can do here but they should not be noisey or rumbling, no high pitched metallic noises , though if they were that bad they would probably have packed in by now or disintegrated internally. The main problem with turbos’ is, as mentioned earlier, they can smoke a bit, this is because the internal oil seal solidifies and allows oil into the system, this will exit from the exhaust as smoke. Turbos can be overhauled from about £200 each and upwards depending on the damage to them.
http://www.turbotechnics.com/index.htm
There is a Y pipe, normally dark grey plastic that attaches to the throttle body housing, this has two inlet ports which are attached to rubber intercooler hoses by jubilee clips, this can tell you lots about the engine. Dis-connect each of the two hoses and look/feel inside them, if there is oil present this is a fairly good indicator of wear/worn seals within the turbos. Looking from the front of the engine bay, the left hand pipe runs from the intercooler that supplies the front turbo and the right hand pipe runs from the rear turbo intercooler, this will tell you which, if any or either turbo is worn.
The Y pipes are sometimes updated with an aftermarket version in stainless steel and the hoses are sometimes replaced with a coloured version.
Listen for any squeals from the cam belt area, possibly indicating a worn bearing in either an idler wheel, alternator, power steering pump or even a worn cam belt. These can all be rectified at a price, a cam belt change will cost you about £200 ish but do allow for every component to be changed in the cam-belt system, this price only includes the renewal and fitting of the cam belt itself. The whole recommended job includes the water pump, the cam-belt tensioner, cam-belt idler pulley and the cam-belt tensioner pulley. These components along with a cam-belt will cost anything between £250 to £300 or more and of course there is labour on top of that. It is also advisable to have a new thermostat fitted at the same time. The alternator / air con belt idler wheel costs approx £70 and these tend to give a high pitched squeal when worn, it takes anywhere between 30 minutes to one hour to change one of these.
An engine compression check would reveal more but as the front bank of pistons only is accessible this may be difficult, to access the rear bank involves removing the fuel plenum chamber, about an hours work and the owner probably wouldn’t appreciate you trying to take his engine to bits, though it would be amusing though to see his/her expression when you ask.
For information purposes the compressions pressures should be as follows;
Non Turbo 185psi minimum of 139psi
Twin Turbo 156psi minimum of 115psi
Maximum variation of not more than 14psi. in cylinders.
Also as with any motor, listen for any out of place noises that could indicate wear or damage in the engine. In the center of the dash console are three gauges, the left hand one is oil pressure, check this one and keep an eye on it during the test drive, on tick over it will be around the ¼ mark, whilst driving it should be around the half way mark,certainly not lower with the engine under load. Whilst on this subject the center gauge contains the turbo boost gauge, though not an exact reading of what’s going on, it’s a bit naff really, but it could give you an insight into what’s happening with the turbos. If this rises from just above zero to max in a split second be aware, it could be just a sticky wastegate but it could be worse depending on what mods if any have been fitted, or there could be a simple explanation such as a split hose or one that has been dislodged. The other gauge beside this is the Temperature level. With the engine at normal operating temperature [1/2 way] increase the revs a bit at a time and listen for any unwanted or strange noises from the engine. This may also be a good time to listen for any exhaust leaks, but they should be prominent at idle. Make sure that you check as much of the exhaust system as you physically can, check for repairs or corrosion and leaks, leaking exhaust gases will show up as black sooty stains. If you have to get down on hands and knees to do this, do it, exhaust systems for these motors do not come cheap. In fact I can’t really think of anything that does.
ACTIVE AEROS’;
If the vehicle has these there will be a switch in the center console just forward of the gear stick. Turn the ignition to stage one [one click] and press the Aero button, the rear spoiler will flip up, get out of the car and look under the front panel, the front spoiler should have dropped, and dropped evenly, this may be distinguished by an Active Aero sticker or what’s left of it in the center. The front aero is not always easily visible and you may have to bend down to see it. Turn the Aeros’ off and make sure they retract. When in the ‘auto’ mode the aeros will activate at 50 m.p.h. and retract at 30 m.p.h.
INSIDE;
There is a choice of leather or cloth trims, and to be honest neither have outstanding wear qualities, Jap cows must get extremely cold in the winter. If it has leather and it’s a bit tatty it will cost up to about a grand to replace it, unless you can either D.I.Y or have contacts in that business, even then it will not be cheap. Full members of GTOUK can get an excellent deal on this, see the Resources forum for details.
The drivers seat is the electric all singing all dancing version with side and lumbar adjustment, but the passenger is not supposed to be all that comfortable. Oh well that’s life! At least it makes them stay awake on those long and boring motorway journeys to supply you with endless amounts of refreshments, sweets, fags etc. and the odd, “ Are we really going that quick ? “
Apart from the dials already mentioned earlier the rest are self explanatory, on the web site there is a diagram of the dash set up so we won’t go into that here. The one light I will mention is the “Check Engine” light. This is at the bottom left hand side of the instrument cluster, with the ignition turned on all the lights will illuminate, apart from the ignition and handbrake lights these should all cancel after a few seconds. Obviously the ignition will cancel on start up and h/brake when released. Check the central heating [air conditioning/climate control] works through all ranges and the screen illuminates on the in dash unit. In the front left windscreen corner air vent there should be a small circular disc, this is a sensor for your climate control system which works with the air con, this also works in unison with a sensor which is in the centre of the headlining panel. These vents do not seem to be very durable and on most older motors they have cracked or distorted a bit, that’s fairly common and nothing to worry about. Replacing them will cost about £25 per side plus fitting time.
Check that both windows operate smoothly and also the passenger side can be operated from the passenger side switch, make sure that there are no clunks in the operation of the window, the pulley that the winder operates on can break and they are expensive to replace. If electric retracting mirrors are fitted make sure they work, the switch is forward of the gear stick, between the “active aero” switch and the mirror adjustment control, check the operation of this also. These were not fitted to some early models and also only an optional extra on U.K. spec models.
The carpet is quite good quality and tends to wear well. The individual carpets though seem to be varied, the originals have either been lost or worn out in most cases. There are companies who can make these with varying options.
Whilst seated check the handbrake free-play, these are easy enough to do quick adjustment on but if the handbrake is worn it means a rear brake strip down to replace the shoes. They are housed within the rear discs. To adjust the handbrake properly it must be adjusted at the brake shoes which are within the rear discs, tightening of the cable only will just stretch the cable.
On the dash there will be an E.C.S. [electronic controlled suspension] button. This has two mode settings Sports or Tour, it will change accordingly when the button is pressed, it will also illuminate in green in the dash panel. When working there will be a distinct difference in the ride between the two settings, the Sport mode will be firmer, it also incorporates an anti dive system and anti squat.
SUSPENSION -STEERING
If the light flashes between the two settings [ sport/tour] it may be a broken sensor wire, these are on top of the struts under black plastic three bolt hoods and are simple to repair. Other faults here may be within the E.C.S. system or its’ motor or a worn shock absorber. The E.C.S. shocks are only available from Mitsubishi and again are expensive, fronts are in the region of £300 each and rears are about £200 each. If the light on the dash doesn’t work it may be just a blown bulb but it is more than likely to be due to a fault. What happens is that when a fault occurs the lights will flash between sport / tour and some unscrupulous sellers remove the bulbs so that a buyer is not aware of a fault. The other possibility is that the suspension has been replaced with an upgraded or after market set up. There are variations for this but none of them include the E.C.S. option. H.K.S. now manufacture an after market adjustable electronic suspension set up.
Something else worth checking is the steering racks, both of them front and rear, if they are leaking they will need overhauling, this costs about £200 ish per rack plus labour for removal/refitting. Make sure that there are no signs of power steering fluid around the steering rack gaitors or that they are not ballooning due to being full of p/s fluid. There should not be any fluid inside the boots at all. The steering system runs at pressures in excess of 1000 p.s.i. when engaged, this is obviously a hell of a lot of pressure and you really need the steering to stay intact.
MANUAL TRANSMISSION
As mentioned earlier the manual versions were fitted with either a five or six speed transmission, depending on year of manufacture though there are a few early Mk1s with the six speed fitted, this was not a factory option but more of a mod made by owners after the failure of the five speed box. Both versions of the manual transmission are strong enough to cope with everyday life. They do have an Achilles heel in the output shafts, I have mentioned these earlier but they can be expensive to replace. Parts are available, at a cost, $575 including a seal set from the U.S.A. plus shipping. Fitment can cost anything from £200 ish and upwards, this can be done with the gearbox in situ though the transfer box will have to be removed. Gear changes should be smooth, however the older GTOs have been around for a while now and some tolerance should be made for a little bit of play, the synchros will wear with high mileage.
ROAD TEST;
Don’t forget that these vehicles are fitted with 4 wheel steer ,active from 31 m.p.h. and permanent 4 wheel drive, oversteer is very easy until you get used to the set up! Don’t be content with a five minute blast down the bypass, tell the owner that you would like to go for a decent drive incorporating different road layouts. This way you will get a better impression of how the whole unit is working, I’m not encouraging you to break any speed limits so that part of the test is up to you and the owner. You can check the handling and how it sits on the road, check the brakes and that they pull up firmly and evenly. Brake judder may be as simple as a bit of wheel balancing required, but it could also be down to worn or damaged brake or suspension components .
Keep an eye on the following, oil pressure, engine temperature and the boost gauge. DO NOT observe the fuel gauge as this may deter you from ever buying a GTO.
In the rear view mirror you will be able to see the rear aero and when it’s working, if there is a fault with this system an “ aero” light will illuminate in the bottom right hand side of the instrument panel. As with testing any motor check the clutch action, the difference here is a few hundred pounds more for the replacement! Drive off slowly whilst listening for any rattles or vibrations from the engine and gear box area. The transmission on the five speed earlier models is not as strong as the later six speed versions so check it out thoroughly and make sure that all gear changes up and down the box are smooth in action, not notchy.
With a bit of heavy right foot acceleration should be responsive and rather rapid, if there is any lack of response here it may be down to one of several reasons but turbo problems may be the cause. If you are careful with standing starts the life of the gearbox will be lengthened, when the car has momentum then cane it if you have to, but constant booting it from zero will eventually wreck the output splines on the transmission. On completion of a test drive and for future ownership, allow the engine to idle for a couple of minutes, this is to allow the turbos’ to come back to nominal engine pressure. They run at extremely high speeds and if the engine is cut straight away it will stop oil flow to their bearings and lessen their life span. The way around this problem is to fit a turbo timer.
POINTS OF ADVICE;
MODS;
Here’s a short list of a few of the more common mods’ that you may find on a potential purchase;
Naturally the non standard exhaust system, possibly with upgraded downpipes. Owners choose this route as not just an upgrade but it quite often works out cheaper than replacing with the Mitsubishi original.
Wheels, several variations are on the site in picture format.
Dump valves/ B.O.V.s’, the standard fitment dump valve tends to leak and is often replaced with an after market version..
Air filter upgrades, the most common is either the K&N or the H.K.S. twin mushroom type filter.
Stereos, the Jap spec radio is very limited in the U.K. and most people upgrade in this area.
Boost controller, this is probably the best way to more power, when correctly set-up.
Added gauges in the dash area, the original boost gauge is not that good.
Suspension, not always obvious, refer to E.C.S. above.
There are others but these are the most common.
For further information on upgrading your GTO, use these links.
http://www.3si.org/pages/stagedpower.html
http://www.3si.org/pages/stagedperformance.html
as 2009 has now passed and the 10 year rule is out of the window i was wondering if anyone has decided to import one. id love to but simply cant afford it.