Learn me Evo VIII

I have an opportunity to purchase an '03 Lancer Evo for a song, but like all things, there's a catch. I have about a day to make a decision, and the car is misfiring.

There's only a limited amount of diagnosing I can do in that time frame.

It's throwing P0300: Random cylinder misfire. No other codes. It's audibly misfiring at idle in neutral. Car never threatens to bog down or die. This leads me to believe it isn't the "phantom" P0300 that seems to plague a lot of Evo owners.

All of the grounds and hoses appear ok, though I won't have the ability to smoke test it before I buy it. I plan on throwing new plugs in it to try and fix it.

If that doesn't work, are there any other high probability things I should look at?

edit: car is lightly modded, Injen intake and an aftermarket cat back. Valvetrain all appears to be stock

Yes.

Another EVO.

Can you do a compression test?

bad coil?

Any links on how to test voltage on the coils? Probably won't be able to compression test it

Pending how good of a deal you're talking about, I probably wouldn't buy it until you know whats wrong with it.

My wifes mazda6 was doing this for a bit. It ended up being the O2 sensor. Weird.

What are the circumstances that a decision needs to be made so quickly?

Is it cheap enough to throw another engine at it if this one is junk?

Check the oil and water. I have heard of headgaskets allowing a small amount of fluid into the cylinder causing mis-firing.

Rob R.

calteg wrote: Any links on how to test voltage on the coils? Probably won't be able to compression test it

None that i'm aware of, everyone generally upgrades coils. I know 4g63's fairly well... I know they like to eat coils and plugs and wires, I know they like cheap NGK coppers one step colder from the factory, and I know a lot of them run pig rich. Easy to do a poor tune... I'd have to know how cheap it was before I'd bite.

I've heard the upper 02 sensor likes to bite the dust fairly regularly as well.

It's a 2003 with 138k for $7500. Body and interior are in shockingly good shape, though it is missing the wing.

In reply to calteg:

I have a friend with a white MR wing........they're like $100 when you find them, I like without the wing anyways.

I prefer it without the wing as well. It's just really confusing. The original window sticker shows that it was purchased with a wing. The trunk lid is original, and has no plugs or body filler in it. When you look on the underside, it doesn't appear that there was ever any mounting hardware installed. Weird.

calteg wrote: I've heard the upper 02 sensor likes to bite the dust fairly regularly as well. It's a 2003 with 138k for $7500. Body and interior are in shockingly good shape, though it is missing the wing.

I might take the risk at that cheap. Do the basic once over and decide from there- Though the "no time to check" line has me worried this kid that's selling it knows its popped and is trying to dump it fast...... the old sawdust in the trans trick if you will.

It's a friend of a friend that is getting deployed. At this price he has several people interested, but is giving me 24 hours to make up my mind.

He doesn't strike me as shady, but I don't really know him that well.

I know subaru sti folks do trunk swaps all the time, as the big wing is a polarizing item. Find same color car that doesn't have the wing and wants one. Change the trunks, voila everybody is happy.

calteg wrote: I prefer it without the wing as well. It's just really confusing. The original window sticker shows that it was purchased with a wing. The trunk lid is original, and has no plugs or body filler in it. When you look on the underside, it doesn't appear that there was ever any mounting hardware installed. Weird.

Trunklid swaps are not that uncommon with the EVO/STi crowd. Somebody with a lesser car wants the extra flash, and somebody with the hotter car wants a lower profile.

[edit] Treed.

If you want an evo just buy it. As a tech i would MUUUUUUUCH rather buy a $7500 evo with a p0300 (Me: "p0300? big berkeleying whoop"), than a full price evo. If it doesn't smoke, it's probably fine.

They seem like they bring strong enough money that it's worth the gamble for that price. You'd be had pressed to buy one with no motor at all for 7500 around here.

This is what I would do for quick & dirty diagnostics:

check it out when the engine is completely cold. Before doing anything else, open the radiator or coolant tank cap and check coolant level. Then close the cap and start the engine.

Immediately go check and see if the cooling system pressurizes, and if it has a pressurized coolant tank, see if the level rises. If it pressurizes quickly or the tank level rises it could be a faulty HG.

Next I would check the coils. I assume that an EVO has Coil on plug ignition. Here is a trick for testing COP coils that I learned from a Nissan service bulletin: you can disconnect the individual coils while the engine is running to find a faulty coil, in fact an EFI/COP 4 cyl _ engine will run (idle) with just one coil connected as long as it is a healthy coil with a good spark plug. In fact running it on only one coil at a time was the point of that TSB. Because if the coil was weak, but not totally failed, it wouldn't pass that test.

Another thing about COP ignition, I don't know if this is the case with Mitsus, but some COP engines will never run right unless they have the exact OEM plugs.

The EVO 8 and the 02-03 base lancers can swap trunks. If its any color other than blue then I'd say the trunk had been swapped.

The engine has coil packs stock. They doesn't run COP originally but its a fairly simple and common conversion.

Check for any whine or issues with the center and rear differentials.

I've looked into the 8s every couple years but after seeing what people do to them and how they drive them, I wouldn't buy one unless A) I know and trust that they used it but didn't abuse it or B) I can rebuild/replace the motor and still not be underwater. But in a few more years the cream will be obvious and the projects will be appropriately priced I think.

That's just me though, Vigo a couple posts up I don't disagree with.

Good info. Thanks gang.

A little reading about a few aspects of the P0300:

http://m.evolutionm.net/showthread.php?t=497992

Buy it and I know a guy who will trade you his 2000 svt mustang convertable for it.

If it's clean and not totally thrashed, I'd probably buy it even if it had a huge berkeleying hole in the block for that price.

If I remember right, they have two cylinders that are COP, with short plug wires to the other two cylinders. I think DSM'ers once tried to "upgrade" to that set up, then realized that the old DSM set up was superior. They are also picky about plugs, but that's usually under boost. That price sounds like a screaming deal if the car is in decent shape.