I just bought an 03 Evo 8 yesterday and I'm very happy - always loved Evos. I'm going to the snow next weekend so hopefully the car is up to it!

The car seems to be in pretty good shape, although I have noticed a couple things. Number one, on decel in gear there is sort of groaning from the tranny's general area. I'm going to change the fluid with some amsoil but I have a feeling it is the output shaft bearing tsb I have been hearing about. In general I hear a lot of noise from the tranny area, not on cruise on but on decel mostly. Also first gear whines like an straight cut gear on acceleration. I think fresh fluid may fix that though... I really liked the amsoil 75w90 manual transmission fluid (GL-4). I honestly feel it's the best transmission fluid you can readily obtain and I have used many fluids - Redline MTL, various syncromeshs, BG syncroshift, honda atf z1, mobil1 - amsoil has consistently proven itself in multiple cars. Cold performance, hot performance, noise reduction, smoothness - it's all there. I have not tried MT-90 that everybody seems to like around here but I'd be reluctant to try something new since the Amsoil works perfectly.

The other (higher priority) issue is that I can feel the car pulling timing. The car is all stock except for an exhaust and aem short ram intake. The short ram seems like a dumb idea to me because it's pulling air from the engine bay and it's loud, poor design IMO. I don't have any gauges or logging capability (yet) but I'm 99% sure the car is pulling timing because I have logged my 1g's for the last 9 years and I know the nuances of the feelings you get from the car when the computer yanks timing. The first thing I did was the same thing I would do to my 1g's - boost leak test. So I got some BR7ES plugs, threw them in, and did a boost leak test today. The only leak I could hear was the throttle body shaft seals and I can't believe that's causing such a noticeable loss in power. Does anybody have any suggestions on what else to look for?

Lastly, does anybody else feel like you are driving a DSM with a good chassis in the Evo? I wonder how many parts from my 1g can go on this Evo. FIC 850cc injectors.... walbro 255HP... aeromotive afpr... FP Exhaust Manifold...

 

I had some of the same concerns with tranny noises when I got my Evo 6 or so months ago. I've searched around a whole bunch and from what I can tell, most of it is "normal". You have a stock clutch and flywheel right?

The 1st gear whine seems to be pretty common. I've kind of just gotten used to all these noises.
I would attribute a lot of it to the fact that the tranny is sitting right in front of you when driving???

Also something that seems to be common is knock and pulled timing on stock Evos.

A tune should fix that for ya.

Good luck man.

 

1rst gear whine and decel noises are completely normal in these cars. Don't think I have ever been in an evo that didn't exhibit these behaviors to some extent. Def more pronounced in cars with aftermarket clutches.


Amsoil fluid will not help the first gear whine.

 

When you do the boost leak, spray with soapy water on the couplers,throttle,j-pipe,and ISC . You will never hear the slight leak, but you can see it when it bubbles.

 

Thanks for the responses. I was doing some searching/reading on the forum and I am convinced now that the car is pulling timing because it has an aem short ram and exhaust with a stock tune. Is that a good assumption?

It seems like the ability to tune is critical when modding or diagnosing an evo so I'm going to pull the LC-1 and gauge from my eclipse and install a boost gauge for logging. As far as tuning it seems like most people use the tactrix solution... I'm about to pull the trigger on the openport 2.0 Is that a good purchase?

 

Put on a stock intake and its still pulling timing...

 

If it's pulling timing its because it's knocking. If its knocking it needs a tune. The very first suggestion given was get her tuned. That is my suggestion as well.

 

The 1.3 or 2.0 is a good cable.

You still don't know how much boost you're running right? Is the stock boost solenoid bypassed or anything? I got my evo and they had bypassed the stock solenoid using a plastic T so it was running wastegagte boost at 12 lbs, felt horrible that my friend in a Speed6 could keep up until I got a boost gauge and saw that I was only at 12 lbs.

 

+1

 

It's a stock car why would it need a tune.

 

Because it can have timing issues on the stock tune, let alone there are some mods... intake and ect.


Get her tuned.

 

lol these cars are tuned soooo poorly from the factory its crazy. im willing to bet youll pick up an easy 30whp with a tune and a MUCH better city driving experience

 

I'll have to agree with everyone else here, get it tuned, I know a guy that put a cold air intake on and his car wouldn't start then he got a tune and it is beautiful, get the car tuned

 

Title of your thread "Just bought an Evo 8, seems down on power."

If this was the case then why did you buy it?

 

I bought it because it was clean stock and unabused. It has a catback vodka and nothing else. Can the stock tune be that sensitive?

I ordered a cable. Should be here Friday.