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I got an 03 Evo 8 yesterday, electric blue. I found it at a buy here pay here for a good price, in the Orlando area. It’s clean title, but its obvious it has been beat. Been working on it to clean it up. Headliner panel was dropping, splatters on the headliner, tune is garbage and has obvious signs of abuse/non maintenance. I pulled the plug boots today and they fell apart. Car has 162k miles.
The car drives good, but breaks up real bad in boost. My assumption is poor spark or tune. It has an SAFCII on it, so who knows. My plan is to remove that and tune it on the ecm.
Pic i took at the dealer After pulling the plugs Plug boot fell apart After cleaning engine bay. After a wash Glued the headliner back up, letting it dry
So, does anyone know of this car? According to Carfax, it spend its whole life in the Orlando vicinity, with a short stint in Tampa. Car looks de-modded. Has an MBC, zietronix gauge, SAFCII, full 3” exhaust, and remnants of some mounting hardware on the firewall. Has an AEM intake and forced performance BOV. Let me know if you know anything about it.
Thanks!
Last edited by Dromero2006; Dec 21, 2017 at 04:44 PM.
I got an 03 Evo 8 yesterday, electric blue. I found it at a buy here pay here for a good price, in the Orlando area. It’s clean title, but its obvious it has been beat. Been working on it to clean it up. Headliner panel was dropping, splatters on the headliner, tune is garbage and has obvious signs of abuse/non maintenance. I pulled the plug boots today and they fell apart. Car has 162k miles.
The car drives good, but breaks up real bad in boost. My assumption is poor spark or tune. It has an SAFCII on it, so who knows. My plan is to remove that and tune it on the ecm.
Ill post pics.
Hey Congrats & welcome aboard. Thanks for posting up the pics. Its a project!
We do have regional threads that cover FL. Feel free to post down there if youre looking for more info
Great to have you & if you have questions let me know (i own a 06 RS)
I got an 03 Evo 8 yesterday, electric blue. I found it at a buy here pay here for a good price, in the Orlando area. It’s clean title, but its obvious it has been beat. Been working on it to clean it up. Headliner panel was dropping, splatters on the headliner, tune is garbage and has obvious signs of abuse/non maintenance. I pulled the plug boots today and they fell apart. Car has 162k miles.
The car drives good, but breaks up real bad in boost. My assumption is poor spark or tune. It has an SAFCII on it, so who knows. My plan is to remove that and tune it on the ecm.
Ill post pics.
Break up in boost is most likely those plugs. Take off everything safc and turn down the mbc. Get a good tune. She needs some love.Also, it’s Blue by you, not electric blue. Just FYI.
Break up in boost is most likely those plugs. Take off everything safc and turn down the mbc. Get a good tune. She needs some love.Also, it’s Blue by you, not electric blue. Just FYI.
Haha yea I figured that out after he fact.I changed the plugs and wires and it only helped slightly. Once I removed the SAFC and let the tune relearn, it was night and day difference and it didn’t go lean in open loop anymore. Next is timing belt, water pump, pcv valve and alternator (went bad the other day).Anyone know how to tell the different between an evo 8 and 9 turbo externally? Part of the fun with this car is figuring out what was left on it and or de-modded.Thanks!
Congrats! Thanks for rescuing another evo from the dead. That's awesome.
8.5 and 9 turbos will have "10.5" listed on the side of the turbine housing, in raised letters, in the casting near the flange. 8 turbos will say "9.8". Also look for the "C" in the part number on the comp housing along with "10.5" there (it is referencing the 10.5 hot side):
I mention the "10.5" on both housings in case someone has put two different turbos together:
Alternators going bad are rare, unless purchased from an auto parts store. If you have the funds, I'd suggest tracking down an OEM part. They are pricey, but swapping them is a pain in the ***; not something I'd wanna do often LOL.
Congrats! Thanks for rescuing another evo from the dead. That's awesome.
8.5 and 9 turbos will have "10.5" listed on the side of the turbine housing, in raised letters, in the casting near the flange. 8 turbos will say "9.8". Also look for the "C" in the part number on the comp housing along with "10.5" there (it is referencing the 10.5 hot side):
I mention the "10.5" on both housings in case someone has put two different turbos together:
Alternators going bad are rare, unless purchased from an auto parts store. If you have the funds, I'd suggest tracking down an OEM part. They are pricey, but swapping them is a pain in the ***; not something I'd wanna do often LOL.
Yep I read it’s a pain! I’m going to do it while I have that side taken apart for the timing belt. Will remove the Intake.I ordered oem alt and belt from STM. And thanks for the tips on the turbo!I got the brake and battery light coming on after I miss shifted when passing someone, and the rpms surged. I verified with a multimeter and it’s only putting out 11.6v.
I suggest pulling the axle route. I had a lot more luck with that rather than the Intake mani.
Also, I am currently warranting out a mitsu oem alt I bought in August. It has been causing a power draw that has stumped me for months. I guess not even oem are immune to the occasional issue.
If you do the timing belt yourself, get the cam gear holder tool and tensioner prongs at the very least. They are in expensive and make it a million times easier to get it in spec.
I've tried all routes and easiest for me and my back was to remove the passenger mount, jack up that side of the engine, and wiggle it out the top.
I think I also loosened the AC line bracket and scratched my ABS lines because I was in a hurry LOL.
If you move it around "just right" it comes right out. I was shocked. LOL.
It pains me to see such a wonderful machine completely abused. However, I'm glad to see someone with some sense now owns it.
Sounds like you're on the right track. I purchased my first EVO from the Orlando area, although it was almost brand new with 10k miles on it so I didn't have to do any reconditioning.
I'd be interested to see you make this a blog.
Congrats on your purchase bro!
