GPTourer

I've heard of it showing up in maintained cars with no mods, under 30K miles, even a few automatics. Mitsubishi would fix those cars under warranty of course, but it creeps me out to hear things like that. Hopefully the new EVO will be immune to it. In the meantime, maybe DART or Buschur or Extreme will come out with some sort of crate motor short block that would eliminate the issue for those of us who want reliability and 400+hp.

CornerHard

Crankwalk is way blown out of proportion. It happens to some 2gs, but not a large number. If you are going to get it, a hard-grabbing clutch will get you there faster, which is why more people with modified Eclipses have problems.

I have 93k miles on my 98 GSX, and no crank freeplay.

And yes, the Evo motors are flipped around for weight purposes. The USDM 4G63 is too similar to the JDM to make it a worthwhile swap. Just upgrade your turbo and supporting mods, and you'll be rolling with as much poweras an Evo. You won't be getting AYC or any of the other bonuses, of course...

The KAS

The GSX is a sweet ride, swap to a 1g intake, big front mount intercooler, bigger turbo ect you'll be very happy

Channidai

I'd take the drivetrain loss. FWD totally sucks, it's way to squirrely around corners and "creative " freeway driving (or freeway flying at night, my favorite sport)

Channidai

what exactly is the speculation that causes the crank to walk? Aren't there 4G63's where the crank seats just fine like the earlier 4g63's? what were the changes to the bottem end on the 2g?

GPTourer

There's tons of info about this on the DSM boards, I copied this from someone who took it off the turbo4wd.com site. I can not validate this information, but it is a general consensus that I believe in:

"So what are some Pros and Cons to the 6 and 7 bolt motors in a 98 GSX [7 bolt is stock from 93+ - GPT] ?
6 bolt:
Pro: 6 bolt motors have a larger journal on the crank to accept a larger rod. This makes them more forgiving if minor detonation occurs. Major detonation will hammer any rod bearing. Hmmmm... Larger rod... Spun bearing! The 6 bolt are felt to be a stronger bottom end, but this is in stock trim.
Con: The 6 bolt motor has a lot of structural differences to the 7 bolt motor. The 6 bolt motor doesn't have a crank angle sensor which is on the 7 bolt motor. (there is a work around using a 1G crank angle sensor. http://www.magnusmotorsports.com/ ) There have been a few people who have been having some problems with the 1G cam angle sensors and stock 2G ECUs. They get a random misfire, check engine light RMCEL. This occurs when the stock ecu detects the crank angle sensor (which is not there anymore) out of sync with the cam angle sensor. This RMCEL causes the car to go into a limp home mode until reset with the gas pedal. It was designed into the OBDII specs. In order to get the 6 bolt motor to work in a second gen, there is a long laundry list of parts you need in addition to just the short block. They are listed on Magnus's web site. Also the 6 bolt motor would require a 6 bolt AWD flywheel. Remember I already have a 7 bolt aluminum dual disk clutch and flywheel assembly!

7 bolt:
Pro: The 7 bolt has a lighter rotating assembly. That means less mass for the motor to spin in order to transfer power to the wheels. It also creates faster revs. Also the 7 bolt short block is a direct replacement for my 7 bolt with a spun bearing.
Con: The 7 bolts can spin rod bearings easier. Due to the differences in rod bearings. 95-99 model year cars are known to get crankwalk. That is where the crank wears out the Thrust bearing also known as the crank bearing. This bearing is on the drivers side with the pulleys. As the bearing wears out, it allows the crank to move outward. (Remember the 2nd gen Eclipses have the crank angle sensor) The crank has what is called a key on the crank, two different sized plates. When the crank starts to move outwards, the key will eventually make contact with the crank angle sensor and the car dies!

What does this all mean? Both motors have their pros and cons, and the 6-bolts are not CW proof. It is just some stuff that happens, sooner or later. It does tend to happen to modded cars more so, but I've seen plenty of examples of cars that have heavy mods and no problems. I hate it happend to Jeff, but if he's been running stock internals making all that horsepower with frequent trips to the track and got 85,000 miles out of it, I'd say he got his money's worth. I'd be curious to know how his 6-bolt rebuild is coming along. The guy who posted the above information is going to build up a 7-bolt.