Mitsubishi Repair: Eclipse Head Gasket, head gasket, luck kelly

Question
Hello,
I'm looking into buying a 95 Eclipse. The owner says that a little while back water got into his air intake and now the car doesn't run right. He said it may need to have the valves and possibly the crank replaced. I asked someone I knew and they said that it may need a head gasket. Do you have any clue as to what may be wrong with it and an estimate as to how much it would dig into my wallet?

Thanks,
Nate

Answer
Since I don't know what is wrong with the car outside of it doesn't run right (low power, poor idle, misfire or such), I can't make any determination of the malfunction but if his intake was low, and he drove through some high water, indeed it could have ingested water and bent a rod, but the crankshaft will likely be okay and so will the head.

If the headgasket blew, then replacing the headgasket is quite a chore, especially if it's a DOHC turbo model.

The diagnosis is pretty straight forward, a compression test, cylinder balance test and a leakdown check will determine the problem.

7 hours in labor plus replacing the balancer belt gets you 8 hours,about $650 plus $150 in parts and supplies if it's turbocharged. If it isn't you'll spend around $500 in labor and the same in parts. These cars are pretty solid, and if it's turbocharged, they sure are fun. Good luck. Kelly