Question concerning ebay engine parts

Hello all-first of all, let me say that this is my first post on this site.  I have been reading past posts and have learned A LOT.

I bought a silver '99 Eclipse GS with the 2.0 420a in April of this year.  It is my first 4 cylinder car, and so far, I absolutely love it!  The gas mileage is great (between 26-30 mpg) with my daily commute of around 75 miles.  This car had 80,000 miles on it when I bought it.  It has had some body work done to it, but I'm not real sure about anything engine-wise.  From reading many of the other posts in this forum, I do not plan to "turbo" it or even attempt to make it any faster (even though it is possible with lots of $$$$$$).  I plan on maintaining it the best I can and hope to get many miles out of it using it as my daily driver. 

Now, on to my question:  I am planning on replacing the water pump, timing belt, idlers, and tensioner, along with replacing the valve cover gasket.  I would like to know if the ones on ebay are reliable enough to purchase?  I've checked with several different places on ebay, and they sell the water pump, idlers, and timing belt anywhere from $85-$100 for the kit.  There are also a lot of different places that sell gasket kits as well.  Are these "good enough" for my car?  Or should I stick to OEM (DSM), Autozone, or Advance?  Has anyone else purchased any of these kits?  If so, were the parts up to your expectations and good quality (comparable to Autozone and others)?  I want to save money on buying parts, but not at the expense of getting inferior parts.

Thanks for taking time to read this, and I look forward to your replies.  Here's a pic of my car:


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definately stick to parts from autozone/napa etc. those parts are all too important to risk buying from ebay

I would definently agree with estraw, you don't want to rist parts that are that important just to save a few dollars. Ebay stuff is usually cheaper becuase it is not as good of quality. I would only buy stuff off of ebay if it is a name brand that you know, or the part you are looking for doesn't necessarily have to be that good of quality to function right (i.e. cold air intake)

Thanks for the input!  That makes perfect sense to me.

Mitsu OEM parts. www.mitsubishiparts.com i bought a new slave and master cylinder for the clutch and they were genuine mitsu and much cheaper than the dealer wanted!

Mitsubishi OEM parts all the way. It wont be the cheapest place but is risking saving money on a water pump worth it? Not exactly a part you want to chance. The same with the timing belt. A cheap repo ebay one could snap and then your in for a whole mess or problems. Save ebay for everything else that doesnt go into your motor.

first off, welcome to the forum, i started out just like you in my 99 GS about 2 1/2 years ago.    if you are planning on doing the TB, Water pump, pulleys and tensioners i would also suggest you do the head gastet while you are at it.    the 420a is a reliable engine, BUT, from the factory they have a problem.   The end head bolts on both sides were not torqed down enough for whatever reason, so basically its a question of when will it go, not will it go.    Mine went at about 110k but i've seen it happen as early as 70k.    As for the location of the purchase, i would not trust ebay with my engine life.    When i did mine i got a cometic head gasket (not needed but i was planning on boosting it), waterpump, timing belt, all new bearings from CIMotorsports.net  they have ****TY customer service and i dont realy deal with them anymore but they do have great products and are reliable. good luck.

quote:

ORIGINAL: RCJr9186

first off, welcome to the forum, i started out just like you in my 99 GS about 2 1/2 years ago.    if you are planning on doing the TB, Water pump, pulleys and tensioners i would also suggest you do the head gastet while you are at it.    the 420a is a reliable engine, BUT, from the factory they have a problem.   The end head bolts on both sides were not torqed down enough for whatever reason, so basically its a question of when will it go, not will it go.    Mine went at about 110k but i've seen it happen as early as 70k.    As for the location of the purchase, i would not trust ebay with my engine life.    When i did mine i got a cometic head gasket (not needed but i was planning on boosting it), waterpump, timing belt, all new bearings from CIMotorsports.net  they have ****TY customer service and i dont realy deal with them anymore but they do have great products and are reliable. good luck.

Thanks for the welcome.  I'm new to this forum, but I'm not a newbie to automotive forums-I also own a Dodge truck and am a member of another forum.  I enjoy sharing information and helping others when I can.

Yes, I have also considered doing the head gasket as well.  I've also got an oil leak that I can't seem to pinpoint (somewhere on the drivers side)-could this possibly due to what you are referring to with the end head bolts not torqued enough and a leaky head gasket?

I appreciate all of the information from everyone.  Thanks!

Most of the stuff sold on ebay through the ebay stores are genric brands and they are junk. Maybe if you find a brand new with a brand name sold by a seller with good feedback i wouls say thats not to bad, but its safest to not buy parts on ebay.

can you be more specific as to where the oil is? is it on the engine? on the firewall? the engine bay? it coudl be from tons of places.  a very common leak in those cars is the valve cover gasket and oil pan gasket.

Yea, I would check your oil pan seal first, i know mine started leaking, but you can look above the oil pan seal, and if there is fresh, wet oil that is leaking still up above the pan, then it could be a valve cover gasket

quote:

ORIGINAL: RCJr9186

can you be more specific as to where the oil is? is it on the engine? on the firewall? the engine bay? it coudl be from tons of places.  a very common leak in those cars is the valve cover gasket and oil pan gasket.

 
I guess the best way to describe where the oil is it to snap some pics for you.  I have to work tomorrow and Sunday, so I will try to jack the car up and post some pics on Monday.  It's very difficult to see where it's coming from, and mostly on the drivers side underneath the car.  I definitely have a leaking valve gasket, because it is leaking around the spark plugs.  I noticed this when I replaced the plugs last weekend, but I don't know if this is the ONLY place I have a leak.  I'm leaving a couple of puddles (about the size of a quarter each) if I park on my driveway and let it sit for 5-6 hours.  There is oil on the frame underneath the engine.  Again, I'll try to post some pics on Monday.
 
Should I start a new thread with these pics?  Thanks for all of the help so far from everyone!

You really want to get the head gasket fixed. Oil getting down into your spark plugs will be bad. As far as the other oil leak I would suggest getting it on a lift so you can look aroudn better. Wipe all the oil off and find where its starting. I had a bad oil filter on my 70 chevelle that was shooting oil out the side and running down the side of my motor and it appeared to be a rear main seal until I got it up on a lift. Its amazing the difference from laying on the ground and searching under your car and being on a lift.