2007 Spyder GT Owner Satisfaction?
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2007 Spyder GT Owner Satisfaction? - 3/25/2007 6:32:31 PM
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Texas Bird
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Joined: 3/25/2007
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We bought a new 07 Spyder GT in late 06. In reference to this purchase I was wondering who out there has one and what they think of it. This car is the 6 speed manual. I'm sure the automatic is for some people, but the one we drove was doggy in comparison to the manual. Not trying to hurt the automatic folks feelings, just my experience. You've got to admit it's a looker. We went to a large new car showing and this was THE one for the wife.
My concerns:
1. Occuring at less than 200 miles is a transaxle noise in neutral with the clutch out. With the clutch in the noise goes away. This means it's a bearing in the transaxle, either the input bearing, the needle cluster where the main shaft fits in the back of the input shaft or the needle clusters at either end of the countershaft.
2. I noticed a lifter tick sometimes when it's cold. Started at about 1,200 miles.
3. I noticed that at times there's a puff of oil smoke, small but noticeable, when the engine starts. This would say that oil is getting by the valve guides. First saw it at less than 1,000 miles. Besides the factory oil, this car has and will be run on Mobil 1 synthetic. Do these 3.8 engines have valve seals?
This car is adult driven by my wife only. It's lucky if sees 4,500 RPM ever and rarely goes over 4 grand.
For $32, 000 US dollars I was expecting not to see any problems this early. The car now has about 6,000 miles on it. Other than these concerns it seems to be OK and is a lot of fun.
Thanks for the replies...Bird
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RE: 2007 Spyder GT Owner Satisfaction? - 3/25/2007 11:03:11 PM
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Texas Bird
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No...Bearing noises don't go away. They only get worse. And brand new hydraulic followers shouldn't loose their prime. I'm fully aware of my warranty. None of this should be expected with any new vehicle. I was looking for replies from 07 GT owners.
Bird
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RE: 2007 Spyder GT Owner Satisfaction? - 3/26/2007 5:51:53 PM
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Manybrews
Posts: 727
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Joined: 5/23/2003
From: United States
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quote:
ORIGINAL: Texas Bird
We bought a new 07 Spyder GT in late 06. In reference to this purchase I was wondering who out there has one and what they think of it. This car is the 6 speed manual. I'm sure the automatic is for some people, but the one we drove was doggy in comparison to the manual. Not trying to hurt the automatic folks feelings, just my experience. You've got to admit it's a looker. We went to a large new car showing and this was THE one for the wife.
My concerns:
1. Occuring at less than 200 miles is a transaxle noise in neutral with the clutch out. With the clutch in the noise goes away. This means it's a bearing in the transaxle, either the input bearing, the needle cluster where the main shaft fits in the back of the input shaft or the needle clusters at either end of the countershaft.
you arent hearing anything abnormal. ALL transaxles obviously have internal motion when the clutch is released, regardless of whether or not you're in gear. you WILL hear noise.
the transaxle in that car is VERY large, VERY strong, and very well built. Its quite doubtful you will ever be able to damage it unless you actually attempt to do so.
Its built by Aisin, which is toyota owned. If you want to see a small snipit about it, go to their website here. Its the first transmission on the page, and its used by many, many car companies in many cars.
http://www.aisin.com/product/automotive/drivetrain/mt.html
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2. I noticed a lifter tick sometimes when it's cold. Started at about 1,200 miles.
the valves are not hydraulic, and you will hear a slight amount of valvetrain noise due to the way MIVEC is implimented.
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3. I noticed that at times there's a puff of oil smoke, small but noticeable, when the engine starts. This would say that oil is getting by the valve guides. First saw it at less than 1,000 miles. Besides the factory oil, this car has and will be run on Mobil 1 synthetic. Do these 3.8 engines have valve seals?
you are not seeing oil smoke at 1000 miles, garanteed. Watch your oil level if you must, but you arent burning any excessive amount of oil on a 1000 mile engine.
also, mobil 1 is truely not worth the money. Its usefullness is only of benefit with extraordinarily high or low oil temps, neither of which you will see with a normally aspirated engine in texes, especially if you "rarely rev to over 4 grand". despite what they may have you think, you absolutly CANNOT extend oil change intervals just because you're using synthetic oil. Thats a bunk myth.
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This car is adult driven by my wife only. It's lucky if sees 4,500 RPM ever and rarely goes over 4 grand.
For $32, 000 US dollars I was expecting not to see any problems this early. The car now has about 6,000 miles on it. Other than these concerns it seems to be OK and is a lot of fun.
Thanks for the replies...Bird
you arent having any "problems". You're experiencing characteristics. Just because your last car wasnt like this doesnt mean much of anything.
the new eclipses are VERY, VERY reliable, and should give you years of trouble free operation provided you maintain it and dont take it to a racetrack on a regular basis.
< Message edited by Manybrews -- 3/26/2007 6:13:37 PM >
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RE: 2007 Spyder GT Owner Satisfaction? - 3/26/2007 11:12:10 PM
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Texas Bird
Posts: 4
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Joined: 3/25/2007
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Thanks for the replys. I won't address Mr. Tick as it appears he's still looking for Aurthur.
I will say Thanks to Manybrews. Admittedly, I do need to acquire more knowledge about the vehicle. Who would have thought an 07 anything would have had mechanical followers or pieces that would cause any valve train noise. I will say this valve train noise was at rest, at idle. I do need to learn about MIVEC. Interesting.
As far as the transaxle. I do hate to say I'm right. We had it back to the dealer with about 300 miles on the car and they said they couldn 't hear it either. Till they brought another brand new V6 stick up beside it and listened. I'm no genius, I just try to pay attention. Fact is that it's getting worse as time goes. I'll ride the warranty on this and have it tended to before it goes out.
The smoke I saw at start-up. It was oil smoke. Is the car burning oil? No. Just curious that you would see that. Yes, it could have been moisture, but it wasn't. I've seen it 3 or 4 times now. As far as your take on synthetic oil that's far too long a subject for me. I'll tell you that I agree with you in parts and disagree in others. I used to work in a unit that made PAO base stock(poly alpha-olefin). When it got on your hands you could wash them 3 times and still fell the slick on your hands. Amazing stuff. I do own a Ford 302 with close to 300,000 miles on it since the rebuild and have run nothing but natural petroleum based oil in it.
I do admire your loyalty to the brand. And not sure about the characteristic thing. I was raised on Chryslers, but now have latent Ford tendencies. My first car was given to me in 1973 when I was 13 and was a Valiant with the mighty Slant 6.
I worked on some of the first Mitsubishi autos in this country as I worked as a mechanic for Chrysler in late 79 and 80. The Chrysler fours were junk. If you wanted a good vehicle in that arena you bought the Chrysler product with the Mitsubishi engine or you bought the whole vehicle that was a re-branded Mitsubishi. You should have seen the crowd of mechanics around that new tech front wheel drive in the dealership wondering how to get the transaxle out of it on a warranty job.
Bird
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RE: 2007 Spyder GT Owner Satisfaction? - 3/26/2007 11:46:31 PM
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Manybrews
Posts: 727
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Joined: 5/23/2003
From: United States
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quote:
ORIGINAL: Texas Bird
I will say Thanks to Manybrews. Admittedly, I do need to acquire more knowledge about the vehicle. Who would have thought an 07 anything would have had mechanical followers or pieces that would cause any valve train noise. I will say this valve train noise was at rest, at idle. I do need to learn about MIVEC. Interesting.
its a wonderful thing. Its nearly identical in operation to hondas VTEC. You have multiple cam lobes, with multiple cam followers... but only one is activated at a time depending on engine RPM, temp, etc.etc. You have a small lobe for smooth idle and decent low end torque, and then a large lobe for a much higher upper RPM output. If you ran the car on the "big" lobes all the time, it would barely idle.
try this.. maybe it will help.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MIVEC
quote:
As far as the transaxle. I do hate to say I'm right. We had it back to the dealer with about 300 miles on the car and they said they couldn 't hear it either. Till they brought another brand new V6 stick up beside it and listened. I'm no genius, I just try to pay attention. Fact is that it's getting worse as time goes. I'll ride the warranty on this and have it tended to before it goes out.
Im not saying that something couldnt be wrong, but I will say this.. Aisin (used to be known as Aisin-Warner) makes the BEST transmissions on the planet, bar none. They also make MORE transmissions than anyone else on the planet. Its a company thats majority stake is owned by Toyota, and those are the only transmissions that Toyota uses (the 6 speed in question here is not just used in an eclipse). The fact that the trans makes some noise may be of concern, but I frankly wouldnt worry too much about it. As you know, you do have a 100k warranty provided you keep your maintenence up to date.
quote:
The smoke I saw at start-up. It was oil smoke. Is the car burning oil? No. Just curious that you would see that. Yes, it could have been moisture, but it wasn't. I've seen it 3 or 4 times now. As far as your take on synthetic oil that's far too long a subject for me. I'll tell you that I agree with you in parts and disagree in others. I used to work in a unit that made PAO base stock(poly alpha-olefin). When it got on your hands you could wash them 3 times and still fell the slick on your hands. Amazing stuff. I do own a Ford 302 with close to 300,000 miles on it since the rebuild and have run nothing but natural petroleum based oil in it.
I have 204,000 miles on a completely original 1993 diamante, whose engine is a direct decendant of the 3.8 in your eclipse. Its never seen anything but normal dino oil, every 3000-4000 miles. Traditionally, those 3.0 liters DID start burning oil around 150k due to worn valve seals/guides, but that problem was pretty much eliminated a decade ago due to improvements in seal material, guide material, oil, etc. The problem was much, much worse when oil changes were neglected. My Diamante burns about a quart every 1500 miles, which is actually allowed on a NEW car from pretty much every manufacturer.
quote:
I do admire your loyalty to the brand. And not sure about the characteristic thing. I was raised on Chryslers, but now have latent Ford tendencies. My first car was given to me in 1973 when I was 13 and was a Valiant with the mighty Slant 6.
I worked on some of the first Mitsubishi autos in this country as I worked as a mechanic for Chrysler in late 79 and 80. The Chrysler fours were junk. If you wanted a good vehicle in that arena you bought the Chrysler product with the Mitsubishi engine or you bought the whole vehicle that was a re-branded Mitsubishi. You should have seen the crowd of mechanics around that new tech front wheel drive in the dealership wondering how to get the transaxle out of it on a warranty job.
Bird
trust me, I still see that kinda thing.
you shouldnt worry too much about your eclipse.. they're well built. Will it be 100 percent trouble free? Probably not. But out of the 39 cars Ive owned, none of them have been.
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