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4g63 reliability

Vr4junkie

Well-known member
Joined
Jun 25, 2011
Messages
596
Location
Some wack town in CA
I'm new to the GVR4 and 4g63 and don't have to much experience with it. My question is how reliable is the 4g63?? I been doing some research and find a mix of good and bad reviews and some horror stories here and there especially with
2g 7 bolts ohh yea mine is a 6 bolt forgot to mention that.

My plans for the car are 2gpistons,FMiC,arp studsHG,ACL Bearings,B16g, stronger timing belt etc.....shooting for 320/350hp and 450 later down the road but not soon plan on stopping there . but before I start dumping money into this thing I want to see how they hold up to reliability at this power range.with proper maintenance like oil changes and the other little things.I plan on daily driving/weekend warrior /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/devil.gif /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/devil.gif
 

turbowop

Well-known member
Joined
Apr 29, 2001
Messages
11,971
Location
Yakima, WA
IMO, very reliable. The engine itself is durable as hell. Most issues I see crop up due to user error. Even most alternator issues are caused by aftermarket o2 housings with no heat shields causing too much heat, or using junk Autozone replacements once the OEM unit finally goes out. As long as proper maintenance is kept up on with these cars, they'll go a long way.

As far as my cars go, 1051 is still on the stock bottom end with just a metal headgasket and ARP headstuds and sees 30psi using pump/meth all the time when I drive it during the summer. It has almost 140k now. 503 has never even had the head separated from the block and is over 190k now. I don't really worry about driving it up to all the local ski resorts during the winter and make 2.5 hour drives to Seattle and Portland with it quite a bit. I carry tools, but that's a good idea with any 20 year old car anyway.
 

Vr4junkie

Well-known member
Joined
Jun 25, 2011
Messages
596
Location
Some wack town in CA
30 psi on stock bottom end nice .Have you ran into any other problem running that type of boost? ? By the way Props on 1051 /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/applause.gif hope 385 looks half as good one day
 

dsm10o0

Well-known member
Joined
Jun 16, 2010
Messages
680
Location
San Jose CA
Like wop said. it all depends on the maintenance. 4g63s are very reliable if taken care of right.

I plan on running 35psi on my stock block with compressions of 110psi or so on e85. Ive overheated the car numerous times on the same motor due to a bad fan and sensor. but other than that, its been reliable. Currently running 20 psi on 91pump gas. The car is my daily driver and gets abuse pretty much everyday. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/devil.gif
 
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brisvr4

Well-known member
Joined
Feb 13, 2004
Messages
955
Location
brisbane australia
Meh, 30psi on the stock bottom end is sooo last week . /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/rofl.gif
Mine is still going strong at a tad over 35 on the stock bottom end. I've just had to change to H11 studs as it was starting to lift the head.
It's also run 131 in thr 1/4 with more in it I hope.

But it's really all down to the tune and how you set everything else up. If you do it wrong it can go boom way earlier than that.
 

Like everyone on this forum and the world will say, a motor will go a long way if cared for and maintenance is done routinely. You also have to look at the 4G63 from a mechanical stand point. What type of block is better, V-type or Inline? Majority says inline motors are better for strength and reliability while v6 or v8s are more suited for reducing the space an inline 6 motor takes making the vehicle more compact.
 

jepherz

Staff member
Joined
Aug 8, 2004
Messages
7,877
Location
KC, Missouri
All of my cars have always been very reliable, even beyond the engine itself. Two things that affect reliability of these cars are the massive number of systems on them (Turbo, ABS, AWS) which you're just increasing your number of gaskets, bolts, etc. and crappy maintenance and constant abuse from prior owners. People that have issues with reliability on these cars are usually the guys running a stock timing belt with some huge aftermarket turbo setup and dumping their ACT 2900 clutch at every stop light. Any car is going to have issues when you're doing that.
 

MellowVR4

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Joined
Jul 25, 2009
Messages
1,662
Location
Milwaukee, Wi
IMO they are great, just have to keep up with the maintaince and these motors rock /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif people that dont have good luck with them usually MOD the engine before the maintence and thats where the issues come out. Like turbowop said users error.
 

atc250r

Staff member
Joined
Sep 11, 2003
Messages
13,235
Location
Orange County, NY
Like they taught me many years ago in high school computer class, "Garbage In, Garbage Out". Build the car with quality parts (i.e. not Chinese ebay knockoffs), maintain it, and remember that you can easily double the stock HP output with a few bolt-ons so don't blame the car when the rear end that was made for 200hp and no dump the clutch launches breaks at 400hp while doing your best John Force impression. Same goes for the entire drivetrain.

John
 

bmxkid415

Well-known member
Joined
Jan 27, 2008
Messages
204
Location
Bradenton FL
As everyone else has been saying, Very reliable. I traveled all over the east coast with my GVR4. I kept up on maintenance and it never let me down. Only major issue I had i the 4 years of owning her was my clutch exploding due to a failed design and abuse. I sold mine a month or so ago just to look for another one. They are great engines and will handle almost anything you throw at it if done properly
 

RedTwo

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Joined
Jul 16, 2008
Messages
1,917
Location
New Zealand
I went 400km without an oil pump... /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/banghead.gif ...and it didn't die /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/jawdrop.gif /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/ooo.gif
 
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4Grim

Well-known member
Joined
Sep 30, 2004
Messages
2,514
Location
Orlando FL
Any of the "saturn" motors mitsu produced which most were coded with the "4G" are very good motors. Majority of the time if you see a story of a failed motor..if you can trace its history its most likely because the owner didnt do proper maintenance or used poor quality parts or beat the living crap out of it without proper precaution of right parts and tuning. 4G63's have been running for more than 2 decades with minor design changes...thats says alot. I met 2 owners 1 with a n/a dohc 4g63 6g galant gs and a older guy with 4g64 mighty max...both over 500k miles with just routine timing belt, front & rear seals, and fluids changed. Same motor and tranny and they ran just as good the day they were brand new.
 

You just have to be setup up properly. Alot of people make good power with a boost controller and some simple bolt-ons. They don't understand that tuning and larger fuel injectors become necessary even before the 275 whp mark, and before they know it, compression starts falling off and the rear view mirror starts filling with smoke.

But don't ask me. I wouldn't know anything about that.....
 

Terry Posten

Well-known member
Joined
Dec 16, 2003
Messages
9,009
Location
Davenport, Iowa USA
I will also agree that the 4g63t and the E39a is an awesome combo. The only time my car was on a flatbed was when the t-case locked up. And that was because my mechanic did not tighten the fill bolt up and it fell out. ( needless to say, I now do all my own maintain.).

Even when I exploded 1st gear, I was able to find 3rd and limp it home. And that happened because I dropped the hammer with 4 people and well over 300whp.

Properly cared for, they will last forever.
 

raptorWagon

Well-known member
Joined
May 17, 2007
Messages
2,827
Location
Oak Harbor, WA
Quoting 4Grim:
Any of the "saturn" motors mitsu produced which most were coded with the "4G"


Incorrect buddy, you got your info mixed up. The 4g61/62/63/64, etc motors are in the "Sirius" family, 4g33, 4g32, 4g37,etc are "Saturn" engines. The "4" represents it being a four cylinder and "G" for gasoline fuel.
 
Last edited by a moderator:

ma70t

Member
Joined
Oct 7, 2010
Messages
10
Location
springfield va
very reliable if it was taken care of. im on 21+psi with a 50 trim turbo been nothing but fun just minor bugs hahaha but its a good motor
 

cheekychimp

Well-known member
Joined
Apr 19, 2004
Messages
7,333
Location
East Sussex, U.K.
Quoting vr4junkie:
I'm new to the GVR4 and 4g63 and don't have to much experience with it. My question is how reliable is the 4g63?? I been doing some research and find a mix of good and bad reviews and some horror stories here and there especially with
2g 7 bolts ohh yea mine is a 6 bolt forgot to mention that.

My plans for the car are 2gpistons,FMiC,arp studsHG,ACL Bearings,B16g, stronger timing belt etc.....shooting for 320/350hp and 450 later down the road but not soon plan on stopping there . but before I start dumping money into this thing I want to see how they hold up to reliability at this power range.with proper maintenance like oil changes and the other little things.I plan on daily driving/weekend warrior /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/devil.gif /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/devil.gif



Strength wise, the 4G63 is good for about 400 hp in stock form (and plenty of people have made even more power than that on the stock bottom end) so 300-350 hp should really not pose any issues whatsoever as long as the engine is in good condition.

There is the 'crank walk' phenomena supposedly associated with 7-bolt engines but no-one has really come up with a definite conclusion as to the cause of crank walk and it has occurred in both 6-bolt and 7-bolt engines.

The biggest issue in my opinion as far as the reliability of this engine is maintenance. Take a look through this forum and others and you will find countless instances of guys buying a 4G63 powered car that has issues and before they resolve those issues and get it running well they pour a shitload of money into turbos intercoolers, injectors, pumps, pistons, rods. If it doesn't run well with a 14B in it because the base timing is set wrong and the cams have jumped a tooth, the AFR is off and the plugs are gapped wrong then it won't run well with an FP Green and a fancy FMIC and the same issues.

When these engines are looked after they run just great. I just did a 160 mile round trip in my NA powered 4G63 Galant GTi and on the way home I took off next to a Renault Clio Sport from a stop light. He was alone in a 187 bhp car that is considerably lighter than the Galant and I was four up with just 145 bhp under the hood. I let up at about 90 mph but he never got away and my car was built in 1989. I reckon his car was built in 2007 or later.
 
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Vr4junkie

Well-known member
Joined
Jun 25, 2011
Messages
596
Location
Some wack town in CA
That's awsome to hear that theses motors are reliable one thing I'm after is reliability I plan on taking my time on this car and building it right and not half ass it.

My Mod list so far wat kind of Hp can I pull safe with this set up? And what else I'm I missing /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/confused.gif
2G nippon pistons
Gates racing timing belt
Acl race bearings M/R
Walbro 255 pump
Arp head studs
Cometic head gasket
750cc injectors
Xtd Stage 4 clutch
Big 16g
FMiC
2g mainfold
Gasket set
6 bolt crank journals damaged on old one
 
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