What is a VIN?

Many questions of this type can be answered by the following reference:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vehicle_identification_number

A V.I.N. is a Vehicle Identification Number, a unique identifier which is assigned to every automobile at the factory. It is essentially a serial number for your car, and contains a lot of information about the vehicle.

First-generation (1990-1994) VIN numbers are formatted as follows:

Digit(s)MeaningValue(s)

1 Country code
4 = USA 
? = Canada

2 Make
E = Eagle 
P = Plymouth 
A = Mitsubishi

3 Vehicle type
3 = Passenger car

4 Seatbelt type
B = Manual (1G) 
C = Automatic (1G) 
A = Driver & passenger airbags (2G)

5 Line code
S = FWD (1G) 
T = AWD (1G) 
K = Eclipse FWD (2G) 
L = Eclipse AWD (2G) 
X = Eclipse Spyder (2G)

6 Price code
2 = Low 
3 = Medium 
4 = High 
5 = Premium 
6 = Special

7 Body code
4 = 3-door hatchback 
5 = 2-door convertible

8 EngineT
1.8 NT (1G) 
R = 2.0L NT (1G) 
U = 2.0L T (1G) 
Y = 2.0L NT (1G) 
F = 2.0L T (2G) 
G = 2.4L NT (2G)

9 Check digit
1-9, A-Z

10 Model year
N = 1992 
V = 1997

11 Plant code
E = Diamond-Star Motors (1G) / Mitsubishi Motor Manufacturing of America (2G)

12-17 Serial number
000001 to 999999

Other DSMs have similar VIN encoding. Check the shop manual of a particular year for more information.