1995 Town and Country questions

Have a chance to buy a 1995 T&C van. it actually has a lot more than I
need, since I am going to use it to carry guitars, amps and a PA system
around.

The good things:
The body is in good shape, just starting to turn 'brown' in sopts
underneath, but no real rust or holes anywhere.

Doors all work properly, leather seats in fiar shape, no cracks or splits.
Starts readily. Has what sounds like chain noise that goes away in a few
seconds.

The bad:
Clunk going into reverse. Reverse only. Gear transitions are smooth. Going
from Park to drive OK, going from ANY gear or neutral to revcerse and
there is a clunk, seems to be driver's side front (right where the tranny
sits...)

Rear end feels loose. Lots of clunking from the rear, and a slight shudder.
Everything looks OK, no cracks in the springs, no loose mountings, etc.
Shocks seem bad, and perhaps wheel bearings?

The Ugly:
ABS light on. Brake light on. HARD brakes; you really have to stand on it
to get it to stop.

Listed at $1495(RIGHT!) - $500=$995.

I offered $400, they countered with $700. I would go maybe $600 depending
on these problems. The brakes seem the scariest, obviously.

 

I would run, not walk, away from this.

Spend the $600 on lottery tickets, or a blonde, or maybe ice cream.

Just my $0.02

 

The ABS problems are most likely caused by a failure of one or more
components of the Bendix 10 System. It is very expensive to repair
this.

Keep this in mind if you decide to buy.

-KM

 

AFAIK, there is no end to the Bendix system recall.
I believe this would be on Chrysler's dime...if they even have two nickles
to rub together...

 

The *unavailable* Bendix 10 system is the least of his worries on a 1995
T&C. It may have a problem within the non-integral Mark IV HCU, but at
least that system is nowhere near as much as a POS as the B10 was.

The problem is that the 3.8 V6 engine is probably the stoutest thing on
this shitbox, and yet the OP reports timing chain rattle for 3 seconds
on start up. I'd pass, unless they paid me $1500 to take it.

 

Dude, it's me...

I'm looking for a cheap van to use sparingly, 25,000 miles is more than I
need to get out of it.

The body is sound, but the brake system is the biggest scare.
Now, we couldn't open the hood so I don't know if it has a 3.8 or a 3.3.

But, you say the Bendix system is unavailabe? AFAIK, Chrysler has to
replace them whenever they go bad under the recall...

 

LOL! "Creampuff in waiting". I like that.
No, no real creampuff, but appearances are OK, and it is a solid body.

I'm trying to determine what I can do about the brakes, mostly. If I can
get it so it stops without standing on the pedal, that's good. I don't
really care about the ABS; I've been driving without it for so long it
makes no difference to me. So if I can safely disable the ABS, that's OK.

As for the 'chain', did the 3.8 have a chain? Once it runs for 3 seconds
the engine smooths out and runs well. I had an '85 Celica that did the
same and put 35,000 miles on it. But, that's a Toyota...

But $700 is definitely out of the question for 208,000 miles...

I usually pay $3-400 for vans like this. If everything else is a
cheap/quick fix, I might go $500. If I can fix it for $500 or less.

 

It's a 3.8. The 8th digit of the VIN is L, correct? Even if you had
the 3.3 which wasn't available, it is just as sound - unless the timing
chain is rattling. Sounds like a POS.

It was unavailable in that year. Therefore your 1995 'creampuff in
waiting' probably isn't equipped with a Bendix 10 system, wouldn't you
think? Perhaps, by amazing coincidence, someone backwards retrofitted
it with one just to cause more problems.

 

Then that's probably how long it takes for the oil pressure to build and
take the slack out of the chain, which is probably what's meant by "I'd
pass, unless they paid me $1500 to take it".

Yeah, but any engine will run 35K on poor oil pressure, so that doesn't
tell you much. Try and get that same engine to go /350K/ and you've got
a different story.

I see these vans for sale very frequently by the side of the road with
prices like "$500", "$350", and "FREE; get it off my property". I think
I now have a pretty good idea why...

 

If the fluid blockage is inside the HCU, you won't be able to bypass it
without a ton of very unrecommended rigeneering. I would only replace a
bad HCU if it was in my shop, not try to bypass the system.

Do you not take anything that I write to heart? Yes, it has a chain.
This is a standard 60* V6 with a standard non-tensioned timing chain.
If it is rattling then you have problems. On further thought, if the
noise is not coming from the chain and goes away after a few seconds you
may have an overall bearing clearance issue or an oil delivery issue.
You may drive it until it stalls but you won't fix it for $500 unless
you're really lucky and it's just a bad oil filter drain back valve or
the wrong oil / low oil.

At this price point, a hundred here or there doesn't really matter
much. Why not go to the junkyard and buy something for $300. You'll
save $200 right away! Get my point?

 

Actually, I do take what you say to heart.

There was one other thing I noticed. When I started the van, the oil
pressure was up over half on the guage. A blip on the throttle caused it
to drop momentarily, then it came back up and didn't drop again...

I'm afraid so.

The thing is, I can usually fix most mechanical things, but a sloid body
around here is kinda rare. So, I'm thinking, drop in a new motor. They're
pretty cheap.

So the real concern is the brakes and the clunking. I think the brakes are
more of a killer...

 

I've had three...a '92 short one with a 3.0, with 24,000 miles on it, and
two '92 3.3L beaters (REAL beaters) but with good transmissions.
I like them! They will run for miles and miles, as long as the tranny is
OK.

 

RUN AWAY! RUN AWAY!
--scott

 

I stand corrected. 1993 was the last year for the Bendix 10 ABS. I
don't know what was used after that. In anycase, it sounds like there
is a problem with the ABS.

-KM

 

"I'll make rabbit stew of him, sire!"

Um, I think I'm getting the picture...

And, certainly NOT at $700!

 

I have two of these vans, one a 1995 the other a 1994, T&C.

Both of mine make that startup noise, have been doing it for years. I would
not
concern yourself with it. It could be timing chain, yes. It could be
hydraulic lifters
that bled down. So what? When either of those gives way with the miles on
the
engine you just scrap it. What your concerned with is how many miles are
left
on the engine. With gentle driving, probably 20-30K.

Brakes MAY NOT be as much issue as you make them out. Pull the brake fluid
cap. If the fluid is there, then forget it, the van is scrap - unless you
get it for free
and are willing to spend time putting wrecking yard parts in it. If the
fluid is gone
then there's a possibility it's just a leaky caliper. A replacement from a
wrecker is
cheap. You will have to pay a dealership to bleed and purge the system,
though,
after replacing it, and scan the ABS computer to see why the ABS computer is
complaining.
It could simply be a bad ABS wheel sensor.

The clunk is probably an axle. Check the CV boots likely one of them is
shredded.

The fact of the matter, though, is that even $400 is generous for this van.
If the
seller was willing to pay to drive it to a dealership and have it diagnosed,
depending
on what was wrong with it, then it MIGHT be worth $400. But, without a
diagnosis,
the best the seller would get is about $100 from a wrecker, probably more if
they
parted it out in their driveway.

Ted

 

And we almost have a winner- these gen II Mopar Minvans LOVE to fry the
transmissions, if they are the 4-speeds. Make sure you budget a grand or
so every 75000 miles to replace the tranny.

Damn shame, because otherwise they were nice vans. IMHO, better dash and
interior space layout than the newer ones, and for damn sure better
rearward vision. Not so hot in salt country- that rear wheel well on the
passenger side loves to rot out. Some design defect that traps road crud
up in there,

 

It's a dealer.

I have had three of these, one almost new back in '94, and 2 '92 Gr.
Voyagers, one AWD. They were both clunkers, but without the troubles this
one has.

I have seen this brake problem before. One of them was on mine, and I just
flushed the system myself and it went away. The other one was a mechanic's
van, and he replaced every part in the system and it still didn't work. I
asked him about bleeding the ABS and he gave me "the look".

If I KNEW I could fix it for $500 or less, I'd go $400, because the body
is in real good shape. Other than that, I'll start the hunt all over again.

BTW, I have a 'hachiroku' (1984-87 Corolla GTS twin-cam), a Supra, and a
Scion tC. Why do I like these things so much?!?!

 

I've had three, one almost new, one with a rebuilt trans and one with the
original, AWD trans w/123,000.

I also had a '94 LHS w/ original trans @ 168,000 miles.

The secret? RTFM! (Er, read the FULL manual!) You don't go into 7-11 and
buy "Dexron-Mercon" trans fluid, even for a top off. The dipstick says
ATF+3, so *use* ATF+3. The last van was a POS, but the trans worked MINT.
Same for the LHS.

That's why I'm looking for some salvation for this one. I crawled around
underneath and LOOKED. The body isn't pristine, but there is NO rot. It's
just starting to turn light brown, and a coat of oil and a vamp down a
dirt road will take care of that for as long as I need it...

 

Only a dealership can bleed ABS on these vans because only the Chrysler
DRB scantool can send the commands to the ABS computer to open all
the valves at one time. Even the most expensive aftermarket scan tools,
the ones that mechanics use, not the cheapie $100 ones from the auto parts
stores, cannot do it.

If the master cylinder runs dry, you are going to get air in the ABS system.

Ted