93 Sundance

Hey there.

I've a 93 Sundance that's been working pretty reliably until recently.
I'd appreciate any help folks can offer.

Had a few repairs done recently. New head gasket, new timing belt, and
replaced another gasket. New trans. fluid/filter.

Here's my list of woes:

- I've completely lost my overdrive and my acceleration sucks. When I
try to put the car into overdrive, it pops into neutral: not a good
thing to happen when you're getting on the highway.

-A few weeks ago, I noticed a strong smell of exhaust, and its become
progressively worse. Car is idling rough when first started/first few
minutes of driving.

-The muffler is black on the bottom corner closest to the tailpipe:
today, I noticed a spray coming out the tailpipe when the car is
started (looks like it may be oil).

-Car has always shifted rough (automatic). Revs high in 1st, 2nd and
'clunks' into place in the next gear sometimes. When coasting in
lowest gear, (Ie: approaching a stop light) it sometimes feels like
something pulls back on the car, and it slows down suddenly.

 

You mention only one head gasket, so I assume you have a 4-cylinder
engine. Is that correct?

What are you calling "overdrive"? There is no "overdrive" on a 4-cylinder
Sundance.

You need to check the computer codes.

To check the computer codes:

With the engine off, switch the ignition key on-off-on-off-on,
leaving it "ON". Do not
go to "start", just "on" during this procedure.

Watch the "Check Engine" or "Power Loss" light. It will turn on, then go
off, then will begin to flash-out any trouble codes that have been stored.
For instance, if it flashes:

flash <pause> flash flash
<long pause>
flash flash flash <pause> flash flash flash flash flash
<long pause>
flash flash flash flash flash <pause> flash flash flash flash flash

Then you have a 12 (one flash followed by two) a 35 (three and five) and a
55 (five and five). 55 means "end of codes" or, if by itself, "No codes
stored. Check the codes and report what you find.


DS