Buying a sundance

Test drove this car today. Suspension is great, engine seems smooth (though
weak), auto transmission shifts smoothly
AC, heat and electronics work good

paint is peeling badly, no major rust though. Small oil leak, small crack
in windshield, needs better tires

I think I'm buying it. I have arranged a used-car check tomorrow at a local
garage. After some research, here is a list of things that I think are most
important to consider (in order of importance):
Head Gasket
VCG leaks
Compression test
Drive Belt
Gas tank rust
Fuel pump

Anything else that sticks out about these cars? It does need new tires, but
seems heavy and i've read that it handles well in snow.

comments are welcome
-sachin


thanks
-sachin

 

Camshaft, crankshaft and intermediate shaft oil seals.
Timing Belt
Hidden Rust (recently had the jack in my LeBaron go through the rocker panel
while changing a flat, looked great on the outside with no obvious signs of
rust but the metal had the consistency of corn flakes under the paint)
I just noticed the price for $400 a viable running vehicle is a bargain.

 

Thanks for the info

see...what you say makes sense now, but this summer I bought a sweet '79 BMW
528i for $450, and it ran just fine, pretty fast and pulled hard. I babied
it for a month, then the head gasket blew on the highway. Being a poor
student, that traumatized me, heh heh, so I'm just trying to be careful.

 

Did all the fluids check especially coolent & oil weekly, keeping
watch on others like transmission oil, etc?

The head gasket blow could be either coolant went low or got filled
with exhaust gases from leaking head gasket.

If you're on your severe budget, the chrysler 2.5L cars or caravan
2.5L is great and excellent for beater car! Once helped a friend pull
gas tank to change fuel pump on a 1990 2.5L caravan without jacking it
up.

Chrysler 2.2/2.5L engines cars/ caravans are not too bad on maintaince
like brakes, cooling systems, electricals, even head gasket on many
things by yourself. Parts are inexpensive even from dealer's. 2.5L
is 1 injector engine which is BIG plus for you on ease of
troubleshooting and repairs. Getting computer codes is with this key
trick you start car with. Get the real service manual is a MUST and
don't worry that book will pay by itself in one repair, ebay or
dealer's. Hayes isn't worth the paper to clean with. I got the
service manuals via ebay for my 1987 voyager 'van.

Keep watching this newsgroups. it's great also EEK mailing group via
www.allpar.com.

Oh, if you get the car, please straighten out everything previous
owner or fly-by-night mechanics messed up on car especially that
emissions, vacuum stuff! It will make car run MUCH nicer! Every cars
that anybody I knew or seen had messed up vacuum stuff. Get it fixed
RIGHT. It is not a big deal to repair if anything go wrong even on a
proper set up vacuum system. The manual is the key for
troubleshooting. Oh, straightening out even the worst one is not that
big budget actually.

My 'van has three things I'm working on, messed up vacuum stuff,
screwed cooling stuff (temp sensor thread ruined also wrong thermostat
(185F instead of 195F as stated in manual) and ruined carb yet engne
runs but way rich and have to baby the throttle to keep rpms up till
engine starts to warm up about a minute or so. Two plastic covers
missing & cast valve cover, instument cluster, fasteners already got
them from junkyard for a song. Already located a good carb from ebay
and it's on the way as I speak. 1987 was half year period from carb
to TBI like yours has. For caravans in 1987, early ones had 2.2 & 2.6
both carbed 4 cyls to 2.5 & 3.0 V6 both fuel injection, by late 1987.

Bolts and stuff is metric, other fasteners is usual like torx, philips
etc. Very few items uses imperial. If you have badly rusted or
partially stripped fasteners replace them if you get them removed.
Anything you need even screws, junkyards, hardware stores, dealers are
great.

Oh, when you do get that car, replace battery with decent brand not
that kind from chain stores & double check electricals & alternator is
good. No matter!

Oil leaker on these engines is fairly common, did it smells like
burning oil from the engine bay? It is the leaky valve cover seeping
oil onto hot exhaust manifold, check PCV valve is good or replace
(cheap) and replace valve cover with cast aluminum valve cover with
new rubber gasket. Cast valve cover off either turbo or regular 2.5L
cars, make sure you do get the steel curtain that hides under that
valve cover, grind bit of metal off on all the valve cover bolts,
sometimes they bottoms out. The steel valve covers is hard to seal
with RTV. If you have to stick with steel valve cover, clean all the
old sealent off and buff off scraps with 3M scrub pads. Check the
valve cover bolt holes are flat and tap them flat if they are dimpled,
a sign that somebody overtorqued. This stuff isn't high pressure
stuff, just firm torque just to fasten valve cover. Degrease REALLY
GOOD both valve cover & head sealing surfaces with brake cleaner spray
and lots of clean rags, apply 1-2mm bead of RTV glue and circle each
hole on the head before laying valve cover on head.

Oil leak from other sources isn't that bad, just get them dealt with
by mechanic or dealer's. That means new timing belt & timing belt
idler is good idea. Water pump is external driven off v-belt. Not
too bad by yourself.

Broken timing belt on 2.2/2.5L is non-event but annoying. Once you
take care of everything and keep good maintainces, you can beat the
stuffings out of 2.5L and will come back wagging for more. Those 4
cyl engines is really overbuilt like slant 6.

Oh, have a body work check the body and fix if it's not too bad. It's
both safety (required) & helps to keep dust & cold air out and sound
structual body. More and more states are starting to have emissions
checks and be reposonible to your enviroment even that state you're in
doesn't require, just keep car's emissions in good repair.

Merry Christmas & Cheers,

Wizard

 

I loved my 92 Shadow (same car). Peppy, handled well, lots of front-seat
room and trunk space. Head gasket problems would prevent passing an
emissions check if you have them where you are, but if you can get it on the
road for less than a grand it's a deal. As long as the body holds up, other
things can be fixed fairly easily and cheaply..

 

Chrysler 2.2/2.5L engines cars/ caravans are not too bad on maintaince

Thanks for the great info. Where can I get this coveted manual? Is it the
Chilton's manual?

or is this it?
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=6763&item=2450078274

thanks
-sachin

 

Absolutely NOT!! You need a *FACTORY* service manual; the Haynes and
Chilton aftermarket books are full of incorrect info.

[ebay item 2450078274 ]

Yes, that is one of the three-volume set that is the factory service
manual. It is the engine, chassis and body manual -- you'd also need the
wiring diagrams manual and the electrical, fuel and emissions manual.
Usually it's not hard to find the full 3-piece set on Ebay.

DS

 

[ebay item 2450078274 ]

Is this one of them too?

ebay 3574384122

thanks
-sachin