Still have that great 1993 van? I still have my 1991 Plymouth. I've had a few issues, like having to repair the custom built radiator a couple time this year. During a smog check, I found that I had set the timing wrong. It is suppose to be done "open loop" with sensor disconnected. Check some service manuals. My OEM foam headliner start to fall down from heat deterioration. Instead of paying a lot to have it done and later have the fabric fall again, I just rip it off, vacumned the old foam and painted the underlying ceiling board. I have converted my OEM R12 AC system to R134a, it works but you have to be careful not to add too much R134a. My major repair this year was the in-tank fuel pump. The original stopped a few times (it will start again if you bang on the bottom of gas tank), but I decided to not play around with it and just change it. I did not want to take the gas tank out, removing the filler pipe would be a pain. I loosen the filler pipe at the fender and partly lower the tank w/jack. Then carely making measurements I cut hole in the van floor. Once I had a access hole it was relatively easy to change the in-tank fuel pump; the new one is a much quieter turbine type pump instead of OEM georotor. I found a cover for the access hole from junk yard cars that have covers for fuel tank access (Toyota, Nissian). After I changed the fuel pump, I wanted to calibrate the fuel guage. I did this a gallon a time to see where the guage needle indicated. I found that the engine would start runing with as little as 2 gallons. Even though the factory spec says 20 gallons tank capacity , I found I could actually squeeze 24 gallons into the tank if I filled it to the very top of the filler pipe. The design of the filler pipe and vent often makes the gas station nozzle cut off early. On hwy trips I have gotten a calculated 24 mpg with my stock 14 inch tires. Both in Canada, where they were made and here in Southern California I still see these vans. Many of the ones I see in the junk yard have more than 200K miles. Mine is still less than 100K. Make sure you have a good external transmission oil cooler. I measured my trans oil temp when pulling a trailer, using a DVM with a probe that would go into dipstick, temp was only 135 F, so the cooler works great. There was a lot of trouble with the 4 speed trans. The 3 speed trans w/ lockup converter is very reliable with only about a 1 mpg penalty. The neutral start/ backup light switch on the trans is easy to change as it is right on the front of the trans. You can take it out without draining the trans fluid. Hope these tips help you and your readers.
1 comment:
Hi Ben,
Still have that great 1993 van? I still have my 1991 Plymouth. I've had a few issues, like having to repair the custom built radiator a couple time this year. During a smog check, I found that I had set the timing wrong. It is suppose to be done "open loop" with sensor disconnected. Check some service manuals. My OEM foam headliner start to fall down from heat deterioration. Instead of paying a lot to have it done and later have the fabric fall again, I just rip it off, vacumned the old foam and painted the underlying ceiling board. I have converted my OEM R12 AC system to R134a, it works but you have to be careful not to add too much R134a. My major repair this year was the in-tank fuel pump. The original stopped a
few times (it will start again if you bang on the bottom of gas tank), but I decided to not play around with it and just change it. I did not want to take the gas tank out, removing the filler pipe would be a pain. I loosen the filler pipe at the fender and partly lower the tank w/jack. Then carely making measurements I cut hole in the van floor. Once I had a access hole it was relatively easy to change the in-tank fuel pump; the new one is a much quieter turbine type pump instead of OEM georotor. I found a cover for the access hole from junk yard cars that have covers for fuel tank access (Toyota, Nissian). After I changed the fuel pump, I wanted to calibrate the fuel guage. I did this a gallon a time to see where the guage needle indicated. I found that the engine would start runing with as little as 2 gallons. Even though the factory spec says 20 gallons tank capacity , I found I could actually squeeze 24 gallons into the tank if I filled it to the very top of the filler pipe. The design of the filler pipe and vent often makes the gas station nozzle cut off early. On hwy trips I have gotten a
calculated 24 mpg with my stock 14 inch tires. Both in Canada, where they were made and here in Southern California I still see these vans. Many of the ones I see in the junk yard have more than 200K miles. Mine is still less than 100K. Make sure you have a good external transmission oil cooler. I measured my trans oil temp when pulling a trailer, using a DVM with a probe that would go into dipstick, temp was only 135 F, so the cooler works great. There was a lot of trouble with the 4 speed trans. The 3 speed trans w/ lockup converter is very reliable with only about a 1 mpg penalty. The neutral start/ backup light switch on the trans is easy to change as it is right on the front of the trans. You can take it out without draining the trans fluid. Hope these tips help you and your readers.
"Have a Nice Day" 11/06/12
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