1982 Dodge Rampage w/ Shelby front end & '89 2.5L Turbo-I engine

Ashyukun (Robert) said:

 

Unfortunately while I was waiting for the, to get things together, it started pouring down rain-and within seconds of turning on the wipers one of the plastic bushings on the wiper linkages had failed leaving me without a functioning drivers side wiper. I was able to cobble together a temporary fix with some cardboard and packing tape, but that gave out halfway home and I had to drive leaning over to see out the passenger side of the windshield. I already have the bushing I need to fix it- it just obviously wasn’t with me in the car...

I'm reminded of why I RainX-ed the windshield of the Miata before heading to the challenge - wasn't sure the wipers would survive the trip.

I've had more than one man's share of experience with the old Chrysler wiper bushings. When i was first fixing up the B250 i towed to the challenge with last year i had to go through the bushings.  One of the new ones popped apart a while after. On that van it's a bit of work getting TO the bushings and i decided I never wanted it to happen again, so i took all the linkages out, drilled and tapped small holes into the studs the bushings push over, and added small loc-tited bolts and washers on top so that the bushings physically cannot pop off anymore. It was an investment of time and effort but i have probably already broken even in the months since by not having to mess with the failure-prone system any more. 

Granted, i think most of the issue is that the aftermarket bushings you can get at the parts stores suck. I used to work for a guy who was into old chryslers and he had a dealership contact who would get him 'real' oem bushings because apparently most parts people couldn't figure out how to find them in the system or some such? I think i'm just going to add the retaining bolts/washers to every old chrysler i go through from here on out.

I'll probably have to deal with the bushings at some point, but for now it's not high on my list of problems between all of our vehicles.

I did drive the Rampage yesterday to church and back, and on the way home actually got on the gas coming up the last hill and it was showing 4 psi or so of boost on the gauge. Obviously still need to make sure the system is holding pressure as it was showing well over that before putting the intercooler in, but at least it is clearly putting out boost. I can definitely feel the difference in response (much slower) though with so much more piping...

Well, berkeley. The Rampage has been great all week, including a number of stops around town today. I park it out on the street so the Dancer could pull the Infiniti in and I could pull in behind it later- and when I went back out to do so, the ignition circuit doesn’t seem to be getting power at all.

Headlights work, overhead light works so battery seems to be fine- but just nothing when the key is in any position. Radio isn’t getting power either. Glad it did this when I parked it on the street vs. tomorrow morning when it would be trapping the Infiniti in the driveway if it won’t start, but it still pisses me off that yet another vehicle is down. Especially since I really can’t take the time to try and figure it out now and need to push ahead with getting the Mariner’s engine swapped out so it’s drivable again. :/

In reply to Ashyukun (Robert) :

Check your fusible links and fuses.

You could have an ignition switch failure, since that controls the radio among many other things (except the lights)

In reply to Stefan :

I had thought about the fusible links, though not fondly as tracking that down would likely take a while to track down. I’d considered the ignition switch, but since the radio doesn’t seem to even be getting base battery power it’s not the first thing I think I need to check. 

I just really need to get out there with a multimeter, but don’t have the time at the moment will just suck tomorrow if it’s rainy as I’m going to have to take the scooter...

Well, just so you know you can get a 10-pack of inline fuse holders for $8 on Amazon Prime. Just in case you ever feel like ripping out every fusible link and replacing it with a serviceable, normal fuse that also happens to be easier to check with a test light or meter.

I have friends who have wired in newer fusebox/PDCs (power distribution center was chryslers old term) but that's a more ambitious project. 

Fusible links are pretty to check, they tend to work like fuses on sticks of dynamite that you see in the movies.  They burn up and turn into ash.  So tug on them and if all you get is rubbery springiness of the insulation, then you’ll know it’s dead, Jim.

I'll have to look them over if I get the chance this evening, though I'm not betting on it as we have a fundraiser to be at after work over dinner, and I should probably try and at least get the compression test done on the Mariner's new engine first if I want ot try and get the swap done this weekend.

So, the mystery deepens on the Rampage's power problems. Since I was waiting to get some opinions on on the confusing results from my compressions/leak down testing on the Mariner's new engine I grabbed the multimeter and headed out to try and figure out the Rampage.

After poking around a bit, I found that the ignition switch DID have power getting to it and that none of the fusible links appear to have blown. I also inadvertently found that the ignition switch seems to actually be working as the HVAC controls will operate when the switch is turned on and then will shut off when the ignition is turned off. I had been assuming that it wasn't getting power since I wasn't seeing any evidence of things turning on, but realized that with the fuel gauge still not working there really isn't anything on the dash that would show that the ignition is on.

My normal cue that the ignition is turning on properly is that the fuel pump relay is wired to be one when the ignition is in 'run', and I wasn't hearing it come on. So I jumpered the relay and confirmed that it was working and the pump ran just fine- so it appears that for some reason the fact that the ignition is turned on isn't making it out into the engine bay. The radio also still isn't turning on no matter where the switch is either, but whether that's related or not I don't know.

I hunted through my papers from doing the harness work, but unfortunately the one thing I CAN'T find is the pin-map for the Rampage's bulkhead connector. I've got the one for the engine, but can't find the one that I actually need at the moment...

Hope this helps.

Fig. 13 Chassis wiring continued-1982-83 Omni, Horizon, Rampage, Turismo, O24 and TC3

In reply to Dirtydog :

This are good to have, but what I need most is the bulkhead connector.

Did a bit of searching and this might be it (assuming the wiring didn't change between the 82 and 86 Omni):

With some luck I'll get the chance to get out and try and figure what the problem is this evening since the Dancer has rehearsals into the evening. Already resolved that I'm not going to fork around with things- if it's quicker to just add a literal switch for the ignition to get power where it needs to go, I'm going that route.

Was able to get some time yesterday evening to try and get the Rampage running again. Was partially successful- as I had suspected, for some reason the 'ignition switch' (pin 4 above) is not seeing the +12v that it should when the ignition switch is, well, on. Thankfully that wire coming from the bulkhead splits off and goes a number of places- including a terminal in the diagnostic plug so I was able to just jumper from the battery to that terminal and everything powered on and it started like nothing was wrong. I decided that I didn't want to deal with trying to diagnose exactly where the problem comes in, so while it was running moved it back inside the gate in our driveway so I can work on it more easily in the next few days.

Hopefully I can figure out the problem and put it back to working normally- but if not, I know all I need to do is add a switch to provide +12v to that wire...

So, following up on the last post- for now (and probably going to stay that way, though I will mount it more permanently) there's a switch to flip to bypass the apparently malfunctioning ignition and get power to everything.

Have not really had much chance to do much on the Rampage in the last month either as other things have taken priority. Which ironically has also meant I've not gotten the chance to get up to Cinci and buy the drag tires for the car, which means I've saved myself $400 out-of-pocket with the drags getting dropped from the competition- so I'll be running the whole thing on the AX tires I ran last year.

This just means that I need to get the Rampage out to the local AX events even more urgently so I can get the handling on it worked out.

It also kind of decides something I'd been mulling over- whether keeping the intercooler without doing the computer mods was worth it. And with the competition only being autocross, I don't think it's worth it- the extra HP is definitely worth reaching for on the drags, but eliminating the lag is probably going to be more helpful on the AX than a slight bit more power. So, I'll be pulling the intercooler setup out and likely going back to just the original stock hose (though I may try and eliminate even more boost lag by zip-tie wrapping it since it's just a rubber hose.

No clue whether I'm going to be able to do the cosmetic (i.e.: fix the rust in the body and repaint it) work on the car- with like 85 days until the event, I'm not sure I'm going to have the time to do it properly along with everything else I'll have going on.

Need an additional crew member?  I’m thinking the S10 will get clobbered even worse than it would have otherwise.  I’m okay with disappearing in the middle of the pack, but I don’t want to risk a near last place finish.

Without it being a 4 inch core and 24 x 12 front mount you just aren’t getting that much pressure drop from having an intercooler even with a small turbo. You have a leak somewhere in that tract. If it feels faster without it , I would just spend the time fixing the leaks because when the boost goes up you’ll want that intercooler eventually.

In reply to eastsideTim :

Sure, you're always welcome to join the team (which so far consists of... me :P). I don't know just how well the Rampage will do, though I hope to have it more tuned-in for the AX than it was last year (where it was not aligned at all).

In reply to crankwalk :

There's little doubt that having the intercooler vs. not is better- but I just don't know if it's enough better to be worth the time to work out the bugs in without the computer doing any compensating for the temperature drop beyond what little the stock one can see from the O2 sensor readings. Losing the piping may also make some things under the hood easier since if I have it I need to fabricate a custom battery tray (though if we don't have to worry about the NHRA battery cut rule, I may just relocate it and save the trouble). I honestly doubt that I will be keeping the Rampage much past the Rampage and am unlikely to be cranking up the boost on the system (again, only so much the stock computer can do).

So, finally officially registered to bring the Rampage back to the Challenge this year.

Hopefully toward the end of this week I'll be able to start getting back to work on the car working toward having it ready to take out to the local AX event a week from Sunday. I'm hoping that I can get the mechanicals worked out in these 2 weeks so after that event if all goes well I can start working on body work, paint prep, and repainting the car.

Well, I had hoped to get the Rampage out to Autocross today, but that didn't end up happening- I wasn't far enough along on things such that I felt that it would be beneficial enough to have taken it out. Which worked out being for the best anyway since I slept horribly last night and would have been miserable out in the heat as tired as I am.

But, I have made progress on things. The intercooler piping doesn't seem to be leaking- but I think at last part of my problem is the fact that I've got several stretched of rubber hose from production intercooler setups that can expand a fair bit and lead to some lag. I'm still not wholly convinced that it's really worth having the intercooler if the computer has no idea that it's there to use, but it's already installed and in budget, so I may just leave it and try and work out a way to deal with the hose-lag problem (zip ties?).

The other main accomplishment was relocating the battery to behind the passenger seat, which took a solid bit longer than I'd hoped- but almost certainly took a lot less time than I think fabricating a new tray for it in the original position that didn't interfere with the intake/intercooler piping. As an added bonus, it really only cost about $15 since I was able to use the jumper cables that came with the car for the positive wire and got a steal on about 5 feet of 6/3 wire at Lowe's- it was a remnant that wasn't labeled, and when I asked about it the manager from a different section that helped me just threw a $1 price on it and called it day (should have been 10-15x that). Combined with a $10 plastic ammo box from HF, all I'm missing now is a cut switch for it (though it's hooked up at the moment without it).

Things to do:

Go over the suspension and get it something resembling aligned, see if I can get the S-10 rear sway bar to work (may require welding), speaking of which: put together the new race exhaust, and get everything in the interior secured. Once all of that is done... it should be on to body repair (if I'm that ambitious...) and prep & painting...

Hose clamps can be used to help reduce hose expansion.  

Semi-truck radiator hose is reinforced and very strong.  Imagine EFI-rated fuel hose in 2-2 1/2” ID sizes.   If you have any Tractor Trailer repair shops in the area you might be able to snag some off-cuts to replace some of the more flexible pieces.

That or troll craigslist/FB marketplace for generic turbo kit or cold air intake parts and snag the silicone couplers where possible.

The engine will produce more power with an intercooler as it will still cool the intake charge and allow more air and fuel into the cylinders.  So more area under the power curve.

Without the proper intercooler programming and intake temp sensor, the computer won’t allow more boost than a non-intercooled program, but that’s something you can work around with manual boost control.  So you don’t get more peak power.

Spend what time I had to work on the car over the weekend un-doing what I'd done last time and moving the battery back to its stock location after some trimming of the stock battery tray to allow the piping for the IC & CAI- was just going to be more trouble/cost than it was worth to try and relocate it.

it's still progress.   good work!