Starting a dodge after 2 years

ATF+4 is a strictly controlled licensed product, anything with ATF+4 printed on it approved by Chrysler directly.

Having the 3.3 is good news.

Keep the trans happy, i dont think you can hurt that engine.

Thanks again for all the info. My goal is to make this a DD for the wife and kids until we can buy something newer No track time or cone dodging here( atleast untill we get a second van.

I may have to put it into service sooner than I had planned. Tonight after finally replacing my alt in my volvo( had a bad bearing for a few weeks now and it finally went on the way home fri ) and of course it wouldnt start back up. Gonna get the battery charged up, an do more digging when I have more light( on the volvo )

Regarding the van, my goal is to clean the oil pan, put fresh oil in, top off the cooling system and drive it for awhile. Does this sound like a safe bet? Tranny fluid doesnt smell bad and looks red.

Don't buy a scan tool just yet.

If that one has a digital odometer, IIRC you can get codes by cycling the key three times in 5 seconds (on off on off on, don't start the engine) and it will display the codes in the odometer window.

If it's mechanical odometer, that won't work. On those, if you cycle the key the same way the check engine light will flash. Be ready to write the flashes down; for instance a Code 23 is flash flash pause flash flash flash. When it goes Code 55 (five flashes, pause, five flashes) it's done giving codes.

From what I read, the ones w/ the mechanical odo will flash the "check engine" light to give the codes. I pulled what I think was a "13" ( according to dodgeforum.com -- 13 No change in MAP from start to run ). Havent dug into what that means yet, trying to figure out the best, "non-violent" way to tackle the sludge that the motor has under the cover.

In reply to mrwillie:

Either the sensor is bad, or the line is broke from engine to sensor.

Cool. Thats what I found online as well.I'll check the hose when I get a chance to go to where the van is.

Chryslers will spit out codes with the 'key dance' well into the 2000s so it's a pretty handy procedure to learn. Id at least bookmark a web page with the code list if not print it out and stick it in the glovebox. Ive found the codes on old chryslers to be really helpful, unlike some more modern vehicles. Go figure.

Sometimes you can clean a misbehaving MAP sensor with carb cleaner, I dont recommend it unless you've tried everything else. For sludge, just run a diesel rated oil and change it often.

On a 3.3, if you are planning to pull the valve covers and oil pan anyway you might try this: while they are off, use a pressure washer (preferably with hot water) to blast the goo off of the valve train. Scrape the inside of the block as well and use a long brush (like a gun cleaning brush) to ream out the oil drainback holes. Hose everything out with carb cleaner, then reassemble, run cheap oil for about 30 minutes to flush any water out of the passages etc. Then change the oil and add 1/2 quart of ATF (the ATF detergents help dissolve goo), run this for a thousand miles or so, then change again with 1/2 quart ATF, run that a thousand miles, then change once more, only this time go with regular oil. It's not fun and it's messy as hell, but I have seen two caked up motors saved when done this way.

Curmudgeon wrote: On a 3.3, if you are planning to pull the valve covers and oil pan anyway you might try this: while they are off, use a pressure washer (preferably with hot water) to blast the goo off of the valve train. Scrape the inside of the block as well and use a long brush (like a gun cleaning brush) to ream out the oil drainback holes. Hose everything out with carb cleaner, then reassemble, run cheap oil for about 30 minutes to flush any water out of the passages etc. Then change the oil and add 1/2 quart of ATF (the ATF detergents help dissolve goo), run this for a thousand miles or so, then change again with 1/2 quart ATF, run that a thousand miles, then change once more, only this time go with regular oil. It's not fun and it's messy as hell, but I have seen two caked up motors saved when done this way.

Wow...that sounds kinda scary. Thats alot of water. W/ my luck I would short something out. Whats the best way to get the back valve cover off of this thing?

Has anyone used Kreen b/4? It gets good reviews on bobistheoilguy.com

http://www.kanolabs.com/engCle.html

Wow...that sounds kinda scary. Thats alot of water.

Oil temp rises above 212*f >Water boils out of oil > Positive airflow created by PCV system removes water vapor.
This is basically what happens on a constant basis in an engine. There just has to be little enough water in the oil that it doesnt immediately sludge up, which it wont if you let it air dry a bit before reassembling and adding oil.

Whats the best way to get the back valve cover off of this thing?

Remove the plenum.

Curmudgeon wrote: On a 3.3, if you are planning to pull the valve covers and oil pan anyway you might try this: while they are off, use a pressure washer (preferably with hot water) to blast the goo off of the valve train. Scrape the inside of the block as well and use a long brush (like a gun cleaning brush) to ream out the oil drainback holes. Hose everything out with carb cleaner, then reassemble, run cheap oil for about 30 minutes to flush any water out of the passages etc. Then change the oil and add 1/2 quart of ATF (the ATF detergents help dissolve goo), run this for a thousand miles or so, then change again with 1/2 quart ATF, run that a thousand miles, then change once more, only this time go with regular oil. It's not fun and it's messy as hell, but I have seen two caked up motors saved when done this way.

Why not just do the standard change oil with diesel fuel, let idle, change filter and diesel after a while, repeat until clean, followed by a ATF flush routine?

Ive heard of the diesel flush b/4. No offense, but it sounds too harsh to me. Id feel more comfortable doing the water and brush or running Delo diesel oil or something. Something that wont break off big chunks at once, that could block the pickup at an unexpected time.

Ive read a few reviews on the Kano Labs Kreen and it sounds promising, but I think I'm gonna try a mechanical cleaning first. The sludge that I can see was not hard, but "corn syrup" thick. Maybe the mechanical cleaning will get most of it. I just need to get it home, and cant do that until I can afford to rget plates and change the title. Ive got about a pint of MMO in the crankcase now. Hopefully that will be ok for my 10mile drive home. Delo 15w40 should be ok to run for about 3k miles in this engine??

IMHO, If it runs fine and develops oil pressure, I wouldn't worry about it, just run 15w40 and change it every 2-3k till it starts coming out not looking like black paint. In a clean engine, driven gently, I wouldn't hesitate to run diesel oil 5k miles.

Doing the diesel flush procedure with just ATF is also an option if it really bothers you knowing its a bit sludged up.

It runs fine after the MMO in the engine, but I didnt have a way to check the oil pressure. I didnt hear any strange noises or see any lights so I assume that I have atleast minimal pressure . The manual cleaning and diesel 15w40 sounds like a winner to me. I'll post back when I actually have the car in my hands.

Thanks for the info, everyone!!!

Just as an update.... I have the van at the house. I let it run for a few minutes to charge the battery and watch the gauges and then drove it home( which is about 3miles ). It idles ok, has no wierd noises and pretty much ran like I expected it to.

Several things I noticed: 1) The car struggles to run( and will cut off ) if you rev it up past 2k-ish and then quickly get off the gas. This verifies the map sensor code that I got early on. 2) Tires are flat-spotted, but got better as I drove. I'm hoping that they will continue to get better. 3) Rear hvac does not work at all, front only blows heat out of the lower vents. 4) The brakes have alot of rust on the rotors and grind slightly when you press them. I have not pulled the wheels to check pads, rotors, drums, etc 5) Oil pressure has a mind of its own. Its on the replacement list 6) PCV valve, oil pan gasket, valve cover gasket need replacement 7) I hear a clunking noise when I shake the rear wheels. Could this be the brake drums? I havent has a rear drum brake car in years.

I really only had time to clean the throttle body w/ toothbrush and spray, b/4 I had to stop for the day. So far, its looking like it has potential. And parts are dirt cheap so Im def happy about that.

More coming soon.......

The dieing on decel could be the idle speed motor moving too slowly. They tend to need to be cleaned (including the passages in the throttle body) on that design which was on millions of chryslers. You'll want to take off the throttle body and prepare for hardship with the AIS screws. Using an impact screwdriver and some heat can help. They have factory loctite which is pretty bitchy after 20 years.

Do you have a voltmeter? You can diagnose a map sensor pretty well with a multimeter.

Rear hvac could be a fuse, did you check? Remember there are two sets of controls for the rear and if neither of them works it's probably a power/ground issue or the blower motor itself.

The brakes will fix themselves.

The clunk could be wheel bearing slop. You can try popping off the dust caps and tightening the bearings. It could also be bushings. Although its a different suspension (but extremely similar brakes and bearings) i always had a side-to-side clunk in the rear on pretty much every k-car i ever owned, whether i had worked on the bearings or not. I had trouble at times getting them through autoX tech because of this but it seems endemic to that design.