95/96 eagle vision

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So my buddy just bought one of these. I was surprised to see the engine wasn't trasversely mounted,and everything is easily accessed.
Got it for 1000 bucks. Leaks a bit of oil around the valve cover. A can of motor oil saver will cure that.
So what should I be watching for.
It drives straight. No funny noises,no clouds of smoke. 245k kms on the odo.
It's got a 3.3 engine.
 
I like the strange looks of the Vision,and I far prefer the pushrod/timing chained 3.3 to the 3.5/3.2 family.However,I wouldnt have paid $1000 for one.
 
Originally Posted By: NHGUY
I like the strange looks of the Vision,and I far prefer the pushrod/timing chained 3.3 to the 3.5/3.2 family.However,I wouldnt have paid $1000 for one.


If I was in America neither would I. However here a rust free,good running vehicle that needs nothing is worth 1000 bucks all day every day.
I just found out it's a 94,so I was mistaken on the year.
I took the front tire off to check the brakes. Pads look new to me. Stops on a dime. Paint is slightly oxidized but it's a 20 year old car.
I just drove it.
It's not my charger but it rolls straight,no damage anywhere. Tires are decent.
Starts first turn too.
And I just looked down the fill hole. A bit of varnish but nothing major.
1000 bucks might sound like a lot to our friends down south however you gotta understand cars cost more here.
And this one was a garage kept version. Bought from the original owners who actually gave the buyer a package with every receipt for everything that has been done to the car.
So 1000 bucks actually isn't bad. For our market anyway.
 
And a thousand bucks is a better deal if you get some use out of it and drive it until it drops. As I remember there's a boat load of room inside and you should take good care of the fragile transmission.
 
My wife and I each owned '96 Intrepids when we got married, and for several years after. Nice cars.
 
My brothers in law had a couple of those. One died when it kept blowing water pumps and they were expensive to replace in with the timing belt. We sold it on its 3rd leaking pump, fully disclosed. Buyer looked like he'd just keep topping it off.

The other one, a strut rusted through on its lower spring perch. How does that even... ? Anyway the spring was rubbing on the tire, howling up a storm. Strut was on its bump stop. He had enough and traded it in.

Never any transmission problems, which everyone was afraid of. Held the road good and had plenty of power.
 
I think these first gen LH cars have proven to be pretty durable. The inner tie rods wear out, and you need to make sure you use ATF+4 in the transmission. I think a lot of transmission problems are related to incorrect fluid and bad sensors. Sounds like a solid deal at $1,000.
 
I remember when those cars were everywhere. Can't remember when I saw one last. Do they have a Mitsubishi engine? I always like the Eagle lineup. The Eagle Talon TSi was one of my fave cars back then. I thought they looked alot better than the Eclipse.
 
Thanks fir the heads up on the tranny. I just googled it and there is a ton of stuff on the tranny but not much else.
I know oil changer is gonna object however how's everyone feel about Maxlife in it. It's not really expensive.
The friend who bought it is an older cat. 60s so I don't see him drag racing. And it's got the 3.3,so it's a pushrod motor. I've seen these engine last forever in minivans and when I opened the hood my first thought was how easy the accessories are to access I had to swap parts.
It's not obd2 though,however it runs really good. I followed the purchaser home so I could look for anything strange like if the car rolls dogleg down the road or coughs of smoke.
I didn't see any oil clouds at all on the 60 mile drive home.
So apparently a shudder or slippage between shifts indicates trans issues. When I drove it after we got home I never felt anything like that however it had just driven 60+ miles so it good and warm already.
And are we all in at 30000 mile intervals?
 
Yeah, you don't see many of them around anymore. The Eagle was the sportiest of the bunch. Like others have said, the tranny was the weak link.
 
+1 on the 3.3 being practically bulletproof. I would check the gear oil in the differential since they don't share the ATF from the transmission in this application - they are separate reservoirs. I believe you will find a recessed square head plug provided for checking/topping off the gear oil.

Andrew S.
 
Originally Posted By: dishdude
I think these first gen LH cars have proven to be pretty durable. The inner tie rods wear out, and you need to make sure you use ATF+4 in the transmission. I think a lot of transmission problems are related to incorrect fluid and bad sensors. Sounds like a solid deal at $1,000.


I agree.

And nice on the Vision guise, and 3.3 engine!

I remember "Cab forward" design.
thumbsup2.gif
 
My dad bought a used 96 Dodge Intrepid in 97, his had the 3.5 engine. I know the tranny had to be replaced before 100,000 miles because my dad would not keep a car past that mileage. Other than the tranny I think it actually was a reliable car. I know that having the 3.5 meant a timing belt, but I do remember it being a pretty powerful car for the day (200+ HP) he often said it felt more powerful than any of his prior cars (and he owned a lot of cars). That being said I have the 3.3 in our van and it's been reliable for us 130,000 miles no issues (no timing belt either).
 
Well thus far the car runs flawlessly. I paid close attention to the tranny feeling for slipping and thumping on light acceleration and decel,and I couldn't feel anything.
I ran a can of Seafoam through the pcv tube and the owner asked what I did because the car felt more snappy.

Which leads me to a question. Hot idle is 800rpm. That seems high to me. I checked the vacuum lines for leaks and sprayed a can of carb cleaner around the intake and listened for any changes and nothing so has anyone got any ideas as to why the idle is high.
I'm pretty impressed to be honest. 20 year old car running as well as this does.
I ended up with an intrepid last year with a 3.5. Got rid of it fast because it needed the timing belt done along with a ton of other stuff. So I ditched it.
The 3.3 is a different animal though. It's a bit loud. The valvetrain is a bit tappy so I'm thinking a 40 grade for the next interval.
There was a leak around the valve cover which has stopped now since adding a can of motor oil saver.
So I've gotta say Chrysler had it together when they built this car.
 
I've got some castrol euro 0w-40 in my stash I was considering using to lessen the valve chatter.
Not consuming any oil that the owner has noticed yet in 1000kms of driving.
I'm concerned about exposing leaks. Cross that bridge when I come to it I guess.
 
Originally Posted By: dnastrau
+1 on the 3.3 being practically bulletproof. I would check the gear oil in the differential since they don't share the ATF from the transmission in this application - they are separate reservoirs. I believe you will find a recessed square head plug provided for checking/topping off the gear oil.

Andrew S.


Glad you brought this up! Many people don't know about this. Clevy- are you paying attention?
 
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