New to me 95 Acclaim

[ranger99]

Hi everyone, I recently picked up a 95 acclaim with 88K on it. Really clean, bought it off a older guy who sold cars for something to do so not sure on the history. Had to fix a few things right off the bat but running good now. So, to the question. I changed the oil right away with service pro semi syn 5 30, had it in the stash and figured it would be good for a fresh oil flush, also put on a stp e core, not my favorite but again, had one. So, with unknown history, how long would you wait to dump? It has a 1000 on it now and looks pretty good. Still full. Forgot to add, its a 2.5 litre speed auto.

 

[NHGUY]

Keep an eye out for oil color.Bad headgaskets turn the oil milky.2.2/2.5 engines were notorious for gasket failures,and your mileage is right on target for it.

 

[ranger99]

It has a new head gasket and valve cover gasket. Not exactly sure when done but you can tell it has been, no leaks either.

 

[Turk]

Congrats on the low mileage find! How did the old oil look? Still have it to send out for a UOA to get a "no mileage interval known" read on it? Go probably around 4k, checking the level/color frequently. You'll get lots of opinions. Change or clean the PCV for a low price possible gain if you haven't already.

 

[NHGUY]

My 88 Aries 2.2 runs Mobil 5000 or Super Tech 10w30 and a Mopar 090 filter and the oil stays clean for the entire oil duration.Of course I cleaned up the oil pan and valve cover when I bought it,so,no grime in that engine.

 

[ranger99]

The old oil was dark but didn't look too bad. I already disposed of the old oil at advance. I did change the pcv just the other day. My cousin has had a few 2.5 and 2.2, he said they ran dirty and that is one car he would change every 3K. Others every 5K.

 

[55Test]

Just run it to 5000 miles and change it, that 2.5 won't notice the difference. I must say, I'm jealous as heck. I'm hugely fond of those cars, I've had 3 in the past.

 

[ranger99]

I actually searched for a good one for a while, found it on craigslist. Seemed like a good guy (seller). My parents gave me a K car a long time ago so I always wanted another one, this is just a modernized version of it. Its fun to drive and looks good. It's a dark green.

 

[55Test]

take pics!

 

[cronk]

I got one of those cars for free with a blown head gasket. I replaced the gasket and head bolts and gave it to my grandma to drive. I have been using Valvoline Maxlife 10w30 in it.

 

[Turk]

Yea, I had 3 Omni/Horizons. The one Omni I bought new in 1983, was sold with 245,000 miles. I changed the oil every 3,000 miles religiously! Usually Valvoline & Fram OCOD. HA!

 

[Dakota1820]

Those motors are kind of an underdog in my mind. But they are good engines I would prefer it to the Ford 2.3 or the Chevy 2.2 probably . Its close the 2.2 chevy was OK. But I like the old Dodge 2.2 my first car had one and I ran the dog [censored] out of it. And never broke it till I slidim into a tree at 60 MPH the engine still worked but the car was totaled

 

[artificialist]

After the oil is taken care of, flush the automatic transmission with ATF+4. Unknown history means unknown fluid in the transmission, and Dexron in a Chrysler transmission is a huge problem.

 

[Zaedock]

Nice find! We loved our '90 Acclaim! It was comfy, the 2.5L had decent power, and was great on gas. Back then, I changed oil at 4-5K intervals. All I ever did was a radiator, water pump, and valve cover gasket.

 

[eljefino]

I had a 94 spirit. Got it for $162.50 with a blown head gasket. Oil was fine, bearings were fine. It blows water-to-exhaust most of the time, so you get bubbles in your coolant. Good preventative maintenance is to drill a hole in the top of thermostat. If you don't, exhaust (from a going-but-not-gone head gasket) builds up in the thermostat "box" until one day it keeps hot coolant from opening the 'stat and the whole thing goes catastrophically. Also, it helps the car warm up slightly more slowly which helps reduce thermal stress. I ran "car and driver" 10w30 in mine, BITOG's sale section alerted me to its clearance at target... in 2004!!!!

 

[earlyre]

Man, what a find, growing up My parents bought an '85 Omni NEW for $5 grand. It was the most basic of base models,had the Peugeot 1.6l, and the 4 speed manual(Sometimes the upshift light would flash on when you were in 4th - apparently the computer was for the 5 speed), no a/c, didn't even come w/ a radio.(dad had an AM unit installed) TRY and find a NEW car this basic/cheap today.. Dad drove it for a few yrs, until he got a company car, then it became mom's car, until we bought his old company car (89 Chevy Celebrity) for mom's "new" car, gave omni to my older Bro who was in college, and had just had his car stolen, he drove it until 6mo-yr after moving to Dallas (finally had to buy something w/ AC), sold to my cousin who drove it a few more years,w/ a spark plug that would slowly back itself out, and had to be re-tightened every 3k mi or so, until the floor pan rusted out. if it hadn't I'm sure someone in the family would still be driving it to this day...

 

[artificialist]

Originally Posted By: earlyre

Man, what a find, growing up My parents bought an '85 Omni NEW for $5 grand. It was the most basic of base models,had the Peugeot 1.6l, and the 4 speed manual(Sometimes the upshift light would flash on when you were in 4th - apparently the computer was for the 5 speed), no a/c, didn't even come w/ a radio.(dad had an AM unit installed) TRY and find a NEW car this basic/cheap today..

If the US Dollar didn't get inflated over the past 27 years, you might still be able to get such a car for $5000.

 

[oilmaven]

Back in the 80's and 90's I worked as a field rep. and had 2 Dodge Aries ('85 and '88) and 2 Dodge Spirit/Plymouth Acclaims ('91 and '94). The cars were abused but pretty well maintained. The Aries/Reliants were pretty good (if poorly built) with the 2.2 but the Spirits and Acclaims were great cars...all the reps. loved them and were disappointed when they switched to Neons in '95. We had a few '89 Ford Tempos (bought because they were available with then optional driver air bag) and noone wanted to drive them...

 

[earlyre]

Originally Posted By: artificialist

If the US Dollar didn't get inflated over the past 27 years, you might still be able to get such a car for $5000.

forgetting about the price, you would NEVER find that basic of a car today. they just plain don't make 'em anymore. no power anything. manual locks, crank windows, no a/c, no cruise, no radio, just a metal box, and engine, transmission, 4 wheels, couple of seats, only 1 side view mirror (Drivers), 2 headlights, 2 tail lights, that's pretty much it.

 

[ranger99]

Great replies, I love the stories of these cars. What I have done so far since owning it. Oil change #1 ofcourse, this is bobs after all. Flushed radiator with new thermostat, and yes drilled a hole in top. My cousin is a chrysler mechanic and showed me that trick. New pick up sensor, cap and rotor, plugs, wires, and PCV filter. I go to the scrap yard often and get things for it also. I got a full cluster guage there and just swapped out the speedo with my original mileage. I also grabbed a new kick panel for the rear door. I also undercoated it with the spray cans. It's clean in and out, got it for $2000.00 Things in the near future will be new CV shafts, coils, and tires. Maybe Chrysler bottle cap rims.