Owned several Doge Daytona's way back in the day. Only 1 had cam seal/valve seal, guide issue's. For the time, the 3.0 built Mitsubishi was fairly quick.
Opinions of early 1990s 3.0 liter LeBarons?
- Thread starter OceanRuns
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Originally Posted By: OceanRuns
Thanks.
It's a 1992. So, does that mean the valve guides are still of the poor design?
If they are and one just adds oil, is it all ok. Or, will it eventually cause a catastrophic failure? I regularly check oil levels.
Valve seals aren't a difficult job, at least in a van...but aside from fouling the plugs (mostly if driven around town), it will run 100,000+ miles while smoking.
Thanks.
It's a 1992. So, does that mean the valve guides are still of the poor design?
If they are and one just adds oil, is it all ok. Or, will it eventually cause a catastrophic failure? I regularly check oil levels.
Valve seals aren't a difficult job, at least in a van...but aside from fouling the plugs (mostly if driven around town), it will run 100,000+ miles while smoking.
Originally Posted By: lovcom
The Chrysler products of the early 1990s were ALL [censored]. They are the shame of us Americans, that a domestic company would actually build such [censored].
Your detailed and learned dissertation leaves me in awe!
Wait, no, you posted a hit-n-run one-liner, basically the text equivalent of what a flock of pigeons leaves on a parked car.
The Chrysler products of the early 1990s were ALL [censored]. They are the shame of us Americans, that a domestic company would actually build such [censored].
Your detailed and learned dissertation leaves me in awe!
Wait, no, you posted a hit-n-run one-liner, basically the text equivalent of what a flock of pigeons leaves on a parked car.
Originally Posted By: VNTS
Assuming the car has been maintained any of the drivetrains in them were [censored] good.
Per the 3.0, the valve guide issue was fixed long before 1990.
I have to disagree, in 1990 I purchased a new Plymouth Voyager with the 3.0 mitsu v6. Even with careful maintenance and sedate driving habits it smoked from valve guides at 55k miles. The repair from a Chrysler dealer did not last 25k more miles before it started smoking again. I have to say that I have been purchasing new vehicles since 1979 and that was the worst. Exhaust was missing a donut on delivery, the trans failed 4 times in the 77k miles I owned it. The heads needed to be done twice in that time,the original tires lasted less than 20 k miles. CV joints, muffler, and idle air motor also replaced.
Assuming the car has been maintained any of the drivetrains in them were [censored] good.
Per the 3.0, the valve guide issue was fixed long before 1990.
I have to disagree, in 1990 I purchased a new Plymouth Voyager with the 3.0 mitsu v6. Even with careful maintenance and sedate driving habits it smoked from valve guides at 55k miles. The repair from a Chrysler dealer did not last 25k more miles before it started smoking again. I have to say that I have been purchasing new vehicles since 1979 and that was the worst. Exhaust was missing a donut on delivery, the trans failed 4 times in the 77k miles I owned it. The heads needed to be done twice in that time,the original tires lasted less than 20 k miles. CV joints, muffler, and idle air motor also replaced.
Originally Posted By: hevysrf
Originally Posted By: VNTS
Assuming the car has been maintained any of the drivetrains in them were [censored] good.
Per the 3.0, the valve guide issue was fixed long before 1990.
I have to disagree, in 1990 I purchased a new Plymouth Voyager with the 3.0 mitsu v6. Even with careful maintenance and sedate driving habits it smoked from valve guides at 55k miles. The repair from a Chrysler dealer did not last 25k more miles before it started smoking again. I have to say that I have been purchasing new vehicles since 1979 and that was the worst. Exhaust was missing a donut on delivery, the trans failed 4 times in the 77k miles I owned it. The heads needed to be done twice in that time,the original tires lasted less than 20 k miles. CV joints, muffler, and idle air motor also replaced.
I had a 1990 grand voyager with the 3.3 engine and auto trany. The engine was fine However the trany was repaired or replaced by the dealer at least 4 times in about 120,000 miles. Never again.
Originally Posted By: VNTS
Assuming the car has been maintained any of the drivetrains in them were [censored] good.
Per the 3.0, the valve guide issue was fixed long before 1990.
I have to disagree, in 1990 I purchased a new Plymouth Voyager with the 3.0 mitsu v6. Even with careful maintenance and sedate driving habits it smoked from valve guides at 55k miles. The repair from a Chrysler dealer did not last 25k more miles before it started smoking again. I have to say that I have been purchasing new vehicles since 1979 and that was the worst. Exhaust was missing a donut on delivery, the trans failed 4 times in the 77k miles I owned it. The heads needed to be done twice in that time,the original tires lasted less than 20 k miles. CV joints, muffler, and idle air motor also replaced.
I had a 1990 grand voyager with the 3.3 engine and auto trany. The engine was fine However the trany was repaired or replaced by the dealer at least 4 times in about 120,000 miles. Never again.
I double checked with the vin and it is a 6 cylinder/manual. It does seem like a rare variant. One website I checked year by year models didn't even have that listed as a combo for that year.
It doesn't appear to be the premium trim model. On this site for Mopar decoding, the 'series/price class' (5th vin digit) is a a 4 which means 'high'. There seem to be a few options above that.
http://www.allpar.com/mopar/vin-decoder.html
The 'car line' (4th vin digit) is a U, which according to the decoder is used for the Nitro or Chassis cab.
I definitely have the right vin though. Comes up right on CarFax (I didn't want to pay for a report though).
It doesn't appear to be the premium trim model. On this site for Mopar decoding, the 'series/price class' (5th vin digit) is a a 4 which means 'high'. There seem to be a few options above that.
http://www.allpar.com/mopar/vin-decoder.html
The 'car line' (4th vin digit) is a U, which according to the decoder is used for the Nitro or Chassis cab.
I definitely have the right vin though. Comes up right on CarFax (I didn't want to pay for a report though).
Originally Posted By: OceanRuns
Good stuff.
If I get it I hope nothing every happens to the top. Was doing some researching and apparently people want $1,000, just in labor, to install a new one! And the top itself has cost. Wow.
Better hope if it has to be parked outside a bit a cat never claws it!
That is an unfortunate truth.
My Sebring ownership experience was cut short, quite literally cut, by someone who chose to break in by cutting a huge "L" shaped hole in the roof and liner.
They stole the battery and the bezel around the factory stereo....just the bezel.
I don't know why they didn't break a window. $100 or so and I'm back on the road. Altogether it was going to be like $4000 to replace. I didn't pay that much for the car! So I Frankenstein stitched it back together and sent it on it's way
Good stuff.
If I get it I hope nothing every happens to the top. Was doing some researching and apparently people want $1,000, just in labor, to install a new one! And the top itself has cost. Wow.
Better hope if it has to be parked outside a bit a cat never claws it!
That is an unfortunate truth.
My Sebring ownership experience was cut short, quite literally cut, by someone who chose to break in by cutting a huge "L" shaped hole in the roof and liner.
They stole the battery and the bezel around the factory stereo....just the bezel.
I don't know why they didn't break a window. $100 or so and I'm back on the road. Altogether it was going to be like $4000 to replace. I didn't pay that much for the car! So I Frankenstein stitched it back together and sent it on it's way
Wow, sorry to hear. $4000, that's crazy. My research research is showing a new LeBaron top, installed would be $1500-$1800 or so. More than the car and just wouldn't really be feasible should it be needed.
Originally Posted By: Spazdog
That is an unfortunate truth.
My Sebring ownership experience was cut short, quite literally cut, by someone who chose to break in by cutting a huge "L" shaped hole in the roof and liner.
They stole the battery and the bezel around the factory stereo....just the bezel.
I don't know why they didn't break a window. $100 or so and I'm back on the road. Altogether it was going to be like $4000 to replace. I didn't pay that much for the car! So I Frankenstein stitched it back together and sent it on it's way
Originally Posted By: Spazdog
That is an unfortunate truth.
My Sebring ownership experience was cut short, quite literally cut, by someone who chose to break in by cutting a huge "L" shaped hole in the roof and liner.
They stole the battery and the bezel around the factory stereo....just the bezel.
I don't know why they didn't break a window. $100 or so and I'm back on the road. Altogether it was going to be like $4000 to replace. I didn't pay that much for the car! So I Frankenstein stitched it back together and sent it on it's way
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Sounds to me like looking for the TWIN TURBO 320hp! 3.0 from a Stealth or 3000GT would be the ultimate way to go...
I find it interesting that I almost never see either of these cars in any variation except totally modded out anymore. It is like the 3rd or 4th owners finally purchased the last set of ground effects or 4 ft high aftermarket spoilers and called it a day.
Never thought that engine series was really that bad: it was used for a very long time in quite a few different makes, mini-vans, the Sonata (for 8 years!), pickups, Chrysler TC by Maserati, etc. There ought to be a lot of used spares if they all didn't succumb to CA$H -4- Clunker$...
Cheers!
I find it interesting that I almost never see either of these cars in any variation except totally modded out anymore. It is like the 3rd or 4th owners finally purchased the last set of ground effects or 4 ft high aftermarket spoilers and called it a day.
Never thought that engine series was really that bad: it was used for a very long time in quite a few different makes, mini-vans, the Sonata (for 8 years!), pickups, Chrysler TC by Maserati, etc. There ought to be a lot of used spares if they all didn't succumb to CA$H -4- Clunker$...
Cheers!
Originally Posted By: Norm Olt
Sounds to me like looking for the TWIN TURBO 320hp! 3.0 from a Stealth or 3000GT would be the ultimate way to go...
...
Sheesh! I don't know if the chassis could handle that!
The most powerful of that particular type of chassis was probably the Daytona IROC R/T with about 100hp less.
But it would be fun to find out!
I entertained the idea of a 3.5l 6G74 swap into my Sebring. Fortunately for my wallet, no donor Diamantes showed up at the wrecking yard.
Sounds to me like looking for the TWIN TURBO 320hp! 3.0 from a Stealth or 3000GT would be the ultimate way to go...
...
Sheesh! I don't know if the chassis could handle that!
The most powerful of that particular type of chassis was probably the Daytona IROC R/T with about 100hp less.
But it would be fun to find out!
I entertained the idea of a 3.5l 6G74 swap into my Sebring. Fortunately for my wallet, no donor Diamantes showed up at the wrecking yard.
Kestas
Staff member
I owned a 1990 LeBaron 3.0L convertible up to 175K. It had the valve seal problem. Replacing the valve seals did little to correct the problem. The heads needed rebuilding. Though I got the puff of smoke at every red light, the oil didn't need topping off too often. Otherwise, the engine was solid with a bulletproof bottom end.
One problem was the underhood relays - cooling fan, a/c, fuel pump, and ASD. With age they needed replacement one after the other.
The power rear windows were another problem. They stopped working at one point for just about every model made. New motors cured the problem.
The most serious problem was the 4-spd auto transmission. They needed rebuilding every 80K. Chrysler came within a hair's breadth of have a recall forced upon them for this design.
Overall, I likes these cars and found them easily repairable.
One problem was the underhood relays - cooling fan, a/c, fuel pump, and ASD. With age they needed replacement one after the other.
The power rear windows were another problem. They stopped working at one point for just about every model made. New motors cured the problem.
The most serious problem was the 4-spd auto transmission. They needed rebuilding every 80K. Chrysler came within a hair's breadth of have a recall forced upon them for this design.
Overall, I likes these cars and found them easily repairable.
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