85lebaront2

Frank, the worst ones I used to see were the Chrysler LA 318s, they had a heat riser valve that would stick in the open position resulting in almost no heat, which made the well style choke stay on, which made it run rich creating more carbon. You could get a repair kit from the dealer but the valve had to be welded to the shaft (those and the bushings were CRES). I have my shop guys physically check all Chrysler product heat riser valves. The big blocks, 383, 400, 413, 440 if it was working it would rattle at idle until it warmed up all the way. I told more than a few customers who asked about the noise to be glad it was noisy, it meant it was working. I pulled many a 318 intake and burned the carbon out of the crossover and ports in the head, guy in the house behind the shop loved us (not) when we were doing those. At least the 351M and 400 are "dry" deck intakes (no coolant passages) so other than the royal PITA of working on it no radiator draining is needed.

One thing I remember about the 351M/400, primarily the 351M, they were jetted extremely lean (and Ford still got in trouble for fudging the emission readings) and as a result were terrible during warmup, tightening the choke helps, but makes the gas mileage even more abysmal. Not having one in front of me, I can't check, but I think I remember the choke stove on those is in the crossover and if the "mechanic" adjusted the choke to be fully open without proper heat it will be cold natured. After the engine is warm, actually before it fully warms up, the crossover should be so hot it will almost flash any water put on it to steam, if it does not then that is part of the problem. There were a number of engines I used to see that would load the crossover passage with carbon to the point it wouldn't heat the choke or manifold well enough.

Jim, when I was attending the University of Parris Island we were given WWII C-rations. As a result, unlike my wife who obsesses over dates on cans, I don't worry unless it is bulged, leaking or has a bad smell when opened.

The heater hoses on Darth are a set I pulled off a truck at Pick-n-Pull, they are original Ford ones and my experience has been that they will outlast new replacements from any parts store.

When I did my Lebaron transaxle cooler, I had found a nice oil to air cooler on a Durango at Pick-n-Pull in Virginia Beach. It was the only cooler and I figured if it was big enough for the 4.7L V8 and Chrysler OD Torqueflite it should certainly handle an A413 in a light car even with the 2.2L turbo II (roughly 200 hp). I essentially cut and spliced the original molded 5/16" rubber lines. I used a metric bubble flare tool and also used the first stage of my nice double flare kit. That worked better so I went with it. I made two roughly 1.25 - 1.5" sections with a "bump" on the ends, then used the nice full circle clamps for the fuel supply to the injectors (Chrysler runs 55 psi static and it rises with the boost to right about 70 psi). The lines have to go around the intercooler (no turbo II engines were equipt with automatics from the factory so no radiator transmission cooler) My original car, a 1985 had come with the 2.6L Mitsubishi engine and had an external cooler from the factory. The Durango cooler was installed vertically in front of the radiator, I mounted it in front of the pusher fans and kept the quick connect fittings. View is from below, looking from the left front area. The tubes have a larger inside cross section than the brass splices and should flow adequately.

You might try Green Sales, but you need the Ford PN to search their site. That's where I got mine from.

Gary, I believe it is the same switch GM used on their 5.7L and 6.2/6.5L diesels. it has bimetal contacts for the switches so time on/off is temperature dependent and above a certain temperature off is the only operation. The glow plugs are probably 6 volt plugs like the later GM ones and they cycle on-off so as not to burn them out. If they are not staying on long enough that would be the controller. Have you actually checked that the glow plugs are good? It can be done easily with a 12V circuit tester, battery positive and touch each glow plug in turn, it should be close to full brightness. Usually a bad one will show essentially an open circuit.

Two things, I like your Dodge, brings back memories of one I helped a friend with. He kept it in the family too, 360 Mopar with a Torqueflite 727. Used a Mustang II front suspension kit and a Ford 9" in the rear. We nearly went crazy trying to find a 12V wiper motor and linkage for it. He actually bought a Mopar Performance ignition kit and we hid the box and starter relay under a nice stainless steel cover. Second, I like your old reliable 83 F100, is it 4WD or was that when Ford went to the stamped twin I beams? I found on my 1986 F350 that the sway bar attaching points were stamped pieces that went under the spring seats.

Very glad to hear that. I am actually amazed it ran at all with the in-tank pumps inoperable.

There are jute pads in each footwell and the carpet is molded on a rubber backing. Besides, sound deadening in a convertible? Most of the noise is from the top anyway, that and around the tops of the windows.

Mine is more like 2 miles each way.

There are a few small pinholes in the floor that need to be repaired, charge the AC system. After that get the exhaust system installed. Once those are done I have to order the carpet (a molded single piece) so it can go in. Once the carpet is installed, I can finish the lower part of the dash as it bolts to the center reinforcement right in front of the shifter. Then I have to finish repairing the broken spring tabs on dash top panel, install the two dash speakers and put the top with the sun load sensor on. Seats, door panels need upholstering and once I get the top down from the storage shelf and mounted, it needs replacing as it was on the 1985 from 2003 until it was totaled in 2009.

Today, I finally got the mode actuator for the 1992 Imperial electronic automatic temperature control to function properly and not give me any error messages. After that it was time to reinstall the dash over the new wiring system. Still needs a little massaging on the right end, the defroster duct and wire channel don't want to play well together. 1990 fuse box, each headlight set low and high beam are individually fused. The 1990 dimmer module that the previously built switch controls. Modified 1994 Taurus Headlight switch. Relay box for parking lamps, headlights, turn signals, door locks and horn.

It is the mixture control, but it doesn't apply vacuum to the float bowl. If you remove it there are 4 separate little chambers in it's top and the bowl cover. It regulates the amount of air bled into the mixture on both the idle and main circuits. The 7200 VV does apply vacuum to the float bowl through a stepper operated pintle valve.

Jim, I'm just glad to see you back. A lot of us were worried when you just vanished, my fear was that you had been either in an accident or Lil' Red had fallen on you while you were underneath.

That is not an idle air control valve, those are found on EFI engines, yours is an idle speed controller and is a small reversible motor with a switch to tell the EEC when the throttle is touching the plunger. The IAC on the EFI engines is a duty cycle solenoid that controls the air flow. What you may need to do is watch the ISC and see it it is moving in and back out, if it is, check the resistance from the tan with red hash to the black with white hash wire with the plunger pushed in (this closes the internal switch). If the plunger is pulling back enough to open the switch then the base idle may be set to high, or the adjustment of the screw that contacts the ISC may be set wrong. If the motor is not moving in and out, then it is not the problem, you have another issue.

I keep forgetting yours is on an F250 chassis. Here that style was rare, most of our class C motorhomes are on an E350 chassis built as a cutaway and delivered to the RV manufacturer basically front end back through the doors and maybe 6" of sides and a roof to the same area. You should be able to find some 4.9L, 5.0L or 5.8L trucks with the E4OD, but you will need the computer from a 6 cyl to mate with everything. Be sure to get the transmission cross member and frame gussets when you find one.

I had to replace Darth's radiator a while back, bummer was when I bought it it was a Modine lifetime one. Not only is Modine gone, but the shop I got from, the owner had a massive coronary and died right after his 65th birthday. I ended up just getting an SPI one from RockAuto. I have never had any overheating issues even in bumper to bumper creeping on a high 90s day with matching humidity.

Believe it or not, a garden tractor/riding mower safety switch will do the job. They are essentially two switches in a plastic housing, one is a NO the other an NC. The NO switch is used to disable the starter if the PTO or clutch is not disengaged, the NC is used to kill the engine if the PTO or clutch is engaged and the operator leaves the seat (other switches are involved). Using the NO portion for the heated window switch latch ground and the NC for the amplifier signal ground it will do what is needed, turn off the heated rear window and change the amplifier equalization. It is a matter of where to locate it so something in the top mechanism will operate it.

Pretty much, there are still a few that I need to work out, a ground for the heated rear window that opens when the top is down so it can't be accidently activated and a wire from the amplifier (black box under the passenger's seat) that needs to be grounded when the top is down to activate the top down equalizer mode. The group of plugs (two round and two roughly rectangular) are for the instrument cluster, either analog (round plugs) or digital. The audio system is near the center and the wiring to and from the amplifier is done. I need to add one wire for the power deck lid release, the J body cars used a mechanical cable release, the K and E bodies used a power release latch assembly. Right now I am in the testing and verifying portion as I was having a problem with the mode actuator on the ATC system and need to run the diagnostic tests on it while it is easier to reach. I will need to make a switch panel to mount the dimmer, hazard and heated rear window switches. There is a location under the radio that was used for a storage cubby (open) or cup holders in a pull-out. The latter will not work due to the shifter location. The hazard system is what I want to use a push on/push off switch on, it needs to switch the power source for the flasher from ignition switched (turn signal) to battery (hazard), ground the pin that activates the flasher and ground the two relay sets for the turn signals in the hazard mode. The relay wires have to be ungrounded at the hazard switch for normal operation. This means a minimum of 12 pins, 4 center, 4 for normal operation and 4 more for hazard operation (not all are in use). Right now I found a 4 pole, single throw rocker switch that will work, but I was trying to find a push button style. If I use the one I did find, since it has some extra pins (18 all together) I may add an LED that will give a visual indication it is on as I am not sure the digital cluster turn signal indicators work with the ignition off.

Here is the original 1990-95 Lebaron convertible headlight switch out of it's pod location. Modified Taurus dimmer and courtesy light control. Screw was to replace the peened rivet head. Full dim position. Fully bright, no courtesy lights. Full bright and courtesy lights on. Wire colors are, yellow, courtesy light control, yellow/black. electronic dimming, orange/black, dimmer module control and black/orange ground (replaced by a larger single wire now).

Pictures continued: 1990 BCM installed and harness mocked in position. Right end of harness channel, screws and metal is where it was broken. Harness above is the power windows, locks and mirrors portion that goes from door to door (original 1986 one went across the floor). 50 way connector plug, this is the female or engine side. Harnesses pretty well set in place. Small hoses are side window demisters. From the other side. Rear of left side, top frame is just to check cylinder to connecter plug and wiring clearance through it's stroke. Slight location issue with the connection to the console for the top controls.

Pictures to go with previous dissertation: Dash harness as received draped over a 2.5L Turbo short block. The 1986 fuse block has 16 fuses, this one 28 each headlamp side is individually fused These are the relays that control all the lighting, door locks, horn and part of the audio system. More to follow.

As Gary pointed out, I haven't really brought this up to date. Several reasons, first of which was wife's health, she ended up being hospitalized for emergency abdominal surgery in early December (her birthday to be exact) and was in there until 19 December 2019 then in a care facility 22 miles up the road in Parksley VA. from 19 December 2019 until 4 February 2020. As a result her health from late summer until 3 Dec had me worried and concerned. Due to the owners of our local hospital being Riverside Regional Medical Center in Newport News VA, when we were informed she needed to go to a larger facility and I requested they send her to Sentara Leigh Memorial in Norfolk, I got "we have problems when we send people to Sentara". I'm sure, ever since Sentara Health Care bought Hampton General they have been in fierce competition in Hampton and Newport News. Upshot was they sent her to Riverside, a roughly 160 mile round trip + $20 round trip toll. She was returned to home on 4 February 2020 and still needed assistance in moving around etc. She had the final hospital stay from 28 May 2020 till 2 June 2020 to restore her back to more normal conditions. Back to our regularly scheduled program. Sometime late last year I went out to do some more interior work and found the battery completely dead. I connected the battery charger and shortly afterwards the power lock relays started chattering, followed by a small pop and smoke leaking out of the body computer. Unfortunately my jar of Lucas 530433 was not a suitable replacement. I spent, in between doctors and hospital visits, several months trying to either find a replacement or someone to rebuild it. A fellow Chrysler nut on Facebook in a Turbo Dodge parts group asked if a 1990 BCM would work in place of the 1995 one and he wanted to sell the inside wiring harnesses with it. After looking at the pictures he sent, I went ahead and bought the parts from him, He later found some of the underhood parts and asked if I wanted them too for the shipping cost, I told him yes. Now is where it got interesting, the dash I am using is from a 1989 Lebaron 2 dr coupe, the wiring harnesses are form a 1990 Lebaron convertible so a lot of the convertible specific items, like 4 power windows with no separate rear controls, the power wiring for the hydraulic pump and it's relays and switch were all there. The big change between 1989 and 1990 was steering column and instrument panel. 1989 all the main inside harness is run across the dash with an inverted connection (female on the underhood and male on the dash) both have the connector inside rather than in the firewall. The 1990 all the inside wiring runs across the firewall in a plastic channel, then the connections to the rear of the car are back by the rear wheel wells. It is nicer, because once the wiring is installed it stays there, the dash and steering column essentially plug in as the wiring to the various modules (cluster, warning system, radio, HVAC and traveler along with the dash speakers) all has enough slacek to allow the dash to be rolled back and removed. The issue is the changes to the Lebaron coupe and convertible and Dodge Daytona for 1990. Instrument cluster is in a pod similar to the early T-birds and 1955/56 Fords and the headlight, panel dimmer, fog lights, turn signals and wipers are one the sides of the pod with the steering column only having horn, turn signal cancel and hazard switches and the cruise control ones are relocated in the steering wheel they were also built with air bags. I had two choices, find a useable 1990 up dash and steering column or modify what I have to work with the newer system. I opted for the second choice. Now, all the lighting functions on the 1990 are controlled by relays, whose coils are grounded by the switches. Good part, low current switches are all that is needed, bad part, the panel dimmer and a few other items are not at all compatible with the 1989 headlight switch. Wipers are the same issue, but that had already been addressed for the 1995 BCM. End result, I modified a Taurus headlight switch to fit in place of the pull knob style which now meant I needed a separate dimmer control, which is an interesting system, the dimmer is a dual variable resistor, one side increases from dim to bright, the other decreases, resistance goes from around 20 ohms to 10.2K ohms and the dimmer portion goes to a nice little electronic module that then controls the panel lights. The electronic dimming is the last 1/4 of travel followed by the courtesy lights on position. No problem right? Wrong, it is part of the headlight switch. I canabalised a Lebaron switch for the resistor and switch, then because it moves in a arc, had to come up with a method of operating it, another Taurus part to the rescue, a dimmer thumbwheel, gutted and modified to move the slider and it even ended up with the detent in correct location in it's travel. Pictures to follow.

Sounds like here on Virginia's appendix. USPS will not deliver on a dirt road, our mailbox has to be on the nearest paved road, which isn't too bad as we are the first house actually on Wayne Ct. (the two on the corner have Seaside Rd addresses). What this means is Smart Post/Sure Post takes at least an extra day and costs me gas to drive into "downtown Exmore" to pick up anything that doesn't fit in the mailbox. I put a large metal locking one out there. The other quirk, they only deliver to the West side of Seaside Rd for mailboxes. The two houses on the corner have to walk across the highway to get their mail.