1987 Chrysler Lebaron GTS

[dieseldodge01]

About a month ago I bought a 1987 Chrysler Lebaron GTS with a 2.2l turbo, 5-speed, digital dash, leather interior, p/w, p/l, overhead display, a/c and the ultimate sound system. For years I had been looking for either a 87 New Yorker or a K Car with a digital dash. I have great memories of my mom's New Yorker that was bought new in 1988. It was a non turbo New Yorker and was a great car. It was later traded in for a 1994 Chrysler Concorde. I bought the GTS because it has the digital dash but also because it has a 5-speed in it. There is only on spot of rust on the car, it was garaged during the winter. It could have been worse as it came from Chicago and salt can be a car killer. The car has around 95,000 miles and drives excellent. It does have a few small problems, rear electric door locks need some work and the driver front and rear windows need new regulator tape. This car will be my show car as my local CDJR dealer has a MOPAR or no car show so it will go there and mostly driven on nice days.

[govvo]

Got a picture of your car? Sounds pretty awesome

[carguyray]

GREAT FIND!

As a long time Mopar/K-car collector and lover I've wanted a GTS for a LONG time. Back in '84 I bought a Buick Regal T-Type w/T tops and all the toys and all my friends LOVED that Buick... Then I drove the LeBaron GTS Level 3 handling w/all the toys JUST like you've got and I was ready to trade in my Regal T-Type that day! Sadly they wouldn't give me anywhere NEAR what I owed on it so I had to keep the Regal, but always wanted a GTS.

Today I have almost that same car in an 86, but no 5 Speed... I've tried a few times to buy one w/the 5 speed but never seem to have the $ when the cars are there. You'll love driving the stick a LOT more... these cars REALLY need that 5th gear. The auto barely gets 25 on the highway 'cause the 3 speed rev's too high and always feels like you're driving in too low of a gear. I bought the car back in like 2009 or so, and STILL look for a 5speed!

What color is yours? Do the buttons on the 'trip computer' still work? Mine have all turned to mush!

A suggestion I have , if the car has 95K have the head gasket changed now BEFORE it blows (unless you can confirm without a doubt that it's been done in the last 10K or so. These 2.2 Turbo's ALWAYS blow a HG between 95-110K and if you can catch it BEFORE it goes bad it's a nice easy fix (relatively) and not too pricy, but don't rely on the "I'll get to it..." to be favorable on your side with time. I tried that once before and it cost me a lot of $ for my procrastinating. Also BE SURE to do Ed Garrin's "thermostat drill" fix on the car... it's EXTREMELY important.

My 86 has actually been the "worst" of all the car's I've bought in the last 4 or so years. I got it for $100.00 w/a blown HG and when that was fixed I was only into it for $600 so I thought I was golden. To date (most of it in the first year I had it) I'm now up to $2600.00 and every time something goes wrong it's the "I can't get the $ I need to sell it, I want the car, and I may as well just keep going down the rabbit hole". I hope you're far luckier in that respect. I've actually come out so well in so many other cars I can't complain (and I'm not).

I'd love to see some pix, and if you have any questions please feel free to ask. You can Email me at carguyray@yahoo.com with pix and questions if you'd like, but It's so cool to see another GTS on here (where they're not really K-cars, but close enough IMO... I'm not sure about Guy's opinion)

[1987dodgearies]

"Also BE SURE to do Ed Garrin's "thermostat drill" fix on the car... it's EXTREMELY important."

I don't want to get off topic but I'm not so sure about that thermostat drill fix procedure. I did it on my 87 Aries 2.2L engine and it seemed to not be much of a cure. I think bleeding the air box is a better route.

In my case, I have a slight head gasket leak from an incident last fall, where my radiator broke at the crimp and by the time I could get off the highway, it over heated...less then 5 minutes. Anyway.... I can see light bubbles in my radiator. I loose about 1/2 gallon of antifreeze about every 10 days.

I drilled my thermostat as suggested to better bleed the coolant system (after a radiator swap) and wasn't happy with the results. After drilling that little hole in the 12 o'clock position, I ended up driving with practically no heat what so ever last winter.
I went back to no hole and instantly had good heat again. I bled my air box like your supposed to and although it isn't great (because I keep getting air from the head gasket leak in there) it seems better then the constant bleed hole.
My 2.2 hasn't overheated since I replaced the radiator, although when I first run my car it will take the temp gauge all the way up to almost in the red. At that point the thermostat opens and I'm 1/3- 1/2 way on the gauge. I'm just not sold on having a hole which constantly lets water pass the thermostat.