Everything has failed on the car, except the engine. HELP.

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Everything has failed on the car, except the engine. HELP.

Postby 89ARIES » Tue Feb 07, 2012 8:32 pm

Transmission leaking now at almost 200,000 miles.
Goodyear told me the siren noise is a bad transmission bearing. Is my tranny now screwed? It still shifts fine. Original.
Leaking power steering fluid.
Leaking engine motor oil now excessively both at the oil pan and the valve cover. I lost half a quart in just 300 miles. It doesn't lose any for the first 1,500 miles.
Left front end tie rod has separated. Car now has excessive play on the freeway and a thump thump thump under the wheels. Only the steering works fine.
Rear stabalizar bar snapped in two for the last three years.
Some dumbass moron put three engine accesory belts on the wrong way, and one has seperated.
They said they flushed my tranny a year ago, and I see brown oil leaking out of the bottom of it.
Gas is getting forced through the throttle body into the air filter, gas is escaping somewhere, poor gas mileage, won't start easily anymore.
Wheel bearings are shot.

This all f""kin sucks. I did the damned oil changes, and everything that could go wrong, has.

People are telling me to buy the $3500 87 TC Wagon, and get rid of this car. The engine seems solid, so I wonder.

I don't know where to start. Where to get the items I need.
1.OIl Pan
2. A valve cover that doesn't leak oil and make a grimy oily mess.
3.Etc Etc Etc.

K-Cars are too flimsy. Suspension shouldn't just fall apart.
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Re: Everything has failed on the car, except the engine. HEL

Postby K-CAR_WAGON » Tue Feb 07, 2012 10:02 pm

A seperated tie rod, leaking fuel, a bad transmision bearing and bad wheel bearings are all serious defects that should be repaired if you want to keep using the car. Financially, it probably does not make sense to fix the car. You would be better off to buy a low mileage car that has been garaged its whole life. Small oil leaks are a nusiance but not a safety issue.

Most of your fails are just normal maintenance items. 200K for a transmission is doing pretty good.

$3500 is not that cheap for an 87 Wagon. In addition if you get a Town & Country with the fake wood and leave it outside it will degrade quickly.
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Re: Everything has failed on the car, except the engine. HEL

Postby capev86 » Tue Feb 07, 2012 10:25 pm

ummm.......a car more than 20 years old with almost 200,000 miles and you wonder why things wear out? my 97 merc sable wagon has 218k on the clock and my dad's 97 camry has even more....they are in the same boat. my dad just put a ton of money into his camry to keep it going to save miles on his '01 taurus wagon.

wheel bearings need to be serviced/repacked regularly.

only bar on the back is the panhard bar (track bar) that keeps the beam axle aligned. a stabilizer bar is a sway bar i would think, not a track bar, that cheap stamped steel u channel is very flimsy and often fails on performance models. a cheap fix is to weld it closed to increase torsional rigidity or get an aftermarket unit from one of the vendors (polybushings.com?). i got a nice adjustable unit from http://www.csracer.com/ a few years ago and plan to install it when i start putting my K wagon back together.

i am also replacing all the wear items on the car with new (bearings, tie-rods, etc) and the chassis will be fortified with poly bushings throughout, big front sway bar and matching rear axle, braided stainless brake hoses, as well as running all synthetic fluids (original condition trans in my 97 merc as result of a synthetic flush). sounds like the shop you used jibbed you if the fluid is brown already. fluid in my merc is still red after 90k miles since the flush.

as for the valve cover/gasket. 1989 and newer turbo cars used a one piece gasket valve cover. they adopted this design for the tbi cars in the 90's. i think it was a recall-only item or just used the last couple years. it didn't have the "chrysler-"script, was painted black and had a screw in cap. i picked one up a awhile back when i was planning to stay 2.5tbi in my wagon instead of switching to 2.5 turbo-intercooled. nice aluminum upgrade over the rusty old stamped steel unit that most naturally aspirated engines got (and a nice stealth look for a turbo car also).

as for the rest, roll up your sleeves and get to work or get a new car. the only tough things to come by for these cars are body related (like new door gaskets, trim, etc). the chassis and drive train is shared with all the K spin offs so parts are still available if you know what goes with what. or you could upgrade the mechanicals to the better stuff from the early 90's cars.
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Re: Everything has failed on the car, except the engine. HEL

Postby K-CAR_WAGON » Tue Feb 07, 2012 10:36 pm

With some of the newer trans. fluids you can no longer tell by color and brown is ok. Front wheel bearings need to eventually be replaced on most any front wheel drive car with sealed bearings; rear wheel bearing need to be cleaned and repacked ocassionaly; tie rods eventually wear out. The rear panharrd bar is a common failure - go to Polybushing for an improved replacement or you can still buy an original style replacement or pick one off a good junk.
http://polybushings.com/pages/1095.html
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Re: Everything has failed on the car, except the engine. HEL

Postby K-CAR_WAGON » Tue Feb 07, 2012 11:29 pm

89ARIES wrote:People are telling me to buy the $3500 87 TC Wagon, and get rid of this car.


I think the current asking price on this slightly modified 87 Wagon is now $4500. You could push it a little harder than your 89 Aries.

http://jalopnik.com/5836788/for-6500-th ... -special-k
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Re: Everything has failed on the car, except the engine. HEL

Postby Dodge Aries K » Thu Feb 09, 2012 4:48 pm

K car suspension is NOT flimsy.I had a beater 87 Reliant LE wagon that we drove through every field, off of every snow mound, and through ditches all the time. RALLYE RELIANT! The ONLY reason we had to put it down was because the rust in the floor was so great the whole floor pan was dropping out of the car... not because of any suspension or mechanical failure. I was really sad to see it go... probably the most fun car I've ever had hahaha.

ANy mechanical or suspension stuff can be found at www.rockauto.com for a good price. If your transaxle is original, it's time for a rebuild. 200K is a lot for any transmission, especially one that's probably been neglected in the past (does anyone change the trans fluid and filter ever?) and used for city driving. If you decide to get out of the car, let me know before you send it to the junkyard, I'll try to figure out a way to come get it and fix it hahaha. Rust free doesn't exist up here! :x
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Re: Everything has failed on the car, except the engine. HEL

Postby Dodge Aries K » Thu Feb 09, 2012 4:49 pm

Oh yeah, take the air box off and have someone start your car. If you see gas shooting up everywhere your fuel pressure regulator is probably the culprit. Happened to my 89 Aries I used to have. New regulator, 10 minutes, all better.
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Re: Everything has failed on the car, except the engine. HEL

Postby thenewportblues » Fri Feb 10, 2012 3:56 am

Just a thought but for 3,500-4,500 you could totally rebuild the tranny and fix the leaks :) My K-car has a busted sunroof and is leaking. No one promised owning an older car would be easy. Best wishes, Jeff
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Re: Everything has failed on the car, except the engine. HEL

Postby 88 aries » Fri Feb 10, 2012 6:36 am

It must suck when your not a mechanic... but take the factor of how you treated the car, ignoring the problems that kept on and on ..200,000 miles and 20 some years old, things are bound to go wrong.. I think it might be time for a new car for you guy...no mechanic ability is not a good thing when you got a K-car..let alone any old car..Put it this way the old car hobby is for guy's who love to work on their own vehicles. Your oil leak is probably the main seal and the transmission ya..time for a rebuild like karl said. But in all honesty I think its time to let the car go. the repairs are going to be worth more than the whole car alone is. And no I do not think you would want a town and country wagon as they are worth even more money and yet sitting outside it would be trashed.. The one reason why our 86 Reliant lasted until 375,000 miles is because she had good care, oil changes, K frame replaced (original broke) she might have been rusty but it still ran DAMN GOOD! no oil leaks no oil burning. For your freeway cannonball runs id find a six cylinder car or an eight. Maybe find a spirit or something..

but all in all I think its time to retire the K-car..
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Re: Everything has failed on the car, except the engine. HEL

Postby K-CAR_WAGON » Fri Feb 10, 2012 3:24 pm

Having to put 1/2 quart of oil in after 1800 miles is not too bad. If you have to put a 1/2 quart in for each and every 300 miles thats high. I suspect your oil leaks are just gasket issues (especially the valve cover). It might be the rear the main seal as 88aries suggested, but when I had troubles with a rear main seal on a 2.5 liter engine it was really evident that the leak was coming from the rear main seal.

If you can't live with the transmission as is, I would scrap the car and find something else. It probably not worth the cost that you would have to pay someone to do a transmission, rebuid, remove and replace. (About 2K)
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