PDA

View Full Version : Picking up 3.0/5-speed Shadow



Directconnection
09-11-2008, 12:17 AM
Might be picking up a decent condition 3.0/5speed '93 Shadow from my friend's salvage yard.

144k and in pretty good running shape! Engine sounds nice and smooth, and the shifter works flawlessly. Suspension is pretty much tight and the brakes are good. What gives? Engine smokes blue when revved.

What have you guys done to cure oil burning (rings)? Lucas oil treatment work in conjunction with 20-50?

This is the 1st 5-speed 3.0 Shadow I have driven and I must say.... it feels quicker than I thought it would be. But, it can't hold a candle to a stock T-IV in performance. I'd say it's right on par with a stock T-I.

Oh, this car does have a K+N and a muffler of sorts....

Frank
09-11-2008, 08:08 AM
They are great car. It is probably valve seals. They are common for valve seals and for cam cap leaks.

BIGBRUDDA
09-11-2008, 08:41 AM
+1 on the seals leaking. Replacement only takes an afternoon.
The cars handle well (quick steering). And the alleged" P.O.S. "mitsu V6, will grunt all day long. Good power 2k-4k RPM. Don't bother twistin it much higher, There's nuttin there. With the proper muffler selection it sounds JAG-ish.
I had 95 ES for about 3 years (Blue/silver, sunroof, pumpers) nice car. I could get 28-29mpg on the highway. Went 15.26 ET mostly stock.:DThe worst wheel hop in the world!!!:banghead: Shook the dash loose, messed up the stereo.
Look for the same chassis ills tho, bushings, rust. Same H.E.P. trouble . Pull an extra while you're at the yard(#2 phillips& 7mm socket).They're $90 at autozone now.:wow1:
Dodge shadowchick has some good 3.0 pieces for sale.:thumb:

Vigo
09-11-2008, 06:22 PM
I'd really like a 3.0 543 car. i just sold a 3.0 96 caravan.. too heavy.

thinking about swapping my 90 van to 3.0/543. I already have most of the parts for a turbo 2.5 swap, but i may confine myself to my other 3 cars with the 4's and go for the 3.0 in that one.. just need a 543. hard to find even in the yards down here.

3.0s are great motors but most people don't know crap about modding them. talk to 3.0 owners for advice on that.. people who's only knowledge about 3.0s is blind avoidance tend to give a lot more advice than they're qualified to, for some reason.

Ondonti got his full-weight spirit to run high 14's n/a, and he has a 10 second turbo 3.0 shadow in 12 second shadow's clothing.. . 93sundance got his 2-dr pbody to do 14.2 n/a, but it was pretty drastically lightened. i think he was still on stock cams and exhaust manifolds, tho.. lot of room for improvement left on that setup but its gone now.

start with a 52mm tb and an intake, and advance the timing. 50-100 bucks for 10hp, not too bad.

Ondonti
09-11-2008, 10:22 PM
If all you care about is the smoke. Try 20-50 and 40% or so lucas. I dont think its a good idea. I was running that in my duster but I dont like that kind of bandaid. That was a rings problem. Fixing it aint free :(

What year is the car? probably just needs valve guide seals even though 92+ 3.0's dont have have severe smoking problems. The real issue is that the pre 92 3.0's drop valve guides because they need a clip that was added 92+ Some 92 cars smoke though because I think chrysler didnt figure it out till halfway through the year.

If its rings, then you either gotta do the bandaid or fix it or live with it or dump it.

I wont get into the people ignorantly talking about what RPM's the motor likes since this is probably just a daily driver for you.

Throw a 52mm TB on and ditch the whole intake box etc and just drive it to work etc. Those two mods are almost free, give better gas mileage, and cut more then half a second off the 1/4 times. (usually about .6 faster on otherwise stock vehicles).

black86glhs
09-11-2008, 11:40 PM
Nice find. The 3.0's are easy to work on, IMHO. Even if it needs rings, still worth it.:thumb:
My "S" does the same thing. Drive it until you you are tired of adding oil.

j4278h
09-11-2008, 11:54 PM
i love the 3.0/5 speed p body cars. They are almost bullet proof and can be made pretty peppy. My shadow with a 52mm tb, modified air intake and a set of sticky tires got me some 14.6.

Not too bad for a free car.

WickedShelby88
09-12-2008, 01:59 PM
+111111111111 Those things are sweet. A friend of mine picked up a mint black duster with the V6 5 speed and he was smoking most any car in its class. He sold it though like everything he has as being a dealer. That was one of the nicest feeling cars I had been in in a long time too. My dads DD is a g body with the same combo and hes gotten 34 on the hwy before. The valve guide seals most definitely on the oil smoke. Heard a guy mention that as well the other day who is neighbor to one of our forum members. Hes got an 90 caravan with the 3.0. My van still smokes just mainly when warm and sitting idle and a little bit when taking off. At 259k I'm not gonna waste my time taking it apart.

black86glhs
09-12-2008, 02:37 PM
Everybody over looks the the front valve cover. I have drilled extra drain holes and cleaned out the baffle on them many times. It may not completely eliminate it, but it sure cleans it up.

jory
09-12-2008, 11:21 PM
i love the 3.0. nice low end torque so it makes a great DD. LW flywheel makes a great difference. Diamante flat-top 10:1 pistons and cams give it a nice power increase, same with the 52mm TB, 2.5" exhaust, ported intake etc. I've done it all to my old Spirit, got a 14.9 out of it and 32 mpg!

dodgeshadowchik
09-13-2008, 08:39 AM
hahaha! yea i have a ton of 3.0L stuff for sale....

the 3.0L/5-speed combo is quite fun, i must say! they love to smoke the tires, too. LOL! have fun!

93sundance
09-13-2008, 03:47 PM
Nice find. I really really miss my 3.0 5 speed P body.

135sohc
09-13-2008, 10:53 PM
years ago my older sister had a 3.0 5speed ES 2dr. great car

she sold it when she got a focus :yuck:

Vigo
09-14-2008, 02:05 PM
^OOPS! lol

CSX321
10-26-2008, 05:46 PM
(Waking this up after a few weeks...)

How hard is it to replace the water pump in the 3.0L? My '98 van is leaking. :(

Ondonti
10-26-2008, 10:16 PM
Its probably the O ring on the water pipe that leads to the Pump. Is it filling between the heads under the intake manifold?

Take off the lower intake manifold and put a new O ring in there while remembering to clean off the surfaces (maybe polish them if you can). The surfaces get nasty.

Use a little bit of hand soap on the O ring and mating surface so they slide together without tearing the O ring.

Water pump change means you should change the timing belt too.

The only bad part about 3.0 timing belt is the A/C bracket. Its horrible. I modified mine by cutting off one corner so I could remove the motor mount braket and covers without removing the a/c. The corner i retained and use it as a "spacer" to pretend the braket still extends to there.

That will make any future repairs cake!!!

I didnt even remove the bracket, I just cut it up while installed to the motor. Woot for 4.5" angle grinders :D

CSX321
10-27-2008, 11:25 AM
I haven't taken a close look at it yet, but it's dripping from somewhere on the passenger's side. Does that tell me anything?

Vigo
10-27-2008, 12:04 PM
nope, not until you get closer.. If you have to remove the water pump you're in for a pita on a 98 van.. the motor mount bracket is pretty tight to get out. way tighter than the old-style vans imo. the timing belt itself is super easy once you get in there. make sure you put the new oring brent mentioned on the pipe before you put the thing back together or you're setting yourself up for frustration.

Ondonti
10-28-2008, 06:44 AM
I use shorter then stock bolts on those brackets to speed up things lol. Stupid Chrysler.

Aries_Turbo
11-01-2008, 08:50 AM
i just got my 3.0L 5-speed k car back. :)

i traded it for a spirit R/T cause my buddy needed a more reliable car and i wanted the R/T. i missed the car bad enough that when he got a neon and was getting rid of all his other cars (doesnt wanna deal with multi car maintenance) i traded back. :)

Brian

Vigo
11-03-2008, 12:16 PM
haha sweet. get with the mods! that thing hasnt run a good representative time yet... :)

Aries_Turbo
11-03-2008, 01:33 PM
yeah I know. ill take it to the track in the spring.

i got a 90 cal too that has been partially defined. enough that i can up the rev limiter and tweak the pumping efficiency table to match the exhaust/intake mods. i know rob did some work with the 89 so i might go to the yard and get a 89 3.0L wiring harness.

Brian

Vigo
11-03-2008, 01:41 PM
i got a 90 cal too that has been partially defined. enough that i can up the rev limiter and tweak the pumping efficiency table to match the exhaust/intake mods. i know rob did some work with the 89 so i might go to the yard and get a 89 3.0L wiring harness.

SWEET!

I dont know what year harness brent is using but he needs to up the limiter like nobody's business.

I myself was thinking of stealing my cousins dormant 3.0 car and seeing if i could learn me some cal knowledge messing with that thing..

But by the time i get there you'll have figured out most of what i'd care about :hail:

Ondonti
11-04-2008, 06:12 AM
I use 92-95 sbec II

Not much work on that.
3.0's really hate the stock cal after you mod them. On the wideband they get fat in the 4000-5000 range then lean out massively. Because of that, adding fuel doesn't make you faster, it just trades middle for top end cause you flood the middle to maximize the top and vice versa.

I wish the code was more defined cause I would like to mod my daily driver too. I dont really want aftermarket EMS in a car I need to rely on.

A lean burning 3.0 daily would be pretty cool!

jory
11-04-2008, 04:09 PM
I wish the code for 92+ was cracked. My 10:1 motor would have loved more fuel and an extra 300 rpms up top. And a nice lean cruise too. Though it didn't run half bad on the stock 93 Duster 5-speed computer.