1989 Voyager 2.5T Automatic - "Vanna"

[motomick76]

Hello fellow TM enthusiasts. In June I got struck a second time in one year with Turbo fever. Found "Vanna", a '89 Turbo Voyager Auto, one owner, 190K in Denver. Kind of unusual, it has the rallye dash, but manual windows/locks. It spent its life as "Gpa's" van. Gifted to Grandson and he did not have ability to keep it on the road. He knew it had some value to TM enthusiasts, and I just happened to be first in line.

Overall, the body is in great shape, a few dings in sliding door, and one rust spot at passenger rear wheel well. The rest of her, needs alot of help, especially needed a deep clean. The engine bay has never been cleaned, and there were layers of oil and grease. Interior is in good shape, just very dirty. Seems someone used the interior for a machine shop, there were layers of oil and metal dust everywhere. Headliner gives you a new hairstyle when you go for a drive.

Mechanically, not so hot. The brakes go to the floor, it wants to switch lanes when it hits a bump in the road. The power was pretty flat, but mileage was good on trip home, 21-22 mpg.

Originally I picked it up as I wanted to do a full 2.5 transplant to "Reba", my '84 Rampage. On the drive home, I had a change of heart, "Vanna' was too good to tear down, she still had some life to give.

http://www.turbo-mopar.com/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=66053&stc=1 http://www.turbo-mopar.com/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=66054&stc=1 http://www.turbo-mopar.com/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=66055&stc=1

[motomick76]

When I picked up 'Vanna', there was not much time to do a thorough inspection, as still had a 7hr drive back home. One item that was mentioned was there was only one strut for the rear hatch, and new struts would need to be installed. The next day, when I started taking inventory of repairs needed, and priority, I saw this:

http://www.turbo-mopar.com/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=66056&stc=1

Awesome right?! :clap: Yea, I am assuming the nutsert cut loose on inside, and did not have tools to properly get bolt out. So fabrication began to repair the hole, and install a new nutsert.

http://www.turbo-mopar.com/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=66057&stc=1

And here it is, finished up and painted. Almost cannot tell there was an issue. The metal was very thin, hard to weld. I was using .25 wire, and still burning right through. Now I hit the liftgate button, and liftgate works great!

http://www.turbo-mopar.com/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=66058&stc=1

[motomick76]

With the hatch back together, it was on to the next major issue. It would not rev past 4500 at WOT, I call it surging.


https://youtu.be/-KSPSO_bLkI

So I went through and verified the following items:


Ignition timing - tested and verified at 12 degrees with timing light
Fuel pressure - 50lbs idle, 55 when revved up
Cam timing - verified at 0 on crank mark and cam sprocket at hole
Installed new cap/rotor/wires/plugs - plugs gapped at .30
Vacuum - 14-15 at idle
Fresh motor oil / fresh air filter
All intake duct/tubing is free from any debris/clogs
Checked air intake duct after turbo, no deposits of carbon/oil, assume seals are good on the turbo
Coolant was just flushed, nothing abnormal with coolant, no pressure in the system from cylinders
Compression test yielded 100-110 on all 4 cylinders
Cat in not clogged / verified by taking apart exhaust
PCV valve properly works
'deadhead' the pump - 85psi.
Checked the MAP sensor, and it is good, calibration is good - .83V @ 15-16 and as I revved engine it instantly responded.

After all of this, it did not resolve the problem. It was not until I measured the MAP output voltage when it was surging did the problem reveal itself. I ran two wires to the interior, one wire for ground, and other for output MAP voltage. Upon testing, it would rev, and around 4500, about 3.5 to 3.7V, it would drop to ZERO volts, then jump back up, then back to ZERO. Then the engine fell flat, loosing rpm. It was a faulty MAP sensor. :banghead:

I installed a new MAP, and Vanna ran like a top, 7-8 psi, great rev out.

[motomick76]

I made the above repairs back in June, but this weekend Vanna started missing at idle, and the vac varied between 12-16, which it used to be 16 spot on.

Pulled park plugs, they looked good, so I did a quick compression check.

#1 cylinder - 30psi
#2 cylinder - 90psi
#3 cylinder - 90psi
#4 cylinder - 90psi


I knew the cylinders were a bit weak on compression. So I did not want to waste much time, I pulled the head. It appears Grandpa did one thing right, give Vanna regular oil changes. It really showed on the inside, with 190,000 miles.

Here is the head, there is virtually no carbon buildup anywhere. Intake and exhaust valves are clean.

https://i.imgur.com/VljPL7U.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/BZXJ99p.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/uF3bRGK.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/4GhviMZ.jpg

[motomick76]

Here are the pistons:

https://i.imgur.com/cUL6wdK.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/UiC5Unw.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/XQrdYTc.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/4QUmPmi.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/r33dq2o.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/s64ikHf.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/0wkKet3.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/ViQyggF.jpg

[motomick76]

Cylinder is very clean, no ridge and still see the crosshatches.

https://i.imgur.com/m3K0F5Z.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/twwJfBC.jpg

Headgasket:

https://i.imgur.com/RZ21lcR.jpg

Mitsu:

https://i.imgur.com/qA5knvk.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/IEkVFLy.jpg

[135sohc]

Good find.

Minivans live a hard life and when those were new no one thought anything different of them. Just don't see anymore of them on the road anymore locally. Even the 2nd gen units are practically extinct in the wild now.

[4 l-bodies]

Mike, Be careful when running a ball hone through the cylinders with the crank still in place. That is a recipe for adding to the taper that the cylinders surely have after 190K miles. Less is better in this case. If your purchasing a ball hone, buy one with the finest grit one you can find 320 grit or so. That will work fine with moly coated rings. DW-40 will work in a pinch if you don't have honing oil. Clean cylinders with WD-40 and keep cleaning until paper towels remain perfectly white/yellow.
Todd

[motomick76]

Had time to closely inspect the pistons, and #1 is not so good.....

https://i.imgur.com/rnN3gHY.jpg