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Is the 4spd auto in a PT GT any good? Has anyone swapped this combo into a TD? I found a very nice 1990 Imperial, but having owned one before I'm less than thrilled with the 3.3L. I've found several complete PT GT cruisers local to me for under $2000 that could make great swap candidates. Thoughts, input?
I found a wrecked 2005 PT GT, is there any year that is better than another when it comes to the engines or transmissions or electronics?
I think anything you might need to know about the durability of the trans is more likely to be found in PT circles than here. There was a neon guy who ran 10s on a stock-internals 604 with an aftermarket controller. There was a guy here with a turbo 2.4 Sebring who only blew up his 604 when he accidentally went into 4th. 4th cannot handle any real torque at all and must be avoided any time you are in boost.
In my opinion it's a durable trans assuming you don't mind the shift quality and don't plan to boost in 4th.
Also, i think you can find a problem-ridden turbo PT for WAY less than 2k.
I'm hoping the 05 GT vert I'm watching on copart goes cheap. If I can pick it up for around $800 I will be happy and move forward with the project. So the 05 PT GT is still using a A604. I kind of figured Mopar would have come up with something new by then. I guess if something isn't broke don't fix it.
The 4 speed was used in everything until the ZF9hp came along. Hard part wise the 4spd is strong, chrysler used a modified version called the 42RLE in lighter duty RWD applications. As said the programming is what kills it.
Yeah, I had a Magnum with a 'rwd 604' and they also put it in some pretty heavy trucks. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ultradrive#42RLE
There was a 604 with a built in 'gear splitter' which was the 6spd 62te. It would be neat to be able to figure out a way to swap that back into the older stuff.
Ben, what are you planning to do to control the engine and transmission? Are you planning on using everything from the PT GT? Or are you planning on using a 90 SBEC? I've heard that the 89 A604 transmission controller is is pretty much stand alone.
As far as the A604, most of the issues were fixed by 2000. My brother worked on vans with 300k+ miles on them without any transmission issues. They are still using it in the base model Journey's.
As far as PT Cruisers go, the no GT turbo engines are the exact same as the GT's and SRT4's. I have an 05 PT Turbo engine in my New Yorker.
I am curious what your issue with the 3.3L is. Power should be solvable.Quote:
Originally Posted by TopDollar69
I was planning on using everything from the 05 GT. Of course I have little to no knowledge about it, but I figure if I have the whole car it should be possible.
I've owned a 90 Imperial 3.3L and a 93 Imperial 3.8L and let me tell you the 93 was a decent car where the 90 was slow. Now I could do a 3.8L swap, but honestly I would rather do a turbo swap and I think the 2.4L has more potential than a 2.5L 8V. I want something different, and this seems like it could fit the bill. I would also like to point out that good 2.5L turbo donor cars are getting hard to find, where there seems to be an abundance of wrecked GT cruisers at the auction.
I believe that there is a build thread on here where someone put everything from an SRT4 into a T&C Wagon. In order to use the factory PCM I believe you need to use the steering column, all wiring, and emissions hardware so that it doesn't have a check engine light.
Here is the build thread for that T&C Wagon.
http://www.turbododge.com/forums/f11...y-srt-4-a.html
You do not necessarily need the steering column to make it work. You can take the SKIM tone ring, and zip tie the key to it. I now own that wagon in the build thread. You can swap in all the hardware to avoid a check engine light, but realistically it's not necessary. I can usually live with a check engine light.Quote:
Originally Posted by 1986GLH
If it was me though, I would have a manual transmission setup flashed onto the computer, use a neon/SRT gauge cluster (they fit well in the old dashes) and one of the older manual transmissions.
That is good to know. I've thought about upgrading 2.4 powered New Yorker to SRT4 or PT Turbo wiring.
I have a friend that has a DRBIII and I believe has the ability to remove the SKIM lockout feature. As long as the PCM doesn't see a SKIM signal, it wont know to look for one. He runs a service advertised on facebook.
Also, the 1gn neon automatics will bolt up to a 2.4 without an issue, so there is that as an intermediate idea. The 3 speeds can be made stronger than the 4 speed autos and still have lockup functionality.