I'm looking at buying a '91 Spirit R/T - what do I look for and what do I ask about?
State even the obvious in order to get as complete a list as possible (may be helpful for newbies in the future).
I'm looking at buying a '91 Spirit R/T - what do I look for and what do I ask about?
State even the obvious in order to get as complete a list as possible (may be helpful for newbies in the future).
Head... Check for cracks around the coolant plugs near the spark plugs. They are steel in an aluminum head.. They need to be questioned
Ken Adler....
Cars, A few (9)
look for coolant spray around the rear drivers side corner of head
It seems the center core plug hole cracks towards the #3 spark plug. It may look wet with coolant without any evidence of a crack. I found it by spraying the area out with brake cleaner and drying it out with compressed air. The coolant spray problem may not be bad, as long as they didn't overheat it. But it will need either a Cometic HG, or weld it up and use a regular HG. And if you find alot of white residue in the radiator, or overflow bottle, the exhaust ports are probably very corroded from no one changing the coolant for a long time. I would say to pull the VC's and check the cams for missing pieces on the lobes, but it depends if you want to go that far. Other then that, I would just see if the car has been maintained or not.
if you are serious about one. I will consider selling mine, if the price is right...
I'll even throw in a 86 SC project that needs the interior put back in and 90% t2 conversion done and some sc doors, hood, hatch...
cmon, lets make a deal wife said I cant get an EVO till i sell some of my cars.
Besides the cracked cylinder head mentioned above there are a lot of other little things to look for.
On the body look for rust on the trunklid behind the tail-lights, this is a common rust area. Also look for rust on the bottoms of the doors and on the rocker panels, both are also common if the car has been in a northern climate all it's life. The headlights sometimes get moisture or water in them, they can be re-sealed, or replaced easily enough. Cracked grills are also common.
The interiors hold up pretty well so nothing major to worry about there, the armrest between the front seats get's broken on a lot of them, but replacements aren't too hard to find.
Underhood, first off pull the snorkel going to the airbox, most likely it's cracked in a few places, good ones are nearly impossibe to find. Not a big deal to most people, but if you plan on buying a show car it might be. After taking off the snorkel pull the plastic cover over the plug wires and inspect the cylinder head as is described above. Coolant in this area is usually due to cracked head, oil in this area is usually due to a valve cover leak. Last I checked valve cover gaskets were still available new for about $50/pr. After checking the head out, put everything back together and start the engine. It should run smooth and quiet. If it ticks loudly there is a good chance it's got a bad lash adjuster or two. It can cost a couple hundred dollars to replace the lash adjusters, so if it needs them keep this in mind.
Things to ask the seller would be the age of the timing belt, and if the oil pump/intermediate shaft has even been replaced. These are common TIII failures.
Back to the engine compartment I would take a look at the power steering pump and make sure it's not leaking or making noise, replacements are available but not as easy to come by as the 8 valve cars. The A/C compressors are also unique to the R/T's so checking that out is recommended. Lately finding a new radiator for an R/T has been challenging so take the time to look the radiator over for signs of leakage or rot on the bottom. The stock shifter bushings usually go bad and result in a sloppy shift linkage, so if the shifter feels loose most likely a $25 set of bushings will solve the problem.
That's about all I can think of at the moment, I've had 6 Spirit R/T's and the above is based upon what I've learned from them.
Dave Tekampe
Director SDAC National
VP SDAC-Chicago
85 GLH-Turbo (DC intercooled)
86 GLHS #107
87 GLHS #148
87 CSX #161, #608, #674
88 CSX-T #529, #541
89 Shadow Competition Package and lots more...
Wow Great list of information guys.
Made this thread a sticky for now, will probably add this information to the Knowledge center eventually.
Dave Tekampe
Director SDAC National
VP SDAC-Chicago
85 GLH-Turbo (DC intercooled)
86 GLHS #107
87 GLHS #148
87 CSX #161, #608, #674
88 CSX-T #529, #541
89 Shadow Competition Package and lots more...
IIRC, the difference between the 8v and 16v power steering pump is the reservoir. Keep your 16v resevoir and swap it on to an 8v pump.
Another thing, that nightmare of a vacuum harness can cause a LOT of drivability problems and boost leaks. Easy to fix, but can be used as leverage when haggling on price.
I have been looking for a thread like this since I joined a day or 2 ago. The head issue is the only thing that I have found that seems to be a serious issue, and from what I read, Lone Wolf(???) I believe, is very experienced in fixing this issue. I may be mistaken, I have read a lot since I got here.
Thanks to all that have added their knowledge. I have a month before I can get my car and I did not know the spirit r/t even existed until a week and a half ago, so I am trying to learn as much as possible now
Knock,,Knock..
Is this thread still alive?
If so ..My 91 Spirit R/T still has the steel plugs..I don't really see any evidence of cracking..(did they ALL crack ?)
I tried one time (not real hard) to get them out,,was told my another owner not to bother as they may make it crack trying to remove them,,And if it's be this many years of cycling (hot/cold)
WHAT is every ones opinion on this?
Should I REALLY REALLY try or just leave alone>
THANKS
Any Help Would Be A Help
I would leave them alone... .02
Turbo Joe
----------------------- 87 CSX #175 TIII powered, MegaSquirt3 Pro Ultimate, GTX3076R, Turbo Joe header, Lengel intake, Menegon ported head, the list goes on
The cracking is mostly related to the head being a poor casting. This was identified as an issue as far back as 1987 in an engineering report I have from Chrysler on the Lotus project. They had problems with porosity and material. And when I say "they" I mean Lotus.
The SOHC heads have a huge steel pipe fitting in them for the heater hose, they never crack. The steel plugs in the 16V heads MAY be a contributing factor to cracking but not the main issue.
Gary
Working on clearing the decks.
^ what Gary said and the fact that the center core plug to spark plug area of the head is thinner there than the rest of the valley area. Another thing I have noticed is if the steel plugs get real rusty they seem to expand and cause more stress on that area and crack. I would say its only a matter of time before EVERY one will crack so I have just been welding that center plug solid on every head I have done lately. You can change them it might help but welding it solid is the best bet....
Mine still have the Steel plugs, not touching them unless I have to. **knocks on wood**
I seem to remember at one time thinking that the amount the plugs were torqued into the head may also contribute to possible issues. I have had 3 T3 cars. The only one that cracked had the core plugs screwed DEEP into the head. The two heads that didn't crack still have 3-4 threads of each core plug showing. Jackon, you've probably owned more T3 heads than anyone other than Chrysler, have you ever noticed any sort of trend?
~Tyler Larsen~Salt Lake City~
-92 Daytona R/T (T3/T4 Hybrid, Quaife, etc...)
-86 Jeep Grand Wagoneer Woody (winter beast)
-01 Audi TT Quattro (daily driver)
-71 Plymouth Cuda 440-6pk tribute
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