95 Chrysler Cirrus

[DreadyDiggs]

Hello all. Now that the trucks done as far as reliability I now have to fix and sell my grandma's 95 Chrysler Cirrus.

217,512 miles.

Problems

-HARD time starting, but will start and run (I drove it 30 minutes non-stop today).
-Automatic Transaxle sometimes will not shift out of first gear. Sometimes it will function normally.

Fuel pump primes at Key On, and runs while Engine On. Last guys that worked on it ended up doing near $1000 worth of work and didn't fix it. Took it to the dealer and they sold her a car.

Previous work done to it was Plugs & Wires (not sure if they reused upper intake gasket or not), Valve Cover Gasket, Water Pump, Timing Belt (if I remember right), two tires.

Not much dealing with starting, but yea that's what was done. If you got any pointers I'll add them to the list haha. Thanks.

[zuprax85]

how much money are you expecting? lol take it to the junkyard and grab the $300 for it.

[DreadyDiggs]

Plan is to actually sell it (cheap) to my aunt's husband. He'll give grandma a lil bit for it and drive it to work and use his Denali for hauling his fishing boat instead of as his DD haha.

But yea, I don't know how much life this car has in it but it can at least start and shift fine while it's on it's way out haha.

[zuprax85]

lol, i will not give a car in that condition to any family member, damn dude and he has a Denali and a boat?:ugh:

[tiksman]

If it is a v-6 the distributor is the most common failure.

[DreadyDiggs]

I'll give him whatever he wants. All he'll get is a warning, I definitely think he should just get him his Fox Body like he wants haha.

He bought the boat off my uncle. We ain't rich out here don't get it twisted haha.

I enjoyed driving this car across the James River Bridge. 4K RPMs going 45 mph :(

YES it is a V6. I'll check that out tomorrow. Added to list and moved to top :)

[CarFreek]

Trannys Shift Solenoid assembly could be leaking past gasket-common failure on A606 POS's. Aftermarket has a fix-it-kit, trade # is 92424. Trans type rarely lasts past 100K, there are serious design issues.

[DreadyDiggs]

Hey guys, update time.

Plenum is off and so is dizzy cap and rotor. Yea, I haven't done much work on FWDs, and I already think they're a damn pain in the ass.

But anyways, cylinders 2 and 5 have like a light blue/white corrision-looking substance in the dizzy cap and on the spark plug wire where both connect.

The plugs tell me (based on diagrams in back of Haynes) that the cylinders are too hot.

-Check correct Plug heat range, over advanced ignition timing, lean fuel mixture, intake manifold vacuum leak, stickin valves, and/or insufficient engine cooling.

So yea, as I said the fuel pump works. Primes, but does not prime a full 2 seconds. No way. So I'd like to check fuel pressure on this thing. The fuel pressure regulator is in the tank, and you have to drop the tank to get to that unit. No back seat fun :(

AllData says I can check two fuses and a decklid ground. I'll be checking those.

[84ptype]

Hard starting as just in cranking a while?

maybe check out the fuel pump/system check valve. Should be back near/in the tank. This prevents backflow (draining the lines) as I am sure you know and would cause a good bit of cranking to get to start. Just went through it with my supra when I upgraded the fuel pump and had to take the pump check valve off (space issue) and install a different, inline one, right outside the gas tank. It went from 10-15 seconds of solid cranking to get to start to about .5-1 second. Made the world of difference.

[DreadyDiggs]

Yea it cranks a good while man. It's sounding more and more like a lack of fuel on starts.

I drove it home (30 minutes) and shut it off for a few minutes and by the time I tried to start it she took way too long to start up again.

I'll be jacking the rear of the car up soon so I can actually get underneath and see what's going on. If worse comes to worse I can drain and drop the tank while I have it here.

[84ptype]

That sounds exactly like what my car did when I didnt have the check valve.
The second the fuel pump stops working all of it drains out of the lines back into the tank, then you have to crank long enough to get the fuel all the way back to the front of the car and enough to actually start it.

[DreadyDiggs]

Okay, well I priced a few things out. With my discount the fuel pump is $162. Without it's upwards of $280....

Anyways, I'm not dropping the tank till I'm sure I gotta. The transaxle is up next. I plan to drop the pan, unless there is a drain plug (can't remember), and do a drain and fill to the correct amount. Tranny is extremely overfull so hopefully this is the cause and nothing else was damaged. Reading about the expansion and the fluid becoming aerated has me thinking nothing's damaged, just needs to be at proper level...I hope.

Drain and fill tranny, and tune up is all that will be done for now. To test the pump out, I'd like to render the pump on constantly. Trying to figure the best way to do this. I guess take out the fuel pump relay, and run a wire from 12volts (that positive jumper cable nut) to the correct terminal for the relay in the fuse block. Wait a second for fuel to get to the engine and see if that works. Battery is in wheel well.

If you see a flaw in my plan tell me. I won't get to mess with the car till maybe Thursday anyways so yea.

[84ptype]

why are you replacing the pump again (sorry didnt go back and read to check it out).
If its just for the check valve dont do that, I just ordered one for summit, works great and was only like 20 or 25.

[SuperSubs]

Crystler products are notorious for tranny ECU issues on the automatics. At the dealership I use to work at, I saw many a caravan, neon, ect come in with tranny ecu communictaion errors. When I worked at autozone I saw it all the time. My parent's Town and Country has had the tranny ecu replaced 3 TIMES under warranty, and the tranny rebuilt once under warranty.

With it being a 95, I doubt it has OBD2. Do you have any CEL? You can cycle the ignition to read any stored codes...

-Mike

[DreadyDiggs]

Check Valve is part of the fuel pump module if I understand correct. I will probably invest in a fuel pressure gauge and see if pressure drops as soon as the fuel pump isn't working.

Either that or just wire the pump directly to 12 volts and wait a couple seconds and start the car. That idea wouldn't cost me anything haha.

And no, I don't have a Check Engine Light on in the car. Haven't seen one at all to my knowledge. I'm hoping the tranny problem is coming from it being overfull.

[84ptype]

Check Valve is part of the fuel pump module if I understand correct. I will probably invest in a fuel pressure gauge and see if pressure drops as soon as the fuel pump isn't working.



I would definitely check that first before buying anything.

If it does drop, I suggest buying this

http://www.summitracing.com/parts/CRT-169-1002/

you will need to go get the brass hose barbs from local hardware/plumbing store.

Then you just install in the supply line as close to the tank as possible, no need to drop the tank or buy an expensive fuel pump.

[DreadyDiggs]

Aight guys, so I'm the proud owner of brand new Compression and fuel pressure/vacuum gauges, so I tested out the Cirrus today.

When you turn the key on and pump primes, it goes up then IMMEDIATELY back down to zero. So yea that's telling me the FPR on the pump is no good OR the car possibly has one or more leaking injectors.

Someone said buy a check valve and install in-line, while I still think the proper solution is to replace the fuel pump module. Afterall, car has 217K on it and I know grandma has never messed with it. And she was not the one to put most of those miles on the car.