well, i just bought another good old full-sized dodge van. i stopped working as a mechanic in 1980 and stuck with systems that i was familiar with. this one is a 1989 with throtle body inj., sensors, computer, etc., you know the mess...I couldn't pass this one up because the interior was the holy grail for van freaks, i mean it was showroom. anyways, it runs super rich and i don't know squat about it. is there anyway the ign. system can be retroed with an old one, and, can i put an 2-barrel carb on it? any help would be appreciated, thanks. :help:
bocephus
08-12-2005, 05:42 PM
The conversion is just as much effort as checking the fuel problem....fuel pressure regulator, map sensor , o2 sensor...you know the ropes.....
Dodgevanman
08-13-2005, 08:08 PM
Well...if you don't have emissions testing in your area, you can trash all the fuel injection stuff and emissions equipment and go with the old reliable Mopar electronic ignition. As far as carburetion goes, those Carter 2bbl. aren't that great...go with an Edelbrock 4bbl. carb and Performer intake.
chigato
08-14-2005, 01:50 AM
I do have emmisions testing here but I've managed to side-step it for the last 14 or so years. Oh, I suppose I'll eventually get caught and be thrown in prison with all the other criminals of the worst sort, you know, ax murderers, serial killers, and people who have 3 or more outstanding parking tickets unpaid. After all, Chicago is the city that works(?). Never mind the tons of pollution spuing from a single jet plane,
(equivalent to over 100,000 failed cars per trip,or more). But thats' not for us mere peasants to even consider asking the government to give it a 2nd thought. Anyways, I think I will just diagnose the thing and hopefully it won't get out of hand dollar-wise. The catalytic converter has a broken pipe coming off of it, do you think an Oxygen sensor is missing or fried? Thanks.
bocephus
08-14-2005, 09:59 AM
The pipe from the cat goes to the smog pump..If the o2 sensor is bad the computer will adjust mixture trying to compensate..ie your rich condition...seems to me the best thing to do is not try to band-aid everything to bypass engine functions....fix the cat,o2 sensor,get the smog pump working...after all is said and done it will cost a few bucks....but if the vehicle is good..it's worth it...shop around the internet for the cat...I found a direct fit..not universal for mine for 109.00. that's cheap....I'll see if i can dig up where i went...o2 sensor is about 50 bucks..get yourself some good metering tools...I have a fluke meter,and an obd1 and obd II scanner...and a drb scanner.for my dodges .they get pretty expensive.. but the drb is all you'll need if you want to get deep...the fluke is nice to check output voltage for all those devices you want to bypass..
chigato
08-14-2005, 10:13 AM
does it have an O2 sensor port?
bocephus
08-14-2005, 10:35 AM
the fluke has no sensor 'port'...it will have two leads as well as various plug in adaptors mac also makes them, snap on etc... check out ebay...item number 7537207962. looks like a decent deal..but shop around..decide how far you want to go....all my meters and scanners cost over 15k..i'm not saying to do that.. but it's good to have something more than hand tools..a fluke meter is good to have...
chigato
08-14-2005, 10:47 AM
sorry about that, I meant does the cat. conv. have a spot for the O2 sensor, in other words where is that thing located?
bocephus
08-14-2005, 11:28 AM
ahhhhh.....dodge has them in two locations for that era...in the cat or in the manifold..it's different depending upon year and motor..my 5.2 has it in the cat..you'll see the plug right to it.. my 5.9 has it on the driver's side manifold facing forward right at the collector where the exhaust pipe bolts up...if it's on the cat it's easy to get out with a wrench..if it's in the manifold, you'll need a 22mm (7/8) o2 sensor socket...about 7 bucks..when you find it, if you have trouble getting it out let me know
