1986 New Yorker Type I advice neede

[Reed]

Hi all! I am a newbie to this site, to FWD Mopars, and to turbos! i am a long-time Mopar fan but i have mostly been into slant sixes, so I don't have a clue about the 1986 New Yorker I just bought. It is a 2.2 with a turbo I setup on it.

The car has 136,000 miles and runs pretty good. It was well maintained by the original owner before it was inherited by the original owner's great-nephew upon the original owners death. The car seems to have been largely neglected for the past few years but is still mostly in decent shape.

Here's my questions. Are there any known problems I should look out for? The motor idles rough and will blow a little smoke on hard acceleration. It sounds like there is a vacuum leak in the vicinity of the throttle body/turbo area. Is that normal? Also, the battery guage reads low but it still charges. I have read that the voltage regulator is controlled by the MAP sensor(?) or the power module? Could one of those be faulty? The closest I have ever come to working on a computerized mopar is installing electronic ignition on an A-body, so help me out here.

I am taking the car into my local Chrysler dealer to have a "Pre-Owned Vehicle Inspection" performed. Anything I should look out for?

I hope to tinker with this car a bit to improve handling and performance, as well as MsPG.

Any advice or comments are welcome!

[GLHNSLHT2]

Fix the vacuum leaks using a mityvac to find them, Do a compression check, Check the fuel pressure at idle and make sure it stays up when you turn the motor off.

The voltage is controlled by the Power module. But the Logic module in the passenger side kick panel tells the power module what to do. As long as you're not running off of battery power at night with the lights and heater on and the car starts all the time I wouldn't worry too much about it. Make sure the belt is in good shape and it might just be time for a new alternator. I've seen brand new schucks/kragen alts not charge for sh!t right out of the box. So get a napa or a J-yard unit.

These cars are great to learn on, just take it slow and do all the other mehcanical side well before worrying about the electronics to much.

[Reed]

Thanks! I am bidding on some factory service manuals on E-bay, so hopefully I will have those to look at soon too.

I am very happy that the brakes and steering need no work. All it really needs is a tune-up and some shocks (what are the best shocks to buy?) and it should be good to go.

There are minor things like a sticking power window and sticking power locks, but those will get fixed in time.

I know my way around cars pretty well, I just need to learn about the computer controlled stuff and the turbo.

Would a Mopar Performance performance computer be worth the money?

[GLHNSLHT2]

Get the 1987 Factory service manuals. They'll cover the pinouts at the computer for your 86 electronics as well as the 87 T1 and T2 pinouts so you can convert it later.

I wouldn't bother getting an MP computer for the suckthrough T1 setup unless you don't plan on modding it to much. Even with an MP puter you're still gonna be in the high 15's to low 16's. What I did on mine is convert it to a true 87 T2 setup. I ported the exhaust manny while it was out and at 14.7psi of boost the car runs 14.5's to 14.3's on the stock head/shortblock and tranny. Even have the stock muffler at the back

Do you have the air suspension? I do and I just went to napa and grabbed a new set since someone replaced them with regular shocks. Thankfully they left all the lines. Anyway I like the air shocks. You can adjust the ride height in the rear easy. For fronts a set of regular shocks or KYB GR2's should be ok. The stock springs are pretty soft front and rear so you don't need a Koni to control them.

[Reed]

I don't plan on racing it. I doubt I will ever take to a track. I am just looking for cheap and simple ways to increase around town performance and economy. At this point I don't plan on going to a T2 setup, just get the original stuff running as good as possible.

I have to check on the air suspension. I don't think so, but I will need to be checking because the shocks are dead. Every time I go over a bump the see-and-say voice in the dash tells me "Your parking brake is on. Thank you." I love that little voice. It just makes the car that much more friendly. I think the talking computer is my favorite part of the car.

I like a soft ride. I grew up with Cadillacs and other big boats. If I had my druthers I would be driving a mid 70s New Yorker, but the reality is I couldn't afford the gas or park it anywhere.

[GLHNSLHT2]

Then an MP computer, a set of 803 (NOT 804!) injectors and maybe a grainger valve to 13-14psi would be your best safe bet. A cold air intake helps and make sure the hood vents are open. A Chevy S10 airdam to the bottom of the car helps pull heat out as well which the T1 cars are suseptable to. Make sure all your splash shields are in place as well. They'll keep the engine bay under vacuum with the S10 airdam and help to pull that heat out above 25MPH. Nice cold plugs, a cool T-stat (180 no lower) and the usual hot rodding tricks will help too. Porting the exhaust manifold and opening up the exhaust help along with porting the wastegate hole in the turbo while you have it off.

[Reed]

Great, thanks! This is the simple kind of stuff I am looking for. I no longer have the time (or money) to get into exotic in-depth things like camshaft swapping or internal modifications, but simple bolt on stuff I can handle.

I had another question. I don't think I can add an intercooler without alot of fabrication work, which I would prefer not to do. But rather than cool the air, would it be beneficial to install an oil cooler to at least cool the oil and therefore the turbo a little? I know that an oil cooler probably wouldn't make a whole heck of a lot of difference in the charge temp, but would it help prolong the engine and turbo life in general?

Also, I thought this car had a factory cold air intake already. It looks to me like there is a plastic duct running from the air filter box out under the front left of the car. Do you mean a less restrictive intake, i.e. fewer 90 degree bends?

As far as making sure the hood vents are clear, would removing the water trough help in air circulation or is it there for some more important reason?

[GLHNSLHT2]

Adding an i/c doesn't require much fabrication at all. Basically you need a T2 intake, either a T2 turbo or convert your stock one to T2, and a T2 radiator/intercooler setup. You'll need a T2 computer too. You can go a couple routes there. Either go with 86 GLHS electronics and just add 2 wires for the newer ais motor, or go with 87 T2 electronics which are a bit better. You'll then need to move some wires around, add 4 wires and get an 87+ map sensor setup. It's not that hard at all. If you have the motor out and the parts colected it's really easy.

Yes the factory airbox does draw in cooler air but it is restrictive. Removing the tray would probably help air circulate and won't hurt anything.

[Reed]

Groovy! Keep it coming! WIth the latest diagnosis from the dealer I am starting to lean towards collecting the bits to do a T2 swap.

Is the T2 exhaust manifold better than the T1 exhaust manifold?

Was the 2.5 ever offered in T2 trim?

WHat are the most common vehicles to find a T2 setup in?

[Runner]

1) Nope, the manifold is the same, it's just been notched to clear the TII intake.

2) No, but that doesn't matter. Gentlemen, we can rebuild him. We have the technology.

3) Turbo II setups were found through the model years 1987-1989 on a variety of cars, Daytonas mostly, but on some other vehicles as well.

go to www.thedodgegarage.com to find out more info on all the permutations of 2.2/2.5 engine, and lots of other great info. (turbo database in the FWD tech section - there's even a page detailing what you're looking at doing. ) That should get you started. And feel free to post in the other forums, a New Yorker is welcome in the main forums, you're not an 'other' to us.

edit - be sure to get shop manuals, whether 86 or 87. They are well written and if you take the time to read through them, all that electronics stuff will really be easy as pie. Release yourself from the idea that they are too complicated and how will you ever figure them out...

[Reed]

Thanks!