Hoop
Hoop SuperDork
2/14/11 5:16 p.m.

That's right, shake your heads in unison in my general direction, I must be an idiot.

It's not a bad car, though. We'll see how well or badly in can autocross come spring. I do need to replace the subframe bushings, before I can do that.

Junkyard_Dog
Junkyard_Dog Dork
2/14/11 5:24 p.m.

I'd rather have the car behind it.

Hoop
Hoop SuperDork
2/14/11 5:27 p.m.

Luckily for me, I have both.

thummmper
thummmper New Reader
2/14/11 8:43 p.m.

I just got a 94 vision and I want a 96-97 next--3.5 is the best--everyone is asceered of the electronics, cause its like todays canbus- I stuck the ptrain under the back seat of my vanagon--fully researched it and you have a good car- I liked driving mine before I gutted her.

Vigo
Vigo Dork
2/14/11 10:41 p.m.

Get these, or you'll do those bushings over and over..

http://polybushings.com/pages/LHMounts.html

The guy that builds that stuff is a good guy, got some cool k-cars too

I loved my 97 intrepid. Its one of the only cars i have real regrets about getting rid of (getting rid of MOST of it, i guess.. still got a lot of it).

Speaking of which, if you want, i've got a factory PCM with no speed limiter i'll sell you (it's pretty dang rare, only used on 2 years and only on cars with certain optional tires). Stock limiter is something like 107, very annoying. I got my intrepid up to 130 without the limiter.

Anyway, enjoy the car. There are at least a few here who can dig it.

Hoop
Hoop SuperDork
3/8/11 7:10 p.m.

Hey Vigo, those are the subframe mounts I intend to use. Much cheaper than the OEMs, which from a dealer go for around $70 apiece.

The car recently performed almost flawlessly on a trip to Cinci. However, methinks that the water pump may in fact be going bad, so I might end up just selling it and buying another Volvo.

novaderrik
novaderrik HalfDork
3/8/11 9:02 p.m.

i had a 94 LHS that i got for free.. needed a water pump and head gaskets.. drove it for almost 3 years. one of the best driving cars i've ever had, and i loved the seats and the way everything on the dash was laid out.. the factory 7 speaker Infinity sound system sounded really good, too, but the display didn't work so i had to use the presets.. but that was a minor thing after the stations were set.

the AC was way colder than anything i've ever had. when i sold it 3 years ago for $700, the trans was just starting to shift kind of wonky at WOT, but everything else still worked.

i want another one..

Vigo
Vigo Dork
3/8/11 11:03 p.m.

The a/c system on those cars was literally designed to be adequate to cool like 1000+sq ft house, according to allpar iirc.

The ac was literally THE best part of my old intrepid, and thats counting racing PI mustangs.

Anyway, why would you sell the car over a water pump? The water pump on these things is really easy. The timing belt is really easy. Just spend the little bit of money it takes to replace the bits behind the timing cover and then dont ever worry about it again.. what are you scared of?

Hoop
Hoop SuperDork
3/8/11 11:11 p.m.

Well, as I don't have the space to do the job myself. I took it to the family mechanic, who quoted me about $700 to do the water pump.

thummmper
thummmper New Reader
3/8/11 11:28 p.m.

the 94 wp isnt available anymore, so I'll have to get it rebuilt. never had that done b4

novaderrik
novaderrik HalfDork
3/9/11 3:29 a.m.

the water pump and timing belt was easy since Chrysler was nice enough to properly orient the engine with the front of the engine pointing to the front of the car.. i had to devise a way to line up the cam gears and i remember screwing around with the tensioner somehow, but i didn't need any special tools.. it just took a couple of attempts to line up all the dots.. keep in mind that i did this in a driveway when it was something like 35 degrees out so i really wanted to get it right the first time..

pres589
pres589 HalfDork
3/9/11 4:09 a.m.

Rock Auto has a kit of basically everything you need to do a water pump and timing belt short of the tensioner from AC Delco for a bit over $100. They list about 10 entries for water pumps; these things are cheap.

Raze
Raze Dork
3/9/11 6:23 a.m.
novaderrik wrote: the water pump and timing belt was easy since Chrysler was nice enough to properly orient the engine with the front of the engine pointing to the front of the car..

I loved this about my Dad's Intrepid and my Sister's LHS, smartest thing a FWD engine maker could do, yet only Chrysler bothered...

pres589
pres589 HalfDork
3/9/11 7:44 a.m.

AMC learned this trick from the French while working on the Premiere, how many other FWD cars did ChryCo do this with again? Don't give them too much credit.

Rob_Mopar
Rob_Mopar HalfDork
3/9/11 8:13 a.m.
pres589 wrote: AMC learned this trick from the French while working on the Premiere, how many other FWD cars did ChryCo do this with again? Don't give them too much credit.

Just the LH's. I wish they did more, but I'm happy with my Intrepid R/T.

Hoop
Hoop SuperDork
3/9/11 1:31 p.m.

Perhaps I should invest in a shop manual. The mechanic made it sound like it was quite the job, but from what you guys are saying, it sounds like something within my skill level.

As an added bonus, the sunroof leaks when it rains. This should be fun.

TreoWayne
TreoWayne New Reader
3/9/11 7:54 p.m.

It really is a pretty easy job. You will need a special tool to pull off the crank pulley but they loan it out free at Autozone.

I love LH cars. I have had a 1993 Intrepid ES with the OHV 3.3, a 1998 Intrepid ES with the 3.2L and a 1995 Eagle Vision with a 3.5L. I really liked the Eagle but the paint was completely terrible.

Don't buy a 2.7L car though.

Other FWD cars with north-south engine mounting include the Acura Legend/3.5RL and the Eagle Premier. I think there were some old FWD GMs like that (Toronado maybe).

novaderrik
novaderrik HalfDork
3/9/11 8:32 p.m.

yeah, the old Toronados and what not had a similar layout.. only with 400-455 cubic inches hanging out over the front wheels instead of 200ish..

i didn't need a special tool for the balancer- just my regular balancer puller.. everyone owns one of those, right?

one of my friends had an older Eagle Premier. .goofy car, but it had the exact same drivetrain layout as the Chrysler LH cars that came later.. honestly,i think that drivetrain layout and the Jeep brand is all that Chrysler used after they bought AMC out in the late 80's. it worked for them- they sold a ton of the "cab forward" LH series cars from 93-02 and still sell a lot of Jeeps.

thummmper
thummmper New Reader
3/10/11 11:03 a.m.

I got a manual online for less than 30.00 and the tools from miller spx tools- the factory mechs buy tools from them. the cam lockers are 16.00 ea [x2] and seal extractors and installers. I am about to replace the 3 shaft seals on the front of my 3.5. its the last detail before I can button her up and put oil in. I may replace the output shaft seals on the trans. new yorker to 95, intrepid, concorde, vision, LHS all share the same platform. the new yorker and LHS were the luxury models, meaning there was no downtrim options.

Vigo
Vigo Dork
3/10/11 10:18 p.m.
Perhaps I should invest in a shop manual. The mechanic made it sound like it was quite the job, but from what you guys are saying, it sounds like something within my skill level.

It totally is. You dont even have to pull the crank pulley, either. I just bent/twisted the belt around behind it and got it in there without doing anything to that pulley, one time. I think if you try to pull the crank pulley you have to pull the radiator as well.

You will need a way to compress the tensioner before you reassemble. A vise is the simple answer. Shockingly, i never in all my 10 yrs of wrenching have owned a vise.. i used a bar clamp to compress mine and then stuck a tiny allen key in to hold it. A big c-clamp can work as well.

No matter what procedure you read, DONT loosen the cam gear bolts. The gears are not keyed to the cams and have a huge range of slack once you loosen those bolts. There is an OEM tool that aligns the cams at the back of the head and then lets you set the cam gears wherever they happen to fall, but you DONT need to mess with that E36 M3.

Its an easy motor to do a timing belt on, and once you're in there the water pump is easy too.

Stealthtercel
Stealthtercel Reader
3/10/11 10:45 p.m.

From what I remember of my Dad's Toronados (a 66 and a 69), the engine didn't really "hang out over the front wheels" at all. Don't forget that the underhood area on those cars is about the size of a modern bachelor apartment. Plenty of room for a 425/455 and – I dunno – maybe a table hockey game or two. (I'm exaggerating, but not by much.)

novaderrik
novaderrik HalfDork
3/10/11 11:21 p.m.
Stealthtercel wrote: From what I remember of my Dad's Toronados (a 66 and a 69), the engine didn't really "hang out over the front wheels" at all. Don't forget that the underhood area on those cars is about the size of a modern bachelor apartment. Plenty of room for a 425/455 and – I dunno – maybe a table hockey game or two. (I'm exaggerating, but not by much.)

regardless of where it actually sits, an 800 pound engine bolted to a 500 pound transmission/differential out over the front wheels might as well be "hanging out over the front wheels"..

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