Resurrecting the Dodge Shadow

[Ultima]

One piston has been replaced, and all 4 rings are in the process of getting replaced. Will it run after? Who knows...
The rings on pistons 1 and 2 were broken as well.

What was wrong with it? Huge hole in #3 piston, camshaft seal had been blown out of the head somehow.. broke down on highway and had to pay $100 towing

 

[bmacd]

that's the story of my life..putting a lot of time and money into things i know aren't going to work or fail me.

-=bmacd=-

 

[notfred]

Let this be a lesson in "you get what you pay for". This car cost $300, right?

 

[Paulson]

Wouldn't it be ironic if something happened to your mustang for being a dick about it notfred?

We bought a $200 truck and aside from electrical problems with the fuel pump, it was an awesome truck (we put about 10,000 miles on it)

 

[Ultima]

Okay.. we took the head off the motor and get this, there was a huge hole in the number 3 piston! :Q :Q

No wonder there was no compression!! My friend's dad wants to change the piston.. he likes working on cars, he's trying to resurrect it. Maybe this won't be the last Dodge Shadow thread :Q

 

[BatmanNate]

Hey, my $300 dollar car carried me for thousands of miles before selling it, and all I put into it was a new alternator. Shadows are just bad mojo.

 

[Legendary]

My former $500 carried me 6,000 miles. A good investment I'd say.
That is...until it EXPLODED!!!!
I wish.

 

[SSP]

Originally posted by: Paulson
Wouldn't it be ironic if something happened to your mustang for being a dick about it notfred?

We bought a $200 truck and aside from electrical problems with the fuel pump, it was an awesome truck (we put about 10,000 miles on it)

I think someone already broke in to his car, broke some glass and stole his stereo/CD player.

 

[crab]

My grandfather's $800 110,000mi car lasted him another 100k, then it threw a rod and blew a nice hole in the block. He's good at finding cheap cars...now hes got a mint 30,000mi 1989 Ford Country Squire wagon bought for $1000. He knows too many old people that can't drive anymore.

 

[Ultima]

Got the piston off.. maybe we can resurrect it yet

 

[Pastfinder]

My mom bought a 1986 Mercury Grand Marquis Station Wagon for $1.00 and we've put over 20,000 miles on it...












Do realize that we bought it from my Grandma

 

[SSP]

NM.

 

[thedarkwolf]

I have had lots of $1000 or less cars and never really had any problems with them. Hell I got an 81 plymouth horizan for free and after about $200 worth of parts including $100 for 4 new tires I drove it 10k miles without a problem. I sold it for $300. Best car investment I have ever made . My current beater is an $800 89 dodge caravan turbo with pretty much the same engine as this shadow and its been pretty good sofar. Little less reliable than my other beaters but the turbo more than makes up for it.

Anyway there is a reason you burned a hole in the piston so you better figure out what happend before you burn a hole in the new piston. Your #3 cylinder has probably been running lean and that caused detonation and over time it blew a hole in your piston. Is this car a turbo? If so and that #3 cylinder ran lean under boost that will cause major nasty detonation and blow a hole right through a piston in no time.

As cheap as stuff is for these cars you might just be able to find a complete running lower milieage engine for $100 or so. Might be better off just doing something like that.

 

[Bignate603]

I've put over 20k on my car i got for free, only paying to have a new differential put on after it exploded and put in a replacement starter myself. Not a bad deal, eh?

You just have to not car about driving something that looks terrible and is older then you.

 

[notfred]

How much time and moeny have you put into this $300 car?
Anyway, if you're replacing pistons, you might as well do a complete rebuild.

 

[Ultima]

Originally posted by: notfred
How much time and moeny have you put into this $300 car?
Anyway, if you're replacing pistons, you might as well do a complete rebuild.

The car was $380, and I've put about half that into repairs.


Ha, no way. You don't have to take the block out to replace a piston...
Anyways, it's not really my car anymore, tomorrow I'm cancelling the insurance. I think my friend's dad continues to work on it because he likes to work on cars. If he gets the car running he might give it as a gift to his son, so he doesn't spend $4000 on a '91 Accord with a new prelude engine!

I'm looking at a '92 Mazda Protege tomorrow, looked at a 323 today, it was surprisingly peppy (maybe cause it was a standard), but it's just too small for me.

 

[Siva]

the dodge shazzam was a quality car

 

[Ultima]

One piston has been replaced, and all 4 rings are in the process of getting replaced. Will it run after? Who knows...

 

[Ultima]

Originally posted by: notfred
How much time and moeny have you put into this $300 car?
Anyway, if you're replacing pistons, you might as well do a complete rebuild.

You also said that I wouldn't be able to remove the head with the manifolds attached

 

[Ultima]

thedarkwolf: It's a regular 2.2 (93hp)

 

[Ultima]

Resurrected

 

[Pepsi90919]

Originally posted by: thedarkwolf
I have had lots of $1000 or less cars and never really had any problems with them. Hell I got an 81 plymouth horizan for free and after about $200 worth of parts including $100 for 4 new tires I drove it 10k miles without a problem. I sold it for $300. Best car investment I have ever made . My current beater is an $800 89 dodge caravan turbo with pretty much the same engine as this shadow and its been pretty good sofar. Little less reliable than my other beaters but the turbo more than makes up for it.

Anyway there is a reason you burned a hole in the piston so you better figure out what happend before you burn a hole in the new piston. Your #3 cylinder has probably been running lean and that caused detonation and over time it blew a hole in your piston. Is this car a turbo? If so and that #3 cylinder ran lean under boost that will cause major nasty detonation and blow a hole right through a piston in no time.

As cheap as stuff is for these cars you might just be able to find a complete running lower milieage engine for $100 or so. Might be better off just doing something like that.

pre-ignition was more likely the cause.