94, 3.3l, hasn't run for 1.5 years

[Meike]

I'm on vacation and I decided to frustrate myself getting my old 94 intrepid to run (just for the fun of it).
Last I checked (1.5 years ago) it was running fine, with these minor problems:
-transmission fluid leaking. Needs refill every other week
-dubious smoke coming out of wheel well. Looks like exhaust. Can't see any broken pipes but there is a lot of rust. Increased engine noise would lead me to believe the same thing.
-interior lights stay on. Cleaned contacts on doors, then removed the fuse. "Solved" the problem...

That's it. Any thoughts?

[tempfixit]

Originally Posted by Meike

I'm on vacation and I decided to frustrate myself getting my old 94 intrepid to run (just for the fun of it).
Last I checked (1.5 years ago) it was running fine, with these minor problems:
-transmission fluid leaking. Needs refill every other week
-dubious smoke coming out of wheel well. Looks like exhaust. Can't see any broken pipes but there is a lot of rust. Increased engine noise would lead me to believe the same thing.
-interior lights stay on. Cleaned contacts on doors, then removed the fuse. "Solved" the problem...

That's it. Any thoughts?

Tranny fluid leak- check fluid lines from tranny to radiator for leaks, check tranny pan gasket.

Which side wheel well is smoke coming out of? Could it be smoke from tranny fluid being burned on the exhaust system??? Is it a exhasut noise or a engine noise? Is it the 3.3 engine?

Check the Headlight switch forinterior lights staying on.

[Meike]

Originally Posted by tempfixit

Tranny fluid leak- check fluid lines from tranny to radiator for leaks, check tranny pan gasket.

Which side wheel well is smoke coming out of? Could it be smoke from tranny fluid being burned on the exhaust system??? Is it a exhasut noise or a engine noise? Is it the 3.3 engine?

Check the Headlight switch forinterior lights staying on.

Cool, a lot of great suggestions! I haven't fired her up yet (battery is dead), but last I remembered there was a lot of undercarriage engine noise, so I would assume it's an exhaust/muffler/cat issue.

I didn't know the tranny connected to the radiator... Most coolant hoses are very brittle, so that's actually a real possibility.

Smoke (or steam) is coming from the passenger side wheel well

Will check the headlight switch too, later, like I said fuse-out used to work fine...

[Meike]

WOW!
Turned the key, cranked the engine for a few seconds. Turned the key again, and it fires right up!!! With 2 year old gasoline no less! It runs fine!! It dies after a few minutes and doesn't rev very high, but for now I'm blaming ancient gas.
Against my suspision, the exhaust seems tight, the engine noise comes from a broken air-duct.
That means I might have a blown headgasket or it is the transmission (oh I'm hoping for the latter, I HATE gasket jobs).
Now I need some new tires (these won't hold air for 2 minutes) so I can roll it on the street and look at the rest.

Very cool.

[tempfixit]

Originally Posted by Meike

WOW!
Turned the key, cranked the engine for a few seconds. Turned the key again, and it fires right up!!! With 2 year old gasoline no less! It runs fine!! It dies after a few minutes and doesn't rev very high, but for now I'm blaming ancient gas.
Against my suspision, the exhaust seems tight, the engine noise comes from a broken air-duct.
That means I might have a blown headgasket or it is the transmission (oh I'm hoping for the latter, I HATE gasket jobs).
Now I need some new tires (these won't hold air for 2 minutes) so I can roll it on the street and look at the rest.

Very cool.

Glad to hear it started up.

The transmission lines I spoke of are lines that run from the tranny to the radiator for the purpose of cooling the transmission fluid, the radiator has a seperate transmission cooler located either on left or rignt hand side of radiator (not sure which)that is seperate from the coolant part of the radiator. These lines are either connected to radiator by a rubber hose or a metal line that has a flared end with a coupler that is threaded and turns in to radiator. These lines do NOT have engine coolant in them just tranny fluid. Also these transmission use ATF+4 fluid only, this is very important use the correct fluid or transmission damge will result. You can get the fluid at Wal-Mart for about $4.00 a quart.

The engine dying could be several things, being it has not run for some time you should remove the hose to the throttle body and clean the throttle body with throttle body/carb cleaner that you can also get a wal-mart.

Smoke on the passenger side could be oil leaking from the valve cover gaskets onto the exhaust manifold.

Could you explain what you mean by exhasut leaking thru a air duct??? Try explaining what the noise sounds like. Although not common but possiblity of a broken exhaust manifold.

I don't think you have a bad head gasket. Have you been adding any coolant/antifreeze. A compression check on all clyinders would be a way to find out.

If you have some car ramps that you can drive the front tires onto would help to get underneath vehicle to inspect tranny pan for any leaks or leaking any other place on the tranny. Jacking up the front end and supporting front end with jackstand would also work, don't go under vehicle without them.

Your interior light staying on could be the instrument panel dimmer switch which usually is part of the the headlight switch.

You can also check for DTC codes by turning the key on/off, on/off, on within 5 seconds without starting the engine. The check engine light should flash telling of any codes in the Engine Control Module (Computor brain for engine) Example-- check engine light flashes once, pauses then flashes twice means code 12, battery disconnected in the last 50 cycles. Code 55 (5 flahses pause 5 flashes) means end of codes. Post all codes and then we can help more, remember that a code does not mean a part is faulty it just directs you where to start looking to help fix the problem.

Hope this makes sense and helps.