'86 lebaron turbo needs new engine

[hautions11]

Greetings automotive forums members! I wish it where under better circumstances that I have come to be a part of your community, but alas, it is tragedy that brings me to you. Ages gone past my grandfather purchased a new 1986 Chrystler Lebaron Turbo Coupe, in my opinion the most attractive Lebaron ever made.

20 years later, he is 94 years old and has voluntarily forfieted his driving liscence, negating any need for the car. It ended up in my dad's hands and became a general family car. It was in near perfect condition when we got it, less than 50K miles on the odo. No problems other than some corrosion on the exhaust. After some time though, it became evident that there was a problem; coolant was dissiapearing from the radiator, but there where no visible leaks or drips of any kind. It was drinking its water, albiet slowly. The car was retired from driving duty until we had time to whip the head off and figure out what was going on. After it had sat for some time, my little brother thought that it would be a stupendous idea to take the car on a 2 hour highway trip to see his girlfriend. Needless to say, the idiot didn't make it, and reported to us when we came to his rescue that the engine had stopped rather violently. We open the hood and oil is everywhere. Once home, we top off the fluids and see if it will even freely turn over. It doesn't, the engine is completely locked up. Clearly, my brother ran it up to about a million degrees farenheit and the wonderful aluminum head and/or block where warped beyond repair.

Repairing the origional engine is surely an impractical option, it seems the only solution is a swap. I know that back when this thing was made crystler was borrowing heavily from mitsubishi for their engines. Does anyone know if there is any cross-compatibility here? What exactly are our options as far as butting something up to the origional transmission bell housing? Is it possible? My old man thinks that we're going to need the rather specific (and heart-breakingly rare) turbo crystler 4 pot found in the stock car, but I think the K-car platform was rather more flexible than that. What do you guys think? Is there any way we can save this beautiful future classic?

[Polygon]

Fortunately, you've been misinformed. All the engines used in Chrysler cars in 1986 were Chrysler engines. The only car that had a Mitsubishi engine was the Conquest. Your engine is a 2.2L Turbo I and it made 146HP. What happened is the head gasket blew letting coolant into the cylinders and it was burned off. When your brother took it out he overheated the engine cracking and warping it.

Repair at this point is not impracticable, but impossible. The good news is that you have a plethora of options for swapping something in that will bolt right up to the A-413 automatic in your car.

So, there are a few options and I have one question. What are you going to use this car for? Do you want it to just drive around in and be nice or do you want to make it a bit faster?

[hautions11]

I just want to drive it. I found a complete 1988 motor with 66k but the owner says it is a 2.5 I think it is a 2.2 biut he is checking. what other options do I have??????????????????

[Polygon]

If his car is not turbo-charged than it's a 2.5 and I wouldn't bother with it. It will be a lot slower than before. Here are your options.

1. Stick the same engine back in. There were so many cars back then that Chrysler was shoving that exact engine in. I'm sure you could find hanfuls of them in a junkyard. I happen to have one out of a 1987 LeBaron that I'm parting out. I would be willing to sell it you, shipping could be an issue though.

2. Update your Turbo I to a newer style Turbo I (1989-1992). They started using the common block which meant that the 2.2L and the 2.5L used the same block and head. The block was also stronger and cross drilled for better cooling. It also had a much better intake manifold. The 89+ Turbo I was a 2.5L with a Mitsubishi TEO4H turbo, a variant of the T25. The engine also used balance shafts which made for a smoother idle but used up about 5-7HP. Those engines produced about 150HP and 210 ft/lbs of torque. The car would be a bit faster. This also a very easy engine setup to find

3. You could give it the beans and upgrade to a Turbo II which used the 2.2L and an intercooled Garrett T03 turbo.

4. Swap in a Turbo III or IV.

Option 1 would be a direct swap. The other two would take some more extensive work to get in. You would have to get the fuel pump, injectors, fuel rail, intake, intake piping, computer, and the sensors. Option 3 means you would have to get the radiator/intercooler, turbo-charger, downpipe, swing valve, and exhaust manifold. I don't think you would need the harnesses as well, but I'm not sure. Option 4 is highly impractical as they were both not considered reliable but you'd also be looking at a lot of work.

Despite which option you want to go with all those engines are Chrysler engines and will bolt right up to your A-413 automatic.

If you need any help just ask and I'll be glad to lend a hand.

[hautions11]

The 1988 motor claimed to be a 2.5 is a turbo. The seller is checking the ID and I asked for an engine SN to verify what it is.

What are the particulars on your 87 motor? Mialage, history etc. I would like to just get this back together stock and reliable, as it is just the extra vehicle around the house for kids to drive and keep my boxster off the road when the weather is bad. PM me or send and email to [email protected]. I'm around Indy, where are you? Thanks for all the help,

Larry

[Polygon]

I don't know of the mileage as the cluster was a digital cluster. I'm not sure of the condition beyond everything being solid. I would certainly rebuild it first before trying to use it. As in new bearings, making sure the deck and head are true, and replacing the piston rings.

I would check into the 88' if it is a turbo. If you're still interested in my engine, just let me know. I'm located in Utah.

[madmanmapper]

Why can't you just go to a junk yard and pick up a new 2.2L? the blocks and heads were all the same, just take out your engine, take all the parts off of it, including the turbo (assuming the turbo wasn't fried in the heat), and the valve cover thats says TURBO on it, and put them all on the junk yard engine and put it in your car. I'm pretty sure an engine from an EEK would still fit in a straight K car. There are millions of 2.2L's in junk yards, you practically trip over them. And a turbo 2.2 is not THAT rare to find in a junk yard, I've seen them before.

[hautions11]

Thanks Madman. I believe that is probably the best option. Even a rebuilt 2.2 long block may be tge way to go. Searching now.

[hautions11]

Couldn't find any junk yard motors with less then 100k on them. found several rebuilt long blocks for $500 -$700 no core includes shipping. 1985 to 1987 vintage. Several not that it fits everything except turbo applications. I assume I can still just swap my current parts??? Thoughts.

[AWP9521]

I had bought an 87 Lebaron GTS that had a blown 2.2 Turbo I engine in it, I went to a wrecking yard and found a 2.5 Turbo I engine from a 91 Shadow and bought it. To make it work on the 87, all I did was swap the Intake and Exhaust Manifolds and Turbo plus any needed sensors from the 2.2 and bolted it on the 2.5 and dropped it in. The car ran great for about 3 years before some deer walked in front of it on a dark road and messed it up to the point I had to scrap the car.

That was by far the easiest way to go by swapping the parts over and match the 87 configuration, no wiring hassles since everything was plug and play and everything bolted right up with the only real difference was the water pump connections (Heater hose mainly), but that wasn't that big of a deal.

If the Long Blocks you mentioned are not intended for Turbocharged applications then I would shy away from those unless you want to replace the pistons and Rods with Turbo spec ones (And possibly the head too), the compression ratio is lower on the Turbo Engines to keep detonation in check from the high cylinder pressures generated by boost.

[lebaron1988]

if you want to spend the $'s 1-310-842-9074. calif. engines. i have an 88 conv. in almost mint cond. and had the same prob. you do. including frt. it cost about $1500. easy swap of a few parts.

[madmanmapper]

So? If you're short on cash, find the lowest mileage engine in a junk yard, in a car that was wrecked in an accident. Might be obvious, but you shouldn't take major parts like engine/transmission from a car with a good body in a junk yard, because a good body (at least no major accidents) implies something went wrong with the engine/transmission and was too expensive to fix so they junked the car. Like I said, find the lowest mileage engine from a car that was obviously junked because it was in an accident. Chances are that an engine from such a car will still be in good shape. And you can further judge the car by looking at how clean the interior is/was and how good the body was before the accident. Basically you're trying to spot a well-maintained car that was junked ONLY because of a major accident.

And *THEN* with the junkyard engine out in the open, take it apart and do a mini rebuild. I would say change the head gasket, valve seals, do a valve job, change the timing belt/chain (I forget which the 2.2 had), and you might as well change the front and rear main seals, the oil pan gasket, and the valve cover gasket as well. When you have the head off the engine, check the pistons for side-to-side play, to see if the rings are good. And voila! You have a nice semi-rebuilt engine for your sunday driver that probably wont see severe usage anyway.