Friend bought an economy car...

[Jarlaxle]

The leak in the main seal is a common occurrence. I had one for several years, just remembered to watch it. Those cars gave Chrysler a bad name.

The Cummins-Turbo Diesel got Chrysler back in competition again.

Actually, the A-bodies were built pretty well...but their replacements (the F-body Aspen & Volare) emphatically were NOT!

I had a 1977 Plymouth Volare station wagon that I drove across the US with that same rear end leak. I then later discovered I had a bad fuel filter. I attributed my poor gas mileage to the cheap Chrysler product. My dad started buying Chrysler products after Studebaker went out of business.

No, no rear end leak...rear MAIN SEAL leak: the oil seal at the back of the engine. Unfortunately, changing it requires removing the transmission.

When my mother died, I inherited her 1982 Plymouth Volare. It had a constant cut off problem. It started like a champ, but you could be driving down the road, and the thing just cut off on you. There went your power steering, the whole bit, and if you were on an Interstate, God help you. I had to run it in idle for about 10 minutes with the hopes that it wouldn't cut off. I sold it to my best friend. I told him everything about the car. He had one of the best mechanics at his church to look at it, and nobody could fix the cut off problem. Yeah, we tried a carburetor tune up kit, but that didn't fix it. Later, somebody discovered that the vacuum hoses were put on wrong, and that occurred in the factory because the dealership never could fix it for us. They just kept blowing us off. If I remember correctly, the lemon law had not yet come into effect, otherwise, we would have sent that one back.

If you had a 1982 Volare, it was a VERY rare car: one of zero built! The last Volare was built in 1980. The problem sounds like an ignition module just starting to go out.

 

[Missourian]

There are three things your buddy needs to do...

Rustproof.
Rustproof !
Rustproof !!!

I've had 2 Dusters...a 71 and a 74...both disintegrated long before the slanters gave out.

They are so well known for this shortcoming, they are nicknamed the Plymouth Ruster.

Undercoat..do the trunk inside too, under the carpet. The inside of the quarters and the rocker panels need special attention.

P.S. - The is a '71 CID-340 edition in front of the local gas station with a mediocre restoration...asking price $15,000 soaped on the windscreen

It has never seen & will never see snow...not an issue.

Excellent.

You'll have to post a pic.

I'd love to have another Duster, but here, they are either rusted away or way too expensive.

The only downside is finding parts...they'll make 302 and 350 parts for years, and even my beloved 300 inline six is extremely easy to find new and used parts for.

But the 180 and 225 slanters? Seems like it would be much more challenging.

 

[Jarlaxle]

Not really...everything is still available easily enough. They ran until 1986 in trucks & vans.

You need to go south to the desert for a Duster!

 

[XPostFacto]

Actually, the A-bodies were built pretty well...but their replacements (the F-body Aspen & Volare) emphatically were NOT!

I had a 1977 Plymouth Volare station wagon that I drove across the US with that same rear end leak. I then later discovered I had a bad fuel filter. I attributed my poor gas mileage to the cheap Chrysler product. My dad started buying Chrysler products after Studebaker went out of business.

No, no rear end leak...rear MAIN SEAL leak: the oil seal at the back of the engine. Unfortunately, changing it requires removing the transmission.

When my mother died, I inherited her 1982 Plymouth Volare. It had a constant cut off problem. It started like a champ, but you could be driving down the road, and the thing just cut off on you. There went your power steering, the whole bit, and if you were on an Interstate, God help you. I had to run it in idle for about 10 minutes with the hopes that it wouldn't cut off. I sold it to my best friend. I told him everything about the car. He had one of the best mechanics at his church to look at it, and nobody could fix the cut off problem. Yeah, we tried a carburetor tune up kit, but that didn't fix it. Later, somebody discovered that the vacuum hoses were put on wrong, and that occurred in the factory because the dealership never could fix it for us. They just kept blowing us off. If I remember correctly, the lemon law had not yet come into effect, otherwise, we would have sent that one back.

If you had a 1982 Volare, it was a VERY rare car: one of zero built! The last Volare was built in 1980. The problem sounds like an ignition module just starting to go out.

Now, I see why you go by Jarlaxle. Thanks for the jar. It was a 1980. It has been awhile. I sold it in 1985 for $4,000, and the Blue Book value on it was something like $5,500, but I dropped the price with all that was wrong with it.

Ignition module? Hmm! It was like that when my dad drove it off the show room floor. My parents hardly drove it. Everybody kept looking at the carburetor because it sure sounded like a carburetor problem.

 

[Jarlaxle]

There was a run of bad modules...my grandmother's 71 Chrysler wagon (which had a late-70's electronic ignition and used the same module as your Volare) did the same thing. Basically, the "potting" compound (a liquid resin) tended to, when hot, melt and leak out. The result: when the module got hot, it would cut out. (I saw one that melted just from being in a hot storeroom for several years.) The Duster's module has been replaced...there is a stain from where the potting compound in the original ran a bit.

The problem was exacerbated by the late-70's and early 80's, as emission controls tightened and engines ran hotter than before.

 

[XPostFacto]

There was a run of bad modules...my grandmother's 71 Chrysler wagon (which had a late-70's electronic ignition and used the same module as your Volare) did the same thing. Basically, the "potting" compound (a liquid resin) tended to, when hot, melt and leak out. The result: when the module got hot, it would cut out. (I saw one that melted just from being in a hot storeroom for several years.) The Duster's module has been replaced...there is a stain from where the potting compound in the original ran a bit.

The problem was exacerbated by the late-70's and early 80's, as emission controls tightened and engines ran hotter than before.

Well, my old buddy said the problem disappeared after the vacuum hoses were switched to where they should be. He never mentioned an ignition module, but more than likely, he started swapping out everything that he could think of that could be causing the problem.

I will have to e-mail him and tell him about that ignition module, assuming he remembers that far back.

 

[strollingbones]

i had a dodge dart.....body would withstand anything.....it was push button