1995 lebaron gtc convertible

[b_rad]

I knew i wanted a fun convertible for the summer. never considered this car until i went to see it and it is great. and sure enough its a 6g72 v6 engine so im already liking the fact that im familiar with the engine. i picked it up for 1200 dollars !

70k miles, auto, full power top, power everything else, immaculate interior. just needs valve cover gaskets, has low oil pressure but then again its the same engine as the 3s so im not surprised the stock gauge is reading incorrectly. never get any warning lights, no loss in performance, no stalling or hesitation. gonna look it over the next couple days to make sure nothing else is wrong and then start enjoying it more for the summer!

[new93TT]

Ha that's cool, you going to put some nice wheels on it?

[HilbillyHomeboy]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6wzzC-6T0Mk

Sorry, had to be done. :lo5l:

Anyway, for $1,200 you can't go wrong for some top down cruising.

[gawdzinner]

nice find! I had a red '91 lebaron convertible with a black roof years ago with a 5 speed, it was a blast even in the winter! sadly, it's not a family car and I had to sell it. :(

the trunk is tiny and the car I had didn't have air conditioning. people will say, you have a convertible, you don't need air conditioning! well, try it when its 100 degrees outside lol

[b_rad]

im happy with it. gonna get it looked over tomorrow at the shop (im actually helping a friend move a mattress with my truck tomorrow so ill make a quick 40 bucks for about an hours work) so thatll cover the shop fee.

just to make it sweeter, it has AC, original owners manual, clean carfax, no leaky top (i dumped a huge bucket of water on it and no problems there).

if you cant tell one of the POs night shaded the rear lights, front grill, side mirrors, rims, and turn signals. im not going to go crazy on it. the wheels are stock alloys and in great condition. just noticed that the driver door speaker is blown so ill go get a cheap one at best buy at some point.

great job on the movie reference! i now feel like i should get a #1 son on the front plate now. the one thing about NC DMV despite over priced gas and property taxes on cars is we dont need 2 license plates.

[gawdzinner]

in my lebaron convertible, the metal hinges under the top started wearing a hole through the top. there are straps under the top, on top of the roof hing that protect the top but these wear through. raise your top about half way and check the hinges and straps under the top to ensure they are not starting to wear through the top material. replace the straps as necessary, you don't want to have to unnecessarily replace a top.
I also left my doors unlocked to avoid idiots cutting the roof to get in. Eventually I bought a Viper alarm with the radar field, that way you can leave the top down while parked and anyone just reaching over the window will set off the alarm.

[b_rad]

only problem that the shop found was the oil pressure sending unit. everything else is good. ill give the top a look this weekend since its about to rain the next couple days and wont be able to check till the weekend.

speaking of break ins, reminds me of my 87 325i convertible i used to have. only time i ever had any of my cars broken into and they ripped out the rear plastic window but nothing was left in the car. it was parked right next to the police station too....labor was more to repair it than to just replace the top because it still had to be removed anyway. i ended up selling it to let some other guy mess with it lol.

[FeaRpb]

Hey, wasn't that previously owned by THE Jon Voight?

[b_rad]

im not quite sure of the reference lol. someone enlighten me?

[stealthee]

Its a Seinfeld reference

[b_rad]

ahh very well.

i checked the condition of the top and it is great. nothing is cracked, torn, separated. it is a vinyl top but i think it has been replaced recently. or just REALLY well taken care of. nothing looks worn out

[gawdzinner]

I found a white lebaron gtc convertible last year for $1200, I just about bought it, but the white leather interior was trashed. I don't know how much new leather upholstry costs, but probably more than the $1200 the guy wanted for the car lol

[b_rad]

so since the chrysler forum is dead i figured id post up here since ill get a quicker response. and since its a 6g72 engine then many things are the same between the platforms.

today was the first day i got to do some good city driving, stop and go, starting and restarting, etc. it was pretty warm about 85 degrees.

first thing is my idle is really rough. it died once at a light but was so rough the idle was shaking the car. no check engine lights came on. at one point when i started the car when it was hot (about 20 mins after turning it off) it immediately died and it brought back thought of when the ECU on my 3000gt was causing the same problem. however it never died while driving and it never has a problem holding speed or rpms while driving. i just revved the engine when the engine started and it never died. it ran just as rough at idle whether i was in park or while in drive and had my foot on the brake while stopped

i dont believe its the ECU because it would have died anytime the temp got too high even while driving, which was what my 3000gt did a year ago. the car never over heats. alot of the research is pointing towards coolant temp sensor, fouled injectors, IAC, or buildup on valves. seems like a good engine cleaning additive would benefit. plus its a used car so who knows when the plugs and wires were replaced. the day i drove it home from buying it however it drove almost an hour the whole way and never idled rough at all

[stealthee]

First thing I would look at would be the IAC.

[gawdzinner]

second thing would be a full throttle body rebuild to clean it out and replace the throttle shaft seals.

[b_rad]

i just checked the IAC today but wasnt too bad. just dirty but there wasnt any extra slop in it. its not like the 3S IAC where you can take it apart , its all one piece. air filter is pretty nasty so ill replace that also.

couldnt for the life of me get the spark plugs out. i kept trying but it felt like the socket wouldnt even catch the plug to take it out. i wanted to at least check them but i dont see why i had trouble doing it. i tried different size sockets but no luck.

[stealthee]

Spark plugs are going to be 5/8 or 13/16. Get spark plug sockets if you don't have them.

[b_rad]

oh trust me i tried. i have deep sockets and everything. but just to be safe i went ahead and just ordered tune up parts to get everything . ill update when i get it all done.

[b_rad]

today i got the spark plugs, wires, cap, rotor , and vc gaskets replaced. seems to idle a little better but i have to actually drive it around a good bit to see if it maintains as it gets hotter and turning it on/off running errands. at least it wont smoke from the oil leaking on the manifold anymore. that gasket was cracked and dried out bad, one of the worst ive seen

[b_rad]

its been a week. so far the car hasnt cut out or idled erratically but it is still idling right at 500rpm or slightly below (maybe 450rpm at the lowest). i cant seem to find any other issues so far. might just go ahead and put some injector cleaner through it to see if that helps. still have to tackle the intermittent wiper problem...i checked the fuse box on it and it is the only fuse in the whole box that has been replaced (bosch brand, not OEM) so i might just get an OEM one to see if that fixes it. the only thing that really bugs me is the idle. supposedly there is another solenoid that controls the idle (not the IAC) that my dad said was on these cars ( he used to sell them at a chrysler dealer in the 90s so he knows about them pretty well). hopefully nothing else too crazy to mess with

[b_rad]

ok everyone . no rest for the weary with this car!

on the way back home , and on my first highway trip, the car hit the top of the temp gauge and stayed there on my last 5 miles home. the reservoir was completely empty, there was dried coolant sprayed all inside the engine bay where it was in the direct path of the open hole that relieves the pressure. went ahead and let it sit for a bit and filled it up all the way. drove it again for about 5 miles and when i got home it seemed to stay in the reservoir but the radiator was empty. my coolant had very fine metal flakes(almost like someone dropped silver glitter in the fluid) and it was a cloudy brown.

first diagnosis was it was mixing somewhere. but the engine oil was fine, it had no mixing or weird discoloration. heater core wasnt bad. similar problem happened on my cousins honda prelude and found out the water pump blades were wearing away and were rusted. so water was going into the pump but not being pushed out so it was just getting used up. it seems correct since the only metal part in the system is the water pump. i was planning on doing the whole timing kit anyway so it seems like that would be the right thing.

havent pressure tested the system yet but i checked all the hoses and they help pressure and no cracks or leaky coolant around clamps. the upper was hot like it should be and the radiator had pressure as well when i took the cap off .