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1994 Plymouth Sundance 2.2L - runs poor when engine cold

Hello!

I have a 1994 Sundance with the 2.2L engine and I am having a lot of trouble with it when the engine is cold (first thing in the morning) It has only been happening recently, but I am not 100% convinced it is just the cold weather as opposed to the engine not being at operating temp. We had a couple nice days and it still didnt run too great, but it was a little better.

What is happening is it will NOT respond to stepping on the gas... I mean starting from a start, it takes about 20 seconds sometimes to cross a street... same thing to get out of an intersection after a red light... once up to speed, its okay, but if I stomp on the gas, it will bog down as if it will stall... it has not stalled yet, but I fear the problem will get worse.

When I bought the car, there was no hose that is to get warm air from around the engine into the air cleaner assembly, and I was told I had to install that in order to get it certified... I bought one and attached it to the air cleaner assembly, but could not, for the life of me, find anywhere to put the other end! I looked everywhere, but ended up just tucking it in to the back of the engine somewhere... could this be the problem?

Any help would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks, Kevin

Reply to
Kevin
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It certainly could. Just tucking into the back of the engine is the wrong way to do it. There's a sheetmetal shroud around the exhaust manifold, called the "heat stove", where that air preheater hose needs to attach. If it is not attached there, you can get surprisingly severe driveability problems at cold ambient and engine temperatures. Maybe your heat stove is missing; if so it needs to be replaced.

Beyond that, depending on the state of maintenance of the vehicle (what else is missing or improperly put together or neglected?), you may need to pay some attention to the ignition system, the fuel and air filters, the PCV system, the rubber hoses and elbows surrounding the throttle body, or other components. You may want to check for any stored trouble codes.

To check the computer codes:

With the engine off, switch the ignition key on-off-on-off-on, leaving it "ON". Do not go to "start", just "on" during this procedure.

Watch the "Check Engine" or "Power Loss" light. It will turn on, then go off, then will begin to flash-out any trouble codes that have been stored. For instance, if it flashes:

flash flash flash

flash flash flash flash flash flash flash flash

flash flash flash flash flash flash flash flash flash flash

Then you have a 12 (one flash followed by two) a 35 (three and five) and a

55 (five and five). 55 means "end of codes" or, if by itself, "No codes stored. Check the codes and report what you find.
Reply to
Daniel J. Stern

Okay I guess I will make a trip to the wreckers (junk yard) to pick up a heat stove, as there is definitely nothing on the exhaust manifold... I thought something must be missing! Hopefully that takes care of it.

I just replaced the Fuel Filter, Air Filter, Spark Plugs, Cap and Rotor and the wires and even though that helped make the car run quite a bit smoother in general, it did not do a thing for this issue.

Thanks very much for the good response and for the instructions on getting the codes! Thats awesome... nice little trick :o)

off to work I go! (I hate cars!!!)

Reply to
Kevin

Very wide interchangeability. Any '87 to '95 Chrysler, Dodge or Plymouth vehicle with a 2.2 or 2.5 litre nonturbo 4-cylinder engine will supply the part you need.

Good.

You will probably want to pay attention to the usually-neglected crankcase ventillation system on your car, see

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except do not substitute the PCV valve as discussed in the linked article.

Sooo....did you find any codes?

Reply to
Daniel J. Stern

Okay, I was finally able to get the codes for this car and it only gives me a 55...

flash flash flash flash flash flash flash flash flash flash

I was not able to get to the wreckers this weekend due to weather here (the snow is horrendous) but Im guessing I really need to get that heat stove and check the PCV system...

Thanks again! Kevin

Reply to
Kevin

No trouble codes stored.

Reply to
Daniel J. Stern

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