[John Wood]

Check the wiring harness behind the valve cover (from the middle over to the driver's side end). Is there heavy oil contamination? That bundle of wires contains the AIS motor wires and I have seen oil contamination deteriorate the AIS wire insulation to the point where they were shorting together or contacting the ground wire (intermittantly).

I had this exact problem on my 87 LeBaron. The AIS motor was intermittantly shorting out causing high idle and stumbling on slowdown to idle (i.e. AIS pintle was stuck open or stuck closed and not properly tracking the commands from the computer). Generally a shorted AIS will not throw a code, but an open connection will. An intermittant open may or may not throw a code. You could even have a bad AIS motor although that is rare. Clean the connector to the AIS motor while you are at it.

 

[John Wood]

If it is a bad headgasket, replacing that should resolve a lot of things. Use a Mopar Performance headgasket and it should last the life of the engine. Also replace the cylinder head bolts (any brand). It becomes a little bit of a project at this point, but on this engine it is usually worth it and it is a much easier job than on most modern engines. I doubt that you washed down the rings badly enough to cause damage. Many of us here on the board have had headgaskets go out in that fashion and I haven't heard of any cylinder problems. You may have poisoned the O2 sensor. You'll just have to see how the cat acts after you are done with the HG job.

If your timing belt is old, now would also be the time to do it. Brand name kits are usually cheap on E-Bay or from Rock Auto.

EDIT: I see the original post says the headgasket was replaced. What brand? Was it torqued properly? Was the head inspected for flatness? Something doesn't seem right here.

 

[John Wood]

Still an ignition issue and a vac leak.


I'm going to top her off and get another week out of it before I tear it apart. Any recommendations on which parts to get? I usually go with non-felpro stuff from rockauto.

Search online for a Mopar Performance headgasket. These were high temperature, heavy duty gaskets originally designed for racing. The problem with Victor and McCord is that if the bolts are over torqued at all, the fire ring around the cylinder will get squashed and cause the material between the cooling passageway and the cylinder ring to breakdown. This was very common with the original Fel Pro design too. I can't speak for the newer Felpro gaskets, but on some cars (like Subaru) they now have a great MLS gasket. It is not likely available for a 2.2 or 2.5.

Rock Auto does not carry the Mopar Performance gasket. You will have to search online for another company (usually an online Chrysler dealer, but not always).

 

[John Wood]

I would say the headgasket hinges on the compression test. You could have a coolant leak somewhere else, like the heated manifold, that's spraying coolant onto something hot and boiling it, giving you the smell. I would expect serious idling and driving problems with a badly blown headgasket. Obviously, I haven't seen the car and how it performs, so there might be something that fingers the headgasket that I haven't seen. I know that if I were you, I would want to make sure it was the headgasket before I committed to replacing it. Like I said, a compression test will be the determining factor, but I would definitely do that before anything else.

Many of the AutoZone stores have a tester called the "Block Tester" in their Loan-A-Tool program. You basically put down enough $ to buy the unit (about $25) and then when you return it, you get your money back. With the "Block Tester" you have to buy the testing fluid which is $7.95 a shot. If the test is performed according to the instructions, you will know if you have a headgasket failure between a cylinder and a coolant passageway, however, there are some reports that state that fresh anti-freeze may show negative for exhaust gas contamination even when there is a small leak. The vehicle may have to be run daily for a week or so to create the anti-freeze contamination so the test kit will work to detect it.

Sometimes you can sniff the overflow container and detect the smell of exhaust gas. A compression test is not helpful on a small leak that just blows a stream of small bubbles. With a small leak, the loss of compression may be very small and almost impossible to detect over several cranking revolutions. A leakdown test also may not be conclusive. The usual 2.2, 2.5 headgasket failure starts with a very small leak. A blown gasket is more of a sudden rupture of the gasket material and that type of failure is easily detected by a compression test.

 

[John Wood]

It looks like it is getting difficult to get the Mopar performance 2.5 TBI gasket, part# P4452005.

I found this link but I would call to make sure they have it.
http://www.monicattichrysler.com/comersus/store/comersus_viewItem.asp?idProduct=381


There is a ROL available on E-Bay. They were supposed to be pretty good. I've never heard anything good about the graphite coated gaskets. Most modern engine manufacturers got away from them in favor of MLS, but I've never heard of an MLS gasket for a Chrysler 2.5.

 

[John Wood]

Yes, a compression test will be done this weekend.


The gasket was not an MLS, it was a coated mccord style gasket. I do believe an MLS gasket is available, along with studs. The head and deck surface has to be pretty fine for them to take, this car wasn't all to pretty.


I did notice a small coolant leak in the lower pump hose going to the heater core, where a splice was put in. New molded hose on order. Hardly a drip under it, I suppose it may leak more with flow. The expansion tank also has seen better days, is there a source for these or am I installing a custom mt. dew container?

That may be where the coolant is going. I'd definitely do some testing before taking the head off. Get the block tester kit as I mentioned in the other post. Check E-Bay or your local salvage yard for the overflow container.

 

[John Wood]

Probably not. If the key does not have that "spring back" feeling when you turn it to start (i.e. doesn't spring back to run) then the lock cylinder end is broken. The end is cheap pot metal and the OEM switches from that era have a lot of failures. Chances are the new lock cylinder will now have a hardened steel end that won't break.