I have an 88 caravan chassis that has a Utilimaster box truck body. The engine needs replaced. I believe it is 2.5 ltr 4 cylinder engine. I use this van for tailgating at college football games.

What is the most economical way to get this engine replaced and how much do you think it would cost? Can it be upgraded to a 6 cylinder engine without modification, or do I have to use the same engine it came with?

Thanks for any suggestions.

 

First off, I would love to see photos of this monster.

No you aren't stuck with the 4 banger. With the 88, the easy thing to do would be to get the 3.0 V6 and A670 (3 speed hydraulic automatic, NOT the troublesome electronic one) trans from another 88 minivan, and swap it in. You WILL need the wiring harness and the 3 liter's computer as well. In your case, it SOULD be as simple as plug and play.

You could also replace the motor with a 2.2 or 2.5 turbocharged motor, again you would need to swap in a different engine harness and computer, but I'm not sure if the 89 turbovan ECM would work for that. A good resource for turbo stuff is Gary Donovan's site http://www.thedodgegarage.com/

Roger