I have several problems with my '98 Avenger. She's a 5.2L auto with about 102,000 miles.

When idling or going very slow, she feels like she's missing. Dad says it feels like she's trying to shift. I put Slick50 through the gas & that used to make it stop, but the last several times it hasn't changed anything. She also hesitates & feels like she wants to quit when accelerating to highway speeds, usually around 30 - 40 mph. We changed 3 of the spark plugs when I first got her a year & a half ago, but Dad didn't want to do the others as we'd have to pull more stuff apart.

Also, does anyone know if it is possible to override the automatic door unlocking feature - when I start her to warm her up & lock the doors, it unlocks them when I shut the door. I need to be able to keep her locked as I work in a teenager's residential facility & too many would love the opportunity to go joy-riding.

Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thank you.

 

Welcome Mi Lady!

U sure is a 5.2L? My first gues would be fuel,air, and spark for the cause of bad idle and acc. From my own personal experience I would also change out the rear sparks I got lazy and let them and my car went haywire trying to figure out y I 2,4 and 6 where blowing hot and 1,3 and 5 where sumtimes not blowing at all. As far as the hesitation I would say again the ssaprks I just had that with this car she studdered under hard acc but once I got past 3,000rmps she was fine but I had factory sparks still on the car. And it doesn't help any that they were changed a year and 1/2 ago might need to change them all again.

As far as the door locking override You'll hafta wait till sum1 else replies. Off the top of my head I would just buy a remote car starter. I just recently had a co-worker take my car for a joyride when I was tryin to warm her up. Since you live in that type of area 1. you could either make a name for yourself of being a person who is passionate about ur car, 2. carry sumthing in the car as well as on u and make it known or, 3. make and example of sum1 who steals your car ( I personally feel 50/50 bout this 1 just know when to stop)

 

DO NOT attempt to override the door lock.

The simplest, cheapest, and easiest way to do this is to have a wireless controller that will lock/unlock the doors.
Leave a key (nothing else on it) in the ignition. When you close the door, use the remote to lock/unlock the doors.

That way, your car will warm up, and the doors will be locked.
Catch my drift?

 

Thanks for the help, guys.

I meant 2.5L. My old Ram was a 5.2L & I just got a little confused. [sm=oopssign.gif]

I'll have Dad take a look at this & help me out.

As far as the starter goes, most of the kids like me pretty well & wouldn't do anything, but every once in a while one gets angry. I had a girl threaten to smash in all the windows on my Ram a couple years ago. I'll check into the remote starter.

Thanks again.

 

You can always have the dealership turn off the automatic door lock, but you won't have keyless entry either. I agree about the alarm, but I'd add remote start to it. It's the greatest gizmo for an automatic transmission car! I used to freak people out when my car would start up "by itself", lol. You'll have to balance the price for convenience though. IMO, it's well worth it, especially during those really hot or cold days.

I would have all 6 spark plugs and wires replaced at the same time also. The silver looking thing (the plenum) will have to come off, along with everything else attached to it. Start with that, then let us know how she's running.

Kids these days, huh? Sounds like one of them needs anger management or parental discipline, maybe all of the above, lol.

 

Thanks for the help silver. We'll definately give that a shot.

The kids are here for behavioural or emotional problems, so they're all getting individual & numerous group therapies. Most of the time they're pretty good, but sometimes... *sigh* And unfortunately, the parents are often the reason the kids are here. They're the ones I get mad at the most.

 

Okay, Dad & I are in the process of changing the plugs & wires. One problem we're having is there's oil in the gasket things on the plugs. Two of them were basically dripping with oil when we pulled them out, the rest just had a little around the gaskets.

Also, there's a leak somewhere with the engine coolant but we can't figure out where it's coming from. We just filled it up about a week ago & the reservoir is now empty. The whole underbelly is wet so we can't find the leak.

Any tips, help, grenades for the car? (not really, I just like things that go boom )

Dad has his own idea of what to do with her.

[IMG]local://upfiles/50488/B9A964BABDF34CE7AD4B54ABCB70FEB1.jpg[/IMG]

 

LMAO, don't let your dad do that, lol. Too funny.
The oil means that the spark plug tubes need to be changed out. That will entail the valve cover gasket also. You might as well, change out the front and back valve covers and spark plug tubes.
The coolant leak...well, you may have to find all the coolant tubing, both metal and rubber. Perhaps look for the concentration of coolant under the motor. I would also suspect the water gasket or the water pump. Ok, that's a start

 

Okay, so we got everything changed - spark plug tubes gasketsincluded. We had borrowed my uncle's torque wrench & Dad went to tightening the bolts on the intake manifold. We didn't hear the click we were supposed to so, so he switched to a regular wrench & discovered that the bolts were all way too tight. We finished putting everything together & started her up. She ran great, no bumping like she's been doing. There was some smoke coming out, but we figured that was just a little oil burning off.

I went to take her for a little test drive & she died as I backed out of the driveway. She would die about every block or two & the smoking never really went away. Dad said it was getting worse the more she ran, so we parked her for the night.

Dad's afraid the intake manifold is warping due to it being over-tightened. Has this happened to anyone else & is that what it isor could it be something else?

Basically, am I totally screwed?