Hi all, greetings from sunny UK. New to the forum, had my 1984 B250 5.9 window van for a little over a year now. Hoping someone with more experience of these vans can answer a couple of questions for me. I drive it real slow most of the time, sticking to max 60mph on motorways. Any faster than that and the engine sounds like its going to explode! Doesn't have a rev counter so no idea what kind of RPM it's doing but it sounds like its in too low gear for that kind of speed and revving like crazy. Does this sound normal? How many gears does it have and at what speed should it change up?
Also, it's developed an oil leak, looks to be coming from the front where the timing chain is. I've tried Lucas oil leak-stop which hasn't helped and it's gradually getting worse. Any idea if this is an easy fix?
Any advice much appreciated.
Thanks, John.

 

my my my my..............

 

Greetings from losangeles

you didn’t mention if you had a manual or an automatic transmission

im assuming you have a automatic and I’m assuming it is a 3 speed transmission

if if I am correct with all my assumptions then you are probably spinning that engine at about 3000 rpm at 60 mph which means your rear axel ratio is a 4.11. Great for towing bad for tooling down the highway

Now according to my info, a 4speed automatic was not available till 1988 so that means you have the torq flight 727 3 speed transmission

Most of the vans of around that year had 3.55 rear axel ratio, also could be smaller (3.24-even 2.73!)

post some more info on your van.......even a picture would be great!!


viperdave

 

Thanks very much for your response ViperDave. Sounds like you know your stuff. Here she is, not sure if the pic will be of much help. I don't really have much information about it. No idea if its 3 or 4 speed. Any idea how I would find out?

 

Sorry, forgot to add, you assumed right, auto transmission.

 

I was a Chrysler tech from 1987 to 2006 so I have worked on quite a few of those
It’s not a 4 speed if it’s a 1984 4 speed didn’t come in vans till 1988 but it might be possible you only are shifting once from 1st to 2nd gear and not into 3rd gear
you should feel it shift twice 1st to 2nd and then 2nd to 3rd. If you can feel it shift twice then you are getting into 3rd gear and you have a 4.11 rear axel and it wasn’t designed to go fast as I said at 60 mph it wil scream at 3000 rpm just make sure you are getting into 3rd gear if not, then you have a transmission problem and we will figure it out

is it right hand drive? That would be cool to see!
Love the paint job!! Also
your oill leak is probably a front crank seal, don’t put any oil additives in it to stop a leak, they don’t work and you are wasting your money

its about 11pm here now so I’ll check here tomorrow and you can let me know if it is shifting properly


viperdave

 

I'm off on holiday today so won't get a chance to take it out for a drive for a couple of weeks. I knew nothing of axle ratios but I've been reading up a bit and I think maybe you're right and it just has a high ratio. It has a tow bar and electrics at the back so was used for towing, and the fuel economy is awful. When I get back I'll take it for a drive and see if I can feel the second gear change. I assume the ratio is something that would cost a fortune to change?

 

The paint job was done by a local graffiti artist, It certainly gets noticed. It's left hand drive, imported from the US but I've no idea when or where from. I'd love to know a bit more about its history.

 

Right, back from holiday and took it for a spin today. Seems to go from 1st to second at about 10mph, then up to 3rd at around 25mph. Does that sounds about right? The gear changes are really smooth.

 

Depends on how hard you are stepping on the go-pedal. If it shifts good, doesn't lug the engine, or make any rude noises, just drive it.