Posted by Chris Lube Lublin on Monday, August 18, 2003 at 2:25AM :
Here is a general question, not Power Wagon specific but it applies to all vehicles in general. I have been driving that '83 Plymouth (Dodge) B300 Maxi-Van since Last THursday. That 360 runs pretty good and it runs fairly cool. BUT what kind of gets me, is... On this van, as well as some other vehicles I have had over the years,once you get it to operating temperature and you drive, say 15 miles or so, you shut it off and walk into the party store for 10 min or so. You walk back out to the van and when you start it, the Temp gauge goes all the way up, then after 10 seconds or so, it starts to slowly fall back down. After about 20-25 seconds it will fall back down to normal. It is like the vehicle actually overheats when you shut it off. Is it something in the cooling system thats not right? or would it just be erratic opperation of the temp gauge? It is like the vehicle has a (for lack of better term) heat sink condition when you shut it off after it is fully up the operating temp. THen about 20 seconds after you start it back up it finally goes back to normal.
I know most people would say to check my coolant level, but it is full. This question is not specific to just this van, but I have had other vehicles in the past that would do this as well.
As for the Van, I really like it. This is the first time I have had a 360 that ran this good. I have always had awesome luck with 318's but never had a 360 run this good. And in all honesty (rub it in MoparNorm) I am kinda starting to like driving that danged ol' Automatic! I never thought I'd ever say it. But then again these old 727's have charector like no other auto has. You know, like your typical old 727 "Lag" when you first shift vehicle into gear when its cold, the "clunk" when you go into gear, and the 727 whine as you accelerate thru 1st and 2nd. Now this makes me wish Id kept that A518 OD. If the body on this thing was better, I would keep it around, but by Michigan standards, The body has about another year and a half left before it will literally be done for. I really like the van tho, and will run it till it does fall apart then pull the 360 and 727 and Dana 60 and use it for a shed. Too bad it aint more solid, then I'd consider a 4X4 conversion!
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