Dodge Stealth drivetrain question

[71bigblock]

Hi guys, hoping someone can help me quick on this one.  I test drove a guys '92 R/T Stealth tonight, I really like it, but I am confused.  When you let off in 5th, 4th, 3rd, or 2nd, (manual 5 speed) it seems to "chug" at and below about 2500 RPM.  Is this drivetrain wear?  Something with fuel injection?  It has 86,000 miles on it, so nothing should really be worn out, I dont think.  Doesnt mean it cant be.  The kid selling it is only home this weekend and wont be home for another few weeks (off to school) so I'd like to figure this out ASAP.  Thanks in advance!

[go-fish]

It's normal for it to "lug" when the turbo is below it's operating range and that is about 2,000. My pops had two TT R/T Stealths and I had a single turbo 94. They will do that to an extent. If everything else seems normal then feel confident, those are good daily drivers. Mine was quick as he11 and it got around 30 mpg.
If you buy it shift and don't let it go below 2000-2500 before you let the clutch out on the next gear. "Lugging" the engine soots it up pretty bad if done for a long time. I cleaned a Jetta intake who's lady driver lugged it all the time, she thought the lower the RPM's the better, oh no no. It was a 3" intake pipe and it was clogged to about 1/2" opening with crud. 40 MPH in 5th gear aint good.

[71bigblock]

Thanks fish, some very good advice, but this is the N/A version of the R/T, so does that make any difference?  It got down there and it went chug chug chug and kind of jerked.  If I remember right, shifting down and keeping the RPM up made it go away.  I plan on driving it daily, I loved the way the thing wound out, was a blast to drive.  It was like a roller skate.  He has some 18 inch lo-pros to throw with. 

Any other advice would be great.   

[Street_Challenged73]

Steve, it's funny you felt this too.  When I test drove my Stealth R/T TT I experienced the very same phenomena, but after getting more of a feel for it between GA and here, I found out my usual shift range was WAY too low for the higher revving 6G72 DOHC 6-cylinder.  The one you were checking out is a DOHC with something like 10:1 compression ratio, so it too is a performer in its own sense.  As Go-Fish has already mentioned, if you don't shift until around 3,500-4,000 per gear, you shouldn't notice nearly as much "chugging".  It took a while to get a good feel for what's the ideal shift range on mine, but I've noticed the turbos really come to life when shifting closer to 5,000.  Let's just say my usual rule of thumb to shift into the next gear around the same miles per hour doesn't apply with these cars. (IE: I used to shift the Corolla into 2nd at around 20, 3rd at 30 mph, etc.)  The first time I experienced the heavy chugging with it made me think I would end up having to tow it the rest of the drive home due to something being drastically wrong with the drivetrain, but I built up enough confidence to see how well it reacted very close to where the redline began...Let's just say I was impressed and exhaled a HUGE sigh of relief knowing it was just me "lazy shifting" the car and not the car itself.


Oh, and keeping it in fifth when getting down to around 2,400 RPM's is way too low for the engine to respond as it was/is intended to.  I actually noticed better fuel mileage after dropping it a gear while cruising through the towns than keeping it in whatever I had it in when I neared the bottom of the RPM range.  It definitely surprised me to see a 2 mpg difference from what you'd think is running more fuel through the engine, but I have/had the receipts to show it (I ended up with a trip best of around 25 mpg, but know it'll do better after a good tune-up).

[JS23U0B]

They changed the newer models, 95 and up, to a 6 speed to be more in driver/town friendly. I loved my VR4.

[ntstlgl1970]

There are no bulletins for the symptoms you are describing, I would inquire if the seller has done the normal maintenance on the car. If not, or if you don't get an answer that satisfies you. I would plan on having a tune up done, injectors and throttle body cleaned and so on. Just sounds like an unmaintained car.

[hemi71]

Hi guys, hoping someone can help me quick on this one.  I test drove a guys '92 R/T Stealth tonight, I really like it, but I am confused.  When you let off in 5th, 4th, 3rd, or 2nd, (manual 5 speed) it seems to "chug" at and below about 2500 RPM.  Is this drivetrain wear?  Something with fuel injection?  It has 86,000 miles on it, so nothing should really be worn out, I dont think.  Doesnt mean it cant be.  The kid selling it is only home this weekend and wont be home for another few weeks (off to school) so I'd like to figure this out ASAP.  Thanks in advance!

You have a small displacement engine that makes it's torque and HP at the upper end of the RPM's. 4 valve engines breath well at higher RPM's, but are not much more than a bigger valved 2 vale engine at low rpms. At that RPM, you are down low on the torque curve. trick to those type cars is to keep the RPM's up, you lug them and they are dogs.