Dan Hiebert

My agency uses these and other manufacturers' to search vehicles for contraband. Very useful and effective. Only negative, if it can be called that, is that you can get disoriented (up vs. down) when you start getting into deeper recesses. That comes into play in our world for where to look for the access, or where to drill to get a sample for testing. Earlier models (20 years ago) you had to specifically get ones that could withstand gasoline for inspecting gas tanks. Not such an issue with "modern" materials. They're handy for curiosity checks of various other nooks and crannies, too. But I wouldn't recommend them for a colonoscopy (I think the instructions even say not to do that - you know that they have to include that disclaimer for a reason.....)

What part of SE Michigan? Main Street Garage in Port Huron on Pine Grove Ave (M25) at Glenwood can work on older cars. What little work I ever shopped out when we lived in Michigan I had done there.

I've got a 2001 Dodge Ram 1500 that I bought new in 2000. It has the 360. I'm always suspicious when mechanics "warn" people about things. There are indeed quirks and design flaws, but those exist with virtually every brand, and those warnings should be accompanied by the solution. If they don't have a solution, then I suspect their skills. (Of course, there are some flat-out lemons out there). I've towed the D24, Terraplane, and a Falcon across the country (separately) 9 times over the years, with no issues at all. The only repairs its needed have been a little wear and tear, and from sitting unused for long periods (I had a Govt. take-home car for many years), the past few years I've only used it to haul stuff. Dodge's 360 and 318 engines have been around for many years - the old tried and true adage. The majority of problems seem to stem from the stuff attached to the basic engine to make it run more efficiently, not the engine itself. I've heard Dodge transmissions are weak, too, but haven't had a problem with that, either. Also consider the number of any model you may be considering that you see are still on the road.

Welcome, and don't worry about "stupid" questions on this forum. You'll find out soon enough the tactful methods some folks use to let you know when one reaches that plateau, but you'll always get an answer. I'd recommend searches first, there is a lot of info already lurking about this site, virtually any problem has surfaced already. New methods of addressing old problems are always welcome, too. Very nice car. Our D24 was originally a New Mexico car, too. Sold new in Carlsbad, we bought it near El Paso, so except for since we've had it after leaving NM, its a "southwest" car. Photos are always encouraged. "Hot stink" - I like it - a new one for my book...

Don and Plymouthy both touched on it, your tire wear could also be improper toe adjustment (excessive toe in). Also as noted in the thread, doing an alignment in the driveway without specific tools amounts to using the "TLAR" (that looks about right) method, and is really only good for staying between the ditches on the way to a near by alignment shop. There are tools to do an alignment on a shop floor, remember that back in the day, those alignment contraptions they use nowadays weren't around.

Sort of looks like they cobbled a Chrysler doghouse onto a truck..."ancient American ingenuity" for a long ago repair? Interesting, tho.

I guess I've been fortunate over the years. We've been in places where the small family shops were where you went to get it done right, even in Detroit and Buffalo. May have something to do with the prevailing industries, but I also research them as much as possible first. Now I've gotten myself into a place where small family shops are all there is. They roll up the sidewalks around here at 5, close early if nothing's going on, work 1/2 day on Saturday, and definitely closed on Sunday and any semblance of a holiday, but knowing all that ahead of time is "managing expectations". And I kinda like it that way anyhow....."Maine, the way life is supposed to be." and "Aroostook County, the way Maine used to be."

I prefer the small "family owned" shops, too. I had a Ford 6v generator converted to 12v at one in Brownsville, TX (can't remember the name, but it had been in business since the '50's and looked like it), and had the generator in the D24 rebuilt at A1 Auto Electric in El Paso, TX, which had also been in business since the '50's. Customer service, understood that you're not in a rush to get it back unless you actually need it quickly, tell you what is needed without having to look it up, and gobs of neat stuff lying around the shop that they're more than happy to tell stories about. Besides the generators, I've had other parts made, refurbished, repaired, etc. at those kind of shops, I always get a kick out of it when the proprietor knows what the part is from at first glance.

Although I find the rabbit holes interesting - rudder steer back to the topic - We had a Dodge Caravan with a small coolant leak at 105K, but I don't recall the engine size as that was back in the '90's. 170K miles is a drop in the bucket nowadays. If the car is serving you well and doesn't otherwise have any issues, I'd find out just what is leaking. Your description is a bit vague, as it could just be the gasket (as with our Caravan), which although a bit of a PIA to replace, is inexpensive. But if its leaking from the shaft - then the whole water pump would need to be replaced. If it hasn't had the traditional 2.7 failure, then its either a later model with the oil return modifications, well maintained, reasonably driven, or all of the above.

At the end/start (depending on which way your going) of I-95. We're actually out in the sticks in the town of Ludlow, a bit northeast of Houlton proper. I had hoped to get down there and meet you while you were in Maine but I couldn't break free long enough. I read where you've been to Mackinac Island before, so I know you'll enjoy that. We went there several years ago when we lived in Michigan. Safe travels!

We've finally got our D24 in Maine, this is the longest I've gone without either having it around to tinker with and drive, or knowing its out there in the garage and I should be tinkering with it or driving it. Of all the moves we've made for Uncle Sam, this one has gone the smoothest, albeit the most drawn out. We decided to have the ole Dodge transported out here from Buffalo, the hardest part of which was finding someone that would do it, since Houlton is apparently off the beaten specialty auto transport path. We went with a company out of Elma, NY (near Buffalo), cost $1,100 to include picking it up at the house. Would have been $975 if we had taken it to their yard. It got drop shipped / subcontracted at least twice, and I couldn't get a firm delivery date until two days before they actually delivered it, but all in all it went quite well. If anyone is interested in the company info, let me know - I don't want to advertise on the Forum unless someone is actually interested. Arriving in Houlton Meeting the new digs All snug and comfy (Awesome "blank slate" garage with mega-space. We received our household goods yesterday, all the stuff from a one car garage we used for storage in Buffalo, as well as everything from the regular two car garage is now in here, and there's still room for two more cars!)

Yep - and not just in the backwoods. That's a pleasant surprise after paying out the nose for the stuff the past 12 years in MI and NY...

Come on now, we're not in the middle of nowhere - but I'm pretty sure we're at the edge of it. Been here since May, still working on getting the "household goods" moved from Buffalo, two more weeks of air mattress and milk crate life. BUT - our D24 is supposed to be delivered TODAY ! I hauled the Terraplane over here myself, but we opted to have the Dodge transported to save some miles on the old pick-up. Its a day's drive here from Buffalo, but its a really long day. More on the transport stuff later. Yep, locals are quite friendly and welcoming to those from "away". They have an odd (to me, anyway) habit of openly staring at strangers, tho.

Emphasis on shel_ny's most excellent dissertation - "Circuit 2" - the ignition has to actually be turned on for the horn to work. Mine "didn't work" once many years ago, and I just about went nuts troubleshooting it. It completely eluded me that I didn't have the ignition switch on. On a whim I hit the horn ring while the car was still running when I pulled it back in the garage, and it worked. I just didn't think about it because at the time I had also been working on a similar era Ford product, in which the horn circuit is always energized.

Ahh, plinking. Haven't been able to do that for years, but now that we're in a gun-friendly State, and have plenty of room, both at home and in the woods, we'll be starting that surprisingly relaxing pastime up again. Lots of good conversations can be had about the best rounds, I'd through down that they're like cars, in the eye of the beholder, and what Dear 'ol Dad imparted on us. BUT, I always have to champion the plain ole .22 rimfire. You can shoot for hours with a pocket full of ammo, doesn't cost much, they make virtually any kind of firearm for it, and once your proficient with the .22, you've got the basics down and can shoot anything else well. That's the best thing to do with the young'uns, Todd B, teach them well and let them decide. They may choose not to use firearms or hunt, but they can call B.S. in conversations with anti-gun zealots.

Yep, that's a Buick Riviera badge. Mid 80's, I think. We had one for a couple years.

We have an auxiliary coal boiler in our new house here in Maine. Burns hotter and cleaner than wood. Haven't found anyone (yet) selling bulk coal, it comes in 40# bags.

The answer is "no". Your engine smokes because oil is getting into the cylinders and getting burnt with the fuel. There are several reasons how, valves, valve guides, rings. Normal wear contributes, but its not necessarily a bad thing. There are treatments that basically thicken the oil so it can't get into the cylinders as easy, but there's no such thing as "smokeless oil". A cloud of blue smoke is the hallmark of my driving through a neighborhood with our D24, but it runs great. There are several past threads discussing why and remedies.

From most useful tool to geese. What a rabbit hole! I can go on a tirade about goose and deer overpopulation, which would make a shotgun or rifle the most useful tool, but that's not in the garage or shop (at least not as a primary tool). I'd have a hard time choosing the most useful tool in my garage - except maybe my handy list of useful expletives...or maybe the mini-beer fridge. But me and my tools are separated by 800 miles for a while, so no photos.

I get a kick out of "Certified Organic". As in, who certifies it? Kind of a rhetorical question because I really don't care, I'm merely amused by the concept. If it were USDA, then they would still have minimum standards that allow for all the "contamination" noted throughout this string. When we were house-hunting here in Maine, we looked at a small farm that was "certified organic", but when we asked, no one could tell us exactly why. I suppose small outfits can actually pull it off, but I have my doubts about organic commercial operations. We moved into our new house here yesterday. It has the best tasting well water I can recall since my days at our grandparents farm in southern Illinois. My wife is a bottled water person, but she'll be changing that tune. I can hardly wait to brew some beer with it

My D24 does not have the cowl vent air distribution box. It's cowl vent drain comes straight from the channel that the lid sits down in, so the drain tube just goes straight down and out through the firewall.

Hasn't taken long to bust my bubble thinking folks might drive better in Maine than all the other states I've driven in. There's just a lot fewer drivers in the first place, and they're not quite so rude about it.

...dontcha mean its prolly prob'ly..?

I still lament that my grandparents refused to teach us their native tongues, one side Finnish, the other German (as with most, being the precocious tots that my brother and I were, we did pick up some "discouraging words"). There's a little Italian back there, too, but my grandma on that side didn't speak Italian at all. As an immigration and customs officer I find foreign cultures and languages fascinating and have had to deal with translating more languages than you can shake a stick at. As Mark D notes, it helps immensely to think the way "they" do, rather than try to do word for word translation. It also helps understand someone who's native language isn't English when they say something in English that is "missed in translation". To be a tad facetious, I speak several forms of English from living all across the U.S. Fluent Spanish, and enough German to get myself in trouble. Spanish from living on the southern border and working for Uncle Sam, German from my stint in the Army and affinity for that side of my heritage, and now I'm realizing that I will have to work on French and "New England English" to survive in Maine.....At the very least it just might keep the old noodle sharp. That and more Moxie....

I read somewhere that the police package Magnums could do 156. It just might have been on the speedometer... None of the Magnums or Chargers (same platform) we've had in the fleets I've managed have had problems, other than burning the front brakes after particularly hairy pursuits on the early models, but that was mainly from the driver not making the transition from grocery getting driving to pursuit driving.