95 Chrysler New Yorker

Hi everyone. I just bought a 1995 Chrysler New Yorker and God I love
it!!!!!! I'm a small car person usually, but it was love at first sight
when I saw this car. It's white and has all the bells and whistles and it
drives like a dream. i can't stop wanting to get in it and go for a drive.
I know I'm sound ridiculous but this is my first luxury car and I'm really
enjoying it.
A question though. Has anyone ever owned one of these cars and if so are
there any problems I need to be aware of?
Thanks,
Judi

 

Keep up with the transmission fluid/filter maintenance and make *certain*
to use only best grade of the correct fluid, which is Chrysler Mopar
ATF+4. This transmission will also accept less-expensive ATF+3, but +4 is
the better fluid. Any kind of "universal" or Dexron fluid is NOT
acceptable, with or without any additives. (change every 50k miles
w/ATF+3, 75K w/ATF+4, do it now if you don't know when it was last done)

Be careful driving at night, these cars have poor headlamps.

That's about it.

 

Also if you bring the car to anyone including a dealer for the AT fluid
change, tell them NO ADDITIVES. Just ATF+3 or +4. They will tell you that
the additives are to supplement the fluid left in the AT during the fluid
change. Tell them no additives period anyway. They will not do your AT any
good and are not recommended by chrysler.

 

My wife has a '93 Eagle Vision, which is mechanically identicall to your
New Yorker. Diffeerent body shape and interior, though. Its currently
got a bit over 212,000 miles, still going strong.

The 3.5L engine is fantastic- just feed it good oil and give it a timing
belt and water pump about every 80k to 90k miles (I've pushed ours to
100k on a timing belt and water pump before, and if the timing belt DOES
break, the 93-97 version of the 3.5 will NOT destroy itself- it will
just stop running.) Call or take it to a dealer and have them run the
VIN to make sure that the fuel-rail recall has been performed, and GET
IT DONE if it hasn't.

As for the rest of the car- there are a few front suspension bits that
are known to get noisy, but fortunately they're cheap and easy to fix:
sway-bar end links, steering rack-to-firewall isolation bushings, and
tie rod inner bushings. If you hear "clunks" going over rough pavement,
its the sway bar links, if you hear "clunks" when you saw the wheel left
and right with the car still, its the rack or inner tie rod bushings.

NEVER put anything but ATF+3 or ATF+4 in the transmission when you have
the fluid changed, and DO have the fluid changed about every 50,000
miles. RUN AWAY from any place that says they'll use Dexron III fluid
and "an additive to make it compatible with ATF+3" There is no such
additive.

Thats about it! Hope you enjoy the car as long as we've enjoyed our '93.
The LH cars were the greatest thing to happen at Chrysler since the
Valiant in 1960, if you ask me.

 

There was also a recall in the front suspension where they add a clamp to
stop the attachment at the body from failing. Also a clunk from under the
transmission console is probably the rear AT mount and not engine mounts.

 

Thanks everyone for all the help with the car. I'm going to get the tranny
cleaned next weekend. Would i be better taking her to the dealership for
this and all the work? She needs a front end alignment
Thanks again,
Judi

 

It's up to you, if it's not under warranty. Dealers charge 3-to-10 times as
much as an independent for the same work. Little of that mark-up goes to
the mechanics, so the dealership mechanics have nothing to gain by doing a
good job; they're covered by Chrysler; you're not.

In general, stay away from the dealerships unless you're under warranty.
They charge much more for the same work, and their mechanics have less
incentive to do good work.

 

I've had the opposite experience. My local Chrysler dealer is typically
within 30% of the cost of an independent garage and the work is almost
always better. The only time I got really ripped off big was by an
independent. If you are really paying 3 to 10 times more at a dealer,
then you are really getting ripped off. My dealer charges $56/hour
labor. That means you are getting for done for between $5.60 and $19 an
hour. I'd really question that any garage can provide quality training
and diagnostic tools for its mechanics at that rate, unless they don't
provide them any benefits at all and pay them cash under the table.


Matt

 

My Chrysler dealer is quite decent and reasonable although I would probably
get an alignment someplace else that does them more often.

 

Gentlemen,
Thanks for answering but consider this. I'm a woman, most mechanics'
assume we're dumb, this has been my experience. Case in point: My last car
was a 1994 Chevy Cavalier rs. The head gasket started leaking. Took it to
what I heard was a reputable repair place. $ 705.00 dollars and 3 trips
later the damn head gasket was still leaking. The second time I took her in
they gave me some BS that they needed to buy a "special sealant "from GMC to
seal the gasket. What a croc. Had the :special Sealant" put on and sure
enough a week later the head gasket was leaking again. Bottom line they
thought I was stupid because they didn't fix it right to begin with. I
traded it, told the salesman about the head gasket he gave me a $1000 trade
and sold me the New Yorker for $3,809.00. I thought this was a good deal.
Since I've bought two other cars from him in the past he did not charge me
interest or finance charges and I got an awesome car!!!!!
So to end a long story I don't trust any mechanic. If a reputable one
will not do the job right twice on my previous car what would a shady
mechanic do?
One last thing: I'm going to get a tune up on her. Are bosch spark
plugs going over the top? Any recommendations?
Thanks again for all your help and advice!,
Judi

 

Bosch spark plugs are junk. So are Bosch O2 sensors. Using either will
cause driveability/reliability problems. Use NGK, Autolite or Champion
spark plugs (my preferences in order, with Champion being a very distant
third) and NTK, Echlin or BlueStreak O2 sensors.

DS

 

Around here some of the dealers still send their alignments out to an
independent shop, who has the right equipment and experience, and an
excellent reputation.

 

The "reputable mechanic" was neither - or he would have known to check
the head for warpage and cracking. The vast majority of Cavalier head
gasket problems require a cyl head replacement to fix.

Find a good mechanic, and hang on to him!!! Might be at a dealership,
but a good independent (NOT a chain store) is more likely.

As for the Bosch plugs, my experience has been they are CRAP.
The dealer supplied plug is usually about as good as you are going to
get, or need.