1991 Plymouth Laser Base

[Redrocketlaser]

How do those wheels compare in weight to the ones you have now? I would go for the lightest wheel possible. That will bring performance gains to the car without engine mods

Im not really sure, I went and looked at them and it’s a No-go anyways, wrong lug pattern. the wheels I have now are from a 2007 dodge caravan and are actually reasonably light. Those with tires weight a little less than my 14inch steelies with tires so they’re not bad.
Im just gonna stick with these for now. Nothing else in my area peaks my interest/is a good enough deal for me to jump on.

I will be ordering a set of cheap tires for these though, unfortunately my BFG advantages have worn almost completely out.

 

[Redrocketlaser]

Update: she’s back on the road!
Got my $22 alternator installed and it works as it should. I also installed new plugs and wires, Ngk plugs and I forgot the brand of wires but they were on sale for $1 on RockAuto so I had to get them they’re nice, although the box looked to be from the late 90s . Says they have a magnesium core? Idk if that’s even that different from a regular plug wire. They look nice though!
Pic below
Also some pictures from cars & coffee last weekend. Got parked next to a nice 2g talon tsi, was stoked to not be the only dsm there this time!

On another note temps have been on the cooler side and my car has all of a sudden stopped consuming coolant…? Would a head gasket change how much is leaking with temperature?? I feel like it wouldn’t.. or at least once the car is warmed up it would consume like normal. Anyways this has me thinking maybe it was just pushing coolant due to a high concentration of water + my garbage radiator cap as posted earlier in the thread. I picked up another cap and we will see what happens when temps go back up in the next few weeks.

 

[Busdownthotiana]

22 dollar alternator!????

 

[Redrocketlaser]

22 dollar alternator!????

Yessir! Some old part looked like it been on the shelf for 10 yrs judging by the box. Alternator is perfect though!

I don’t care if they send you the wrong shit sometimes, im almost always willing to gamble with RockAuto

 

[wrenchspinner]

Technically you can run it without the balance shaft belt. It's a "free" modification to deliver a little extra power, but at the cost of comfortability. You won't lose or gain excessive oil pressure if the shafts are still installed, but it might be a little nerving. I would just leave the belt on unless you want to go for a full deletion, but it will idle so much smoother.

I normally go for a BSE on racing Honda and Mitsu engines, but find other ways to pick up that extra power on something I drive often. Theoretically you won't wear the internals quicker but other parts will be stressed from the excessive vibration.

Read through your whole thread and am enjoying the progresses you've made.

I too have a 1.8 Laser though mines a 92. It's actually the 2nd 1.8 DSM I've had, the other being a 90 Eclipse some years back which also had the flat hood like yours.

I can sure attest to the BSE woes in a DD 1.8, most especially when you add in all urethane engine mounts!

Mine has an obnoxious harmonic buzzing that vibrates the whole car from like 1500-2500rpm. So bad in fact I just ordered new stock motor mounts from Rock Auto in hopes I can eliminate at least some of it. No way I'm gettin rid of the urethane mounts for good though since they're the black ones you can't get anymore.

Really need to do a build thread for my 92, which I've named The Rolling Toy Box.

Yessir! Some old part looked like it been on the shelf for 10 yrs judging by the box. Alternator is perfect though!

I don’t care if they send you the wrong shit sometimes, im almost always willing to gamble with RockAuto

Rock Auto's great iddn it! I needed all new front main, cam, rear main, and valve cover seals for mine and picked 'em all up on close out for $60 shipped. Yeah some of the boxes looked like they've been sittin for years but I bet they were as happy to see 'em go somewhere as I was in gettin 'em.

 

[Redrocketlaser]

So far I’ve been driving the car every day and it’s been doing great still. It did however start consuming coolant again once temperatures came back up even after the new rad cap. Oh well, I’ll get to the head gasket soon. The car developed a new noise the other day; when under load/lugging it makes an odd kind of whistling sound..? I thought maybe it was blow by but I held a piece of paper over the oil fill hole earlier while the car was running and it wasn’t blowing the paper at all.

I honestly assumed it had blowby so I’m kinda shocked. Thankful though. Eliminates that being the noise.

The sound happens around the same times it would ping/spark knock when I was running 87, but it’s a different sound.. maybe gasses pushing through the cooling system from the head gasket?

Idk, I’ll let you guys know if I figure it out

 

[1990TSIAWDTALON]

Boost leak

 

[wrenchspinner]

So far I’ve been driving the car every day and it’s been doing great still. It did however start consuming coolant again once temperatures came back up even after the new rad cap. Oh well, I’ll get to the head gasket soon.

If the leaking HG gets to the point you're seeing water in your oil (looks like a milkshake when you pull the dipstick) you'll need to address that problem pretty quickly. Water is a pretty poor substitute for oil and can quickly lead to severe wear in the bores and/or bearing damage.

Not sure what the new noise is a sign of except that I don't think it's from a boost leak. At least not unless you slapped on a turbo and haddn added that to your thread :>)

 

[1990TSIAWDTALON]

Ok, let's call it a Vacuum leak.

 

[BLACK'98DSM]

I've noticed some 4g engines having a loud whistle/whine from the alternator. That may be the issue, but I cannot say for sure without hearing and seeing it. Could also be a vacuum leak like Marty (sort of) suggested. Just play around and find out, or post a video for us to see/hear

 

[Redrocketlaser]

Boost leak

I wish

If the leaking HG gets to the point you're seeing water in your oil (looks like a milkshake when you pull the dipstick) you'll need to address that problem pretty quickly. Water is a pretty poor substitute for oil and can quickly lead to severe wear in the bores and/or bearing damage.

Not sure what the new noise is a sign of except that I don't think it's from a boost leak. At least not unless you slapped on a turbo and haddn added that to your thread :>)

The water and oil are still completely separate, once it gets to that I won’t be driving until I replace the HG. Running it with mixed oil and coolant is asking for more issues.

And nah, she’s still just a N/A 1.8. Although I think once my house is paid off next year I might look into acquiring a 4g63t to drop in… it’s just too tempting considering i would be swapping in one of the biggest engines in rally racing and it would be a plug and play affair

I've noticed some 4g engines having a loud whistle/whine from the alternator. That may be the issue, but I cannot say for sure without hearing and seeing it. Could also be a vacuum leak like Marty (sort of) suggested. Just play around and find out, or post a video for us to see/hear

I’ll have to get a video of it sometime soon and post it. I just put the alternator on so hopefully that’s not the culprit. Btw the sound started just a few days ago and I’ve had the alternator on for almost a month, so i feel like they shouldn’t be related.

It’s weird though, the sound is directly related to the amount of throttle Im giving. Like it doesn’t happen at 10% throttle anywhere in the rev range, but say I use 20% throttle, it’ll do it until around 3k.

 

[CrackedDSM]

I will say a stock 4G63T fwd with a 16G was one of the most fun street cars I’ve ever had. Ripping on it and the burnouts were top notch and it boogied so good from a roll.

 

[Redrocketlaser]

As of a few weeks ago I’ve had this car for a year now. Been a great project so far and I’m looking forward to continuing to improve it. I found a video earlier that the previous owner sent me right before I bought it, so I decided to make a video showing the same angles of the car for a comparison. Although far from perfect, she’s a much better looking car now.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mwlJMI0enTg

 

[wrenchspinner]

As of a few weeks ago I’ve had this car for a year now. Been a great project so far and I’m looking forward to continuing to improve it. I found a video earlier that the previous owner sent me right before I bought it, so I decided to make a video showing the same angles of the car for a comparison. Although far from perfect, she’s a much better looking car now.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mwlJMI0enTg

I'd say you've done some really nice work on your ride dude, congrats. That honestly dudn even look at all like what you purchased.

 

[Redrocketlaser]

I'd say you've done some really nice work on your ride dude, congrats. That honestly dudn even look at all like what you purchased.

Thanks man, i was pretty surprised myself when I saw the videos side by side tbh Crazy what you can do with some body filler and spraypaint!

I was able to get a video of the sound I mentioned in my last post. It’s windy so it’s hard to hear but if you have the volume up you can definitely hear it thru all the wind noise.

 

[wrenchspinner]

Thanks man, i was pretty surprised myself when I saw the videos side by side tbh Crazy what you can do with some body filler and spraypaint!

I was able to get a video of the sound I mentioned in my last post. It’s windy so it’s hard to hear but if you have the volume up you can definitely hear it thru all the wind noise.

Can you replicate the sound when sitting still or does it only happen when under a load? It's really hard to define the sound with all the wind and road noise.

BTW, nice to see yours too is an official DSM ... which can be easily identified by the CEL. Remember, that's a feature, not a bug

 

[Redrocketlaser]

Can you replicate the sound when sitting still or does it only happen when under a load? It's really hard to define the sound with all the wind and road noise.

BTW, nice to see yours too is an official DSM ... which can be easily identified by the CEL. Remember, that's a feature, not a bug

I know right? I’ve never heard a car make that noise before yeah it only happens while under load, nothing free revving or under extremely light acceleration.

 

[Redrocketlaser]

Haven’t posted in a while, not really any updates with the car other than using it everyday currently for DoorDash don’t plan on doing it long term, but my usual 9-5 decided not to bring me back after my spinal surgery so here we are.

The whistling sound I was hearing that I mentioned in previous posts kinda went away on its own, so that’s nice.

The paint is coming up on a year old now, and so far everything is hanging on pretty well aside from this big spot on the fender where the paint flaked off a few months ago.

I also had a loud clacking noise going over bumps for a long time and I recently discovered the sound was coming from my brake pads in the rear. Apparently I forgot to install the clips that held the outer pads in place and they had been slapping around when my rear wheels would go over bumps, which was almost louder outside the car than my exhaust. My solution until I buy another set of pads was to tie them to the outside of the caliper with some metal twine I had laying around. Once I did that, the noise stopped thank god.

Since I’ve been doordashing in the car every day I’ve really been racking up miles. Im at 152,xxx miles now, and I believe I bought the car just over a year ago with 128,xxx miles, still starts every day with no problems(aside from the coolant consumption that I’ve been keeping up with)

Still been an awesome car so far, and way more reliable than I figured it would be!

 

[wrenchspinner]

Haven’t posted in a while, not really any updates with the car other than using it everyday currently for DoorDash don’t plan on doing it long term, but my usual 9-5 decided not to bring me back after my spinal surgery so here we are.

The whistling sound I was hearing that I mentioned in previous posts kinda went away on its own, so that’s nice.

The paint is coming up on a year old now, and so far everything is hanging on pretty well aside from this big spot on the fender where the paint flaked off a few months ago.

I also had a loud clacking noise going over bumps for a long time and I recently discovered the sound was coming from my brake pads in the rear. Apparently I forgot to install the clips that held the outer pads in place and they had been slapping around when my rear wheels would go over bumps, which was almost louder outside the car than my exhaust. My solution until I buy another set of pads was to tie them to the outside of the caliper with some metal twine I had laying around. Once I did that, the noise stopped thank god.

Since I’ve been doordashing in the car every day I’ve really been racking up miles. Im at 152,xxx miles now, and I believe I bought the car just over a year ago with 128,xxx miles, still starts every day with no problems(aside from the coolant consumption that I’ve been keeping up with)

Still been an awesome car so far, and way more reliable than I figured it would be!

View attachment 765966

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Yep, other than being the most under powered DSM at least they're dependable. Mine has been after I took care of all the issues from it sittin for so long.

Now if the paint fairies would just come and work their magic on the paint job on mine one night!

 

[Redrocketlaser]

Hey guys, it’s been a while since I’ve posted an update and I’ve finally done some work to the car to give an update on.

Since I got my wife’s pathfinder running properly (cam/crank position sensors) i decided to finally tackle the head gasket! Well that and the oil finally became milky.. so yeah it had to be done

I decided I’d go ahead and relpace the valve seals, front main seal(old one was leaking heavily), balance shaft belt and timing belt along with the head gasket. And I did all this in my gravel tree-covered driveway and the head work on the front porch. For the most part everything went as expected, the head gasket WAS blown between a coolant jacket and one of the 2 middle cylinders, and im assuming since I drove it so long using coolant I created the void that I found in the head that probably widened over time to the size it was.

A smart person would get another head or have this one milled(although it was pretty deep). But I don’t have the money to spend at the moment to do either of those things so I figured the next best thing would be to fill the void with high temp jb weld and level it with the surrounding material.

Did it work? So far yes, but only time will truly tell. Im. Or consuming any coolant anymore, and I don’t seem to be burning or losing a significant amount of oil anymore either. I have only put about 100miles on it total since reassembly but so far it’s running better than it ever has since I’ve owned it!

On another note my lifters/valve lash adjusters look trashed. I didn’t have any new ones so sadly these went back in. Surprisingly enough there is minimal valve train noise!

So yeah, it’s fixed, but it’s still more or less a ticking time bomb . I plan on tracking down another engine or cylinder head sometime soon because I’m sure this fix won’t last forever.

But yeah, right now aside from running some steelies on the front because my front tire got too wore out, the car is still doing awesome.

 

[BLACK'98DSM]

I hope your luck is better than mine. I had terrible luck with my 4g37. I either had a cracked block or oil filter housing. It kept mixing coolant oil even after replacing the cylinder head. Hope that works out for you!

 

[Redrocketlaser]

I hope your luck is better than mine. I had terrible luck with my 4g37. I either had a cracked block or oil filter housing. It kept mixing coolant oil even after replacing the cylinder head. Hope that works out for you!

So far my oil looks good so hopefully it stays that way.

 

[Redrocketlaser]

I forgot to mention a noise that I can’t seem to figure out. At first I thought it was lifter chatter but I realized the noise is coming from the pulley side of the engine, hinting towards an accessory, or tensioner. I have a video of it if anyone has any guesses. The sound only happens 1200-1700 rpm’s and then goes away, and doesn’t change with load or runtime.

 

[Redrocketlaser]

Well it’s been a while since I’ve posted(probably because there hasn’t been any good news)

The jb weld failed a few days after I posted my last reply. I tried to take the easy way out and try my luck with “bars head gasket stop leak” and it went about as bad as it could. The car started consuming way more coolant and missing on 2 cyl instead of 1 so the head had to come off again. I tried my luck with the jb weld again trying to be a bit more precise prepping the area and sanding it perfectly flat( tried leaving it a little high last time hoping to add clamping force by doing it and it was a mistake). I put the head back on and got it running again and so far I’m not losing any coolant BUT the cyl I did the repair on is completely dead now. No issues with the valve train anymore, I replaced the bad lifters on cyl 2 and 3, I tested for spark and it’s good, I moved the injectors around and the miss didn’t follow so all that leaves is lost compression in that cyl. I’m assuming the stop leak is to blame one way or another. Either so much coolant/stop leak got into the cyl that it stuck the rings to the piston or it hardened on a valve seat and isn’t allowing it to seal.

The car does still run on 3 cyl but I know that’s not healthy so I try not to drive it.

When I do drive it I noticed a past issue is getting worse and I’ll have to address it before too long as well. The car will randomly die going down the road and then usually turn right back on(tach shoots straight to zero even when left in gear coasting then starts working again when the car restarts) I also hear the mpi telay click when it does this. It did it the other day at the store and I couldn’t get it to start again until i unhooked the battery for about 5 minutes, then it started perfect and drove all the way home without dying.

Any ideas? Maybe MPI relay itself or ecu?

Again I know I shouldn’t be driving it on 3 cyl but I’m a father of 2 and my wife’s pathfinder just blew up so I really have no choice. If it throws a rod it throws a rod

 

[wrenchspinner]

The only righteous repair is to have the block decked. That passageway between the top of the bore and the water jacket has gotta be milled away. I know that's a hard pill to swallow and a buncha work but from the other issues you've mentioned along w/the pics I'd say your rings have problee seen better days so the engine needs to visit the machine shop.

My 92 Laser w/a 4g37 and only 140k on the clock just died last night so I feel your pain man. When I say died, it was an ugly, smoke filled, oily death complete w/ some of the most horrendous mechanical squeeks, shrieks and groans you can imagine ... before it finally locked up. Was tryin to nurse it the 30 miles home and it made it to within a mile and 1/2 of the casa.

Did a buncha research this mornin and found few used 4g37s I'd take a chance on. Gonna just stuff an NA 4g63 in it.