LOW BUCK, OTHER GUYS, JUNKYARD 2.2L DODGE TURBO MOTOR-WILL IT RUN? (STAND START)

HOW TO START YOUR 2.2L TURBO DODGE ON THE ENGINE STAND! HOW TO VERIFY THAT JUNKYARD MOTOR YOU JUST BOUGHT IS A GOOD RUNNING COMBO. CHECK OUT THIS VIDEO ON THE JUNKYARD 1984 2.2L TURBO MOTOR FROM A DODGE 600. FOLLOW ALONG THE STEPS NECESSARY TO TAKE A JUNKYARD MOTOR FROM SITTING ON THE STAND TO ACTUALLY RUNNING ON THE STAND. DUE TO A PREVIOUS ENGINE FIRE (NO DOUBT THE REASON IT WAS IN THE YARD), WE HAD TO MODIFY THE DISTRIBUTOR, TEST FUEL INJECTORS, CLEAN THE FUEL RAILS AND HOOK UP THE HOLLEY HP ECU. LOTS OF GOOD INFO!

[@gkcooper]

Oh boy, here we go! I have been a Turbo Dodge guy my entire life. I was actually the Manager of the Mopar Tech hotline back in the days of the 2.2 and have built a ton of them. I am glad to see some show up on YT. I subscribed just for this...

[@richardholdener1727]

do you have any chassis dyno data on the 2.2L or 2.5L?

[@TheWrenchist]

Imagine doing this 25 years ago with no aftermarket support. I had to make it or do without. Glad to see people playing with these again! Great video of how to do more with less. Great job.

[@richardholdener1727]

Every 2.2L guy did it back in the day with limited after market support

[@Turbo_Q]

Clean pick up tube, retest. That oil pressure isn’t terrible at idle. Minimum hot spec per fsm is low. 7-10 psi per 1k rpm. Checking the bearings with the pan off is also a good plan. I imagine there is some wear. Oil pumps are easy to change but most likely not the cause of lower oil pressure at start up in my experience.

[@clarkmarkey1498]

My experience....2.2 or 2.5L Mopar will run at 25 psi or lower oil pressure @ 2Kish rpm when the milage or abuse is high. A fresh engine will probably only see 35 psi. Pulling the pan to check out oil pump and bearing condition is easy and potentially preventative at this point. If I were putting it into a beater back in the 90s, it would go straight in... LOL

[@TexasRacingChannel]

Love those little 2.2 turbos..... Best when attached to unsuspecting Dodge Omni GLH ..😁

[@richardholdener1727]

Agreed!!

[@wirebrush]

My friend and I had several NA and turbo ones. I even had a Charger GLHS for a while. With a good flowing exhaust and a bit of a bump in boost the turbo GLHs would surprise a lot of big V8 cars especially at 4500'+ altitude. They were also capable of 40 mpg if you could stay out of the boost.

[@fenatic7484]

We had an 85 Horizon with the 65 hp 1.6 L Peugeot engine and 4 speed we bought brand new for $ 5799., lol. Those little cars dont weigh but about 1800 lbs. That will be a pocket Hot Rod if you can get 175 hp from it! The NA ones were 85-88 if I remember correctly. The little Rampage is a handy little dickens. A turbo 2.2 for JY runs are very useful!

[@srirachasauce8430]

Man, this is why I wanted you to mess with the 2.2. Good stuff Richard! That distributor mod will be happening ASAP. I am excited to see what kind of power the stock set up truly puts down. Send it!

[@artdombroskie7573]

I'll never forget the sound of those starters.

[@tupapirafa]

The legendary Chrysler 2.2 Turbo, that engine is awesome!

[@thman6453]

Man that thing looked like it was running pretty smooth for a junkyard jet 👍 nice score should be perfect for the GLH

[@5am278]

A heavyset childhood friend had a Lebaron w/a2.2turd charger in it. The car Wasn’t that impressive when we drove around together but eventually i drove it solo and it was really fun. The engine didn’t have enough torque to manhandle my friends large ass😂 Cool project

[@marklucas3140]

Well there were like six different bodies that said Lebaron on them and were 2.2 turbo powered. Some of them were light and some of them were heavy. Which one was it?

[@westendcages]

Send it.....

[@wannabeetiger]

In 1984, Electronic fuel injection with a Turbocharger was extremely high tech. Still a pretty cool engine today!!!

[@bobroberts2371]

Oh, also. Pull the valve cover, these early engines tended to wear cams and the rocker follower. It is possible to MIG weld a worn cam, use what is left of the profile and file / grind into shape since the follower is narrower than the cam lobe leaving you with a pattern. When the gas in the tank is worth more than the car, you start to experiment.

[@hisproperty1438]

G'day Richard. I was taught that 10 psi/1000 RPM is a safe oil pressure. I was also told that GMH (General Motors Holden) said "as long as there is 1 psi oil pressure, it will work". My Mercedes has a 40 psi gauge for a 5-6000 RPM motor. Finally, I had to install a 100 psi gauge in my RX-2, with a 12A rotary. As for your Dodge engine, just run it until it breaks. If it breaks before you've finished, you can fix it later. BTW, I have been known to use Aerostart spray to keep a diesel running whilst it bleeds the fuel injectors. Good to see.

[@RockBottomGarage]

I'd like to know more about how you set up the electronics. The common blocks are a lot stronger. I'd say that oil pressure is probably about normal. 10 psi per 1000 rpm is not terribly bad. Those old school turbo dodges are still some of the most overlooked motors. If you make an adapter plate, let me tell ya, that's a video on its own. Years ago someone made adapters for the 904. If someone was making adapters for the 2.2/2.5 and the 2.4's, you'd see a lot of guys like me doing RWD swaps with those motors. I LOVE the old school Mopar turbo motors.

[@Shutchohole]

I had an 88 shadow with the NA 2.4. That was a damn good little motor. I never got to experience a turbo one though. I imagine it's a bit more peppy.

[@RockBottomGarage]

@@Shutchohole The old 2.5 TBI motors were dang good motors. The turbo PT. Motors have A LOT of potential. Their drawbacks are a weaker transmission and limited space to work with. If that motor was mated to a 904 or th350, I'd be A LOT of fun.

[@pleite567]

Check the engine and do some forges parts for big power!

[@Brock_Landers]

I have ALWAYS wanted to see what one of the 2.2s and 2.5s can do with some good forged internals and a REAL turbo. I haven't seen any 2.2 16 valve engines in the junkyards, but I've seen the 2.5s make some good usable power.

[@RockBottomGarage]

@@Brock_Landers some guys were using dohc neon heads years ago. There's a lot of prepping that has to be done to make it work, but the cylinders and bolt holes line up.

[@MrLandslide84]

I'm loving this, I had a 1989 Plymouth Acclaim with a 1991 2.5 Turbo 1 engine swapped. Burned #3 a few times as I was new to cars. I wish I had it still.

[@marklucas3140]

Find another one before the prices are too insane. Literally this /|\ /|\ /|\ (popular car guys working on these) is driving prices through the roof. Even for junk parts cars.

[@originalmoose]

Watching the oil pressure closely- it appeared to have right at 60psi at 9:45 in the vid, dropping to 30 in the following seconds. Definitely warrants investigation.

[@arcdestriumph586]

All my 80s motors had at least some form of sludge. Maybe some Mystery Oil will recoupe your oil pressure and clean things up a bit. You typically didn't like what you saw when you popped a valve cover back then. If oil was additionally heated/degraded by the turbo you could have some chocolate cake icing in there.

[@curtibirdie3595]

I actually recently got a 1985 600 turbo, I was really happy to find this video about the engine!

[@brakedd]

Love me some K car motors. Gotta get you a Neon motor and boost it to the moon.

[@alexandertoshich765]

That’s what she said....

[@kennybiggs3944]

That was awesome never seen anything like that putting a LS sensor on a distributor

[@alexandertoshich765]

Hall efect

[@srirachasauce8430]

Agreed. This makes me tempted to buy a universal Holley terminator efi, instead of megasquirt.

[@MrChickenslaw]

bought a Omni GLH Turbo (2.2) new in 1985, awesome little car..... the Mustang 5.0's had a hard time losing me!

[@timothyhays1817]

Yep. GM F. body's were a cake walk.

[@jonathanstodden6029]

Poke a small unlit brazing torch in the intake and start it on propane. It's a lot cleaner than gasoline, starting fluid, or brake cleaner, and it's a lot easier to get a smooth idle.

[@hydrocarbon8272]

This - ether has a bad tendency to knock as well.

[@eliasmelendez1271]

That's awesome!! Can't wait to see this run like a champ!

[@1967davethewave]

Man, that little engine runs smooth. I can't wait to see it Holdenerafide!!!

[@mikesellers8020]

My 88 czars had 230 -250 horse,,,,it was the best handling in stock form around a small circle track,even stock corvettes could not keep up,I think it set the track record at the twin falls stock car track in idaho,,,,thanks,,,,cowboy

[@johnhickman106]

Perfect timing on this upload Richard. We just got done in my garage working on my Fox Body and getting ready for bed (UK). So now I get to watch this before sleep!

[@ianm432]

To this day, I don't understand how so many of these engines went so fast on such little boost pressure. Very interesting stuff inbound!

[@619omni]

Cars were fairly light, they make "a lot of tq", and they actually needed a lot of boost 🤣

[@mfslyphantom8811]

That’s awesome! That starter sound brings back memories. From my experience, at least from the 2.5L, the oil pressure seems low for a cold engine in straight 30wt. Go ahead and do crank/rod bearings and a oil pump, it won’t set you back much of anything, mostly costs time but you are in a good place for doing it.

[@mikedimaio1237]

One of the best hack jobs I've seen, you guys are amazing and perfectly fitting for an old Dodge.

[@Alanc419]

These are just the type of content I needed to find / watch! New subscriber here!

[@richardholdener1727]

welcome

[@iceman45ification1]

I had a '93 Plymouth Sundance, I bought brand new, back in the day. The 2.2 was a great dependable little engine. 👌

[@matthewtaylor3308]

I drove a Shelby CSX at a car auction when I was 18, along with every Spirit turbo I could - great cars.

[@michaelmiller1317]

Yes, I would love to see what's inside the bottom end of that motor. I have an '87 Shelby Charger I bought about a year ago but I have not even attempted to get it running yet, too many projects ahead of it, but this series has been a big motivation to get it going!! 2.2 Power!

[@johnkendall6962]

I owned one then they were new. It was fun to catch 5 liter Mustangs and 305 Camaros. If it had boost It would walk away from them from 20 mph on up. Sure had a shock the first time I needed tires. Adjusted for inflation they would cost $500 each today

[@burtonporter8437]

Wanna sell it?

[@jrs9144]

I love the trick with the distributor

[@stevenrhoat2902]

Pull pan and put bearings in it! Easy job and will last longer for your test. Oil pressure is low on cold oil. They love to eat bearings, also use quality synthetic higher weight.

[@terrywillis5784]

Luv your excitement !!!

[@pancudowny]

Had an '88 Caravan with the N/A-2.5, and cooked the oil in it to the point of welding the bearings one night... pushing hard & long in the wind, to help a lady-friend recover her purse before the restaurant closed. The pressure read fine, right to the moment it slowed to a complete stop. My advice: Increase oil capacity however possible, and add an oil cooler. Because the three things that effect oil life are total body size (oil capacity) temperature and filtration!

[@TheArrow1100]

Yes ! I would love to see what you can get out of the old bullet proof 2.2 cheers

[@raymondpauze8801]

Mopar Performance had a spring kit for the oil pump(same as a la engine) to up oil psi

[@hereinmissoula11]

Love this one !!!

[@BackyardBandits]

i just gotta say you keep doing motors that i am building or have built in my yard. i have an 03 GTP and an 88 dodge showa turbo (SRT swap coming soon) cool to see these old engine still getting messed with and modified old pressure was low. at 2000 mine was at 35ish. and that was with a crack cylinder wall blowing smoke

[@bobroberts2371]

" SRT swap coming soon " you mean PT cruiser engine don't you?

[@mchristr]

Boost it to the moon. Can't wait to see the numbers.

[@SlowSpyder]

My first car was an 86 Charger / Turismo (I'm honestly not sure which it was, they were so cheap with the badge engineering then that it has both labels on it depending on where you looked). It had the 2.2 non-turbo with a carb and a 3 speed auto. It was the slowest POS ever, but I do miss it, oddly enough. I liked how simple cars of that era were.

[@bobroberts2371]

And that is the trade off, old slow relatively simple car that doe not get that great of fuel mileage ( though people were crying about all the electronic stuff back then ) or new high power somewhat complex , great fuel mileage car that is actually easier to diagnose due to OBD2.

[@timothycooney986]

Check cause of low oil pressure. Am excited to see addition of power adders. I've a 2.5 that seems to run okay on elevated boost (12-14 lbs on gauges). Snappy but I want a lot more. Please include specifcs and sources in description as you proceed.

[@dantheman70p22]

This is AWESOME

[@gettothechase636]

Those were good motors mom had one in her 85 caravan with a 5 speed

[@chadmccolm6544]

There great turbo engine. I had one could smoke the tires for a block straight

[@rocketsurgeon11]

Minimum oil pressure in the factory service manual is 4psi at idle if I remember correctly.

[@marklucas3140]

That is the correct number!😁

[@mcm95403]

Awesome!

[@DisabilityExams]

Put the Buick supercharger on the Chrysler 2.2L!

[@jarrodburke4685]

Like Adam said, 60psi at start up and few seconds there after drops to 30psi would definitely be having a look see inside.

[@LD9user]

Do compression check. Do cylinder leak down test. If that checks out, replace oil pump, main bearings and rod bearings.

[@dougupton9532]

Thanks

[@rajcam80]

Nice!

[@mcm95403]

And yes, check out the pump and bearings before thrashing it please!

[@Microreo]

Oil Pressure is a strange thing on these motors they run low at idle and rise linearly with RPM, thedodgegarage lists 7~10psi for every 1000RPM.

[@79tazman]

yeah as long as it's 10 psi per gand of RPM it's okay. that's is true so 35ish at 2 grand is okay but it is low but it is a old engine too so could have lots of miles on it

[@GIGABACHI]

Sure, check for sludge on your pick up tube and check those rod and main bearings if you're planning on keeping that thing around. May as well do it now outside the car.

[@twisted2291]

Every 2.2 and 2.5 that I have ever built had about 60 psi max oil pressure. But I highly recommend that you use a later model intake on it. So that way you are not sucking air through the turbo with the throttle plate before it. That design had a bad boost creep issue. Using the later model intake will also allow you to run a intercooler. Back in the day (mid 90's). I had a 84 Rampage And a wrecked GLHS Shelby. So I swapped all the Shelby stuff over to the Rampage. Got the Mopar stage 3 computer, intercooler kit, cam kit and injector set for it. I had a bad little truck running high 10's with an A555 Getrag trans. Man I miss that little beast.

[@TurboJohn74]

he's doing several iterations, starting with this as a baseline

[@muchcat1113]

I have a 82 rampage I'm getting ready to get into. Getting your hands on the Turbo II intake manifold you're talking about is a bit hard, the Turbo I intake manifold is quite easy to get still luckily

[@jeffie8696]

Admittedly removing the pan and doing mains and rods is super easy with the 2.2 I had one in my Sundance and it was amazing . Loved that stupid car.

[@djcybercorgi]

WE NEED MORE 2.2 AND 2.5 VIDEOS!!!!

[@richardholdener1727]

yes

[@jasonbryan8959]

The 2.2 and 2.5 are the ultimate low-budget, reliable, easy-to-work on engine... even a fool like me can keep one working!@@richardholdener1727

[@alexandertoshich765]

Nice

[@invujerry]

I bet you could get a couple pulls done with that oil pressure. These 8 valves always sound like airplane engines to me lol

[@joshandnissa]

I drove a bunch of these they run above 30 psi oil pressure if healthy. throw some bearings and an oil pump in it if you want it to be more than a paperweight.

[@f688xt6]

I've always wanted to see someone mess with one of these engines. A friend had a 600 in high school and my grandmother had a New Yorker with this engine. I'm really interested in this project...

[@jeremymurphy7320]

Hey-o...just checking in on a 6.2L Ford. Would love to see it with a Richie Special intake

[@davevan9150]

Check the bearings. I had to rebuild mine twice for spun rod bearings due to wear.

[@Brock_Landers]

Oh damn...old school Mitsu/Mopar power! It makes me miss my 1990 Dodge Spirit 2.5 turbo...

[@alantrimble2881]

The 2.2 is a Chrysler design. Mitsubishi had nothing to do with it.

[@Brock_Landers]

I wanted to modify that car so badly. I paid $500 for it from the dealership that I worked for at the time. It had 160k miles on it and it ran great after I replaced the water pump and timing belt, and I remember watching a guy named something Donovan who had a 2.5 turbo powered minivan that he had swapped to a 5 speed and he was drag racing it. I swapped from a TE04H turbo to a Daytona .48 AR T3 and manifold, but I didn't do any other modifications. It ran great and while it was quick, it wasn't fast, and I ended up throwing a rod when I went around a turn and due to a non-baffled oil pan it starved the engine of oil. It was a nice car and it had the computer in it with a sunroof and a really nice gray cloth interior with the deep red exterior, but the 2.5 couldn't hang with my driving style. I can't tell yall how much I wish I would've bought a cheap 2.5 or even a 2.2 and swapped it in with a 5 speed trans. Now I have a 709 wheel horsepower 1997 EJ8 Honda Civic coupe with a 1.8L DOHC VTEC turbo and a 2001 CG1 Honda Accord with a 3.2L Acura SOHC VTEC/six speed manual swap, with a GTS3582 turbo running on an AEM Series II 30-6051 standalone. On 10.2 psi it currently makes around 500 wheel horsepower. It's ALOT of fun to drive.

[@Brock_Landers]

@@alantrimble2881 Good point buddy. I know how much Chrysler and Mitsubishi were working together back in those days and my Spirit had a Mitsubishi Heavy Industries (MHI) turbo on it, just like the DSMs had, except my 2.5 had an old TE04H on it. I've owned 65 cars since I was a kid and I've had quite a few different vehicles.

[@Brock_Landers]

@@alantrimble2881 I also had a 1992 Plymouth Colt hatchback that I swapped a 4g63t into and it was almost a plug and play swap. It came with a 4g15 12 valve Mitsubishi engine and the badges said "Imported by Dodge" but the underhood tag said Mitsubishi.

[@gothicpagan.666]

Is that what it is? The body shell looks like a Talbot Horizon (Chrysler UK) which had Simca (Chrysler France) mechanicals. That power unit looks very much like a Mitsubishi L2200 pick up truck. Also available as a 2.5 a bit later.

[@motorosso3349]

Run it!

[@davej3487]

If these Turbo 2.2's were pushing 147 HP NET, it will be good to see GROSS at the crank. Net is 1.089 HP per Cube, Much more than a 340 HP or 340 6 Pack per cube

[@thefinalroman]

Probably just clean the pickup screen but 30 is within normal range for that RPM...

[@kevinkehlet1543]

On my 84 chrysler Laser you set you timing via the bell housing

[@deanstevenson6527]

Your only as good as your Mignons Mr Holdener. Ish and Troy made you the greatest Shade Tree. PWM and Duty Cyle Replication was similar to the Ninja Alley Cat method..perfected by our neighborhood elusive Cat Door Food Bowl Thief. You are really the Top Cat of Spray and Walk Away Engine Tuning. Bye "Tee Cee"

[@pjanda1]

Had one of these in my 1986 Lebaron GTS. Fun car until ot burned to the ground in my high school parking lot. If only I had known in small town Nebraska in the 90s what can be done with these motors!

[@scotttod6954]

Heat shield for the turbo soaked in oil and fell onto the starter positive lead? Was pretty common for that heat shield to catch fire.

[@krugtech]

i need one of those for the front motor in my turbine van.

[@andrewbarber528]

Curious as to if you had any throttle position or idle air hooked up at all. What your plan was with that or if you were going straight to an LS throttle body.

[@chrislemaster2695]

Did you know that the same enginner that made the 3.7L 225 slant 6 also made the 2.2l and 2.2 Turbo AKA as the Chrysler Slant 4

[@kenheady5946]

Everyone of them that I have messed with always been about that oil pressure

[@BigDankJuicyBlunts]

2.2 Audi 5cylinder turbo next please! Do a 10v!!!

[@michaelarrington9478]

I would love to root around in the cabinet at west tech I bet it's very nice

[@rileywilliams5763]

I need an exhaust manifold and turbo for my 91 Shelby Daytona!! So hard to find in my state.

[@grantjury509]

When do you plan to do the slant turbo videos??

[@jamesfrost5261]

Great job. Ya the oil psi seams a little low but see where it's at at 6000 rpm then go in and check the bearing and oil pump. Next you need to put that gt45 turbo on it and let it eat. Lol

[@richardholdener1727]

Gt45?

[@jamesfrost5261]

@@richardholdener1727 isn't that the turbo you use on everything? If it's to big, can you use the stock turbo to help spool it?

[@miquelanesto1762]

For sure take it down, inspect and do the needful.

[@TheProchargedmopar]

👍💪

[@blixxy1320]

can you do a nissan Ka24de big bang? already have one running 245k miles strong in my minitruck and i think she wants some boost

[@speedmullen]

Move immediatly to compound turbo / supercharger mode

[@DiamondLadyAmusement]

i would think checking the bearings and pump would be smart considering the abuse it about to get :)

[@jammerz63]

Stock, the t1 in 84 put out 145 hp. The log intake wasn't as good as the later models.

[@vr6swp]

I’d at least drop the pan to clean it and the pump / pickup. Maybe make sure the bearings aren’t about to fall out. If what the other guy posted is true oil pressure is pretty close to spec

[@shawnsatterlee6035]

Pickup is probably plugged. Was a common issue back in days.

[@orangetruckman]

Open it up!

[@nhardy419]

Wow great job! My brother has an 86 Dodge Daytona Turbo Z CS. Love the sound and turbo whistle it makes. He wants 300hp out of it. Brother also has a 98 Grand Prix series II GTP with mods that will take a 4.6 mustang GT.

[@r.d.riddle2068]

We geezers enjoy the heck out of your channel. Youngsters should have to watch it to learn basics, theory, cause and effect. 5 or 6 years ago I was watching some friends trying to troubleshoot a 4 cyl. Pontiac no start. Good spark. They called BS on me after I shot carb cleaner in the intake and it fired. I said "cam sensor" and walked away.

[@ReevesRacingGarage]

You got the wrong Dakota bellhousing. LMK if you need the one that will bolt to dyno.

[@notme8121]

I didn't see any smoke and couldn't hear any knocking so maybe the oil pressure is fine for that little motor

[@ShoGuygames]

Now do the T3 version of the 2.2L

[@jimmyford271]

Cheap insurance to roll in a set of bearings and replace the oil pump.

[@ts302]

Run some ATF through it to loosen up any caked oil. Fill with fresh oil and let it eat!