1987 Plymouth Reliant - Answered Questions & Fixed issues

yes this is possible ,if the car isn't over heating

Not if you have spark. You may have increased resistance in the fuel injector circuit. I have read that liberal use of electrical contact (tv tuner) cleaner on the injector circuit connectors may cure this. You should measure the resistance through the injector terminals. Cold, it should be between .9 and 1.2 ohms. If all tests OK, you may have a bad injector driver in the computer.

To the best of my knowledge, no parts are available for this problem. This will be a big hunt for you to try to get the help you need. Try car parts stores, car dealer ships, then go to Amazon and finally e-bay. Feel free to take any side trips you wish in the looking. I have had similar problems myself with malfunctioning delay circuits. Perhaps your best bet its to try to find an older mechanic who knows how to by-pass the problem and cut the delay out of the circuit. God bless your search.

Been a long time since I have seen one of these on the road............. I used to own one. Code 1.2 means that the battery has been disconnected recenty (or died) Code 5.5 means it is the end of the codes. However Code 13, or 1.3 as you state............. is a MAP sensor code. These vehicles are notorious for MAP sensor Issues. First inspect the vacuum hose for cracks or breaks, I suggest replacing it anyway because the car will barely run without it. If the vacuum hose does not help, make sure the sensor is actually getting vacuum from the engine in-case it is clogged. If it is them remove the electrical connector from the MAP sensor with the key ON but the Engine OFF. Use a volt meter to check that one of the pins has about 12 volts, another should have 5 volts, and the last should have Ground. if these are ok then you will need a new MAP sensor.

If you could find a salvage yard car with same year/engine/trans you might just swap ECU. These units seldom fail, but it does happen. First insure ECU is properly mounted and grounded--same for engine.

Code 13 (1 flash,pause,3 flashes) is "MAP Sensor Signal Not Changing". This could be something as simple as broken vacuum line from the intake to the MAP, the factory line used in the Reliants is usually hard plastic, with rubber hose joining it to the Intake & MAP. It gets very brittle with age and tends to fall apart or break from engine movement/vibration/hot-cold cycles/etc. It may also be a poor electrical connection at the MAP Sensor, or even a MAP failure. Code 26 (2 flashes,pause,6 flashes) is Injector Current Peak Not Reached or Injector Short or Injector Open. This is most likely related to Code 13 that I mentioned above, as well as Code 52 which I'll detail next. The fuel injection system relies on input from the MAP, IAT, Engine Temperature Sending Unit, etc to control the injector Code 52 (5 flashes,pause,2 flashes) is Engine Running Rich. Definitely related to Code 26, which is most likely related to Code 13. One part can cause a whole chain of issues in the injection system. Code 55 (5 flashes,pause,5 flashes) means "End of Codes". No more codes have been found. As for the other things you mentioned; overheating, the overflow jug being filled to the top, and consuming oil. I think you have some more serious problems going on there. It may have blown a head gasket when it overheated. Which could cause Compression to push past the fire ring, into a water jacket, forcing coolant out of the radiator into the overflow jug. There's 3 obvious signs for a blown head gasket, though sometimes you only get one, sometimes you get two signs, sometimes you get all three. 1 I just mentioned, 2 is consuming coolant (the engine will draw coolant into the combustion chamber and partially burn it and expel the remains out the exhaust), 3 is the mixing of coolant and oil, where coolant passes between the water jackets and oil ports, mixing. The usual sign for that one is a peanut butter colored goo on your dipstick or oil cap. If it overheated to the point where the engine shut down (like you said), it may have damaged the piston rings, which would result in excessive blow by and oil consumption. I've seen this happen quite a few times on various engines I would recommend performing a Leak Down Test and a Compression Test so you can determine what you're dealing with.

1987 vehicle & all those problems Time to get another car

the water pump is likely shot

Yes, the pick-up coil was a common cause of what you describe. Drive along and suddenly die, but by the time help arrived it would re-start, and run for a while again, then quit again until it cooled down.

Sounds like vapor lock. This means that fuel is being boiled before it reaches the engine. Check for loose insulation, gas line exposed to exhaust pipe, etc. basically your gas has to remain cool before it gets used by the engine.

Sounds to me like the splines in the transaxle are shot

Follow linkages and lubricate well with spray grease at all pivot points and at transmission.

So the flywheel is spinning but the engine is not? Sounds like a detached flywheel. Hopefully it is broken bolts and not a broken crank.

There are nylon bushings in the steering column that wear out, so you can use a lithium or a graphite lubrication to extend their life a little longer. But eventually they will need replaced.

Could be the shift cable is dry for oil due to the age. You may have to replace it. You could disconnect the linkage at the trans and try it to confirm.

I would say ballast resistor, this is a resistor used to reduce power at the coil from 13.8 volt down to usually 9 volt. this allows an engine to have extra voltage for starting and run on the lower voltage. ballast resister faulty it runs out of spark when you disengage the starter

You should check a repair book for the details, but the general method is to use a timing light to align the marks. The marks are on the flywheel and the scale is in an access hole in the transaxle.I think you have to unplug the coolant temp sensor to put the system in test mode but I'm not sure on that.

i think it is built in

1= You must test the ignition syste, reset the ignition timing see the diagram2= Test the fuel pumpGod bless you

between the master cylinder and the servo is normally a rubber seal O ring