Hey guys, I have been really busy with school and all lately and have had absolutely no spare time. But I think the engine in my Duster may have bit the dust. Here is the scoop.

I replaced the timing set on my Duster about a month ago. Up removing the cover I found this peculiar wear pattern on the back of the timing chain cover. Everybody said it was a sure sign of potential cam walk. Here is a pic.



So I reassembled everything, including a new timing set from NAPA, seals, and an oil slinger. I also did Doc's oil galley plug mod to spray more oil on the chain. It ran fine for about a week and then it started to make an awful squealing noise at idle that sounded to be coming from the chain cover. Rev the engine up and it stops momentarily then comes back at idle. Going down the road you can hear quite well also. Does this sound like cam walk to you guys? This engine has over 200,000 miles on and it might be too far gone for a cam button (if it is cam walk). What do you guys think?

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82 D150-225/727
02 Dakota-3.9/5 speed
87 GMC C7000-8.2 Detroit Diesel/5+2

I think probably you have nailed the problem exactly, but I can't figure out why the engine would be too far gone for a cam anti-walk button to work. There's no thrust bushing or anything as with the crankshaft (though I would be interested to know how much end float your crank has at this point).

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一期一会
Too many people who were born on third base actually believe they've hit a triple.

I have no idea about the endfloat but I have so much blowby that I had to remove my open element crankcase breather because it would spew oil all of the valve cover after it was run for about 1 hour. It smokes a pretty good bit when cold and also has only 15 lbs of oil pressure hot idling.

I have been thinking about selling this car anyway. It wouild make a great project for someone. All it needs is an engine.

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82 D150-225/727
02 Dakota-3.9/5 speed
87 GMC C7000-8.2 Detroit Diesel/5+2

Rebuild!!!

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vm

Boy, this sounds familiar. I had something similar happen. It turned out that the #6 valve was burned and it was overloading the air injection pump. So it made a horrendous noise when ever you tried to get the revs up enough to shift. I mean really loud!

bwhitejr

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'72 Duster (Performance 360)
'83 Ramcharger (Performance 318)
'80 TrailDuster (360)
'80 D-150 Truck (See Below)
CompCams 252S, Holley 390cfm, Offy manifold
Ported, Polished and Gasket Matched
P4286813 Springs,0.040 Overbore,
0.090 Shaved Head

Well I cranked it up today and used a mechanics stethoscope to isolate the noise and it is coming from the timing chain cover. I also heard the clunk, clunk,clunk of a bad bearing (I thought I was going crazy or something but it was a bearing that I was hearing).

I will probably put it up for sale next week.

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82 D150-225/727
02 Dakota-3.9/5 speed
87 GMC C7000-8.2 Detroit Diesel/5+2

How much

I haven't decided yet. I have over $20,000 in it (huge mistake).

I still am not sure if I want ot get rid of it or not. It is my first car, I built it myself, and once it is gone it's gone.

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82 D150-225/727
02 Dakota-3.9/5 speed
87 GMC C7000-8.2 Detroit Diesel/5+2

Don´t sell it Jeb, rebuild the engine as a hobby to take off daily stress, take your time and keep it it that excellent shape it is now, don´t look at your Duster as a dying car, look at it as a proyect car.

Thats what I personally think about it, I will never sell my Duster (I sold a 93 Concorde, but not my Duster!)

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Mopar Muscle is well defend by Slant Six!

Valiant Duster 1971

At this point I am still intimidated by an engine rebuild. I've swapped heads before and that is about as deep as I have went.

Since I got my Miata I really don't care about the Duster anymore.

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82 D150-225/727
02 Dakota-3.9/5 speed
87 GMC C7000-8.2 Detroit Diesel/5+2

Wow! That Miata must really kick ass

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I don't understand. You put $20K into a Duster without doing an engine rebuild? That's some expensive paint, or ... ?

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"When you find a big kettle of crazy, it's best not to stir it." - Pointy-haired Boss

1964 Valiant V200, 225/Pushbutton 904
BBD, CAI, HEI, LBP, AC, AM/FM/USB, EIEIO

Well, I had it repainted (paint was expensive), several bodypanels where replaced, stripes where put on, transmisson had to be rebuilt, bumpers where rechromed, broke rearend twice, interior was 100% restored to look like it did from the factory, front end rebuilt, and lots of parts that I had to buy along the way to keep the thing running. I was visiting NAPA once every week getting something else that had broke or ceased to function.

I have decided not to sell it. I am going to drop my insurance coverage on it and park it in the back of my shop under a cover. There it won't cost me anything to keep it. In a few years I might attempt a slant six buildup.

I will still drop by here time from time to see how you guys are doing.

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82 D150-225/727
02 Dakota-3.9/5 speed
87 GMC C7000-8.2 Detroit Diesel/5+2

I gotta say, I don't get the logic. You've got $20k in it, it looks *great*, absolutely the ONLY thing it appears to need is an engine rebuild. That's a tiny fraction of what you've already spent on it! As far as the intimidation factor, you could have the machine shop assemble the whole short-block so all you have to do is drop the head on, which you've already done. That *still* won't set you back a huge amount. The glow around that Miata will dim to nothing in a few years (maybe months), but the Duster is just going to keep getting more desirable.

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Its called getting burned out with something. I spent more time under the hood of this car than I did driving it. I was afraid to drive it because every time I did something else broke on it. I think the slant six race in Valdosta finished it up because after that it would burn a quart of oil every time I drove it.

Now that I have something that is a blast to drive, really easy to take care of, and can actually keep up with traffic, I really don't care for my 3450 pound paperweight anymore.

You have probably been working on cars your whole life. I'm just a 19 year old who has been on a steep learning curve for the past five years.

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82 D150-225/727
02 Dakota-3.9/5 speed
87 GMC C7000-8.2 Detroit Diesel/5+2