1988 Chrysler New Yorker Fifth Avenue 5.2L V8 318cui 145
Faults:
Rattle pin on the rear brakes, small problems with older cars.
Slight spark knock in the engine, due to carbon build-up
General Comments:
Great car, in 2 years I put a load of kilometers on it due to a fairly regular 400km commute 4 times a week last year.
Runs like a clock and cruises good on the highway. Quick enough for my tastes, once you're over 60km/h, this is due to A LOT of carbon built up in the engine.
On a side note you can scare the hell out of people coming out of bars at night (inside joke).
Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? Yes
Review Date: 31st October, 2000
3rd Aug 2004, 14:30
Great Car. This is my second one. Right now it cuts out every so often. It was really bad; The motor would stop before I could make it out of the driveway. Had it towed to a shop. A new battery seems to help a LOT. But it is cutting out on the repairmen. Do you think it could be a computer chip???
6th Sep 2021, 02:27
FYI - 1985-1989 318 V8's in Diplomats/Fifth Avenues/Gran Furies can run on Regular, but prefer Premium fuel (which is the fuel Chrysler recommends). This was done to boost fuel economy & performance.
7th Sep 2021, 21:12
The compression ratio was increased in 1985 in an attempt to wring some more horsepower out of the anemic 318. No wonder the 20 years ago commenter thought it only had a one-barrel carburetor!
12th Sep 2021, 02:47
Prior to the Lee Iacocca Era, the 318 did quite well. Despite his formal training as a engineer, he had a very cynical view of the of the product, and ultimately the customer - despite the Little People being his livelihood. Product was (extremely) secondary to his focus upon good metrics. Hence the swirl-port, high compression 318 was a stopgap solution to the EPA demands of the time. My problem with that engine is using premium fuel to make their numbers for such mediocre results is weak engaged engineering.
3rd Jan 2001, 06:54
I have a 1988 Chrysler Fifth Avenue with the 318 V-8 heavy duty engine, according to the VIN#, it has a one barrel carburetor.
I am the 3rd owner and the last tag on the vehicle was 1995, it was garage stored after that year. The original owner drove the car for 26,000 and the 2nd for 6,000, I now have 34,000 actual miles.
I am responding to the survey about the spark knock. After obtaining the vehicle I did a complete tune-up on the engine, I noticed the spark knock when driving the car. I installed new spark plug wires, changed the A/C spark plugs to Champion plugs which should be used in all Mopar products especially muscle cars. Changed the distributor cap, rotor button and set the timing to the book settings. I still had the spark knock.
I tried several cleaners for removing carbon build-up and several grades of fuel at different companies. Did not remove the spark knock.
I decided to try an Enmark grade of fuel at 93 octane, due to them having a 7 cents reduction on the price every Tuesday. After fueling the car I drove it to the expressway and opened her up to 75 mph. From the time I exited off the on-ramp onto the highway the spark knock was gone and have not since had the problem again.
I am enjoying the ride and the auto is extremely comfortable.
Steve Sellers @ Albany Georgia.