1983 Plymouth Reliant from North America - Comments

I got it cheap off the street. First I thought there was a suspension problem. It was.. I replaced the CV arm on one side for about $35 (my time)

Brakes were bad. There were no rotors to speak of.

The carb would not keep the engine running. I found the control was not engaged, so I fashioned one I used a bent paper clip which is still working.

Battery cable not making good contact.

Replaced for about 2 bux.

Starter went bad... Pain to install cause its behind the trans and above steering with framework also.

Replaced the Hub on the drivers side a couple days ago because the bearings were shot and it seemed like the easier way to go. Now I have an alignment problem.

I think that this car is pretty good.

It is over 20 years old and in not really that bad of shape. The body is decent, The motor runs to beat all (except for the Misfire when I exelerate to quickly up hill (HELP) ) all in all for the piece of metal that I bought it is very reliable in getting me to and from work which is over 30 miles city driving. Can't cut the interstate. I would like feedback if you know how to solve this bucking backfire I get uphill.

Try replacing the hall effect sensor in the distributor. It's cheap, and it can cause the type of trouble you are having.

Try plugs, wires, cap and rotor.. just a hunch.

Back in the early 1990's, my parents bought a 1984 Plymouth Reliant station wagon. At first I thought it was a real come-down from the full-sized station wagons like the Monaco or Volarè but I really came to be impressed with the car. It was the first small car I'd seen that really did have a comfortable "big car ride." It was vastly superior to the 1983 Chevy Cavalier station wagon that had preceded it, which was just a runabout puddle jumper. We put close to 150,000 miles on the Reliant before giving it to a relative.

We also experienced a stutter under heavier acceleration, where there was a subtle feeling of the engine not pulling constantly. The stutter was not present under low or moderate acceleration. On an older car, it would have felt like a bad vacuum advance. Replacing the spark plugs, distributor rotor, and spark plug wires really helped that problem. However, there was still a noticeable stutter or "dogging out" under heavy acceleration in 2nd and 3rd gear (this was a manual transmission), like when turning onto a highway from a dead stop, trying to get up to speed quickly. Our main solution was like the old joke: "Doctor, it hurts when I do this." "Well, don't do that!" Some time later, the magnetic pickup went out so the car would die when it got hot, but I don't know if the two issues were related.