Total Newbie With Questions

[Papacrane]

Bought a 1978 Dodge Country Squire Sportsman 61,000 miles on odometer. Good condition, AC and Refrig do not work.

What class is this?

I think the engine is a V8 360 2 barrel....sound right?

Engine runs VERY rough, barely makes it uphill. Have changed spark plugs, wires, Dist cap....now looking for carb rebuild kit but need to make sure of Engine size. Are parts hard to find for this?

Took one trip with it so far of about 150 miles total and used alomost $100 in fuel!

I paid $ 2,000 for this. Did I get ripped off?

[Vulcaneer]

Another thought...you might want to pull one plug wire at a time from each cylinder. If the engine sounds different (roughness) with each plug disabled...all is good with that cylinder. Then re-plug the wire and go do it again to the next plug. If the engine sound (roughness) does not change, then that cylinder is suspect. Doesn't tell you WHAT the problem is. But helps you to isolate WHERE the problem may be.

Another check for a vacuum leak is (with the engine running) to take a propane canister torch, open the valve, and point the nozzle around the base of the carburetor, intake manifold, and other places where you might have an intake leak. If in any one place you hear the idle pick up, that is a place you have an intake leak.

[Vulcaneer]

Your fuel mileage sounds a little heavy...even for an RV. But those old Mopars, were never known for good mileage. Check for leaking vacuum hoses, or rich running. If you have changed the plugs, did they look dark (rich running?) or oil fouled.

The good news is you don't report he engine temp being abnormally high. Or it is burning oil. Or transmission slip.

But about the rough running. The earlier suggestions for wiring, plug issues are good. If they don't help, then think about a compression test. Could have a head gasket or valve issue. Although many times a bad head gasket will show water in the oil, white smoke (under load) out the tail pipe, High temperature, or other symptoms. A leaking valve will cause compression loss and rhythmic skipping, at all RPM's.

The A/C fridge issues can be cheap to fix, or very expensive. If it was me, I would research the engine issues first. If the engine is no good, I wouldn't put lots of money into fixing the other things.

The advice to replace anything rubber is good. But only after you get confidence that the rig can be saved for a reasonable cost. If you get the rig running good, then you need to make sure it will be reliable. Belts, hoses, Vac lines. Those things can be show stoppers if they fail on the road.

[StevenH]

If I remember correctly.
Take a look on the drivers side of the engine block under the heads. There should be a number letter combination first number is year, letter is plant, next three numbers should be engine size.
If the carb is bad before you spend a lot of money on it check out other options like a 4 barrel or if aftermarket fuel injection is available. I remember changing a 340 to a 4 barrel in the 70's. It helped performance but can't remember what it did to fuel mileage. The trick was to find a manifold that delivered low end torque.

Steve

[woodgeezer]

Not answered yet is the engine size. Check the VIN number on the dash, or the Title. Using that at any auto parts store will give you the size/configuration. Good luck with the project. Sorry you didn't visit here before buying.

[Matt_Colie]

Darien,

You probably didn't get ripped off, but you may be into this another 3K$ before it is right.

Mopars of that period all had a dreadful cross-fire problem.
First, Check the firing order from at least three independent sources.
Second, Check the dress of the spark plug wires. If 5 and 7 are anywhere near parallel, move them. They can cross, but even try to prevent that.

Driveline and brake parts should not be difficult to get - yet, but make friends with online suppliers because your local parts store won't be much help. You had best know what you are buying parts for by base numbers.

Count on all the rubber being bad. AJ mentioned tires, and that is just the start. If it is rubber, replace it. This also includes all the fuel lines underneath. All of the rubber. And flush the brakes with new fluid too.

Your entire fuel system should be carefully inspected. It was not made for and the engine was not calibrated for the Crstuff that passes as motorfuel these days. Yes, the carburetor will need to be gone through and all its internals replaced with crapalcohol tolerant materials.

Good Luck Guy

Matt

[AJMom]

We have a 1994 Class C and get about 7.5 mpg. We have had to repair/replace quite a bit on ours since getting it last year, as well as buying seven new tires. Check the age code on your tires, and if they are more than 7 years old, they need to be replaced. Be prepared to spend a lot of time and $ fixing up anything and everything! RVing is never inexpensive, and an older rig will need a lot of TLC.

Welcome to the forum, and good luck!

[Cuffs054]

Papa, too late for buyers remorse! Maybe the good people here can help. Can you be more SPECIFIC about frig and ac? Brand, model, etc? Do either of them do anything, hum, etc? Your power supply certainly could be a factor. That said the engine is a Chrysler product, I rest my case!

[toedtoes]

Appears to be a class c from what I found online.

It could be a 360, they were commonly used for RVs. The 440 was common also.

The fridge can be expensive to replace/repair. Are you sure it's the fridge and AC that are bad and not the converter? Worth testing to be sure.

If you get 7.5 mpg on hills you're doing well. 10 mpg on flats is great. Less than 7 and you should check things out.