Save the wagon.
One 1985 Chrysler Town & Country Turbo wagon. A garage full of borrowed tools. A growing list of lessons nobody put in the brochure.
status
paused
One cylinder changed everything.
The thermostat did not solve the overheating. The spark plugs and compression gauge finally narrowed the problem to cylinder #1.
The number I did not want to see.
Cylinder #1 measured 61 psi twice. The other three cylinders each measured 140 psi. That confirms a serious sealing problem, but not the exact failed part.
How I narrowed it down.
Four chapters, one problem cylinder, and a much smaller pile of guesses.
Spark Plug Inspection
All four plugs were sooty, but plug #1 had clear liquid on its firing tip.
Read the chapter →The testCompression Results
Three cylinders matched at 140 psi. Cylinder #1 did not come close.
See the numbers →The symptomCooling System Diagnosis
The overheating continued after the thermostat replacement, and coolant surged during testing.
Follow the evidence →The big possibilityHead Gasket Saga
A head-gasket or cylinder-head problem leads the list, but teardown has not happened.
Read the saga →
It started with my first car.
I bought this wagon because it is the same model as the first car I had at sixteen. Later, I learned its previous owner was named Norma, the same name as my grandmother.
I am not pretending this is a perfect restoration or that I already know what I am doing. The point is to learn, fix what I can, admit when I cannot, and document the whole strange process.
Pick your rabbit hole.
Repairs, old brochures, bad paint, useful parts information, and every questionable decision in between.
Repairs
The complete repair archive, including the fixes, tests, mistakes, and unfinished investigations.
Research Library
Manuals, brochures, parts sources, and early Chrysler turbo resources.
Gallery
Photos from the garage, the driveway, and every stage of the wagon’s revival.
Should You Buy One?
A real-world buyer’s guide built from what this wagon has taught me.
Engine guide2.2 Turbo Survival Guide
The systems, symptoms, and resources that matter on an early Chrysler turbo.
Project recordEverything I’ve Done
The honest timeline of completed repairs, paused plans, and what comes next.
The engine has to come first.
I still want to repair the wagon myself, but I do not have the tools, workspace, experience, or extra set of hands to do this job alone in my driveway. I am looking for work and talking through the repair with my dad before deciding what is realistic.
Until then, the engine stays off and the cosmetic projects wait. There is no reason to spend heavily on paint or interior work before I know what it will take to put the wagon back on the road.
The wagon is waiting. I am not done.
For now, there are repairs to plan, old stories to organize, and plenty of previous garage chaos to explore.