I have a 1982 Dodge Van with a slant six. I got it off a guy that bought it from Arizona. It has 17,000 miles on the rebuilt engine. I do not know the extent of the rebuild. I have a few questions about this engine. What is the oil capacity of this engine? I live in NE Ohio, should I re-adjust the carb because of different environments? The van also got really hot on the way home from me buying it. It stays at a relatively low temp when you are putting around the city, but when I am on the freeway it heats up real quick. Engine problem or radiator/waterpump thermo problem? Thanks!! BTW be easy. This is my first carb vehicle.

As far as the carb goes if it's starting and running ok it may not need any tweaking. As far as getting hot,just how hot did it get? Boiling over needing more coolant added or just the guage reading hot? If truly hot start with the basics,thermostat,waterpump(any side to side wiggle on the shaft?)system flush then 50/50 mix of anti-freese/water(use distilled h2o) A good tune-up and timing might help also and you should be looking at 5 qts with filter and use the larger wix/Napa filter that will add maybe another 1/2 qt to the mix,#1515 for Napa,#51515 for wix.Another thing on the cooling make sure that bottom rad hose is in good condition as some have reported cheap ones collapsing restricking coolant flow.Also if automatic trans if it has any problems causing internal overheating that can transfer the heat to rad from trans cooler.Good luck with the 'new' van and welcome to the world of slant 6's

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83 B-150 slant 6,4 speed. 79 B-300 360 pathfinder 4x4. 74 W-300 318 4x4 git-r-done 80 B-100 sl6,4speed

Oil capacity should be in the owner's manual, but add oil until the dipstick reads full.

As far as the overheating goes, we need more info.

(1) are there wires going to the carburetor? Alternatively, is there a box labelled "spark control computer" or "electronic spark control" bolted to the firewall under the hood?
(2) how many wires are going to the distributor? Two or four?
(3) have you checked the condition and rating of the thermostat and the
radiator cap?

I agree with 6shot- a flush and refill of the cooling system using 50/50 antifreeze-water mix is where you should start. I also don't think the change in elevation from Arizona to Ohio warrants any carb tweaking.

might need 6 qts of oil if has truck style oilpan


agrees with flush cooling and 50/50 mix new thermostat check hoses and flow

Before you drain the coolant-run it until it gets warm and then feel around the front of the radiator to make sure that its fairly even temperature wise. A cold area indicates a blocked portion of the radiator. Also check for collapsed or old radiator hoses. What type of flow do you have in the radiator after the thermostat opens? Could also be something as simple as a timing issue or an inaccurate guage/sending unit.

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Good gun control is hitting your target repeatedly