haha no, not yet Al. I think i'd probably take that deal though.
What I have been doing is taking my time and letting the car speak to me a bit more. It tells me it's really fucking crook. Seems like every day there's some new gremlin.
One useful discovery is
this thread – this is the same car, Chris sold it to me. Some good info, wish he'd told me a bit more as he seemed to at least have made some investigations.
A long and quite dull tale follows! –
Thursday was a bit of a run around. Picked up the various fluids and the new big jack I'd need to make a start, plus some crappy Ryco oil filters to sacrifice. Didn't realise I'd need a special fuel filter housing wrench, but made do with a strap one.
So – oil out, flush with ATF, filter change, new Penrite oil in. Faintly pointless exercise – I know it's too late for the bearings, but I did it. Had some white gunk on the dipstick pre-change which I read is due to condensation from short runs rather than head gasket. The oil that came out was black, but no signs of coolant, and no metal bits in there.
That done I swapped over the coolant expansion tank the PO thought was leaking with the 2nd hand one he'd bought but not fitted. Easy swap.
I realised there's a bit of work to get to the throttle body so haven't tackled that yet. Wanted to clean the MAF but, of course, didn't have the 5 star security torx in what I had begun to thought was a reasonably extensive tool kit! Only 6 star.. Bollocks. Gave it a spray anyway.
Once all back together it did seem marginally quieter at first. Made me notice that the power steering pump is a little noisy.
A glove inflated happily over the oil filler. PCV, right?
I also now realise it wasn't just oily dirt mingling with coolant in the puddle it's been leaving, but power steering fluid. There's a leak in either the bottle, lines, pump, or the reconditioned rack the PO fitted. Not investigated yet. I wish i'd known about this, since it's a slightly unusual spec fluid, but perhaps it's a new development. Sounds and feels quite bad. Pump probably quite unhappy. I've ordered a load of Penrite LDAS but it won't be here until Tues earliest.
More on the throttle "surge" – i've noted that the interior lights/gauges etc will dim as it surges. Is this just the alternator pushing out a bit more juice?
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So, where does all this leave us?
I'm fairly convinced now that the car needs a really thorough go-over. I think it's been victim of a cost-saving mindset from it's past several keepers. Basically everything between the front wheels needs looking at.
I called a local engine reconditioning co. about doing the head and bearings, said he'd do the head but best bet is to use another company he works with a lot (even closer to me as luck has it) to refresh the bottom end etc. I'll be speaking with the owner there tomorrow.
My gut feeling on what will absolutely want doing:
- Bottom end, obviously..
- Head rebuild
- Water pump – replace w/ new
- PS pump – replace w/ new
- PS rack if the reconditioned one is shit
- aux belts and pulleys
- timing belt, because why not
- oil strainer/pickup
- PCV system – can't tell yet if partially replaced or done properly
- alternator – maybe
- plugs (sounds like past owners have cheaped out)
- also needs new tyres..
That'll also mean a refresh of gaskets, seals, head bolts, sensors etc too. Again – if you're going to do it, might as well do it thoroughly. If there's anything significantly wrong with the gearbox, drivetrain or AWD system I guess tack that on the end too!
I feel like the crank and pistons/rings will be OK.
Anyway, I think that might add up a bit so will be making a value call soon.
- - -
One bit of good news? In slight frustration I gave the headlights a really quick go over with some Meguiars Ultimate and some UV-block wax and they look a million times better. I'm holding off on any cosmetics until I know it's worth it, of course :)
a long way from perfect but miles from the state they were.
- - -
TL;DR I'm going to take it for a quote on rebuilding the engine locally, but seems like a lot of auxiliary systems need looking at too.
