So I bought myself a FC a while back. 1987 Turbo-II.

When I test drove it, it seemed alright. Except for a few small things.

First of all, it had that famous engine hesitation at 3700 RPMs that the FCs are so notorious for.

Secondly, it had an exhaust leak. The guy mentioned that it was a blown exhaust manifold gasket.

The good part was, the interior and exterior were both in great condition. The paint was also in excellent condition.



A few weeks later, big problems started turning up...

- The horn stopped working.
- Somehow, the hesitation problem went away by itself... I noticed a burning sort of smell the first time I was able to rev smoothly over 3700 RPMs. I guessed that perhaps whatever buildup was causing the grounds to fail burned off by itself.
- The engine started spilling huge amounts of white smoke as I revved. [I did not smell the sweet smell of coolant burning]

Everything else seems to be alright, except for the smoke issue... which really worries me.

Anyways, the point of this post is for me to ask all of you... what are my options?

My original intentions were to do a V8 swap [Yeah, I know it's sacrilegious. A friend of mine did a V8 swap, though... and it was beautiful.]

I no longer have the time nor funds to do this... So I'd like to get rid of the car.



How much do all of you think the car is worth in it's current condition?

How much do rolling shells usually go for, anyways?

If I sold this car as a parts car, how much could I expect to get for it?


I originally paid 3k for what I thought would be a worthwhile car. Stupid and naive are the only two words I have for myself right now.

But hey... live and learn, I guess?

Thanks in advance for your opinions.

 

how many miles on it?

 

keep it and fix it when you can afford it, the amount you will get for it now will make you cry. sorry for your luck.

 

102,833 miles logged.

 

does it smoke only when its cold? or does it do it after it warms up?

 

It always smokes...

Regardless of temperature outside... this is what happens:

[I've tried this in cold and warm temperatures]

I start the car, and it idles.

I wait about 5-10 seconds, and clouds of white smoke pour out. It doesn't go away.

It definitely does not smell like coolant... I'm really not sure what it smells like... All I can say is that it smells kinda bitter and acrid.

As I rev the engine, more smoke billows out; it never ceases.



Other than this smoke problem and the exhaust leak... I'd have to say this car is in relatively good condition... Meh.

 

dude my car does it, smoke white as all hell for about 5 minutes if i let it keep idling, but it'll go away, never loses a drop of cooland doensnt smell like **** but exaust. its the magical mystery smoke, dont worry bout it unless something else turns up

 

lets see pics of this thing. If the body is in really good shape it will be worth more

 

If you still have power and stuff nothings really wrong. Lil smoke never bothered ne one except the people behind you

 

what he ment by the temperature he was talking about the temp outside but the temp of the car when its cold you will see white smoke... when it warms up it magicial disappears

 

One thing to check about the smoke, though; Remember that it won't smell sweet unless there is a significant amount of antifreeze in your cooling system. I've heard of some people picking up cars, and discovering that the previous owner didn't really feel the need to put in any antifreeze.

Check your coolant mix (see if you can see/smell coolant, or, preferably, change coolant), do a fresh oil change, and make a good, note of the oil level. There's only three things that can get into your engine to cause smoke: Coolant, Oil, and Fuel.

Of course, do a compression check too. That's always a good way to see if the engine is doing okay..


Good luck!

 

Had a similar problem with my 87 Tll. After starting it would idle smoke free for about 30 sec.......then it would start to produce huge clouds of white smoke. Run it around for 10 min and the smoke would go away. Turned out to be an oil seal in the turbo. Guess as it heated up and expanded, it would seal up again. There was no noticeable affect on performance. Turbo rebuild was about $500CAD.

 

the car does not happen to be set up to run on premix does it?

 

Ive had a few cars that blew white smoke, and it wasnt a coolent leak in most cases, it was a old *** burned, clogged up cat that was just burning on the inside, when i pulled them, the the honeycomb looking things inside were all rusted and missing links and the was build up all inside, that was making the smoke, now im not saying this is YOUR particular problem, but it doesnt take much to check, and if the cat is the original, at 102K epecially for a T2, i wouldnt be suprised if it was all burned up inside.