rusaccord

I've found a local 1988 TII, it's black with some minor body defects, like a few dings on the driver's side door. The interior needs some repair. About two or three minor interior pieces are missing, the dash is cracked, and the driver's seat is well torn up on the entry side. The seats are leather. The engine refuses to start, and acts like it is perpetually flooded, and I was not able to unflood it by taking out the trailing spark plugs (they were black and dripping with fuel) and the two EGI fuses and cranking it. We push-started the car and it worked fairly well. The engine was nice and even, but as soon as the rpm's started dipping below 900, the engine died. We let it sit for about 10 minutes, and it refused to start again. We did not try to push-start it again. I could not get an accurate compression reading on the car (It read about 10 psi for the front rotor, and about 50 for the rear rotor). It has 125,000 miles on it. He says the previous owner told him that he had replaced the clutch, and he had driven the car for a week or two, but that the clutch is now shot and no longer works. The seller says he knows nothing about rotaries, and has only had the car for a few weeks. He bought it on a whim and is selling due to lack of funds (working on a Civic) and rotary knowledge. He wants $1500 for the car. I did not get to drive the car. While we were riding along after teh push-start, the "Add Coolant" light came on for about 5 seconds, then went off and never surfaced again. The engine seems clean and there is no oil dripping from the lsd.

I need opinions, what is this car worth, if anything?

RETed

Tell em $500 or walk away.
You're looking at a possible blown/overheated engine with more problems elsewhere (cooling system leak is a hint).


-Ted

Bukwild

buy the car for the cheapest possible then send the motor to Kevin at RR and have him rebuild it then you have a t2 for under 3k

rusaccord

What do you mean by cooling system leak? What sets off the "Add Coolant" light? Would it be worth it to rebuild it? I know the rotor housings would have to be new, but would I be able to salvage the rotors?

Evil Aviator

Ditto

RETed

Yes, the ADD COOLANT light is the first indication that the cooling system has been compromised.  This can be as minor as a pin-hole leak or worse-case to an overheated engine with warped housings.  In cases like this, I like to think in the worse-case and assume the engine is totally trashed due to overheating.


Unless you get very good prices for parts, you're looking at a $2,000+ job from removing, to rebuiling, to reinstallation, to tuning everything for a properly running vehicle.

The car isn't the nicest condition from your description, and a "rolling shell" in my book is only worth $500US.

Unless you have great mechanical skills and the resources to fix such a "project", be prepared to spend a lot of money to get it up and running again; be prepared for the original engine to be totally unusable, so a whole replacement engine might be required.


-Ted