Hi, I would like to go and have a look at a 1987 with Turbo, either this Saturday or Sunday.
I was wondering if one of you guy's out there , that has knowledge on turbos...could come with me to check it out.
I'll pay for your gas..The car is in Navan. It's just that I don't know much about turbos..and I don't want to get a bad deal on this.

I checked the forum on what to look for..but its' too technical for me.

Pete

 

It is gonna be tough to find someone the day before you wanted to go.

Where is this Navan place anyways?

I am putting the engine back in my FD this weekend in Montreal of else I would have tried to help you out.

Alex

 

Thanks Alex...I'll need to contact the man..to get the directions...

 

Quick tips I could give you are:

Watch the exhaust flow for signs of a problem:

Blue=Oil
White=Coolant
Grey=Condensation, Normal for 30secs on startup

-Look at the Idle does it fluctuate?Is it low? An idle problem can some times be the tip of the Iceberg on a cars problems.

-Ask questions many questions, get a sense of the seller, if he is tripping himself up in lies than don't be emotional let it go.

-Most important as stated before DO NOT GET EMOTIONAL hell it has happened to me more than once to get emotional making a purchase and everytime I feel regret 1-2 months later. Fact is when your emotions come into play you spend more than you would have and you buy something you might now have otherwise.

-Look where you wouldn't: Under the carpet, under the car, everything really....

-Look at the engine bay while it runs see if there is anything unusual....

-ASK PEOPLE how much they would pay for a car in the condition you see the 87 in. Also cash in hand is always a great negociating tool.

Alex

 

Many thanks Alex..

Pete

 

Pete..I am Ok with takin a look with ya if you want..But I would most likely need a Trip up and Back(Smiths Falls)..I could comp check the engine for you..PM me.Oh ..What about Dan?..is he near you?

 

Thanks Dave, yeah Dane came with us..

Dam car idles funny..something with the TPS the guys says.
He showed us papers that the engine was replaced from Performance Mazda.

Also, it was low on Coolant, and the guy say's the Coolant buzzer came on.
We boosted it, then we took it for a drive. Must have been running off it's alternator. We couldn't do a compression test because the battery was died again. Check under the car no Coolant there, must have a seal broken inside the motor to have loss Collant like that. Wonder if a compression test will tell us that.

Pete

 

A compression test will only show you the condition of the sealing (combustion) components of the motoring. So apex,housing.... you see the chain.

White smoke on startup will tell you about a coolant seal. Price he is asking should dictate what you want to pay. How was the body?

 

Hi Dradon, well he wants $4,899 for it..
Body a little scratched, was in an accident I think..front bumper and hood was red..the car is blue..There was no whiote smoke though when the car was idling..or when started. Does bug me that the buzzer came on..re Coolant and the fact it was low on Coolant..none on the ground either.

 

That price sounds quite high for a car with a so-so body, and a questionable engine.

 

I agree.

Do a research in the third gen section on electrolysis or something of the sort there was a post about this kind of a problem.