hello forum, I came across a 850 turbo, 1994 that owner says he wants to junk it. Before he said that, I offered $1000.

Car smokes white, the a/c does not run ok, right wheel sound when it turns,odometer not working, front passager air bag was removed ( may be it deployed ??).

It is a 2nd time owner...exterior needs paint, interior it is ok.

Can anyone tell me what typical problem this model is notorious for, aside from problems described to you and how much is worth ?? Is it worth the investment to repair ??

thank you for the advise, milo

PD: please send response to zqmilo@yahoo.com

 

White smoke usually means it is burning coolant, which most likely is a blown head gasket. If the car was run until it overheated, it most likely warped the cylinder head. A/C could be anything from a bad compressor to a hole in the evaporator core. RIght wheel sound when turning is most likely a bad wheel bearing. and the odometer not working is usually a broken tooth on the odometer gear. Not an expensive fix, but requires removing the instrument cluster to get to it.

Unless you are totally in love with this car, based on what you have said, and its current condition, I would look elsewhere.

As for worth, depending on the mileage $1000 is about as high as I would go.

 

How are your mechanical abilities? What is your plan for this car?

 

Hey Psaboic,

Message below, posted over many posts because this forum softwareis screwyand won't let me post more than a few words.

 

Hey Psaboic,

In reguards to overheating warping the cylinder head, my car has overheated twice in the past month.

 

The first was while driving around 35 mph and a radiator hose blew. I fortunately was right next to a gas station and filled it up with water, then drove it about 100 yds to a garage to get it fixed.

 

The next time happened about a week ago, I was in my garage filling up on 134a. The radiator fan wasn't turning on when the a/c came on and so I took it for a drive down the street. Not more than 15 mph or so, I get about 200 yds away and see my temp gauge spiked all the way up. Limp back to the garage and coolant is boiling (I can hear it).

 

You've got me worried now! No white smoke, from what I can tell, would I know by now?

 

Or does something like that take time?

 

Just checked my coolant resovoir, there doesn't appear to be any oil in there, however it was at max level and now is in between max and min, the level dropped significantly over the past month or so for a system that I thought was closed. It doesn't appear to have any leaks.

 

Wheelsup, if you had headgasket problems the coolant would leak into the cylinder and usually make the car hard to start, (trying to compress the more densecoolant in the cylinder instead of air) you should check your oil for signs of coolant in there because it would seep down past the rings when the car was off for extended periods of time. If your heard boiling in the radiator or block that would be because of an inproper mixture of anti freeze.

 

OK thanks lister, the coolant was boiling when the car overheated, but normally does not.