Date: Thu, 24 Jun 2010 18:59:26 -0700
Reply-To: neil n <musomuso@GMAIL.COM>
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From: neil n <musomuso@GMAIL.COM>
Subject: Re: Opinions Please!
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On Thu, Jun 24, 2010 at 6:22 PM, J Stewart <fonman4277@comcast.net> wrote:
> OK, I looked at my first prospect tonight. '85 Wolfie Weekender. The good: starts and runs well, auto trans shifts good, goes down the road straight, paint fair, would look better with polish/wax. Door panels all good, except fronts hacked for larger speakers. Under the dash the wiring looks good, not a hacked up mess. Maintained by a reputable VW shop, but hasn't been there in a couple of years. Carpeting good. Minor seam rust, undercarriage solid. Engine very dirty but not oily, even the underside.Canvas good, couple of very small tears.The bad: shred-o-matic corduroy, brakes work but pedal has a lot of travel and feels soft. Has air, not working, and power steering (not a big fan) pop top seals shot. The real bad: coolant expansion tank empty, main tank full (green, of course, but at least it was full) Temp gauge never went above 1/4 in 20 minutes on a very hot day (95) I couldn't get a real good look at the fuel lines, but first thing I always do is replace those plus all vacuum lines. Mileage is 137K, receipt from VW shop at 104K (back in 2004) said "Head gaskets leaking badly". Seller can't remember if they were done, but I'm thinking 6 years and 33K miles on leaky head gaskets isn't likely. He says he does remember a couple of large repair bills between then and now. The good karma: the seller and I have the same name and were born 7 days apart in the same year. His bottom line price is $3,200.00. I can do all the work it needs myself. So, listees, what do you all think? Opinions welcome. Thanks, Jeff
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> Jeff Stewart
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coolant temp gauge up only 1/4 way?
I'm sure I'll be corrected if I'm wrong, but that seems a tad low
after running 20 min/hot day.
IF you can beg/borrow/steal an IR gun, checking temps at hoses/heads
might be useful.
Seems to me that if head gaskets were leaking badly, that work would
have been done. With that said.....
I'd be curious as to why the expansion tank is empty. i.e. is coolant
being "pulled" fairly quickly from that tank because head(s) coolant
gasket is faulty? Or worse, coolant is being burned due to a faulty
head?
No opinion on bottom line price, but IMO (you did ask for opinions
right? <grin> ) though the "feel good" aspect is nice, keep an
objective POV.
Neil.
--
Neil Nicholson '81 VanaJetta 2.0 "Jaco"
http://tubaneil.googlepages.com/
http://groups.google.com/group/vanagons-with-vw-inline-4-cylinder-gas-engines
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