Quote:
Originally Posted by moon161
I would back out based on the dry dipstick or at the very least find out why. Has money changed hands? I had one with a motor, I think the oil control rings were loaded or clogged, it could use a quart of oil in a hundred miles or less, by the time I put in another motor.
In this case one of the normal warning signs- low compression was not there. Your best sign in this case would be a large puddle or stain where it is normally parked, an obvious valve cover gasket leak or a dry and dirty engine above the lower oil pan, and a sheet of black oil below the gasket. Other explanations for lots of missing oil (blowby, head gasket, main seals)involve lots more pain and money. If the inside of the air cleaner (a normal oil cleaner will be dry or have a light film of oil from the crankcase breather) is just black with oil, run away, or negotiate down to the value of the body only.
Buying any car means that when you don't know who the chump is, the chump is you.
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Actually the car has pretty good history. Its was the current owners fathers who purchased it new. He gave it to her and she then gave it to her son to use who recently passed away from a substance abuse issue. I think it might be as simple as he perhaps just forgot to top off the oil between gas tanks and it burned a few quarts. I could be wrong.. but got a pretty good sense from the little old lady.
The motor appears to have decent compression given how quickly it turns over, doesn't produce excessive blow by out the oil cap, and had the oil gauge pegged at 3 once I filled it up.
Its for sale for $1,400 and has almost no rust. I'm thinking I'm just gonna take a chance since the motor doesn't make any abnormal noises and doesn't produce excessive smoke out the tail pipe. No money has exchanged hands yet.