DaveT

The last time I needed a radiator, it was near impossible to find a turbo 2 row. It's looking like I need to settle for a single row, as I don't have time for a project right now. I am not looking for a cheap one, I'm looking for a good one. I've always bough brass and copper ones, but it looks like the aluminum ones last a lot longer these days. Anyone have the name of a good source / part number?

Replaced a fender on my 87 wagon. Repaired the other with POR15, since it wasn't totally gone. Repainted the replaced fender and the touch up areas with custom made paint from a local car parts shop that does the paint number mixing in the store. And the clear coat. Also touched up and clear coated my custom paint job on the hood, since the paint was beginning to show signs of aging. Have one other small rust spot in a seam I'm sealing up with POR15 from the outside, and Waxoyle from the inside.

If it has original struts, they are due to replace anyway. IF your torque steering matches the descriptions in that other thread, it sounds like most were fixed by replacing the lower ball joints. Pretty much any part of the suspension can cause odd problems with steering since its all interconnected.

There may be an idler on the v belts. The Idler in the timing belts is the one with teeth. the other 2 are the tensioners. All 3 die at about the same time, about the life of the belts, which in my experience is about 50K miles.

And don't buy El cheapo belts and idlers. I've had good luck with the best quality NAPA water pumps.

And is the belt tension correct? If it is the belt slipping, and it's bad enough, you may need to replace it. Slipping does not make the belt less prone to slip.

Some of the long warranty stuff also counts on the typical buyer, who won't keep the vehicle long enough to make a claim. 9 + years for a flooded cell battery is unheard of. Normal for a high pressure spiral wrapped battery though.

Timing belts. Radiator and every part of the cooling system. Change all the fluids unless you know any are new. NGK spark plugs. Is it leaking oil everywhere? What kind of transmission?

You have to remove the timing belt covers and belts to get at the pump. Unless you know how many miles are on them, and they are not close to the change interval, change them and the idlers. Change all the small coolant system hoses while your at it. Be sure to check the height of the pulley mount from the block side of the new vs old pump before installing it. There were 2 slightly different heights, and if you pt the wrong one on, it's not good. Unless you know there is anti seize was used when the existing pump was installed, get the car up to operating temperature BEFORE trying to unscrew the 5 bolts that mount it. 2 of them are under the timing belt cover, so get everything else loose first. The hot engine will make removing the old bolts a lot easier, with less risk of snapping one off. Alternative, use a heat gun and space heater to get the engine up to 180 or so.

You might consider headgaskets also, unless they were done already.

Lifter tick, o tings mentioned above, and or oil pump needs new seal and o rings. Going to EA82 or EJ22 is probably about the same amount of work. You get more power, more reliably with the EJ22.

Were the timing belts replaced? Was it resealed? If no to those, plan on doing them. Check the exhaust system while looking it over. Same with cooling system - Original hoses? they need to be replaced - all 7 of them. The OEM clamps are a possible giveaway clue - they are wire with a screw to tighten them, not the common stainless steel strap type. Original radiator with plastic tanks? Check that the fine fins between the tubes are all still attached to the tubes. What is the warranty? You are nearly always going to pay more from a dealer. The best way to get an idea of fair price in your area is others in your area. In my area, these are rare cars, in that kind of condition especially. I've had guys come out of parts stores to look at mine, remembering them, "wow, I had one of those years ago" kind of thing, totally amazed at the rust free condition. If they are common where you are, look on Craig's list, and newspaper classified adds. They are almost never for sale here, or really beat.

If it's perfect, and you don't have time to shop, maybe 3K to 4K is ok. I didn't shop a lot when I found the one I bought, but finding them around here is rare. It would have taken a LONG time [which I don't have] to shop long distance via Craig's list or the like. I posted on the for sale / wanted forum here, and got lucky. My #1 criteria was rust free, and the one that someone pointed out was still available. I ended up having to do a reseal sooner than expected, since it had a cooling system problem that lead to blown head gaskets, before I got it. In my book that beats fixing rust any day. I wasn't seeing any on ebay at the time either. They are rare, but also, how many people are looking for them? I'm not a great negotiator. If you have time, maybe offer a low number. If they don't take it, and it's still there in a week, offer $500 more. repeat until they bite. Of course, the risk is someone else may buy it. To really know what is a fair price in the area, you have to do a lot of research. I've done this on a smaller scale on ebay, on some items I was looking for. There were always a few up at any given time. Watched what they sold for on average. Adjusted my bids, and eventually got one for around the average price, without screwing around with sniping, etc. But it took a while. But I got to know how much time it took to save 5 or 10%. And then realized I was wasting too much time to save too little money. A car is a big enough thing to save real money, so worth some time to go through the process, but it's tricky when there are not a lot of the model around.

+1 what Tom wrote.

Any number of wires in the engine harness could have an intermittent break. I am most familiar with EA82 systems, so not much more specific can I get.

5 years is normal end of life for flooded cell lead acid batteries, when used under ideal conditions. A 20 minute drive is nowhere near enough to fully charge a depleted battery.

That doesn't sound like any I have. No levers, only buttons.

I bought a rust free one from a guy across the country last year. About 3k plus 1k for shipping. I'm in the northeast, so cars rust away. These cars have thier quirks. Read read read this forum. But they can be run reliably for long stretches also. 88k miles is nothing to me. First things to check or replace is timing belts and cooling system. It's common to expect to do a reseal on the engine, from the headgaskets up. It's mostly age related.

Oh, yes. I had a timing belt wrap itself around it's crank pully. It was stuck pretty good. But the metal in the pan still isn't good. I definitely want to know what you find inside.

The stiff shifting when cold might be fixed by using Amsoil synthetic gear lube in the transmission. It worked in my 1976 and 1978 wagons. Huge difference.

Yes, the tap drill size is slightly bigger than the stripped out hole.

So strange... if you lost oil pressure, it would have been noisy - the lifter ticking would have been obvious.

Oh, wow. That sucks.

It is supposed to be making something more like 25psi. Running at all on 2 is pretty good. A blown headgasket bad enough to cause loss of power would likely be making quite a smoke show - just guessing, because I have never had one that blown.

They do make Helicoils for the size of those bolts. They are 6mm, but I don't remember the pitch.