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Hi Guys-
Bought this '83 244 Turbo knowing its' damage as outlined below. Got great deal on price. Original owner took super good care of her(from '83 to Spring '99). 2nd owner wasn't negligent-just ran into unfortunate circumstances w/her. IMHO - blown head gasket.
I'm reaching out to you guys to get your opinions/advice. First thing I plan on is a leak down analysis. Also,if it's a blown head gasket; while they have the head off, what else should they check and/or just replace? Unless the diagnosis is catastrofic, I want to invest to make her as good as new!
The car will start. After 1 or 2 minutes,white smoke in the exhaust. I'm not starting it. It's going directly into my mechanics' shop. BTW, what's a ball park price for fixing blown head gasket?
Seller sent me this chronology of events.
TIA you guys.
- Matt
".......The radiator leaked at the spout where the main hose is clamped. It wasn't a fast leak, mostly steam, but I had to add water every other day. This spout is a fiber fiber material that was simply worn out and had chipped away where the hose is clamped. I tried to repair the spout temporarily with epoxy and a small piece of copper tube so that the hose would clamp better until I got a new radiator. I was trying to buy a couple weeks time. Once I realized the radiator cound't be fixed this cheaply I parked the car in the driveway until I could get a new or refurb radiator. This was roughly the last week of November or first week of December, 2002. By this time all the coolant had been replenished or diluted with straight water. Since temperatures were mild around this time I didn't worry about not having coolant.
On December 10 a cold front came quickly, almost without warning. The temperature got down to 10 degrees that night and the water in the engine and radiator was frozen the next morning. I immediately knew I was in trouble because there was ice on the thermostat and the hoses were rock-hard. The car was parked in the sun but the weather was too unpredictable to wait for it to thaw. So I cut off the belts from the main crank/alternator/water pump (1 large belt, 2 small belts). Then the engine started right up. As soon as the temp gauge showed warming I'd shut it off and wait. I repeated this several times until the ice melted off. I never let the temp gauge show "hot" during this procedure. Once the ice was melted I put new belts back on and then added a 50/50 coolant solution. I also installed a new thermostat with a new gasket. As soon as the first gallon of coolant was poured in I could hear it dripping onto the driveway where the freeze plugs had popped out. I gave up at this point, put all my tools away, cleaned the driveway, and sat on it for a while.
I decided to have the car towed to JR's and get their opinion. They told me they saw no obvious engine damage but that putting new freeze plugs back would be costly labor. About a week later that's what I decided to do. While the car was at JR's I picked up a rebuilt radiator. Before I picked up the car at JR's I installed the replacement radiator in their lot, added a 50/50 solution, and drove it a few miles. It ran fairly well at that point. I was driving the car roughly two weeks at normal driving temperature before I saw dark smoke from the tail pipe. There also seemed to be lost compression right before the smoke showed up. When I checked the oil I saw a foamy misture of coolant and oil. That's when I decided to sell or part-out the car. I drove it a bit, here and there, only when necessary. I never drove it long enough for the engine to get completely hot. The only times I'd drive it was in my neighborhood to the store or something. If the engine got hot I'd stop, wait for the engine to get cold, and drive it another few miles. For regular driving I was using borrowed vehicles.
The car was loaded on a flat bed tow truck to Preston Street where you picked it up. Sometimes when I was visiting I would start the engine to make sure the battery was still good. After a few weeks had passed with the car sitting in the same spot, I began worring about the gas tank fermenting, so one day I started it up and drove it around the block and added some fresh gas. By the time I returned from the gas station the engine was hot and smoke was spewing from the tail pipe. A few more weeks passed and next time I inspected the car under the hood the coolant reservoir looked even muddier than before. It was never driven again until the day you picked it up."
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Matt
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