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I'm trying to gather my wits before bed, after 2 days of helping my brother-in-law, who lost power in his 1987 745 about 100 miles from home. As he was losing power he noticed that his temperature gauge was spiking. (Oops, too late! In retrospect, where have I heard about a loss-of-coolant warning system? Brickboard 700/900 FAQs!)
He blew out the coolant. Lost compression.
We towed his gray wagon home behind my brown one. (There but for the grace of God go I.) Reese tow bar rig (all-up about $100 at Wal-Mart) and a pair of 1/2" holes in the car's front bumper (24" apart missed everything that needed missing) got us rolling.
And I have now gone through his receipts from his local garage.
Something like $4k over 3-1/4 years. :-(
What did he get for $4k? Later.
What DIDN'T he get for $4k?
All hail Brickboard wisdom: the original radiator -- still there -- looks punky. All his cooling system stuff should have been replaced before failure. (The FAQs spell this out real well.) It wasn't.
All hail Brickboard wisdom: the timing belt was changed about 1/2 year ago at about 130 k miles -- BUT there is NO mention of seals being changed (wisdom says do it because you are there, and they are cheap) AND the ORIGINAL (17 year old) coolant pump was NOT replaced (while wisdom suggests every second timing belt change). Words fail me in describing the play at the front of the pump, the metal parts that fell out, etc. *&^*&^ My bro-in-law loves his mechanic (don't ask), but that $330 timing belt job, without a $40 pump, cost him the car (as far as he is concerned).
All hail Brickboard wisdom: oil coats the car's engine, the splash pan, and the engine bay. Nowhere in the $4k of receipts does it say "flame trap," or "throttle body," or such simple, PREVENTIVE steps. Nor do the Valvoline receipts (quarterly) for oil changes say anything worth mentioning. *&^(*&^
And this sterling shop services a lot of imports, and had several Volvos out front when I went over, etc. etc.
Puzzled, angry, tired... to bed.
--
Gregg; Mpls, MN; 1987 745, 1967 Amazon 4-dr.
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