Purchased a 98 convertible 3.8 with water in the oil for a cheap price. 128K+ miles (broken odo gear). Top is only 1.5 yrs old. Straight, fairly clean body, somewhat faded (laser red?) paint.
Turned out to be intake manifold gaskets - lower intake manifold was not torqued adequately - not much more than finger tight.
I went ahead and pulled the heads, since I was mostly there, and did not know if it was overheated.
Had the heads planed, put new valve seals in, new thermostat, water pump, sychronizer, timing gears/chain/tensioner, radiator hoses, trans filter/fluid, fuel filter, air filter, changed out a few vacuum hoses, new plugs and wires. New shocks, new battery. New odometer gears. Changed out the brake fluid, power steering fluid and differential fluid. Changed oil/filter twice. Now it runs great - at least through the neighborhood. I am awaiting a lien release, as the title was found to have a lien when I went to register
All in all, including towing and machining, purchse price and parts, I have $2.5K into the car.
Turned out to be intake manifold gaskets - lower intake manifold was not torqued adequately - not much more than finger tight.
I went ahead and pulled the heads, since I was mostly there, and did not know if it was overheated.
Had the heads planed, put new valve seals in, new thermostat, water pump, sychronizer, timing gears/chain/tensioner, radiator hoses, trans filter/fluid, fuel filter, air filter, changed out a few vacuum hoses, new plugs and wires. New shocks, new battery. New odometer gears. Changed out the brake fluid, power steering fluid and differential fluid. Changed oil/filter twice. Now it runs great - at least through the neighborhood. I am awaiting a lien release, as the title was found to have a lien when I went to register
All in all, including towing and machining, purchse price and parts, I have $2.5K into the car.