Urgent help on my upcoming purchase!! (1 Viewer)

[slowLC]

Hello all, I need some help with a big decision!! this is the 80 that i am looking at possibly picking up this weekend. it is a bit of a drive to get there so i am going alot off of pictures, but the final decision is made when i get there and im not afraid of walking away from it. we are thinking 5200 on the price. its a 95 and has 180k on the odometer. let me know what you think. i was a little worried about the oil buildup around the head. Can i get some of the pros on this forum to weigh in?!? thanks all for any help

EDIT- I took off the exterior and interior pics because those are very clean and not my major worry, the engine is. Plus I can only post 3 pics! thanks everyone

 

[slowLC]

for some reason it wont let me attach the engine pics so here is the link.

https://cid-a932d84940ac091e.photos...iser/100^_3487.jpg#resId/A932D84940AC091E!146

 

[lndcruz]

It wants you to log into view the picture.

From the few images you have posted it looks pretty clean, plus it has the most important dial on the left side of the dash.

How much oil build up are we talking?

It's pretty normal for the engine in a 80 to be covered in oil as most of these rigs have never had their engine bays cleaned. If its leaking its probably just the valve cover gasket or other various seals on the engine(usually not a deal breaker unless its leaking heavily).

I pressure washed my 80s engine bay right when I got it and it looked like new, and it stayed that way up until recently(valve cover gasket is finally failing along with the oil pump gasket).

 

[nodaksn3]

Looks pretty clean, but it's hard to tell much from pics. Where is it located? If up north, then rust may or may not be an issue. Mileage doesn't seem too bad. Take a look at Slee's web page for tips, Cristo did a good job with those. If cared for properly, these are great vehicles. But, good luck, Ned

 

[slowLC]

we are up north but we dont use salt on the roads uphere so im not too worried about rust. I will be checking though when I get there.
Also, I updated the pictures so that one engine pic could be on there. I cant post any more than 3 for some reason. Thanks everyone for the help!! Im so excited to go look at it !

 

[97 40th]

Why is the windsheild wiper motor neon blue? (just wondering....)

 

[slowLC]

haha no idea

 

[REKCUT]

Just went through this myself. The valve cover gasket was hard as a rock and the o ring on the distributor was toast. Both cause oil to leak all over the sides of the truck. Mine came out of arkansas and all the rubber was very brittle. Put new gasket and hoses on all the air and water parts.

 

[slowLC]

Is there much more to replacing the valve cover gasket than just unhook everything from the valve cover, remove it, scrape it, and replace it??? if that is where the oil is coming from that sounds like a fairly easy fix.

 

[slowLC]

Here is 3 more pics. Any more opinions??

 

[Kernal]

Have you seen the vehicle in person yet? Got any service records?

 

[slowLC]

no im going to see it on saturday morning. they have owned it 3 years and have records for that time, but not before that. he told me that to his knowledge it is the stock HG also.

 

[Tacoma4life]

Looks like a very decent deal to me. If it drives good, buy it. The valve cover is super easy to remove...

 

[Blue Phoenix]

From that picture, it only looks like the PCV leaking... not a big deal considering how easy it is to fix.

 

[azTony]

PVC, dizzy O-ring and I would see where else it is leaking after that.

 

[slowLC]

Awesome thanks for all of the responses everyone!

 

[MSGGrunt]

hard to tell from the pictures you posted, but the FPIG around the half-moon plugs in the head does not look as clean as one from the factory. Was the head replaced? This is the only reason I can see why these plugs would be changed.

Replace PCV valve and hose (they get very hard and brittle) valve cover gasket, distributor O ring, give it a good cleaning and see if it still leaks and where. other than that it looks like a nice truck.

 

[lndcruz]

hard to tell from the pictures you posted, but the FPIG around the half-moon plugs in the head does not look as clean as one from the factory. Was the head replaced? This is the only reason I can see why these plugs would be changed.

Replace PCV valve and hose (they get very hard and brittle) valve cover gasket, distributor O ring, give it a good cleaning and see if it still leaks and where. other than that it looks like a nice truck.

I believe they are just dark from oil leaking from the valve cover gasket.

 

[slowLC]

Cool well I'm going first thing tomorrow morning so I will update everyone tomorrow night! Thanks again

 

[MARKTLC80]

Take it for a spin on freeway and see how it feels if it runs good not overheating not vibrating or smoking from the tail pipe I think $4500 as your counter offer would be fair. Good luck.