Hey, I just test drove a pickup I'm thinking about buying... I know this is not the CHEVY Connection, but It's still in th GM family so I think it's close enough! Tell me what you guys think:

It's a Chevy Z71 short bed step side
1991
140,000 miles
350 V8
4X4
Automatic Transmission
Black paint (in o.k. condition... not GREAT but not bad either) some peeling on one edge of the hood, but I figure I can fix that to look acceptable easy enough.
the interior is fair, it has the wear you'd expect to see in a vehicle of it's age, but nothing major. no big rips or bad fading or bad smells or anything like that.
Completely brand new exhaust system (stock)
Pretty much rust free except for a small spot on the rear bumper
I drove it a little and it seems to run and shift just fine
the engine oil looks dirty, but no signs of water or anything like that
the ATF looks ok, and doesn't smell burnt or anything

The guy was asking $3,500.... I got him down to $3,000 but he doesn't want to go any lower.

I'm leaning towards buying it mostly because of my desperate need for a winter vehicle... plus I always wanted a truck to bang around in.

think it sounds like a good deal? or a little steep?

$3000 sounds like a fair price to me. with the only rust being on the bumper sounds like a good deal. even if you have to put some money into it (like brakes and general maintenance items) i think it would be worth it.

well I bought it.... now I dont have to worry about screwing up my Olds with all the salt and sand on the roads.... my car would probably rust out again pretty quick if I ran it all winter.

It must be nice having another car to drive in the winter, I sure need to get one...hint hint to anyone selling a beater Hope you have fun with your new truck

i've got an 86 plymouth horizon you can buy!

really, do you have any pictures of it?

well... i could have some pictures of it if you want... But it would be more expensive to get the thing to you than I would sell it for! I assume you are in the states, and it would be annoying with KM's instead of Miles but what ever, suggest a method of transportation and you can have the car for 500 CDN!!!

it runs awesome, but it has some small rust on the rocker panels and wheel wells. interior is very clean, but it will need a right front wheel bearing, because it humms when you drive over 40km/h... and tires very soon.

its a beater for sure, i dont mind keeping it around here for a backup vehicle, but if someone were to put 500 in my hand, they could have it. Thats like 400 us or something... damn currency rate.

yea.... so I may have gotten screwed over the truck I bought looses oil like crazy, I havent been able to figure out where it's going. sunday I put 2 quarts in it to bring it up to full and today the level was below the dipstick.

no obvious leaks... no puddles under the truck

it's not burning it because it doesn't smoke AT ALL

just today I noticed that the coolant is taking on a brownish color.... must be going in there.

it starts and runs good, just seems to idle a little rough, I've been planning to really go through it next week after I'm done with finals (change all the fluids, some tune up parts, etc because I have no idea when the last time any of that was done) but this oil loss is a very bad sign. I'll probably just check the compression and go from there.

I've never heard of oil going into the coolant... I thought was usually the other way around if there was a crack or blown gastket, but now that I think about it I guess it's very possible. I'm having great luck with engines lately!

i wouldn't put any money into tune up parts just yet before you figure out where that oil is going. does the truck have an oil cooler? it is possible that is cracked inside the radiator, i've seen it happen twice with trans coolers. is the coolant just brown, or is it slimy too? it could be a head gasket, although i agree, it is usually the other way around.

yes, come to think of it, it does have an oil cooler in the radiator. The coolant is greenish brown, looks completely brown in the overflow tank. There's some buildup on the sides of the overflow tank that's kinda slimey but the fluid itself doesnt really seem slimey. Wow, it would be great if that was the problem and not a head gastket or a crack somewhere in the block or heads. wouldn't it run crappy if a head gastket was blown? and how would I diagnose the oil cooler, is there a way to pressure test it?

again I apologise for talking about a chevy on the Olds forum... but I need to keep this chevy running to save my Olds from old man winter!

not sure of a way to pressure test it and it is not exactly repairable, the entire radiator would need to be replaced. how is the rest of the radiator? if its clogged or maybe even seeping a little, this would be a good excuse to just replace the whole thing. maybe before that drain the coolant and use a chemical flush to clean it out a bit, then put in fresh coolant and see if it turns brown. i'd certainly count out the radiator before i go tearing down the engine to do head gaskets, although i have done head gaskets on an 89 chevy pickup, not a bad job. the tbi fuel injection has like 5 plugs and 2 vacume lines, that makes it alot easier.

73..pull the plugs and check them for deposits or funny coloring...also, it wouldn't hurt to do a compression check. It sounds to me like the oil cooler has cracked or has a separation in it. Another thing...is your coolant level rising? This would coincide with oil being pumped into the cooling system, thereby making the coolant level rise. A head gasket thats not completely blown could push oil into the cooling system and still run fairly decent, however, you should be able to tell if thats the case by the way it runs when you first start it in the morning. Cooling system pressure will rise after a warm engine is shut off, due to heat absorption, and the pressure will generally seep antifreeze into the cylinder closest to the spot thats leaking, causing a cold misfire until the engine either burns it out or warms up. The newer Chevy V-8's are also notorious for intake gasket water leakage, but will almost always push antifreeze out, either in one or the other front corner of the intake, or at the rear of the drivers side head. They won't normally leak oil into the cooling system there though, due to the fact that the water port level is higher than the oil level, and coolant system pressure is higher than the pressure of the oil thrown against the bottom of the intake. I'd take the time to do some diagnostics before I'd jump in head first....

it starts and runs just fine first thing in the morning.... no hesitation, no smoking, or rough idling etc.... what is a good compression to have? I'll pull the plugs and check it next chence I get.

the coolant level may be rising but I cant say for sure... I've only had the truck for 10 days. I'm going to put a mark on the overflow tank and keep a close eye on it.

Actually, I think I'm going to call up a friend of my dad's who's a mechanic monday.... have him take alook at it ASAP. He really knows his stuff, and I'd rather be safe than sorry. Also I want to diagnose it as soon as possible because if it's going to be alot to fix, I will probably investigate the "Lemon Law" I think it's still effective like 30 days after the sale or something like that, but I'll have to read up on it.

not sure about what pressure a compression check should turn up, the most important is that the cylinders are all showing pressure in the same ballpark. but i don't really see what a compression check will accomplish though, because it is a oil into coolant problem, not a combustion chamber into coolant problem. signs of combustion chamber to coolant leaks would be if the system builds alot of pressure shortly after startup and if the coolant is dark. one way i have diagnosed this is to drain the system, run the engine with the radiator cap or the thermostat housing off and check for combustion gases coming out with the tailpipe probe from the inspection machine.
i agree with stroker, check to see if the coolant level is rising. another way to check, although i am not sure if there is enough oil in the cooling system for it to work, is to put leak detector dye (the kind you need a UV light to see) into the oil and see if the dye shows up in the coolant. even though this will not pinpoint where the oil is coming from, it will make certain that the oil is going into the coolant.

well the engine is definitely junk. I get about 150 - 155 pounds of compression in all cylinders EXCEPT #1, which is about 125. I was driving down the highway and it started "bucking" and just running really bad, the plug on the #1 cylinder is badly fouled from an oil leak (probably rings not sealing) Replaced the plug and it runs fine, but I know it's only a matter of a week or 2 till it fouls up again. I go through about a quart of oil every 100 miles.

I guess the coolant must be just dirty or rusty because it would be more obvious if 3 quarts of oil went into it.

So the verdict is that it needs another engine... or a ring job, but the mechanic I'm dealing with said that wouldn't be the best idea. Hey Machismo... how much would I look to spend on a remanufactured 305?

When I bought it I asked the guy if there was anything I should know about because it's going to be a daily driver, and he said no. I'm definitely going to try to go after this guy... I'm just not exactly sure how to do that. I'm pretty sure that if I call him up and say "buy me another engine or buy the truck back" he'll say no. I'll probably have to call a lawyer and see if I can make him shell out some money to help me fix it or buy the truck back. anyone have any experience with this?