Hi, I am looking at buying a 92 Explorer. The only major problem is the owner told me that his mechanic told him that there was an engine seal leak. The owner says that simply keeping up with the 3000 mile oil changes is enough. The only thing I notice is the fact that I can smell burning oil when the engine is hot. I can get the truck for $500. Am I buying a major headache ready to happen, or something I can nurse for a year or so?
Thanks for reading Greg
It's $500 bucks....how wrong can you go? If you are only planning on driving it a year, then who cares? OTOH, if you buy it, and decide it's worth fixing, you make out like a bandit. It may be nothing more than valve cover gaskets leaking.
Your call.
I have a '92 with a front seal leak and it smells like buring oil when the engine is hot. I add about a quart of oil a week. I figure the car (EB) is probably worth about $3500-$4000 if sold to a private party.
The smell could also be caused by a leaking heater core. They cost about $18 for a generic one and about $85 for OEM from Frod. I put in the cheap heater core and it lasted about 9 months. Now I have the OEM part. Another possibility would be a blown intake manifold gasket. If I was buying it I'd check for coolant leaks too. An new gasket costs about $50 but you have to take a lot of stuff off the engine to get to it. Took me almost 4 days working on it a few hours a day.
Keep in mind that it costs upwards to $3000 for a new transmission (rebuilt) for this car so if it has not be replaced/repaired yet then it is probably due. I assume the car has around 200K miles on it (?). My '92 has about
260K on it and about the only parts that have not broken are the engine, frame, and differentials. So unless this guy spends all of his evenings and weekends going over every small detail you probably have dozens of things that could use fixing.Bottom line--I'd buy it if the oil leak is really the only major problem, which I don't consider a major problem.
Leaking heater cores don't smell like burning oil in my experience. The smell you get is best described as a sweet-ish "maple syrup" smell and it is strongest from the air coming from the vents.
-Fred W
"Greg" wrotenews: snipped-for-privacy@comcast.com:
If its the rear main seal, the tranny has to be dropped to get to it. But burning oil means it's coming probably from the valve cover gaskets or a main gasket. Meaning, oil dripping down onto the exhaust areas. Valve cover you can do yourself for $20. Main is tearing the whole top end off. If it's a front main seal, that's a little easier but still pricey.
If the transmission has never been rebuilt, this would be the time to do it along with the u joints and the rear main seal. It's not expensive (I paid about $75 extra for parts) when doing the whole transmission.
If it's in good shape and 4/4 and an xlt or e.baur model, I'd get it and sink the money into it for that price. If it's rough, interior rough, lots of things not working, rides bad, rust etc, and not 4/4, forget it.
imho
MotorsForum website is not affiliated with any of the manufacturers or service providers discussed here. All logos and trade names are the property of their respective owners.