 More questions than answers at this point
A little bit of history on this not so perfect 318ti. My son bought the car for my granddaughter three years ago or so for $3,000. Because of some sort of abuse the original engine gave up the ghost. My son paid a foreign car repair facility $2,000 to obtain and put another engine in the car. Supposedly the mechanic got the engine out of California. I do not know the engine number and if I did, I do not know if it can be identified as to the month and year of manufacturing.
When my granddaughter picked it up it was using &/or leaking oil to the tune of 1 quart per 100 miles. It was leaving oil puddles wherever it was parked. My son threatened to take the guy to small claims court because of the leaking/burning oil. The guy took it back and after a couple of months my granddaughter went and picked it up and it was not using oil nearly as bad. My son said the mechanic replaced the oil filter housing. I have read on the forum that the housing can cause some oil leakage. Of course there is zip zero documentation to support any of this. I was quite aggravated with my son for not keeping a better paper trail. I know he was pretty disgusted with the whole deal and very upset with his daughter.
It has been my experience with my grandkids that if they don’t have any money tied up in a car they don’t care what happens to it. It is just an inconvenience to them when they lose their set of wheels. Of course my son had blown the engine out of a firebird that I had bought him as a teenager. And then there was the trashed transmission and pushrod through the block of the ’56 Pontiac that dad had bought me as a teenager. It must be an expensive family thing we have going.
I talked to my granddaughter a little bit more about the car during the super bowl. She thought it was leaking/burning oil a little faster than it has been just sitting out in the garage. I have decided to hold off on the plastic coolant manifolds on the block and head. If they should fail I will pull over and have USAA come tow it home. Plus I want to make sure she did not hurt the replaced engine by driving it without the fan motor running. I also want to drive the car around a little to see how it runs out. Right now there are too many questions about the car that need answered before I decide if it will be my primary back-up set of wheels. I am hoping that it drives out nicely because it is a neat little car.
Today was a pretty nice day for tinkering. I finished up the brake job and got the emergency brake on the right rear adjusted. I replaced the old tie rods with new ones. I strung a string between the front and rear tires and ball parked the toe in to a little less than 1/8” on each side. Hopefully the brakes are going be OK. I think it will be wise to take it to the tire shop and have the alignment checked out. It is my understanding that about the only adjustment is the toe in and everything else is machined into the suspension? Tomorrow I will put the new alternator on and button up the engine compartment. I will then finally get it on the road to start trying to find the answers to some of the questions.
Charlie D. |