Diagnosis help

well i just came from test driving a 91 5-spd dx 4g4d...guy wants $1995 for it but will take $600 down and $300 a month until itz paid off...as of next week it may be mine...but test driving it reveiled some problems...

first, the car is red with a lil bit of D/S fender and bumper damage...nothing serious...no rust, hood latch is broken and he rigged something up to open it from the outside, factory radio doesn't work, and the interior is flawless black and gray with a small crack in the dash...if i get this car it will remain stock until i purchase a car to work on...

the problems:

engine light remains on, car pulls to the right, around 60mph steering wheel starts to vibrate, and car seems to hesitate when around 15mph in 1st, around 25 in 2nd, and a lil in the higher rpms of 3rd, itz like it is jerking me forward in my seat...guy says it may be the rotor or somethin small and easy to fix or because it was cold...but he doesn't know cause he's not a mechanic...

car has 191,XXX miles on it, shifts smoothly and rides smooth...besides the problems i mentioned i would get it...but the hesitation problems has me not wanting to get it

so please Mtv...pimp my...errr :uhoh: ...someone please help me figure out what's wrong

sould check the codes
a tuneup may help id look it over a bit before buying but if the car is in nice shape the mechanical stuff can be fixed

Hmm, sounds a little high for a car that has some problems. Kelly blue book has that car at $1500 for one that has some mechanical problems. If it ran great they maybe about $2000, but that's kinda still high for my tastes. As far as the engine stuff goes - I'd start with what code are you getting from the engine light on the ECU. That'll prolly tell you what is causing the hesitation.

aligment sound slike u have some positive or negative toe u also will need to balance ur tires not hard and a tune up will help and its nor ur rotors guy told u that so he can sell his car

i bought my EX for $2000 and it had crappy rust spots but the interior and mechanics were just about flawless, maintained very well

i would take another look at it, check to see what code the ecu is bringing up. I just recently got my wheels on and tires on balanced aligned etc, but mine shakes when i brake or when i'm going above 60, so i probably need new brakes, and same thing could be wrong with this one.

When u say it hesitates, does it not want to go? The tranny doesn't grind? I'd try to talk him down to $1500 or so, maybe even $1600, so they you can have some money left over for alignment, balance, and to fix whatever problem is throwing the ecu codes. But, it doesn't seem like a major "engine not running need to drop an H-series in the beast" problem, so it shouldn't be too hard to fix.

tranny don't grind at all and shifts smoothly...but when i'm going and about to shift it jerks me foward and then i shift...

maybe the clutch is going bad and starting to slip

^^Could also be a bad motor mount. Seriously though man, $2000 is a bit high, i wouldnt buy it unless you could talk him down. If its pulling hard to the right and the steering wheel shakes, he might have hit something or gone off the road and bent some suspension parts, try to get a mechanic to check it out for you if you dont have access to a lift. And of course the guy is gonna say its something small and easy to fix. Good luck Adrian, keep us posted.

taking ur advice and ditching that 4-dr to see if i can find another :rolleyes:

man no offense but 2000 seems high for a 4door, especially one with problems.

2000 seems just about right, to be finaced on it.

well went to another dealership...has a white 89 lx with blue interior and 5-speed...power everything and a few very small rust spots on hood...but other than that...nothing's wrong...haven't drove it yet to check out the tranny...he wants 2995...but kbb says $2625...i'm gonna talk him down to $2600...does the lx have power steering?

With this new car from this dealership... Don't trust what they say about the condition of the engine, tranny, etc. It is very worth it to take it to your trusted mechanic to completely check it over.

-- Learned that the hard way. ended up putting over 1k into the car just to get it too pass emissions test.