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Old 02-11-2004, 08:39 PM
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MagicRat MagicRat is offline
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Re: Re: Which Jeeps are LEMONS??

Quote:
Originally Posted by Sam I am
Oh hey there MagicRat, thanks for the tip. I like the Jeep because they're simple yet effective. I'm looking at a 1989 Wrangler with 4wd and the 4 cylinder engine for $3,000. It looks like it's in pretty good shape, the guy that owns it lives in the suburbs so he hasn't used it for offroading. Only one thing spooked me though, after a long drive, I pulled the dipstick out and I saw a good amount of white fudge...could this be a cracked block? The guy has it registered and uses it every day so I don't think it's moisture from sitting.
Cars that are used for shorter trips (anything less that 1/2 hour) will do this What you see there is a mixture of condensation and oil vapour (and a bit of sulpher, a common trace element in gasoline).
It means the engine is not fully warming up enough to get the oil hot enough to vaporise and remove these contaminents.
It is not a problem in itself, but cars that build up their mileage in short trips do wear out their engines faster than those that get long trips.
Just don't pay too much.
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