97 wagon, 33Kmi. anything i should know?

[sixleggedinsect]

im buying a 97 escort wagon sometime in the next few days (i hope..). it looks like its in excellent condition. no leaks that i could find. purrs, shifts like butter, etc etc.

its got 33k on the clock, lived its life in NC, so no rust to speak of.

anything i should know? anything these 97s were known for? anything i should be particularly wary of when i get her?

yes, ill change oil and check coolant, but then?..

-anthony

[AzTumbleweed]

Sure is low mileage for an 8 or 9 year old car. Makes me want to say Hmm....... When you service it I recommend you change the fuel filter, spark plugs and airfilter. Then you know for sure that it has been done. I'd change the coolant. Not just check it. It's possible the coolant is 8 years old! When I bought my Escort the coolant looked like tea. Don't know why but I got it out of there. If it has a manual tranny then make sure you check the fluid level. This is often neglected because people don't know how. I can't help if you need info. Take care of her and it ought to last you 10 or 15 years. Good luck!

[AzTumbleweed]

Sure is low mileage for an 8 or 9 year old car. Makes me want to say Hmm....... When you service it I recommend you change the fuel filter, spark plugs and airfilter. Then you know for sure that it has been done. I'd change the coolant. Not just check it. It's possible the coolant is 8 years old! When I bought my Escort the coolant looked like tea. Don't know why but I got it out of there. If it has a manual tranny then make sure you check the fluid level. This is often neglected because people don't know how. I can't help if you need info. Take care of her and it ought to last you 10 or 15 years. Good luck!

[sixleggedinsect]

Originally Posted by AzTumbleweed

Sure is low mileage for an 8 or 9 year old car. Makes me want to say Hmm.......

i know, but i believe the seller. plus, its a 6 digit odometer, unlike my '93 5 digit odometer, so the car really thinks its only driven 30K. when i checked the thing out, i looked under the car for the expected leaks and grime.. nothing. i wanted to start laughing..

When you service it I recommend you change the fuel filter, spark plugs and airfilter. Then you know for sure that it has been done. I'd change the coolant. Not just check it. It's possible the coolant is 8 years old! When I bought my Escort the coolant looked like tea.

checked the coolant while i was checking her out. pretty and bright green. gives me an idea about whether the prev owner was taking care of the car. so far so good. good call on the other bits and pieces.

If it has a manual tranny then make sure you check the fluid level. This is often neglected because people don't know how. I can't help if you need info. Take care of her and it ought to last you 10 or 15 years. Good luck!

thanks. i think its had the tranny flushed within the last couple months, so ill pass on the level check unless i notice leaks. i will take care of her- she's mine 'til she rusts out!

any '97 specific problems anyone?

anthony

[AzTumbleweed]

I meant to say "I CAN" help you with the fluid check. Is it a manual? If it was flushed then it must be an automatic. Since it has a six didgit odometer then I'd say you found a very good buy. Jump on it

[Arnoldtheskier]

Hi..don't wanna rain on your parade..BUT! I am VERY leery of TOO low mileage cars.I have simply seen TOO many of these deals/CARS go bad.VERY BAD! True..this can be "turn key" NO money,work, run forever thing..BUT an old car with low mileage can draw you into justifying spending a fortune on it.
IF they are bona fide AND original,VERY well serviced/maintained.Then sure..to a point you are good to go.

"Change of use" is the NUMBER 1 killer of these cars.If you average out the use and mileage..30k on an 8 yr old..especially an Escort.The thing is NEW!..IF it was driven it's AVERAGE 4k/yr,100 miles per week/15-20 miles per day.HOW was this done???..Regular sitting around for months?..THEN BLASTING down the highway from cold then shut off for months again? OR sitting.. then subjected to grinding stop and go drving.

Are you going to drive it differently?
This thing could have rust/deposits that are just waiting to become exposed and wreak havoc.

If the previous owner puttered around and now you want to drive it hard after all these years..

Stuff that goes bad from lack of use.Age..sitting around.The biggest problem..front brake calipers/mounts.You simply do not want to start driving this thing differently..wear the front pads a bit..THEN find that the caliper or mounts are rusty,pitted and the caliper starts hanging up,dragging,OR worse..sezes up..leaving you stranded..destroying the rotor.This is really IMPOSSIBLE to check..without actually taking off the caliper and pulling back the boot,forcing the piston out.May as well change the caliper..cheap.Insurance.
Ditto for the back brakes,emergency brake set up.

Exhaust systems.

Tires..not as bad.

Rubber stuff loses it's life when not used..flexed/cycled.

Metal parts rust when not used.


If this is a bona fide deal and it was my call.You are basically buying a new old car..or an old car that is new.

I would: Baby this thing and I do mean baby it.For a while.Then I would put some stuff in it to clean out the fuel system,any other muck carbon.And continue to baby it.

Then..hate to say it bud..BUT! you got a new car.CHEAP! and you should spend some money on it! I would take it off the road and get my 10 years of trouble free driving! By doing the following.

Front calipers,re-do the egy setup,thermostat(Low mileage old cars LOVE! to do the stick the thermostat thing!)timing belt..DITTO for old hard not used/flexed timing belts that tear the teeth of the minute the car is run hot,hard,water pump,ALL the hoses,belt,change the af,plugs,wires,f filter..if the battery is more than 3-4 y/o get rid of it.Be prepared for exhaust system component failure..muffler,pipe..no big deal.Keep a good eye on the tie rods.

Sorry to sound negative and putting work and money in it..BUT!! it sure can be a psychological thing WHEN because of the low mileage you don't change.. the timing belt for example..THEN it goes.

Anyways..BEST! of luck with your new Escort..no matter what you do!

[Arnoldtheskier]

Hi..don't wanna rain on your parade..BUT! I am VERY leery of TOO low mileage cars.I have simply seen TOO many of these deals/CARS go bad.VERY BAD! True..this can be "turn key" NO money,work, run forever thing..BUT an old car with low mileage can draw you into justifying spending a fortune on it.
IF they are bona fide AND original,VERY well serviced/maintained.Then sure..to a point you are good to go.

"Change of use" is the NUMBER 1 killer of these cars.If you average out the use and mileage..30k on an 8 yr old..especially an Escort.The thing is NEW!..IF it was driven it's AVERAGE 4k/yr,100 miles per week/15-20 miles per day.HOW was this done???..Regular sitting around for months?..THEN BLASTING down the highway from cold then shut off for months again? OR sitting.. then subjected to grinding stop and go drving.

Are you going to drive it differently?
This thing could have rust/deposits that are just waiting to become exposed and wreak havoc.

If the previous owner puttered around and now you want to drive it hard after all these years..

Stuff that goes bad from lack of use.Age..sitting around.The biggest problem..front brake calipers/mounts.You simply do not want to start driving this thing differently..wear the front pads a bit..THEN find that the caliper or mounts are rusty,pitted and the caliper starts hanging up,dragging,OR worse..sezes up..leaving you stranded..destroying the rotor.This is really IMPOSSIBLE to check..without actually taking off the caliper and pulling back the boot,forcing the piston out.May as well change the caliper..cheap.Insurance.
Ditto for the back brakes,emergency brake set up.

Exhaust systems.

Tires..not as bad.

Rubber stuff loses it's life when not used..flexed/cycled.

Metal parts rust when not used.


If this is a bona fide deal and it was my call.You are basically buying a new old car..or an old car that is new.

I would: Baby this thing and I do mean baby it.For a while.Then I would put some stuff in it to clean out the fuel system,any other muck carbon.And continue to baby it.

Then..hate to say it bud..BUT! you got a new car.CHEAP! and you should spend some money on it! I would take it off the road and get my 10 years of trouble free driving! By doing the following.

Front calipers,re-do the egy setup,thermostat(Low mileage old cars LOVE! to do the stick the thermostat thing!)timing belt..DITTO for old hard not used/flexed timing belts that tear the teeth of the minute the car is run hot,hard,water pump,ALL the hoses,belt,change the af,plugs,wires,f filter..if the battery is more than 3-4 y/o get rid of it.Be prepared for exhaust system component failure..muffler,pipe..no big deal.Keep a good eye on the tie rods.

Sorry to sound negative and putting work and money in it..BUT!! it sure can be a psychological thing WHEN because of the low mileage you don't change.. the timing belt for example..THEN it goes.

Anyways..BEST! of luck with your new Escort..no matter what you do!

[sixleggedinsect]

Originally Posted by AzTumbleweed

I meant to say "I CAN" help you with the fluid check. Is it a manual? If it was flushed then it must be an automatic. Since it has a six didgit odometer then I'd say you found a very good buy. Jump on it

the owner just said it was flushed. it is 5spd, so i assume she meant had the fluids changed.

it is a good buy, considering the price.

[sixleggedinsect]

Originally Posted by Arnoldtheskier

Hi..don't wanna rain on your parade..BUT! I am VERY leery of TOO low mileage cars.

no sweat, im still gonna buy it, but its good to get the heads up.

Sorry to sound negative and putting work and money in it..BUT!! it sure can be a psychological thing WHEN because of the low mileage you don't change.. the timing belt for example..THEN it goes.

hmm. i changed the t belt in my current wagon and it was a huge freakin' pain in the as*. i regretted it then, because the belt looked pretty darn new (it was a new used car for me) and i found out later its a non-interference engine.

can i assume the 97 engine is also non-interference?

im not really ever in a hurry. i live on the road and climb a lot. no job for the next six months or so. if my t belt broke, i could just get out of hte car and fix it. i bring my tools with me.

thoughts?

TIA,
anthony

[AzTumbleweed]

The 1.9L is non interferece. When I changed my timing belt it looked new too. Guess those are made pretty good. What I did, and it doesn't look as nice, is left the timing belt cover off. The reason I did this is so I can see/inspect it. With the cover on you really can't see much. Later I'll post a picture of how to check the manual transmission fluid level. For starters it uses ATF. It is checked through the hole the speedometer cable goes through.

[sixleggedinsect]

Originally Posted by AzTumbleweed

The 1.9L is non interferece. When I changed my timing belt it looked new too. Guess those are made pretty good. What I did, and it doesn't look as nice, is left the timing belt cover off. The reason I did this is so I can see/inspect it. With the cover on you really can't see much.

hm. that sounds nice. actually, the big pain about changing the belt was getting that dang cover on and off. everything else was easy enough.

how bad is it to leave the cover off?

Later I'll post a picture of how to check the manual transmission fluid level. For starters it uses ATF. It is checked through the hole the speedometer cable goes through.

thanks, but.. are you doing that for me, or for the escort forum in general? i dont need the help here, im a masterful manual transmission fluid level checker. ive checked the level on my current escort about 40 times in 30,000 miles.

thats a lot, huh..

(a year and a half ago a crooked mech broke my tranny case, and i had to refill it every half hour or so for around 8 hours. and then periodically checking every 1000 miles since i JBwelded the crack shut.. it sucked. but now im really good at checking fluid level

[AzTumbleweed]

Maybe I'll make a general post about checking tranny fluid. Some of the people would probably be interested.

I figure if it were important to cover a drive belt then the alternator would have a cover on it's belt too. That's my reasoning.

Those covers are a pain. Mine came off in two pieces

[sixleggedinsect]

Originally Posted by AzTumbleweed

Those [timing belt] covers are a pain. Mine came off in two pieces

hear, hear. i spent an hour and a half diddling around with mine, before i decided- 'f* it, ill get another one at the junkyard if it breaks.'

it did, but only a tiny bit, so i popped it on when i was done.

changing the belt seems like a much better proposition now.

thanks,
anthony

[Arnoldtheskier]

I just changed 2 Escort 1.9 belts..I had the OPPOSITE experience!..BOTH were REAL hard,cracked..just ready to go I figger.
I dunno about the no timing cover..can't speak about that with Escorts..HOWEVER..we had Chevettes..a few..they seemingly went forever..bad roads..winter/snow/salt/slush..NO covers.
When you guys changed yours did you pull the motor mount and raise the motor? The 93 wagon I just did..the cover came off EASY! but would NOT go back on till I raised the motor.Even then it was NOT easy.

97 is 2.0..different motor.Don't remember if they are interference..I don't think so..but don't quote me.
My ONLY personal observation on the 97's is that IF you need a tranny(auto) the interchange is for 91-6..97's are different and that is ALL that fits..97 you need a 97 tranny.Doesn't appear to be a big deal as there are tranny's a pleny in the bone..then it is 98-to think 2001

I have heard pretty consistent stories that the 97 and ups are WAY!! nicer cars..with that extra..40% in power..88hp -125hp..PLUS they SEEM to get better mileage..from what I have heard.

NAAAaaa..road side timing belts..did one once in about -10 and a bit of snow.Had to WALK,take bus etc., to get parts.The way I LIKE to do them now is..A LOT! different.Tell ya what my friend..IF mine goes..on the road..(Doubtfull)..I'll call ya..HEHEHAHA..

Enjoy! the "NEW" wheels..

[AzTumbleweed]

Yes, I had to remove the motor mount. Now that I know how to do it it's not that hard. But, I'll share another one of my screwups. After I got my new belt on the water pump started squeeling. The car had about 200,000 miles on it so I decided to go get another water pump. When I got the old water pump off I found that it was fine. When I had first put the new belt on I didn't think the automatic belt tensioner was pulling hard enough so I 'helped' it with a pry bar The extra tension caused the squeeling. So I got to do it twice While I was at it I decided to replace all of my original hoses. With 10 years and 200,000 miles they were in remarkable shape but I got the piece of mind of knowing I had all new hoses. My car has spent most of it's life on the desert. I bought it from a girl in Death Valley. It's amazing how good the rubber hoses and bels have held up.