Is this the end for my car?

[eljefino]

Originally Posted By: Burt

My guess is the transmission will be the thing to go. It shift fine except if you are caught in a traffic jam. Definitely does not like stop and go, 5-10 mph duty.


My buick century was like this and a known problem. I guess the best cheap kludge for you would be a huge external tranny cooler or somehow rig the radiator fans to blow on high with maybe a toggle switch or aftermarket controller.

 

[caravanmike]

for some reason i thought the vehicle was in bad shape. it looks mint in those pictures!

 

[Burt]

Originally Posted By: caravanmike
for some reason i thought the vehicle was in bad shape. it looks mint in those pictures!


Thank-you. It is in 'mint shape' for a 15 yo vehicle because it has mostly been in salt free texas. I couldn't polish out the glazed headlights, so got new headlights off EBay and boy does that freshen the appearance. Has a few dings and scratches but no dents, so no problem in the looks department. Everything works except one of the intake manifold runner control valves has a diaphram leak and the screws that hold it are fused into the aluminum manifold. Would be $500 to remove the manifold and drill out the screws, but instead I plugged the vacuum line into the IMRC and live with a little less power.

Overall I am pleased that at this age it is not nickel and diming me or at least repairs are way, way less than car payments. Used to burn a quart every 5,000 miles. Now it's more like 3,000 but that could be because I am using synthetic oil. Might be time to switch to high mileage oil or 10w40.