A girl that I know wants to give me her 1995 Buick Century (3.1 V6), it's got a clear title and it's free to me. I checked the car out and it starts fine, transimission is fine but it's been overheating. I think it's the result of a blown head gasket or coolant blockage somewhere. It's got a new water pump but it does have a slight knock however it's not audible in the higher RPM's. The dipstick says it's overfilled with oil, could be antifreeze in there to but I couldn't smell any, the oil looked like chocolate milk. The temp guage is stuck on HOT but it might be unhooked.

I'm thinking possible tax write off, probably $500 with the new laws.

Any guesses to why it keeps overheating and if it would be worth fixing and selling?

Any input is appreciated, thanks!

 

how many miles? if you can fix it yourself go for it. might turn a small profit.if the oils milky i'd say cracked head or a gasket.

 

126,000, even though the motor is sideways there's a lot of room to work in there!

 

if overall the car has been cared for and the body is in decent shape. might not be a bad idea to fix it up. esspecially if cars are selling well in your area and if you can do the work yourself..

 

Might as well try to fix. Worse comes to worse, you could scrap it out. You could probably make some good money scraping out the metal of the car.

 

i didn't even think of goin' that route.. with the price of scrap metal good call.

 

I was quoted $60.00 for scap metal, does that sound right? Seemed a little low to me.

 

for the whole car? i don't know where you're at but that seems too low.

 

Personally I would fix it and make it my dd rather than my gas chugging F-150.

 

Throw a boneyard engine into it if you have to. GM 3.1's are pretty easy to find.

 

That seems WAY to low. I really cant think of a figure off the top of my head, but 60 bucks seems like someone trying to get over on you. Shop around a couple scrap yards before you settle. Im pretty sure you will get a much better number than that.

Thanks! I figured what the hell. The car is free, any money made is better than what he started the day with! And im sure there is a decent amount of metal on it, being that its a 95. At least they weren't making cars completely out of plastic then!! lol

 

pull the head and throw on a new head gasket. should only take a couple of hours and a few bucks. then sell it.

Scrap cars go for around $200 when in decent shape.

 

That thought did cross my mind but I'm a little concerned about the slight knock I heard, I don't want to fix it and then have the motor grenade on me. The oil did look like melted chocolate so who knows what a fresh oil change would do for the knock.

 

Depends where the knock is coming from.
If it's from the top then it could just be a cracked head and thats the valve knocking. Youd know more when you pulled the head. If that it then slap a salvage yard head on it and drive it into the ground.

Worse case scenario, slap a $200-$300 salvage yard engine in it and then drive it into the ground. Your out a few hundred bucks for a good DD car.... where could you get one cheaper?

For scraping out... most any car is bringing around $300 scrap metal here.

 

Ohh snap wrong thread.....