JLDT Posted January 30, 2006 Share Posted January 30, 2006 Hey all - I have an 86 D/R that I recently did the mickey mouse gasket on, but didn't do anything else while I had the engine out:banghead:. I got the engine back in fired up and passed emissions about a week ago and now it seems to be dripping a rather runny purple fluid - I am running chevron 10-30. In 300 miles the oil is off the dipstick, the overflow is empty and you can't see fluid in the radiator. Seeing as money is limited and time is even worse - is it worth more scrapped than repaired? How much am I looking at? I really like this car but like I said I am way to busy to fix it unless I am certain that it is worth fixing. I need something that is reliable and cheap on gas - not that the sube isn't reliable, but I am kinda constantly worried with almost 260000 on the odometer. Moreso with the purple fluid I cannot figure out. Any one have ideas as to what the problem is? I am thinking head gasket, but I thought that meant oil in the coolant, not vice versa? Everything but the engine works great on the car so to go and scrap it now seems like a premature execution. . . . but like I said I don't have alot of time to be pulling engines apart and putting them back together. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scrap487 Posted January 30, 2006 Share Posted January 30, 2006 well, personally, if you scrapped it, give it to me instead. but with headgaskets and all that, if a fluid can go one way, it can just as easily go another. if the car is in otherwise decent enough shape, I fix it even though I dont have the time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TomRhere Posted January 30, 2006 Share Posted January 30, 2006 Head gaskets can blow in various ways, and don't mean that you'll get coolant in the oil pan or oil in the cooling system if/when they do pop. With that said though, if it did pop so that the oil and cooolant mixed, you'd get a milkshake looking result in either the oil pan or cooling system. Not sure what the purplish looking fluid would be either, other than maybe power steering fluid. Thinking here that maybe you have a leak in the cooling system, IE; radiator, heater hose, radiator hose, ect, ect. That would explain loss of coolant. A small pin-hole leak can be very hard to find, but still you'll lose coolant over time. Re-fill the system and keep an eye on it. Took me about a week to find a pin hole in a radiator once. It was between the cores of the radiator, not easy to see. And a small leak can evaporate off, before it actually make a puddle anywhere. Look for any whitish colored deposits on anything related to the cooling system. As far as oil loss, it's an old engine with 260,000 on it. Could be burning the oil along with leaking here and there. Still, the engine could last you for many more miles, once you find and repair the leaks it has now. Best bet would be to wash down the engine bay area. Makes it easier to locate leaks that way. Get it clean, then look the engine over after you drive it. May spot the culprit quickly, may take a while to do so. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
idosubaru Posted January 30, 2006 Share Posted January 30, 2006 find another EA82 in good shape and swap. no worries about making sure you find the leaks and fix them and can't imagine it would be too hard to find one with fewer miles. or reseal the motor, new head gaskets, seals, etc. why was the motor out of the car to begin with? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JLDT Posted January 30, 2006 Author Share Posted January 30, 2006 Hey all Thanks for the thoughts. The motor was out because I was going to go through and reseal it, but I was convinced by someone that the factory sealing job would be better than anything that I could do . . . . I should have resealed it while I had the chance. Do these cars have valve seals like my truck on the valve stems that could be leaking? I really don't know because Like I said i didn't tear into it as much as i intended the last time. About a swap, about how much woudl that cost me? I was thinking about 5 or 6 hundred, but if someone knows how to get one cheaper, I might consider doing that as well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TomRhere Posted January 30, 2006 Share Posted January 30, 2006 As far as cost of replacment engine, it depends on where you find one. A local yard may have one for $XX.XX, or you may find a complete car for the same amount or less even. Bonus on finding a complete car is, you get all the other goodies too. And it could be the car was parked just because of a bad autospaztic tranny, or something simular, and there's nothing really wrong with the engine. I bought an '88 XT6 as a parts car a couple years ago, supposed bad engine. All it was is someone fubared the T-belt replacement. I re-timed the belts and fired that mutha up, drove it down the road. Wish now I had kept a few more parts off it though... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WoodsWagon Posted January 30, 2006 Share Posted January 30, 2006 Rust is the deciding factor for me. If the body is good, everything can be replacedcheap enough that it doesn't matter. If it is rusty, and I'm talkin pieces falling off, then it may be the end. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jeffast Posted January 31, 2006 Share Posted January 31, 2006 fix it if the body hasn't been wrecked fix it Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
85Sub4WD Posted January 31, 2006 Share Posted January 31, 2006 Do these cars have valve seals like my truck on the valve stems that could be leaking? I really don't know because Like I said i didn't tear into it as much as i intended the last time. They do have valve seals, but they sit stationary on the valve guides, unlike many american engines. I would do a compression and leakdown test, if the block is fine, and the rings aren't worn too much, I would redo the head gaskets, and everyting above them. - If the rings are worn badly, I would think about getting another engine. No clue what that purple fluid may be - check around to see if you can pinpoint where it is comming from - could be PS, but I really don't know - the only purple stuff I know of is the "Royal Purple" engine oil - which costs an arm and a leg. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JLDT Posted February 1, 2006 Author Share Posted February 1, 2006 Hey all So good news on this one - I finally got a chance to look at it indaylight and easily found some oil and coolant leaks, as well as why my fan wasn't working. So I decided to do those repairs, top it up and cross my fingers. The car was still running, so I didn't have any reason to suspect head gasket other than the odd colour fluid coming from underneath. SO I got it running again today and I am hoping that the purple was just a trick of the light or perhaps somthing to do with the surface it was dripping onto. Who knows? The good news is I have a car back the does better than 10 miles to the gallon. Thanks for all the input. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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