Does this seem like a decent deal?

[TaylorDFW]

What are your thoughts on this Festy for sale? The ad says it will run but wont idle and leaks a lot of oil. I've got $1200 to put towards a running Festy. Anyone think I could get this thing drivable for the $450 price tag + parts and labor? Or should I keep looking? TIA!!

Taylor

http://dallas.craigslist.org/ftw/cto/2477444080.html

[TominMO]

TX car so probably little rust if any. Oil leaks are easily fixed; start with valve cover gasket and disty O-ring. What's the mileage? I doubt it needs rings unless it has a lot of miles on it.

Not idling could be something really simple and/or cheap to fix. I'm sure someone here can help you with diagnosis.

I'd say go for it. Maybe get him down a little on price if possible, but still.

[htchbck]

If you do go for it (I would) then I'd recommend picking up the saturn as well for the extra $150. If you find that its toast you can scrap it for more than $150 and put that back into the fest, or part it out. Assuming you have a way of hauling and/or storing it. For my money I'd get both and try to get the saturn back on the road as well as the fest. They are excellent gas mileage cars for being a four door car. I used to get 35 regularly in my '96. If nothing else if you fix the saturn I see them going for $1000 around here ragged out and barely running so you could get something back out of it.

[TaylorDFW]

TX car so probably little rust if any. Oil leaks are easily fixed; start with valve cover gasket and disty O-ring. What's the mileage? I doubt it needs rings unless it has a lot of miles on it.

Not idling could be something really simple and/or cheap to fix. I'm sure someone here can help you with diagnosis.

I'd say go for it. Maybe get him down a little on price if possible, but still.

I contacted the seller and he said it has 140k miles. He said it also burns oil. He was confident it could be fixed fairly easy. Thoughts?

[Zanzer]

It's a decent price (especially these days), it's low miles in Festiva terms, and it runs

If it were me I would consider buying it. It runs so that's a big plus because you can hear if it has any knocks or rattles. The idle is probably something as simple as cleaning the throttle body. The gaskets are an easy kill, and there's a really good chance the oil burning issue is just leaky valve stem seals. Ask him if the car smokes on initial startup and then clears up

[TaylorDFW]

It's a decent price (especially these days), it's low miles in Festiva terms, and it runs

If it were me I would consider buying it. It runs so that's a big plus because you can hear if it has any knocks or rattles. The idle is probably something as simple as cleaning the throttle body. The gaskets are an easy kill, and there's a really good chance the oil burning issue is just leaky valve stem seals. Ask him if the car smokes on initial startup and then clears up

The seller is pretty busy with work and I didn't get to ask him everything I wanted, and seeing that he is located near me we decided to meet up tomorrow evening so I can check out the car.

In the event the smoke does clear up after start, what would that indicate?
If it continues to smoke, even after start up, what would that mean? Trying to get my ducks in a row for my meeting tomorrow evening, and not get in over my head and stay within my $1000 budget. TIA!

Taylor

[Safety Guy]

If you have a place to put them and work on them for a few months, I'd get both. Fix or part out the Saturn, then scrap it. Fix up the Festiva. Consider an engine swap for it, too.

Karl

[Zanzer]

If it only smokes out the exhaust on startup, that's an indication of worn valve stem seals. It's a pretty easy fix depending on how you're equipped. If it continues to smoke then you're probably looking at more of a ring seal issue.

Per the valve stem seals. You only get one chance to see it so make sure the car hasn't been cranked in about 8 hours or so and keep a close eye on the tailpipe when she fires up. Should only be a quick puff and then gone. It's no biggy if they need replacement as it will only smoke on startup. You'll just have to keep a close check on oil consumption.

[TaylorDFW]

If you have a place to put them and work on them for a few months, I'd get both. Fix or part out the Saturn, then scrap it. Fix up the Festiva. Consider an engine swap for it, too.

Karl

Unfortunately I don't have room for both. I am definitely considering an engine swap at some point, but first things first

[TaylorDFW]

If it only smokes out the exhaust on startup, that's an indication of worn valve stem seals. It's a pretty easy fix depending on how you're equipped. If it continues to smoke then you're probably looking at more of a ring seal issue.

Per the valve stem seals. You only get one chance to see it so make sure the car hasn't been cranked in about 8 hours or so and keep a close eye on the tailpipe when she fires up. Should only be a quick puff and then gone. It's no biggy if they need replacement as it will only smoke on startup. You'll just have to keep a close check on oil consumption.

Big thanks for the tips! ccasion5:

From our brief conversation over the phone, the seller, in my opinion, made it seem like it smokes even after start up. This seems to lean my opinion to the issue being a ring seal like you said. In the event that this is in fact the issue, is this a pretty difficult repair? I'm not the most mechanically inclined individual, but definitely not an automotive idiot and have successfully undertaken several DIY repairs in the past and would like to do as much if not all of the work on my future Festy myself. At the moment I am googling answers to this question, however to no avail. TIA!

Taylor

[drddan]

I agree with what was said about the rings. Awfully low miles for the rings to be bad. Valve seals and gaskets should clear up the smoking. The leaking gaskets can bleed oil into the exhaust, and the seals can let oil into the combustion chamber also.
The problem could also be "stuck" rings. That is, the grooves in the pistons get gummed up and can make the rings "stick" in the grooves. This is fixed by using "Seafoam" in the oil and gas, and with a few appications, will free up the rings so they can seal against the piston walls again.
Mine smoked BAD, I replaced the valve seals and used seafoam on 2 occasions before it worked. Now I get just a bit of smoke on acceleration. 210,000+ miles, still runnning strong.

Hope this helps and hope you get the Festy!

BTW, valve seals are EASY to replace and should be done at the same time you change the valve cover gasket.

[TaylorDFW]

I agree with what was said about the rings. Awfully low miles for the rings to be bad. Valve seals and gaskets should clear up the smoking. The leaking gaskets can bleed oil into the exhaust, and the seals can let oil into the combustion chamber also.
The problem could also be "stuck" rings. That is, the grooves in the pistons get gummed up and can make the rings "stick" in the grooves. This is fixed by using "Seafoam" in the oil and gas, and with a few appications, will free up the rings so they can seal against the piston walls again.
Mine smoked BAD, I replaced the valve seals and used seafoam on 2 occasions before it worked. Now I get just a bit of smoke on acceleration. 210,000+ miles, still runnning strong.

Hope this helps and hope you get the Festy!

BTW, valve seals are EASY to replace and should be done at the same time you change the valve cover gasket.

Thanks for the encouraging words! After doing some homework, I agree with you on all points and have my fingers crossed that the Festy is in as good shape as it appears and was described. Now I'm just clambering for a car hauler trailer to pick it up tomorrow :p

Taylor

[Oren09]

I replaced the engine in my Festiva with one that had 180K miles. It smoked BAAD but a rebuilt head (valve seals) and new head gasket completely fixed it.

[TaylorDFW]

After stumbling upon the thread below, and researching the procedures involved in replacing the valve seals and gasket, many members here recommended an engine swap with either a B6 or a B8 due to the specialty tools involved and depth of the repair.

This is getting fun already!

[drddan]

^There is no link!