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My new '84 4KQ (follow-up to 4KQ vs Coupe for teen)
When we started this discussion last week, it really was rather hypothetical.
Then, I stumble across a 1984 4KQ here in WI. Seller is a young couple who
bought it this spring and have been "very unhappy" with it. Said the "brakes
failed" and the girlfriend had trouble "finding reverse" so they quit driving
it in May. Otherwise, claimed it ran and drove great, but had not been started
since then. (These are not very car- knowledgeable people. I gathered they
got burnt bad by the car's previous owner.) Also mentioned "some surface rust"
and said the car has 200K on it, but 98K on a new motor. Said it was gold with
a grey interior....
An acquaintance had bought it, but was having trouble getting up to WI to pay
for and pick it up... so he made me an offer I couldn't refuse. If I'd go pay
for it and pick it up for him, I could have it if I wanted it. Otherwise, he'd
pick it up from me later and repay me, making my only risk time spent picking
it up.
I went up to see the car (taking the teenager in question with me). It
actually was a fairly nice, but somewhat rusty silver 4000Q with the grey
interior. How they came up with "gold" is beyond me!
Initial observation: fairly serious rust on passenger rocker and both
passenger-side doors. Several spots of "surface rust" and a bit more other
places... it had definitely been a WI winter driver. But, it still had its
original paint and no dents or dings. Overall, not great, but not horrible
either. I'll inspect more into the structure integrity later.... actually,
underneath it looked pretty decent at first glance.
The interior... wow! Except for some minor cracks in the dash, the interior
was exceptional... more like a 20K car than a 200K car. As to the mileage...
I'm still not sure what the true mileage is. The odometer shows 200K. The
engine did not look like it had ever been out of the car or even opened up.
The title shows 98k! Now the seller explained to me this was because it had a
new engine... as had been explained to her when she bought the car. Yeah,
right....
WI does an exceptional job of watching mileage on titles.... so there is some
chance that the car really has 98K but has had the odometer replaced. (Note:
she was the third owner... first owner had good service records through 75k..
then nothing. So, the other possibility is that the second owner put 125K on
it and claimed only 98k at selling time.) The lower mileage would actually be
more in keeping with the car's interior condition... I've never seen a driver's
seat with 200K on it look this good. (You know, the fact I'm even unsure
speaks volumes about these cars. I can't think of any other vehicle in which I
couldn't tell the mileage within a 100k!)
More shocks: both windows and the sunroof worked like new! (The teen was much
taken with the sunroof... especially compared to the ones in Coupes and my UrQ,
a factor I hadn't considered.) Rims were in decent shape as well. Recent
battery.
On trying to start it, the fuel pump did a fine job of covering the garage
floor with fuel. Seller was visibly shaken... this was clearly a new problem.
Obviously, a "no-start" situation, but the engine made no "unacceptable" sounds
while turning over and seemed to have fairly normal compression. Reverse _was_
hard to find... my guess is a linkage/shifter issue rather than a real tranny
problem.
Well, I loaded it up and took it home. After it was unloaded into my
garage.... I decided to check out the "brake" problem. Now, I have dealt with
cars for years and have bought, sold, and driven cars with some of the
strangest afflictions I've ever seen; but I've seen nothing like this. The
driver's side rear rotor is _sharp_. I mean, the rotor is worn down to the
point that it is no more than a 3-4 mm thick and is actually tapered down to a
point on its edge! Apparently, the reason for the brake failure was the
caliper over-extending and coming apart! One of those stories you read
about....
>From this, I'm assuming other "minor" maintenance items might also need
attending to. Let's see, timing belt, .........
Anyway, at the extreme urging of the teenager, I decided to keep the car...
even though I'm still not sure if it's a parts car or one I intend on putting
together for him. (Final cost was about $500)
Well, I have a couple of years to decide. If I keep it, I'll need parts... if
not, I'll be selling parts... so you guys will get updated one way or the other!
Bill Elliott
85 UrQ and "new" 84 4KQ