Practically Used Homestead Wheels

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Oil pressure should rise immediately to 50 lb or the oil light will go out in seconds. Listen very carefully. If engine sounds fine, but pressure is below 20 lb, the problem can be extreme wear, a failing oil pump (rare), a bad gauge or pressure sensor, or a bad electrical connection. A loud clatter that is slow to stop suggests the problem is poor oil pressure or bad valves-either one a sign of a worn engine (unless it's a diesel, which will always clatter on start-up). A tick-tick that gets softer with oil indicates minor valve problems. An intermittent clank or deep clunk may be bad bearings and is serious. A little blue smoke at the tail pipe that lasts briefly indicates the slightly worn piston rings expected in old engines. If smoke doesn't stop, rings are too worn to be legal. Brief black smoke can probably be cured with a good tuneup; white smoke may be nothing but water accumulated in the exhaust system.

Pull a car-length away, stop, and look for puddles under where the car sat. With engine running, check automatic transmission fluid—filler will be located in engine compartment or under front floor. It should be full and a clear pink color. Sniff it. Opaque, brown, or burned-smelling fluid means about $700 worth of trouble.

Try all the knobs. Test all gears forward and back. Try the steering wheel for more than a 1/4-turn of play. Test the emergency brake by putting it on hard and trying to go forward; the brake should stall the engine. Then go for a ride. Get up to operating temperature and highway speed. Thin blue smoke at cruise—but especially great billows on acceleration or deceleration—is burning oil. If brakes pull in one direction or chatter, stop and accelerate in reverse, then stop hard. This will fix newer (self-adjusting) brakes if they're in good shape. If the steering pulls, if the car wanders or front end jiggles or vibrates, there's a suspension problem.

An automatic transmission should transition smoothly through its two or three forward gears. If it clanks when going in reverse check under the car to see if the noise isn't a $20 U-joint. If in the tranny or rear differential (or in front on a 4WD), it may be serious. Any grinding, hesitation, orjerking indicates a problem. If clutch pedal needs long travel to engage and then shudders, the clutch is nearly worn out. A clanking sound on releasing the clutch may be a universal joint on the drive shaft, or may indicate a bad throwout bearing. A humming in the rear end (be sure it's not snow tires) is not good; a grinding sound is bad. Humms or clicks on a 4WD truck can be lockout hubs or the transfer case. These problems needn't stop you from taking the vehicle, but they should influence the price. If not already factored into price, a problem in axle, engine, or tranny is worth a $1,000 price reduction. A bad clutch or front end is worth $500 off, twice that with rack- and-pinion or power steering. A paint job is worth $500. A badly dented or rusted door, fender, hood, trunk, or rocker panels, $250 apiece.

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