Thinking of buying

[elmo]

Hey guys,

Heading out today to look at a surf, a 1992 2.4 Diesel.

The owner seems lik a pretty stand up guy, keen on the car and looks as though he took care of it pretty meticulously. I will go through the normal buyer checks, however, he told me the following -

Things that need doing
:Seals on rear left diff
:CV boot on front left needs replacing(2xBrand new cv boot included)
:air con needs re-gassing

I know on a car these normally arent expensive things but ive never had to do them on a 4X4. Can you guys advise on how much these things should cost me? Or could they potentially be signs of an underlying problem?

[tintin]

The following are only SUGGESTIONS. There are no golden rules when buying a surf!

Firstly check the coolant level when engine is cold (on arrival!)
The 2.4 has an expansion bottle behind the headlight on the right.
This should be about a third full and will hopefully have a pink tint to it!
(also whilst cold worth taking the cap off and having a look at condition and level of coolant. Cap is located at the top of engine at the front right hand side!)

IF the coolant looks creamy or you suspect any problems ...WALK AWAY!

The items on your list are fairly easy to fix.......
diff seals are available from places like Roughtrax4x4.co.uk
The CV boots Are about half a days work for a non mechanical numpty like me
(assuming they are the proper ones not the glue together type, the half shaft has to come out for this)
Air con may just need re-gassing, plenty of places do this cheap, but most people dont even bother--just open the window!


Hope this helps, good luck and welcome to the forum


Alan

[elmo]

The following are only SUGGESTIONS. There are no golden rules when buying a surf!

Firstly check the coolant level when engine is cold (on arrival!)
The 2.4 has an expansion bottle behind the headlight on the right.
This should be about a third full and will hopefully have a pink tint to it!
(also whilst cold worth taking the cap off and having a look at condition and level of coolant. Cap is located at the top of engine at the front right hand side!)

IF the coolant looks creamy or you suspect any problems ...WALK AWAY!

The items on your list are fairly easy to fix.......
diff seals are available from places like Roughtrax4x4.co.uk
The CV boots Are about half a days work for a non mechanical numpty like me
(assuming they are the proper ones not the glue together type, the half shaft has to come out for this)
Air con may just need re-gassing, plenty of places do this cheap, but most people dont even bother--just open the window!


Hope this helps, good luck and welcome to the forum


Alan

Hey alan,

Thanks for all the help mate, I ended up buying it in the end, everything was straight after I checked what you advised. It had a recent wof (warrant of fitness) here in NZ which gave me some more confidence and it really is straight and clean, ill get some pics up soon!

Now, to get the CV and rear diff sorted just to be 100%!

[tintin]

Glad your'e a happy bunny tonight!!
There are some write ups and pics around for how to get the half shaft out to do the cv boots (www.roughtrax4x4.com)
Just get used to using the search button! (not all functions of the site are working at present)

Hope you get plenty of fun out of the new purchase

Alan