Well, I'm about to hand down my 3rd gen to my son and I've been looking for another one for me, but I came across a pretty nice 4th gen. It's a 96se MT black/black, but I had a couple concerns about it.
The first one is the ISB or 1st gear makes a whining sound. The car has 215k and I've read that the ISB wear is common. How much does it cost to fix and/or how difficult is it to replace myself?
The second concern is that it looked like the crankshaft pulley was loose. When the engine was running I was looking under the hood and there was a squeeky/vibrating sound and it looked like the crankshaft pulley was wobley. That was the deal-breaker, but I wanted to ask the experts before I totally dismissed it. Overall the car was clean and the engine ran smooth and shifted smoothly too, except for the whining sound.
Also, what spring/strut combo is best to get rid of the 4x4 look, lol!

 

I've seen info. about the ISB so you should find good info using the search. I also heard about those crankshaft pulleys. Hopefully that would just require replacement. The ISB is more involved, might even be better to get a used trans.

 

Both repairs are going to be a pain in the as.
I think you need air tools to replace the crankshaft pulley.
You might have to get the new one at a dealer also not so sure if they
sell them aftermarket.

 

Pass on that car, those repairs are gonna be a *****.

 

Thanks for the replies! I was afraid of this, but I guess that's why it was cheap - $2100. I knew the trans would need some attention, but I've never seen a crankshaft pulley wobble like that. There are a couple other se 5 speed maximas but they're asking around $3000

 

damn!...I paid 1700 for mine last december and it had 112k on it. I wdnt pay 2000 for a car with over 200k on it. Dont care what it is. keep lookin my man.