So this 1990 Max I've been working on (see my thread about it running like crap) has decided that since it just had the heads redone, new gaskets, heater core, ECU, and harness it wants more. When we went to roll the car out of the garage we hit the brakes and the pedal went straight to the floor. So, we popped off the wheels, bled the brake line and we had some stopping power. Good enough for me, seeing as we weren't getting paid to do the brakes.

He drives to work yesterday and discovers that when he rolls into work, he has no brakes, again. So we roll it into the shop and look for leaks. Turns out the Master cylinder has been leaking into the brake booster and when the booster filled up, it started leaking. That would explain why there weren't any leaks up until this point.

On top of that, we discover that the high pressure power steering hose (that runs to the top of the engine compartment) has sprung a massive leak and we're pretty sure that the pump has been hosed too.

The bill for the previous work? $1900. The bill for this work? About $350.

What lesson have we learned from this? If you don't do anything to your car for 7 years, you will pay dearly when it all craps out.

To make matters worse, this car really isn't worth $2500. The body is dinged up, the paint sucks, it got huge scratches on it and both bumper covers have been cracked and glued. But, if he keeps the car, it will be a nice driver.

I also learned that he not only didn't have heat last year, he didn't have heat for the last 3 years! He was so impressed with his heat that he couldn't stand to have it on as he was not used to having it.

Chris

 

yup.. that's pretty much the case with any car. the only problem I haven't had so far on mine is the master cylinder leaking thing.. but I've seen it happen before (which my car did that on my clutch MC, but I could see it leaking down the firewall inside the car)
replace the PS pump and hoses.. had to flush the heater core- fortunately haven't had to tear apart the dash to do it though.

but yeah.. it's all a matter of maintenance. hoses and brake cylinder are normal to go out, but the heater core should never have a problem if you maintain the car properly and keep up with coolant changes/flushes.