1997 Eldorado

[steve punzo]

Guys, still looking for a daily driver. Came across a one owner 97 Eldorado with 13k miles . Is this car a guaranteed nightmare with head gasket and oil pan gasket issues, or would the low miles negate some of the potential problems?Did a majority of these motors have major issues?
  Any input would be much appreciated

[Eric DeVirgilis CLC# 8621]

At 24 years of age, nothing is guaranteed for better or worse.

If the car was exercised somewhat regularly, maintained, rarely/never driven in bad weather and stored in a dry environment, there's no reason it can't provide many years of reliable service.

[TJ Hopland]

I would also want it to be cheap enough that if it did develop signs of major issues you could just let er go.   You maybe get $200 these days if someone comes to tow it away so keep that number in mind.   

You want it to be in good enough shape that you can put some miles in it before having to invest more in it.  You want to drive it to see what else may need work and how much you like it.   Even if you had a similar or even the same car before this one may not feel the same.   Nothing worse than having a car with brand new tires and a blown head gasket.  Guess how much more its worth with new tires to the scrap guy?   Still $200 if its got aluminum rims and a factory cat.  I guess it could be worse,  you could have new tires and a new transmission.

I just had my 90 hauled away.  Started with a rusted brake line but then turned into also rusted fuel lines.  Parts were available for maybe $500 assuming I didn't find or cause more issues along the way but I don't have a good place to work on something leaking gas in the winter,  open flame heat and all.    It was still a decent car but started thinking that I got it for $800 not running and maybe $1500 later it was running with new tires and a bunch of other issues fixed.  Got 3 years of daily driving out of it.   Recent investment was a radiator and about a day of laying on the ground to repair the rusted brake line before it blew a few inches away while bleeding.   Time to call it before its a sunken cost thing where you can't afford not to fix it.   

[76eldo]

The only way to know the present condition of the engine is to look underneath for any traces of coolant leakage or oil seepage.

Drive the car for at least 30 minutes with some steep grades and full throttle acceleration in the mix. Temp gauge should be in the center or just slightly above center. If the temps go up under hard driving it’s blowing compression into the coolant which is one type of head gasket leak.

We had a 94 Seville that we ran up to about 80,000 miles and never had any engine problems but it did leak some oil. The rear brake lines rotted out so we sold the car to a mechanic who fixed it for his parents.

I also had a 99 Eldo that developed bad head gaskets after 96,000 moles of meticulous dealer maintenance. Had that fixed and a year later the block cracked.

We also had a 2000 Eldorado that my wife drove with no issues at all and we sold it because she wanted a Benz.

So a 97 with super low miles could prove to be a good car but if it’s been sitting for a long time with the old coolant in it that becomes corrosive and can lead to problems too. The “head gasket” problems with these cars happens because the threads in the aluminum block deteriorate and the heads cannot maintain proper torque because the bolts are not providing the clamping power since the threads are too fine and corrode.
The fix is expensive and not worth the effort on a 97 Eldo.

If the car is a $5000 or under car then drive it and hope for the best. I wouldn’t spend more than $5000 for it. At that price of you have to walk away from it at some point it doesn’t hurt that bad.

I’d have the dealer change all the fluids if you do buy it.

[steve punzo]

Thanks everyone.
I really appreciate you guys taking the time out of your day for such detailed responses