hopefully im gonna be a new camaro owner tomorrow. I drive a 91 Jeep YJ it has 220xxx on it. A buddy of mine stopped me today and asked if i wanted to trade it for a 94 camaro V6 with a 5 speed it has 40xxx on the rebuild motor and 180xxx on the car. So i Guess my ? is what kinda things should i look for on this camaro are there any signs of abuse that i need to be looking for what are some of things i need to watch out for and last but not least is it worth it
Well thanks in advance
Trevor

 

With only 40K on the motor most of the normal issues should not be a problem. Intake and head gaskets are the biggest issues for these cars. If it has T-tops and they leak the floors could be rusted out. You should have a mechanic check it out.

 

i checked it out myself, I like to call myself a mechanic lol, But it looked real good its not t-tops so thats not going to be an issue but the motor looks clean i didnt see any leaks or anything like that. But i just didnt know if there was anything that caused major problems with these cars. I just dont wanna trade my reliable jeep for something that might have a history of problems but if you say those are the main things to watch for then ill take your word so i guess now im gonna trade my jeep for it
Thanks
Trevor

 

Ok so what you want to do is, First check under the hood to make sure the motor was installed correctly all the Ts crossed and I dotted. Check the oil and verify there are no thickening additives or metal with the paper towel test. Same with the tranny fluid. Install a coolant pressure tester and pump it up to 15 PSI. Raise the car up on your hoist start at the front of the car with a good light. Check the coolant system for leaks a quick scan for oil leaks, check for tranny leaks verify there are no fuel leaks. Set down the light and grab the drive shaft check for drive line back lash. Grab the back of the tranny check the tranny mount. Spin the tires and check for looseness. Let the car down and onto two jack stands under the control arms to check for loosens in the steering system. Now you can put the car down. Verify the coolant system is still holding pressure. Release the pressure but leave the tester hooked up and sealed. Start the motor. Look for quick shot of pressure that would indicate a blown head gasket. Let the engine run and hook up your scan tool. Verify no codes and close loop operations. Remove the pressure tester and test drive the car. Do brake pull test. And a tranny brake test. 40 minutes later you should have a really good idea on the condition of the car.

 

haha sounds like a lot of work i think ill just trust my own judgment and buy the car and then address any problems i might run into down the road when they get here. iwas not wanting a full run down on how to buy a car i just wanted to know if there were any reacuring issues that people have had with these that i need to watch out for but anyway thanks
Trevor

 

Gorn took a bit of time to write that and was sharing his experience with you. Oh well, you can lead a horse to water...................

 

i never said i didnt appreceiate it I just said i dont see myself going through all that work. Its coldand snowy here in central illinois and i dont have a garage but like i said thanks for the info
Trevor

 

Make sure it has oil pressure...I bought a 95 camaro from a "buy here pay here"car lot.
I drove it off the lot to put gas in it and stopped at a red light and watched the oil pressure gauge go from 40psi down to 8 psi.Now a few weeks later the motor has a nice rattle-tapping sound.The best part of it all is i still owe $1400 on it.......fun tymes

 

My point was the average Joe can not check out a car like a train professional. Not many shade tree guys have all that equipment to make that a 40 minute job. That type of inspecting will find out the over all condition of a car and for $40-$60 bucks its well worth it. Also sometimes when we really want a car we tend to have Rose color glasses. Having someone that has no connection with the purchase of the car who is not impressed with 18" rims or the color of the car is a nice double check.