Yay or nay?

[Motorwaz]

So as I mentioned in my first post, I’m about to pull the trigger on a 2008 Caprice LTZ here in Saudi Arabia.

It’s racked up 229,907 miles so far.

Here are the current issues I know so far according to the auctioneers. This is what he told me.

“ There is a slight knock in the motor. Also a misfire the engine is not running smoothly and burning oil because of exhaust smoke. The slight knock can be anything from a hydraulic lifter to a bearing not sure. The interior is bad. It had an accident right rear left. Paint and body is bad need a complete respray. And the odo reading is about 370000 km. Needs alot of work it was driven hard. It must have been overheating because the electric fan motors have been removed. So not sure if the motor suffered overheat damage”

So for me I don’t care about the interior or the outside of the car right now since most important is to get the engine running correctly.

As far as I know the burning smoke can be from a bad seal from inside the top end of the engine leaking to the cylinders and burns off from there. The misfiring either lifters or bad coil(s).

The car has no radiator fans so that’s one thing I can purchase so at least there is cooling of the engine.

I’d like to hear your inputs to how much I’d be investing and if it’s a good move at this mileage and what improvements in parts I can perform to get it running better than stock also.

[Motorwaz]

So update:

I went to the lot to see the car and here are the pics I took of the engine bay….there is oil leakage from the rocket covers so not sure what’s happening there.

Unfortunately he couldn’t supply me with a battery so I could read the codes, without the codes I can’t tell, but anyways he says there is slight knocking in the engine, should I let it go or ya fixable ?

[s/c'd cav]

you can be into the motor as much 10,000 US , so to me thats more than the car is worth being its damaged

being a 08 and having the transdipstick , im guessing its the 4l60 4spd auto , the 6l80 was a better trans

[Mooseman]

Without seeing it running, you won't be able to tell if it's a problem with a collapsed DOD lifter or an actual rod knock. And not being able to read codes, which would be wiped out with no battery power, doesn't help. And oh that mileage! Personally, I'd be running away from it. It looks and sounds like it's been beaten like a rented mule and put away wet.

[CrashTestDummy]

It never ceases to amaze me how much dust you guys in SA get on their cars, but that IS the environment.

With any kind of 'knock', I'd expect to plan for an engine rebuild, and hope you get lucky. Like you said, w/o a battery, you can't scan for codes OR even hear where/how bad the noise is. The oil all over the valve covers and intake would lead me to believe there's a fair amount of blow-by, and from the looks at the staining, has been there for a while. Did you pull the dipstick to check the oil for 'sparklies'? There may not be much there if the car hasn't run. in a while, but can't hurt to look, if you are still interested in the car.

While the 4L60E is not a bad transmission, per se, a 6L60E is a bit better, and has more gears, which should help the car perform better.

If the price of the car is taking into account a possible complete engine rebuild, and you can use that to your advantage to throw in some upgrades, go for it. But if not, there are a LOT of other LS-based cars out there for the taking, even in Saudi Arabia, I'm sure. Also note that that's now a 16 year old car, built on a platform that GM completely abandoned when Holden closed its doors. Other parts, especially interior and body parts, are getting harder and harder to get. They certainly are here, anyway.

And welcome!!

Edit to add: I got away from the other business I was working on and had a chance to re-read your original post. That car will DEFINITELY need an engine rebuild/replacement, and you may be hard-pressed to fix the interior and exterior issues given the current state of Holden affairs (i.e., non-existent).

I'd say run away from that money pit, unless you just want a challenging project that can end up with a cool car! If that's the case, throw about 5 Riyals at the auctioneer and tell him where your tow vehicle is parked so his crew can load it for you.

[jpalmer]

Well it's been a couple of weeks, did you or didn't you?

Let us know what decision you made, and more pics of exterior and interior.....if you pulled the trigger.