Fortunately rust free rigs are relatively easy to come by out here, as long as they've lived their life in the southwest.. we'll see how things go. A lot of it is common sense when checking out a used car, which unfortunately a lot of people seem to be lacking..

 

Wonder if the coolant test for combustion gas could work with a sample from the car being considered. Might point to an HG leak and room for more negotiation.

 

possibly, the guy says in his ad that the motor has been rebuilt so one would assume that the HG was sorted at the time. Still waiting to hear back on at what milage the motor was rebuilt and the reason for the rebuild.

 

I would put a block tester from napa on it... See if the head is bad.

 

Spoke with the guy today, sounds pretty solid. The truck has 122k on it and the motor was rebuilt about 20k ago. He said the previous motor locked up so he had bought another motor which was DOA, so he got another long block and had that rebuilt fresh. He had bought the first motor that was DOA in a junkyard car and pulled a bunch of parts off of it. One of the sunroofs doesnt work but he has a spare to swap in. No ABS/CEL, recent brake job with new pads and rotors all the way around. Tires are in good nick to boot. I'm going to take a look at it tomorrow evening with a couple of friends that both owned classics in the past. He's asking 3500 obo so we'll see how it goes.

 

Just an update spoke with the seller this afternoon and there is now a CEL on. Good thing i arranged for a friend to pick up a code reader from a mutual friend and printed out a list of codes to take with. Should give some more wiggle room on the price since i cant get the truck smogged with a CEL on.. Will report back this evening..

 

Code reader is always a good idea - my PO removed the CEL bulb. Look with flashlight in coolant tank for floating particles in water that indicate use of HG liquid fix, if you can ease off the radiator top plug look down in there (calcium on the cross flow tubes), let it run or idle for at least 20 minutes, let scanner (if it reads live data) tell you what temp really is. These are not deal breakers, but they should allow some negotiation.

 

Ended up only taking one friend yesterday, the one that daily drove his classic for 6 years. Best one in the situation to have along. Showed up, took a general look at everything. All windows and locks are functioning. Front sunroof is ok, back is not. All fluids were full and the correct colour save for power steering. Colour was good but level was low. California car, no rust. Paint is in OK shape, hood is a bit oxidized. Took it for a drive, ran good started right up and settled down to an 800ish idle.. Hopped on the freeway for a bit, drove true and didnt wobble about. Took it to a parking lot, red the codes, 303, 300, and 1316. Need to replace the plugs and wires since they look like some no name jobbies on there atm. Tires are all in good shape. It was advertised for 3500 obo, offered 2700, he countered with 2900, we met in the middle at 2800. I'll post some photos of the truck tomorrow. 97 with 122k, SE7..

 

Since this is your first Rover, please watch the temp gauge like a hawk, above 9:00 position and it is getting too hot. Also check oil and other fluids every week, these are world class leakers. Oil warning light comes on at 7 PSI, so it lets you drive around town at 9 PSI....

In the Discovery 1 part of the forum, the tech sticky section has lists of things to do to high miles new 2 you trucks. Free download below of the factory shop manuals, called the RAVE.

Crawl under and grease everything you can, change diff and transfer case fluids, swivel (CV joint) fluid), and grease drive shafts U joints. If U-joints don't have zerk fittings they need to be rebuilt with new U joints (about $20 each, 3 required).

Check fan clutch to be sure it does not freewheel, radiator is copper/brass so you can have it acid flushed and rodded out, lots of older ones have calcium build up. If you have a data reading scanner, plug that in and check coolant temp, you will find the gauge stinks. It is basically a warning light with a pointer.

Your new master is waiting to consume all the oil you can tote, all the gas it can guzzle, and all available funds.