All,

Going to look at a couple of trucks that supposedly have "blown engines". Most, ok all, don't even have a good battery to turn them over.

In that case, what the heck can you really check out and how do you go about doing it.

Do you carry a battery around?

Without the battery, I can't even shift thru the gears to get a hi level opinion of the transmission.

Any advice would be awesome!

 

jump box

 

Yeah, what I was thinking.

That should get me a way to check out what electronics work and I should be able to pull the codes right before the engine blacked out.

How would you guys check the transmission and diffs?

 

Hire a psychic

 

I buy non runners all the time. I seldom pay much more than $500-600 for one. I don't care what the story behind the non-runner is, everyone selling a car is a bit too creative to be believed. End of story. Without getting a truck to run you will never have a handle on the condition of so many essential parts it's a complete crap shoot. A cheap code reader is only going to tell you what you already know, the engine is shot. It won't give you ABS, transmission, BCU, ect data without the truck running.

 

Thanks Paul. With the Nanocom, you would still need the truck running? Those codes are not stored? Have very limited experience with the new toy, but thought that I would be able to pull the codes historically to get a glimpse into the past life.

Sounds like that is a no go.

 

I don't have a nanocom so I couldn't tell you. I know with the Hawkeye you need to have a running truck to be able to thoroughly diagnose all the components.

 

Well, so much for making the odds be ever in my favor!

Guess I am going to have to increase my odds by simply buying the truck for next to nothing.

Thanks for saving me. I would have plugged in, got no codes and went home happy.

I love this new found habit, but I am trying to keep it cheaper than a drug habit!

 

I tell anyone selling a non runner that I have absolutely no idea what else in wrong with the truck. I don't doubt them when they say the transmission was great or the transfer case was as quiet as when it was new. Without being able to test anything in the truck it's worth just a little more than scrap.

And I love it when people tell me they can get $600 from the local junkyard for scrap.

A quick call to a local yard will give you an accurate account of what junk cars are being bought for. Around here, most junkyards are paying about 5 cents a pound for complete vehicles delivered to their yard. That translates into about $230 for a complete DII delivered. Scrap values are really low right now as are prices for catalytic convertors, aluminum and copper.