Hello all,

I have read the sticky, and with the help of many of you on here, I feel relatively informed on what I could be getting into by purchasing a DII

Gonna look at a 2002 with 135k and a 2003 with 90k.. What basic things should I look for to see if either are even worth taking to a mechanic for pre inspection?

In other words, are there tell tale signs of a Blown Head Gasket? The Greaseable ujoints is an understood prerequisite, but what does a Zirk fitting look like?

Anything else I am missing on a visual inspection?

Thanks in Advance!

The Donkey

 

Drive to an indy mechanic for an inspection. If you are not sure about a Zerk fitting, there is plenty of other stuff you could miss. But you might be buying something that will soon require lots of dollars.

 

No intention of buying anything tomorrow.. or certainly in the future without a pre inspection.. What I mean is, there must be certain things visually that I can notice that would save me the $100 to take it to a mechanic, and allow me to pass on the vehicle on the spot.. What are those tell tale signs?

 

Ticking/knocking in the engine bay, water fall sounds from the dash to start

 

I was looking on the Youtube @ some Disco II engine inspections.. looking around the block, if there is a lot of oily residue, and specs of orange Dexcool coolant present, that is a bad thing, potentially a leaky head gasket.. Correct?

 

So did 2 test drives this morning.. I passed on both for the followint reasons.

Candidate #1 2003 90k.. This cosmetically was in great shape.. However, this is what I noticed:

1. The 2nd owner had no documentation on maintenance. My guess is Oil Changes have only been done to this point from what she was telling me.

2. The Drive Shaft has not been re done, nor head gaskets

3. The car pulled to the left fairly obviously when going 45-50 mph.. It did not feel right

4. She was asking $9000... Claims the LR dealer offered her $7800 to buy it and flip it.. I wouldnt pay either knowing what I am up against in this milage range.

Also, its worth noting that I heard what sounded almost like a small hissing noise when ddriving it.. It almost sounded like a door or window was slightly ajar, but I am certain they were not.. Is this akin to the "waterfall" sound people describe?

Candidate 2:

2002 HSE7 136k miles asking $5300

Was in fair shape cosmetically, including a side blinker knocked out, and a cracked windshield.. This truck drove better, but had some concerns..

1. No records of maintenance
2. This vehicle is owned by an oil company, and is essentially a fleet vehicle used by staff.. Its an odd choice for such a vehicle, but none the less, this scared me off as the guess is nothing but minimal oil changes had been .
3. Drive shaft has not been done
4. Head Gaskets havent been done either.

This one drove straight and didnt have the hissing sound described before.

Thoughts? Are there other more detail observations I should make for the next go around?