I looked at a 98 SSEi today and am trying to determine if it is worth buying it and dealing with problems that come with a car with almost 200,000 miles where EVERYTHING is original.


Heres what I know:

- Oil is overfilled by 1.5" on the dipstick..I checked after running the car for 20 minutes and letting it sit for 10 minutes. I checked 4 time to be sure, oil is WAY overfilled

- The valve covers leak tremendously, smoke coming out of the hood with it closed

- On initial startup the Oil pressure is around 60PSI

- At WOT after warm its around 60PSI

- Crusing after its warm its around 45 PSI, just over the center marker to the right side

- Waiting in traffic after a few minutes it drops a hair below what I think is the 20PSI mark, its still a 1/4 inch above the read area, but it gets low.

- The car'* oil is 6 months old, its not been driven more than 50 miles in the past 6 months

- There are good amounts of sludge under the oil fill cap...however the rockers look fine.

- The oil looks brand new, but it clearly is 6 months old according to the sticker...

- Obviously I cant check the oil pressure with a mechanical gauge since the car is not in my possession

- The oil pressure is about a 1/4 inch higher than my 94SSei when the LIM gaskets failed as shown in this pic:



its just a sliver below the "normal range" as described in the user manual

I fear a crank kit is in order, but I'm wondering if it could be caused by:

a) overfilling of the oil
b) cracked valve covers/destroyed valve cover gaskets
c) really old oil, the sludge is clogging the oil filter

Whats the lowest YOUR series II l67 car will go on the oil pressure gauge?






The Brake light issue:

- During heavy braking, AKA 90MPH to 0, the BRAKE light will come on, and the car will chime, it goes off after releasing the brake

- I tried messing with the e-brake switch (pushing the e-brake pedal back and forth)...same thing but for the chime to go it has to be depressed

- The ABS switch is not out of adjustment

- I reseated the harness on the master cylinder, same problem, brake fluid level is normal.


I'm thinking possible brake switch failure or a failing MC....

How much is the owner asking?

$3890

Most I will pay is $3200 due to the miles and issues I've identified...check the post in GENERAL for more info and such.

if its not a bad Sending unit... STAY AWAY

Almost four large is highway robbery, considering the mechanical condition of the car.

Walk.

my guess would be sludge

but i would walk also!!

The car is in great shape cosmetically, it looks like it has 50,000 miles.....please keep the opinions on whether I should get it or not in the other thread in the GENERAL section I live in a poor part of the county and SSEis are SUPER rare....

Theres a 2000 with 100,000 miles for $12,000 in Idaho falls......thats pretty normal price for these.


Considering just about any car I can buy has the potential to have a LIM gasket failure, SC coupler failure, trans failure, etc.....I'd rather get one at a discounted price (3 grand, it books for $5000-$6000)......and fix the issues so I can have lots of trouble free miles. I also want to get a series II to mod as money comes along...I'm thinking Stage 3 heads, cam, rockers, pushrods, springs, hardend pistons and crank kit anyway would be a given once I start to dig into it.


This thread could be somewhat pointless since I cant get a mechanical gauge on the car, I'm looking for sheer guesses of what the low oil pressure at idle could be atributed to.


The power is 100% of what it should be, you cant even hear the engine running.

The "sheer guess" is the oil pressure sending unit.

The KBB price on the car in your area in "fair" condition is $3605 with 190K on it.

Considering the problems, I don't think it'* in fair condition.

Good luck. I've had my say.

Thanks for the opinions.

I was thinking the sender as well, but usually I've heard when that fails the pressure gets maxed out at 120.

I have a buddy with a shop that I can use for free, therefore I can swap the engine for free......theres a 99 park avenue ultra with 60,000 miles that was rear ended in a local yard...it also has a 60,000 mile supercharger and its only $900.

If I put that in that brings the price up to $4000 invested and the drivetrain minus the transmission has 60k on it.

I can see your point of wanting to get the car because it is in great condition and wanting to switch out the engines, but I cannot see paying that for a car with such high miles and that has issues. Just an opinion...