3800 sold a GTP out of state...

phat_ridegt · Dec 23, 2007

cliff notes:

sold a car as is, before it makes it home (500+ miles) its having problems. what to do?

i went with my buddy yesterday and a buyer came from south dakota to buy his gtp. we met in iowa city, went out without a fluke. the car is lightly mod'd, vs cam, u bend and res removed, and an intake. it has a 3.25 pulley on it, which is a bit small, but tuned it to be rich, and safe for the buyer, and he knew that. before he got home with it... first thing, he said the car was revving high at idle and wouldnt come down. guided him to which sensor was the IAC motor, tapped it, it went down. I told him i would send him out a new iac valve this week. he was fine with that.

now after he back in SD, but not even home with it

i got a call this morning saying he was 'just turning a corner' and all the sudden it started shaking real bad and had no power. he said there is a faint rattle noise coming from the drivers side (or so he thinks) and the oil dipstick has popped out and sprayed oil. tell tale sign of the pcv system not working. i told him a few things to check but he is VERY car illiterate (not thats it a bad thing...just doesnt help the situation). i told him to have his buddy scan it with his PT and send them to me so i can get a feel for whats going on. now, his buddy called me as well (the buddy is the one we mainly delt with, as he had the account on club gp), and left me a message saying that the buyer was just cruising on the highway at 65 and it started doing this. two different stories.

im an honest guy, and so is the seller, but i think we're kinda gettin jacked around a bit.

sounds to me like he either has a major pcv issue, or it could have blown out the s/c gasket and the rattle is the pcv valve clanging. because i know the 3.25 was too small pulley on the thing.

what is the right thing to do here? the buyer signed a waiver/bill of sale saying it was as-is/as-shown, but i hate to think of this guy getting a new car, and having to have it worked on right away. if it were closer to me, it would be a no brainer we could fix it for him.
end rant/

1quick · Dec 23, 2007

when you tuned it rich did you scan it at all, It really shouldent be that bad with a 3.25 pully, I ran the same set up on my regal with 1.9 rockers instead of the cam and would only see a blip up to the 2's as far as the kr goes

as far as messing with the car ,its sold as is as long as it makes it out of the parking lot then your good otherwise this guy is going to be calling you every time a bulb burns out

phat_ridegt · Dec 23, 2007

it was tuned like 8 months ago. aaron drove the car and his wife drove it every day. it was fine. it saw a max of like 2-3* kr, it could be a little more with this cold weather, but the buyer was informed of all this. if it were closer, it would be easy to diagnose, but this guy doesnt know the difference between the air filter and fuel filter...?

imported_Ron Vogel · Dec 23, 2007

Betcha it's a broken valve spring. Think about it; instant loss of power, valvetrian noise, blowby (from munching the seal/guide). Seems the most likely cause. Tommy Gloves car was running perfectly fine, and out of nowhere broke a spring, then another just weeks later...vs cam too.

Turbocharged400sbc · Dec 23, 2007

if it has 02/03+ OE springs more than likely a broken spring...
along with tommy's 2 03 failures (dont know mileage) the 05 L32 (25k bought + 35k on VS) in the riv broke #4 intake spring on just a VS cam (while it was idling for 10 minutes)

i hate to say it but this plus what i heard from the engineer at pac 02/03 was when gm went to a mexico plant instead of getting their springs from peterson spring (pac is the racing spring line)

the sound through the intake/filter is horendous depending on how far together the spring coils have "threaded" into each other.

there could be other issues...i'd ask to see any scan data, the two stories makes things a bit questionable...i personally dont go easy on a new toy...did he do a redneck tuneup?

phat_ridegt · Dec 23, 2007

redneck tune up? not sure what ya mean...

it has ls1 valve springs, and shift points below 6000. not impossible to break one, just find it hard to believe that he put like 30000 on the cam/valvetrain and all the sudden something happens.

im waiting to hear back from him, with some scan data.

Turbocharged400sbc · Dec 23, 2007

leadfooting it to "blow the carbon out"

UR LOSN · Dec 23, 2007

sounds to me like he was hot rodding the hell out of it. pcv, or valve issues. the broken valve spring...that would cause it to have hella KR......wouldnt it?

either way..if the stories dont line up......

itlnrob · Dec 23, 2007

I'm sorry but when you buy a car it is sold AS-IS. As long as its signed on the dotted lines like that, you don't have to worry about it.

He was probably on the gas the entire way back home and broke something.

Not your problem, car ran fine in your possession and I'm sure you knew of nothing wrong with it at the time of sale.

All in all, forget about it.

phat_ridegt · Dec 27, 2007

updated....

the guy took the car to a mechanic and found that #4 had VERY low compression, seems to have chunked a piston...if a spring broke though, it could easily hang a valve open wouldn't ya think?

Turbocharged400sbc · Dec 27, 2007

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (phat_ridegt @ Dec 27 2007, 10:29 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div>

updated....

the guy took the car to a mechanic and found that #4 had VERY low compression, seems to have chunked a piston...if a spring broke though, it could easily hang a valve open wouldn't ya think?[/b]

did they give you the actual measurements? how low is very low...did it jump when oil was shot in there?
yes it would cylinder would at most hit 0-30psi dep on how far open its hanging... a valve hanging open makes alot of induction/exhaust noise when running...not to mention the pushrod/rocker clattering...

phat_ridegt · Dec 27, 2007

i actually just re-listened to the voice mail, it was 40% lower he said. than the lowest of the other 5. i thought he said 40 psi...hmmm

UR LOSN · Dec 28, 2007

but it does have compression showing on the gauge. so piston is still together. most likely valve slightly open...

have them get out the borascope...and take a look.

imported_snoop · Dec 29, 2007

could be a valve...... but a pinhole in the piston will have very little compression. dont forget now, too rich is just as bad as too lean.

like losen said, get out the borascope, alot cheaper than pulling that head off

edit: also phat, dude, you seem to have a good heart as you are making this thread and feel somewhat guilty about it. remember he bought a modified car, shit will happen and thats that. dont sweat it dude. it was modified and you where very upfront and honest as to what the car had and was doing. just had to put that out there

phat_ridegt · Dec 30, 2007

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (snoop @ Dec 29 2007, 01:07 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div>

could be a valve...... but a pinhole in the piston will have very little compression. dont forget now, too rich is just as bad as too lean.

like losen said, get out the borascope, alot cheaper than pulling that head off

edit: also phat, dude, you seem to have a good heart as you are making this thread and feel somewhat guilty about it. remember he bought a modified car, shit will happen and thats that. dont sweat it dude. it was modified and you where very upfront and honest as to what the car had and was doing. just had to put that out there[/b]

yeah thanks man, we both feel bad about what happened, but i pretty much told the guy, it was def. in pristine conditon when he got it.

im waiting to hear what they found and what the results are...havent heard back since i told him we werent going to help out money wise

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