Clean 83 FS in Ca...

[Avocadofarmer]

I am the guy from the TDIclub site...

I have a clean 83 244 diesel for sale. I am pretty sure the HG is shot. It leaks a bit of water out of the back of the head gasket area. It used to pressurize the exp tank. Still runs and starts great, just leaks.

It is a leather interior car, but the seats are cracked badly. It spent all of its life garaged until about 2000. Even then, Ive been good at keeping it waxed so the paint and clear coat is in good shape. NO rust at all. It has never left the state for more than 3 weeks. Power windows, locks, cruise, manual sunroof (no leaks).

Lots of parts replaced in the past 4 years......vac pump, brake booster, steering rack, starter, alternator, radiator, some hoses, GP's, pads and rotors.

The oil has always been changed on time, and since 2000 it has been run on 1540 Delo, which is a great oil. Also been good at changing the fuel filter.

4 speed + manual OD. Cruises at 70-75 on the flats, no problem.

I need this car gone....

$1000, or best offer.

Email me....avocadofarmer at gmail

[Avocadofarmer]

Looks like I'll be putting $1500 into it for a new head gasket!

Hopefully it will bring a few bux on Ebay or something.

[v8volvo]

Glad to hear it will be fixed, but be careful. Did you find someone with the knowledge and tools to do the work? If they don't know these engines and have the experience, equipment, and patience to work on them and do the job right, you may end up paying a lot of money and getting the car back running much worse than it is now.

One of my turbodiesels was advertised as just having had $1500 worth of work done to it when I bought it -- part of which was replacing the water pump, timing belt, and glow plugs. I got the car dirt cheap because it ran like, well, dirt. Barely started in the morning, overheated on hills, and knocked and rattled and smoked like a chimney. It turned out that it was all the fault of the previous mechanic who had bungled everything up. He did not have the tools to do the job, and didn't care to take the time to learn how to do the complicated timing procedure properly. He just marked the belt and pulleys with paint and slipped a new belt on. I re-did everything and the car runs beautifully now, but the previous owners got their nice low-mile car ruined by a sloppy tech, and lost a ton of money to boot due to the bill they had to pay him and the cheap price they had to sell their barely-running car at.

Heed the lesson... these cars are rare enough that it is not worth a mechanic's time to learn how to work on them if he doesn't already know. You need to find someone who DOES already know and has the right stuff. If they don't, then I guarantee they will screw the job up, charge you a ton of money, the car will turn into a piece of junk, and you will regret ever jumping into the repair. Wait to find the right guy.