Tight Budget ! All the more reason to avoid any all wheel drive vehicle ( Damage one tire and you may have to buy all four new ones ) . Also you need to concentrate on main stream brands .
It sounds like you are only looking at private sale vehicles . If you are in the US there are very few places that don’t have lots of used vehicles for sale . There are many web sites that have vehicles in most price ranges.
Hey, thanks! this is great. I was looking for something like this. great diagram.
I’ve driven an AWD for 13 years already, a Subaru and never had that problem. And I do happen to be in one of those very few places in the US that don’t have lots of used cars for sale. I have visited many dozens of websites that have vehicles but most are dealers and out of my budget. I have considered dealers at first but, the prices in my area, central PA are stupid high compared to many other places only a little further out. But I have no car right now that can make a trip more than a few miles. That’s why I need another one asap. and as far as main stream brands? coming from “Volvo-V70” , there are no Volvos around here. and no one works on them. there are more subarus around here than anything. so, you and I obviously live in 2 different worlds, dear.
I live alone, I travel alone. I travel very little I’m retired. I don’t have an appreciation for depreciation. I get a car that gets me where I need to go for as little cost and as much reliability as I can afford and I drive it until it can’t go anymore and then it goes to salvage. i have no kids no dogs no friends to drive around with. I need to go shopping once a week otherwise I stay home and enjoy my peaceful quiet life in the rural mountains with nature all around me. so how many seats do you think I need? sometimes I have to haul some appliances from the thrift store back home when the one I had breaks down. winters are rough here. I need a car that can handle it. that’s why everyone around here drives a Subaru(that’s only a slight exaggeration). I had a minivan many years ago when I was in a rock band and had to carry equipment in it. I’m downsizing, my friend.
You mentioned kids and I assumed you meant yours.
Find unpopular sedans and focus on them. The Toyota Echo comes to mind if you can find them. They will be at least 20 years old though. They are part of the Yaris family. You might look at the Yaris too.
I’m all in favor of light-hearted discussions here, Car Talk after all, but the OP has a serious cooling system problem. If not resolved quicky engine damage could result. Do you really mean to dismiss the possibility of a big seal problem ?
Seriously George ? You are chastising someone and you are always telling stories that have nothing to do with the thread contents .
Bluey does not have a coolant problem . She is wasting time looking at a vehicle with problems that she might buy.
The person selling the car has the engine problem. If it were an inexpensive repair, they would have completed the repair and asked market value for the car.
Do you concur with DMP’s implication above that the big seal couldn’t be the reason for the OP’s stated problem, as described in the top post?
Without the top seal in the cap, coolant won’t be drawn into the radiator as the engine cools. If a fix were that easy, someone would have replaced the cap.
No George, just trying to give you some pictures and reading material so that you might understand how that type of rad cap works, I have seen many upper gaskets cracked, as long as it will seal under a vacuum, it will still work, but the seal that draws the vacuum and coolant back from the over flow tank is the small metal flap at the bottom center of the cap, it is what goes bad a lot more so than the upper big seal, the upper seal may not seal properly and it still suck coolant, it will just also suck air and not move as much coolant back to the radiator… So to my point, the upper seal is not as important as the other two seals, yes it has 3 seals, not 2…
And yes to your point, I have fixed many coolant issues by replacing the old rad cap, and yes it is possible that it will fix the vehicle that the OP is looking at, but not probable… As already stated, hard to believe the seller of the car is loosing money cause a shop has not already figured out it is a bad $10-$20ish cap, more likely it is a head gasket pushing more coolant into the over flow tank than it can handle and on to the ground, therefore when it draws the coolant back to the rad, it does not fill the rad back up, that will make it look like a bad rad cap when in fact it is a much bigger problem…
So please , next time, try to read the whole dang post and study the pictures before complaining about one stupid line or getting all bent out of shape… You might actually learn something which was the whole purpose for it in the 1st place…
In my very 1st post (which was the 2nd reply to the thread) I said to try a new rad cap… Try reading ALL the post before getting all bent out of shape…
You really expect George to read before he does his Speed Posting ?
$15 radiator cap or $1500 head gasket job. I know what I’m trying first. Then I’m checking the overflow hoses and the bottom of the overflow tank for any blockages before I dump a ton of money into a head gasket.
It’s not just a 4 cylinder - it’s a SUBARU 4 cylinder so my money is on your assumption.
I don’t run away or do anything fast. I investigate things until I learn and find out what I need to know. Then I make a decision.
I don’t expect anything from anyone.
I’ll be that someone
No one is accusing you of anything . It is the general opinion here that a 174000 mile Subaru with cooling problems is not worth the risk . Just tell the seller to have the vehicle repaired then call you with the new price.
So I guess you talked to him. I did… that’s not what he told me.