Re: [DML] Help!!!! Brought 06859 home today from ebay purchase

[Qumefox <qumefox@xxxxxxxxx>]

delorean6859 wrote:

>Alright, I picked up #06859 this afternoon that I won in an ebay
>auction (auction # 4566780231).  The car was described as excellent
>condition inside and out and was owned by a mechanic, so I
>thought....this is the one.  Well, I'll cut to the chase and say that I
>need help.  If anyone lives in the DC/Maryland area or more
>specifically near Calvert County, I need you.  I'll get into the
>specifics about the transaction below, but the car has some major
>issues that I'm going to need help with and would appreciate it if
>someone could take it for a drive and look at it and tell me what you
>think the problems are.  Here are the major issues so far that I have
>uncovered:
>
>
>
Sorry your having difficulties, but I think it's been said here many
times about allways doing your best to try and inspect ebay vehicles
yourself or seeing if someone on the list is close to where the seller
is and seeing if they will look the car over for you.. (if one ever
comes up in west Tennessee, feel free to ask me)..  Though granted I
bought my own D basicly sight unseen.(but not off ebay, actually found
it in froogle). but I only paid $8k for it too, and the owner was more
than happy to list problem after problem the car had... Though
fortunatly for me none of them were particularly major. About the only
things I was disappointed about with the car was the carpets were in
pretty bad shape, and there is some stainless damage on the left rear
quarter I wasn't told about, but it wasn't that major.

>First, the parking brake will not engage.  This is major because it
>won't pass a Maryland inspection.  The parking brake light will go on
>if you pull the brake up one notch, after that, it goes out and the
>brake will not hold.
>
>
>
This doesn't sound particularly major.. The parking brake system is
reasonably straight forward. If you mean by won't hold, as in the handle
just won't lock in the up position, the problem is in the handle
itself.. I  have the parking brake lever out of my D right now actually,
as i'm still working to get the body off the frame. I'll try and look at
the locking mechanism for it tomorrow (it's 1:30 am and I need to sleep)
and try and give you an idea what might be loose/jammed/broken to look
for if no one else here suggests anything before I get around to it
after work.  If the handle does latch when you pull it up, then the
problem is probably an adjustment issue, worn or missing parking brake
pads, or both.

>Second, and probably more serious, I suspect a fuel system issue.  The
>idle is racing.  When I sit at an idle (with or without
>airconditioning) it revs between 500 and 1100 RPM.  It is constantly
>reving almost like I am tapping the gas pedal every second.
>Also, which may be related, when I lift my foot off of the gas it
>
>sounds like I've got a trail of "Just Married" cans being pulled behind
>
>the car.  It's not quite a backfire, but it isn't what you would expect
>a fine automobile to sound like.
>
>Also potentially related is the fact that the car makes a loud banging
>noise whenever I take a hard left turn.  I saw a posting some time this
>week that had someone with this sound whenever they made a hard turn
>and they suspected a suspension or bearing issue and it turned out to
>be something with the fuel system. I don't know what forum it was, but
>I'll be looking for it tonight.
>
>
>
I unfortunatly can't be of much assistance here.  I'm still dismantling
my D for restoration and before I started it ran as ok as could be
expected for having an entirely stock fuel system.

>Another issue is that the Oil Pressure gauge seemed to function
>normally during the three hour drive, but about half way through it,
>the gauge went all the way past 80 and was point to the "I" in Oil.
>After a while it went back to normal.
>
>
>
This sounds like an electrical issue but I guess there is a slim chance
it could be major. Most likly a problem with the sender or wiring
though. Was the road particularly bumpy when the gauge acted up? I'd
think if  the spike was due to a blockage you'd have lost pressure
rather than it going up.. Either way, even from what little I know of
the engine's mechanics you'd probably have found out rather quickly if
you'd have lost oil flow for an extended period of time driving at
highway speeds..

>Now before you suggest I go buy the shop manual, that was one of the
>things the car was SUPPOSED to come with.  However, integrity seems to
>be lacking in the individual that sold me this car.
>
>None of the marker lights on the doors will light.  I haven't even
>tried to track that issue down.  This could be anything from a
>pulled/blown fuse.....I think I'll get to that one last.
>
>
>
This is rather easy. if none of the door lights work, yet all the other
lights do, then the door switches are either broken, disconnected, or
the contacts are bent/dirty.. I know the door switches on my D don't
really appear to be the highest quality construction in the world.

>The body is not in the excellent condition that it was described to be
>in either.  The stainless isn't too bad, but there are several dings in
>various spots and a deep scratch across the grain of the steel on the
>hood.
>
>
>
A good blending pad will probably make all of these alot less
noticable.. but to be honest, I doubt there are many D's out there that
are actually driven regularly that haven't suffered their own share of
dings and scratches in their nearly 25 year lifetimes.

>A brand new steering rack was installed this morning and it feels a
>little loose.  I have no experience with cars without power steering,
>so maybe it is supposed to be this way, which brings me back to my need
>for someone to drive it who is "in the know".
>
>
You'll really have to define 'loose' a little better..  Does the wheel
have too much play without having much effect?  Worn old shocks have a
drastic effect on how a car handles as well.

>Now before you say, Nate, why did you even go on with the transaction.
>Well, that is funny you should ask.  The racing idle issue was
>immediately apparent.  However the clunking sound when you take your
>foot off of the gas and when you make a hard left turn were not
>immediately apparent.  The dings aren't THAT noticable (the utter lack
>of any weatherstripping was though!)  But the main reason was that I
>met this guy on the Jersey Turnpike so I didn't have to drive all the
>way to Yonkers (I'm one of those federal law enforcement types working
>a midnight shift with no days off in sight).  My wife (who I must thank
>because she rarely says no to me .......outside of the bedroom, anyway)
>had to make an appointment at 2:30 and the knucklehead was late showing
>up.  So I got left at the rest area in New Jersey like cheap luggage.
>The Delorean had now become my ride home with no back-up.
>
>So the moral of the story is this:
>When buying on ebay READ BETWEEN THE LINES!!!
>When it says "headliner recently replaced" look into the fact that the
>guy has a Johnny Bravo type of hairstyle that requires 15 W 50 to keep
>it up. The headliner again needs to be replaced bacause I don't want
>people thinking that crap came from my head!!!
>
>
>
Having the headliner's redone is no big deal at all really. It hardly
costs anything compared to what some of the problems these cars have
costs to fix. :)

>When it says interior and exterior in excellent condition.....well that
>one is kind of like my single days at the Federal Law Enforcement
>Training Center and the rating system for women there.  A "6" in real
>life was a FLETC "9" when you factor in the pool of applicants and the
>last time you actually saw a female.  I'll rate this car a fair as it
>sits now.
>
>Anyway, I'd probably be a lot more upset right now if it wasn't for the
>fact that I know that Delorean owners are a rare breed and take care of
>each other.  I'm hoping I can restore this girl to her original glory
>with your help!!!!
>
>Thanks,
>Nate
>
>
I'm sure the guru's here on the list will have lots of suggestions much
better than what little I can offer to get your D back in good shape
asap. :)

>AKA "Really mad I sold a perfectly good Porshe Boxster for this car"
>
>
>
Heh.. Don't want to sound anti-porsche  but I never found much appeal in
the boxster's myself.(for one thing they're getting WAY too common now)
If I was going to own a rollerskate I barely fit in i'd rather have a
good turbo miata and save the extra cash. I've driven a friend's boxster
before, as well as another's mazdaspeed miata.. The boxster handled
'slightly' better than the miata due to better weight distrobution, but
not enough to warrant the extra price, and the turbo miata had alot more
power.  Now 911's on the other hand, now that's a real porsche I
wouldn't mind having.

--

Chris
VIN# 03209
http://badger.brazi.net/delorean
(hasn't had an update in awhile, but between being sick and being out of town... there hasn't been much work done on the car to update)



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