Finally my dream came true? Or will it be a nightmare?
 

Hello everyone,

I would like to join the forum to participate in keeping our Buicks looking good and running strong. I recently found a 1996 Roadmaster Wagon with 78k original miles. The price was low, the condition looks very good to my eye so I bought it without hesitation.

It is black with red leather interior. It has the towing package, but oddly no posi. It is woodgrain delete. Paint is good condition. Missing a couple moldings. Totally rust free. Bought from the 2nd owner who acquired it at 55k miles from a dealership in 2008 and sadly did not imo keep up with the caring for the car at least not in recent years.

It overheated on the 4 mile ride home at 35mph after idling in the sellers driveway for 10 minutes. It just konked out and I had to push the big lady 30 meters or so into a parking lot.

The seller said it did this before and she just waits a while and it starts back up. She said it was a built in safety feature when the engine gets too hot it just shuts off! I didnt want to believe that she just said that! Alarmed and with great concern, I went to get Dexcool, came back 45min later and it took all 2 gallons! Of course I didn't know anything about the proper procedure for adding coolant. I still don't know. There are bleeder screws that I didn't do anything with and still haven't.

So then it started right up and finished the remaining 2 miles at 30mph to my house where it's been in the driveway ever since (2 days now). Its very low on gas and hasn't been started since September, before that it was sitting a long time and I have no idea how old the gas is or if some water condensed in the gas. I will say it starts instantly.

I've since added another full gallon of Dexcool. (didnt know about bleeder screws to bleed the air and still havent). It does seem to have some leakage around some hoses. I checked the oil which was full and there was no evidence of coolant in the oil. I then drained the oil, replaced filter and refilled with fresh 10w30. The old oil was pitch black. Just horrific. Again there was no evidence of coolant in the drain oil either.

The temperature gage does not work at all. It stays at the cold position. It only pegs right during start position.

My plan is to replace the stat, fix the gage, replace leaking hoses and hope its not the waterpump (and collateral damage opti spark), then do a combustion gas test on the coolant. The exhaust was normal and invisible on the way home (no smoke or steam of any kind) but starting it up yesterday it looked awfully steamy, much more than i remember a car is supposed to do.

I might just be on edge and paranoid based on circumstantial evidence but hopefully this deal wasn't too good to be true. It's possible there was just a lot of condensation in the cold metal exhaust system from the humid overnight air. When i started it up, immediately copious amounts of clear pure water dripped out of the exhaust pipes and as it warmed up it began to vaporize. After a minute there was quite a bit of steam. Not knowing if it was normal or not, I shut it off at this point so i dont know if it would have gone away or if its coolant seeping into the combustion chamber. Still no coolant in the oil though.

Could the iron heads of the RMW LT1 have survived this abuse? I heard that its rare that they ever blow on the iron heads. I hope thats true. No coolant in oil so that's comforting but not conclusive.

In addition to that, power steering fluid leaks quickly out from where I dont know so that must be addressed. Hoping its just a hose. Haven't gone undeneath to look yet, still freaking out about the history of overheating.

The AC does not work but it all looks present. Hoping for just a recharge.

The brakes have drastically excessive pedal travel and then finally start to grab the wheels.. Im hoping pads and shoes and flush the brake fluid lines.

Casette player just keeps looking for tapes when in casette mode.. Radio works fine. Antenna needs replaced. These are the least of my worries.

If I can get it reliable and trustworthy, then I am willing to put some time and money into the car and make it a regular driver, and put it back into service as a useful, reliable and beautiful vehicle.

I would appreciate all of your feedback and input on my situation. Thank you!!

Here's a few pics.

https://cimg3.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.bui...7e95e512c5.jpg
Note mismatched rear wheel? Not sure what thats off of or why. That's fresh engine oil that leaked after oil change due to oil filter not being tight enough. Its not coolant.
https://cimg7.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.bui...022476b554.jpg
Pretty much mint.
https://cimg1.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.bui...565bdaec90.jpg
Also looks well kept but looks can be decieving.
https://cimg9.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.bui...970f2500ea.jpg