A used car buying guide

You don't need a mechanic to make a good judgement about the condition of the car. This is a set of things I put together to help me with my next used car purchase.

1. There should be no fluid marks on the ground where the car was parked. Any marks should indicate that some fluid is leaking from the car. Some fluid leaks, especially leaks from the engine and transmission, could be expensive to fix.


2. Automatic transmission fluid should be clear red, no burned smell and the level should be correct. When the brake or clutch pads inside the transmission wear they make the fluid murky and leave a burned smell. (The level of transmission fluid is checked when the engine is running, as the fluid should be pumped to the torque convertor for its operation. When the engine stops the fluid drains back to the reservoir increasing the level above spec.)

3. The engine oil level should be close to the maxline, which is where the garages usually fill upto. So any decrease in level should be due to oil leaking out or burning inside the engine both of which are bad. Some engines burn oil due to stuck oil control rings on the pistons or leaky valve stem seals. Oil burning typically worsens over time. Oil control rings on the pistons cannot be fixed without a complete tear down of the engine, which is sometimes as expensive as replacing the engine. Fixing the valve stem seals is not cheap either.

Engines in good condition consume only a small amount of oil between recommended oil changes and the oil normally looks brown to dark brown. Big drops in the oil level in the absence of leaks and oil burning should indicate the previous owner hasn't changed the oil for a long time: often a red-flag pointing to poor maintenance habits.

4. Check the color of the tail pipe (exhaust) smoke when the car starts from cold state. There should be very little visible smoke if any from the tail pipe. Lots of smoke, if present, could be due to oil leaking into the ignition chamber due to leaky valve stem seals. Presence of visible smoke once the engine is warmed up could be due to stuck piston oil control rings.

5. Inspect the engine outer surfaces for oil stains and deposits. Significant oily dirt accumulation is not good sign, as it could be due to leaky gaskets.

6. Inspect the body of the car for rust, especially inside surfaces around the periphery of the doors.

7. When the engine is idling there should not be any excessive vibration inside the car. Excessive vibration is often a sign of one or more worn out engine mounts.

8. Engage the power steering end-to-end from left to right and back, when the car is stationary and listen for any abnormal sounds or grinding noises. There should not be any unusual sounds.

9. If the car has power windows make sure all the windows are working.

10. Check if the tires are excessively worn, in which case you may want to ask for a discount to defray the costs of an imminent tire replacement.

When you test drive

11. Make sure that the gear shifts are smooth (should not be jerky) and are happening at the expected times in the case of an automatic transmission.

12. Observe the feel of the brakes.

13. Observe the smoothness of the ride, the acceleration, power etc.

14. Ask for past service and maintenance records. Such record keeping is often a good sign of proper care by the previous owner. Also it will be handy for you to determine when the next service items are due.

Corolla 1996 power steering pressure hose replacement

Yesterday I replaced the power steering pressure hose that has been leaking for a long time. Lately the leak has worsened to a spray. I bought the replacement part from Autozone for $26.99, Duralast Power Steering Pressure Line Hose (With O-Ring fitting), Part Number: 71782. This is a much lower price than the toyota oem price which is close to $200.

Removing the banjo-bolt near the pump was easy, with a 22mm socket connected to an extension did the trick. Collected the fluid drained using a pan under the vehicle near the passenger side wheel. The bottom end of the hose connected to the power steering gear box turned out to be a bit hard to remove, because there is no room to apply a wrench there. A socket cannot be used because the pipe is in the way. Finally, had to use a crowfoot wrench (17mm) connected to a 24 inch extension. The extension was inserted through the small opening through which the brake line comes out near the driver side wheel. Disconnected the bottom end and collected the fluid into the pan. After disconnecting the top and bottom ends of the hose, I also had to remove one 10mm bolt and loosen another both of which secure the pressure line and the return line to the chassis. This was particularly cumbersome and had to do by extending both arms down behind the engine from above. Once the old hose was removed, it was easy to put in the new one. There is an o-ring at the bottom end and two copper washers at the top end, one each on either side of the banjo bolt. The new hose needed a 5/8" crowfoot wrench at the bottom end.

After installing the hose, valvoline dex/merc automatic transmission fluid was filled in the power steering reservoir and started the engine and rotated the steering wheel end-to-end several time. Switched off the engine, topped-off the fluid and repeated. After that the fluid level was steady, so the air must have been out.

Now it was time to congratulate myself. The workshop quoted $135 for labor alone. It took me 3 hours to do it. Not bad.