Sell or keep?

[drk mrk iv]

Hey guys. I have a 1996 AWD Tsi sitting in my driveway. I have been debating or selling it or keeping it. It hasn't moved in weeks because of a coolant line leak which I am fixing Monday. It has a few other problems like:

Underbody rust
Oil in the sparkplug well
Decent idle
Sparkplug wires like to pop out (NKG's)
Soft/spongy clutch (but transmission shifts very smoothly)
Steering wheel shakes some when car idles
Steering wheel is... loose. I turn it and there is a lot of play in it before it actually turns.
Fair amount of rust on the underbody
Some rust in the engine bay
Fender where one would connect the bumper to... Those holes are rusted out

Should I kick it and sell it, or put about 2 or so grand in to it... OR do I have a bigger problem on my hands. How much would it cost to get rid of the rust? Oil in sparkwell?

 

[HighPsi92GST]

Should I kick it and sell it,

if your going to sell it, dont kick it first as dents will lower the price


sounds like you have a bit of rust problem, and the rest is all just maintenance stuff.
the oil in the sparkplug wells could be from dumping alittle bit of oil while putting oil into the engine and it found its way in there, or the vavle cover gasket/the rings around the sparkplug wells could be leaking
i dont really know why you listed decent idle as a problem
as for the steering thats something you better get fixed before driving it too much

imo, if you like the car, fix the problems and keep it. i dont think it is going to be costing you 2000 to fix it....

 

[drk mrk iv]

Any more advice on how I should go about the problems?

 

[Anubis_4_99]

your slave and or master clutch cylinder may be going out if the peddle is spongy, this just happend to mine, 220 to have clutch doctors do it and about 2 1/2 hours out of my day, not too bad i'd say.. i'd see if maybe the steering wheel is even tightend down all the way maybe? i've never heard of a steering wheel vibrateing at idle maybe you have some kind of ps rack problem? spark plug wires will cost you maybe $30 or so at most, not that hard to fix.. cleaning out that oil isnt really too hard if you can be patient.. as for the rust, if it's not that bad, sand it, primer it, and get it painted soon so it doesnt get worse.. as said before i dont think it'll cost you 2K to fix, maybe $1,200 or so if you have everything done for you? seems about right depending how bad that rust is.. i'd probably just replace those fenders, probably not that hard to find some, finding the right color will be harder tho.. really the only big problem you have listed is that rust, everything else would be fairly easy and cheap to fix

 

[drk mrk iv]

I am willing to invest in my car as long as there isn't anything too wrong with it. It runs fine, but I am really paranoid about the oil in plugwell. I suppose I'll get a compression test on it soon. I don't want bad rings.

 

[Defiant]

Do this:

http://www.dsmtuners.com/forums/showthread.php?t=148744

 

[drk mrk iv]

Do this:

http://www.dsmtuners.com/forums/showthread.php?t=148744

Done, thanks.

 

[HighPsi92GST]

It runs fine, but I am really paranoid about the oil in plugwell.

did you not read my post where i said what the problem most likly is

 

[sc2_ct]

I'd keep it unless you think you can get a better deal on another car. For the rust on the underbody, there is some amount that is normal to have on various components. If you have rust through the floor, that is one of the easier places to take care of it since it doesn't have to look pretty. For any other areas where there is just surface rust, use a wire brush to take all the scaled rust off, then hit it with some kind of rust-converter (check home depot) and hit it with several coats of rubbarized undercoating. Any rust area on the inside or in the hatch area, just grind it down, then prime and paint it with your typical duplicolor stuff.

As for oil in the spark plug well, it's probably just the spark plug tube seals, so you just get a valve cover gasket set and some Permatex grey RTV sealant (about $35). This could be one of the reasons for the spark plug wires coming off also (though you might just want to replace them and the plugs while you're in there). When you replace the plugs, just use the dialectric grease on the threads, ceramic and the tip where it meets the spark plugs.

Fenders are pretty cheap at the junkyard, or check your local DSM club to see if anyone has a parts car you can grab the fenders from.

For the spongy clutch pedal, check the clutch master and slave cylinders before you start to panic.

Just my $0.02

 

[drk mrk iv]

Thanks for you replies. I will start working on this later on today hopefully. Once I get the coolant line fixed, I will bring it by my friend's shop so I can get a good compression check on it. If all works out, then I will keep it. Also... Stupid question, but how many quarts of oil should I put in it? And how many gallons of coolant?