North American Turbocoupe Organization



prospective 88 Tc
Andrew Offline
Member
#1
I am looking to find a second car and i recently noticed a 88 tc for sale in front of one of the local shops. The owner is asking 5k, but with the first little negotiation i got him down to 3500. It is a 83k mile single owner car.
I just went for a test drive. The car pulls very good once it gets up into the power band. When i got on the brakes it would start to shimmy back and forth by about 10-20 degrees. It also pulls to the right fairly consistently, not hard, but it does pull.
The owner said that the electric ride control is no good, the cruise control was bad (he said it would have been a 600 dollar repair im assuming a module or something). I know that the ABS and Antilock lights came on when started up and turned off, i did not see the CEL.
There were no indicator lights on the dashboard, and the shop it is parked at has preformed most all of the work on the car so i can get a copy of the record.
The car has a new stereo in it and the AC does work and supposedly has been switched to R134a. The paint is absolutely gorgeous. Leather interior in fairly good shape, and the power locks and windows work just fine.
The shop is going to check out what is causing the shimmy and let us know.
I could find no rust on the entire car other than the cat back exhaust which is fairly well gone.
I plan on having some low buck fun and making this car a potent daily driver. If I want to hit any track in the world i will take my miata. I have some plans for it......
What is involved in putting the suspension back to a standard shock?
Is there anything other than checking the CEL that i should look at/ check?
Thanks for any advice
88 turbo coupe. Daily driver
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T-BirdX3 Offline
Senior Member
#2
First, welcome to the board!

The "shimmy" is probably just warped calipers, they just need to be turned (usually about $15 a rotor).

I am curious as to why he said the "electric ride control" and the "cruise control" doesn't work, those are not usually a issue on low mileage cars like that one. I feel sure you could fix both of those issues for less than $600, they could both be simple fixes; but there is no telling without more information.
'88 T-Coupe 5 speed/'88 T-Coupe Auto
'87 T-Coupe 5 speed/'87 T-coupe 5 speed(76k orig mile)
..... and there was light!
http://i1224.photobucket.com/albums/ee36...tled-2.jpg
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Andrew Offline
Member
#3
I know the electric ride is acting up, the firm light will not come on with the switch in firm, it should correct? I did not notice its ride was bad in any way.
I am not too worried about the brake rotors, it would not suprise me if I could salvage the ride control and the cruise, but they are helping with the price.
I know the Service writer at the shop, hes a real good guy and im having him get one of his guys to check the whole suspension so i know exactly what i am getting into.
My dad had a 86 Turbocoupe when i was really young, so this car is going to be a trip down memory lane for both of us.
Also, i forgot one other thing, when it was running with the auto ac on there was a fairly good amount of smoke coming out of the vents, the owner said he thought that the shop had recently done a heater core and they said that the smoke would go away and that the car had not been driven much since then. opinions?
Andrew
88 turbo coupe. Daily driver
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Pete D Offline
Administrator
#4
Welcome,
The cruise control could be a simple as a bad hose or be more involved. If the body is that god and paint to, that could be worth considerable by itself

I kind of question the heater core being done. Make then show proof because that is a pain job or expensive to pay to have done. Usually the smoke stops when the core is replaced. I never had one "take awhile".
Pete Dunham


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T-BirdX3 Offline
Senior Member
#5
Quote:Originally posted by Andrew:
I know the electric ride is acting up, the firm light will not come on with the switch in firm, it should correct? I did not notice its ride was bad in any way.
Andrew
That could easily be the switch, sometimes they get......"dirty" and need to be cleaned. You can usually flip the switch back and forth a couple of times or slightly wiggle it and it will activate the ride control.

The "smoke" from the vents could have been from a very cold ac on a hot day. A bad heater core will blow "smoke" out the vents but it will have a strong sweet smell (antifreeze). If you didn't notice any smell, I would say it was just cold ac blowing on a hot day. Did it blow any smoke when you turned the ac off and turned a heat option on?
'88 T-Coupe 5 speed/'88 T-Coupe Auto
'87 T-Coupe 5 speed/'87 T-coupe 5 speed(76k orig mile)
..... and there was light!
http://i1224.photobucket.com/albums/ee36...tled-2.jpg
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TurboCoupe50 Offline
Posting Freak
#6
Sounds like the seller thinks he has a gold mine... If you read the condition description, likely it ain't worth near what he's askin'...

http://www.nadaguides.com/default.aspx?L...23324&da=1
1988 Turbo Coupe331 AOD

1972 Comet GT

1969 Fairlane Cobra 428CJ 4-Speed
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Andrew Offline
Member
#7
yeah, 3500 is about the max that i would pay for this car period.
The smoke is definitely anti freeze, I am going to have to get him to take care of that and the brake shimmy for me to be willing to pay 3500. If he would rather not take care of those the price is going to be dropping fast.
The car is definitely very good on the outside, it has typical problems of a car that was driven/ parked and then driven next week.
what i mean is that some of the rubber under the hood is cracking like the egr valve vacumn hose. The exhaust looks to have been replaced and the tips are rusting on the under side and the weld joints are rusting as well, i guess they did not coat the joints at all.
I work for a major auto parts house so i have no problems getting parts and putting them in. I have just about completely rebuilt my miata already including a top, roll bar, full suspension etc.
Andrew
88 turbo coupe. Daily driver
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Blue Oval Bird Offline
Member
#8
Wow! A little high considering all the problems and things that don't work. I paid $3500 for mine with 74k miles. Owner babied it and kept it in a garage. Replaced every hose with motorcraft hoses, all four tires were new, new water pump and timing belt, all new brakes, new motorcraft cap and rotor and plugs and wires, new belts, AC converted to R134A.

Again everything on the car works as designed and the previous owner replaced all the rubber hoses and belts just "because" it sits around and rubber degrades.

I would consider passing on it at $3500. Maybe at $2500, but no at $3500. You can find a better car for $3500 with less problems if you look hard.

Good luck either way.
1988 Turbo Coupe: 5-speed, 75k original one owner garage kept miles.

MODS: K&N filter on the VAM, Gillis Boost Valve @ 16 PSI, Walbro 255 lph pump, Kirban AFPR, Full STINGER 3" turbo back exhaust with Magnaflow muffler, Motorsports 140 MPH Speedometer.
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Andrew Offline
Member
#9
Alright, the more i think about it, the more i realize that i have never seen the CEL come on in this car. What makes me think I should have by this point is that the vacuum hose has come free from the EGR valve because the soft elbow has deteriorated.

I am going to have a talk with the seller on monday and see what we can do about the problems the car has and check for a cel.

Even though this car has the cel in the dash, can I still pull the codes through the port under the hood using the analog meter or the Scan tool?
88 turbo coupe. Daily driver
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Pete D Offline
Administrator
#10
"Even though this car has the cel in the dash, can I still pull the codes through the port under the hood using the analog meter or the Scan tool?"

Yes
Pete Dunham


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