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**e30rapidic** · 03-26-2011, 07:50 PM

manual cabrio...good deal!

Most important thing is to find out the maintenance history..ie when the timing belt was last replaced. The water pump should have been changed at the same time. If it's been a while or do not know, do yourself a favor and swap them out. A broken timing belt is almost certainly never a good thing in these engines.

**SG Jon** · 03-27-2011, 02:21 PM

So I take it these are the "interference" engines? A good excuse to have some head work done I guess but not exactly a nice end to a sunday drive...

Is this something I can do with the engine in the car? The last timing belt I did was a 91 Prelude. The one before that was a chain in a 01 Trans-Am and the core support came out... We did a cam at the same time though so I think that had alot to do with it.

Thanks though, Thats a great start for what to ask!

**quikveedb2** · 03-27-2011, 02:50 PM

The M20 is an interference engine. The TB job can be done with the motor in the car in a few hours by a capable person with the right tools. The M20 is fairly reliable if maintained, but you can easily sink a bunch of time & money into diagnosing problems with a motor with no maintenance records. I did. Then i drove the car 1800 miles across the country & use it as my DD now. It was worth it.

**BergerNJ** · 03-27-2011, 03:23 PM

check the boot that holds the top for rust, also if its powered see if the owner will open it without touching it and allowing the top to work itself into place.

If manual, you may need to assist the top by folding one of the main bars inwards on its way down since the tension straps may be loose. Mine are and its no big deal though.

Open the trunk and pull the liner on both sides of the trunk floor in front of the tail lights, they look like battery trays. See if there is any rust, mine came with a TINY bit of rust since the gaskets leak, but I've seen some terrible rust on other cars.

Other then that if the body is straight, no rust on the wheel well corners or under the tail lights in the trunk and outside on the car....The TB and Water pump is the biggest issue. My TB and water pump was changed, but the PO didn't swap any of the drive belts, I put them in and the added tension wore out my fan clutch within 30 minutes....Blew the fan clutch so bad my water pump snapped. So if you want you can also check the tension on the belts as well. When doing that give the fan clutch a bit of a wiggle see if it moves AT ALL, then listen to see how loud it is.

If dash has cracks in it, don't pay top price....the M20 likes to be ticking, but anything too loud means other problems, a valve adjustment usually tempers the sound, but it will come back if its a major issue.

**SG Jon** · 03-28-2011, 07:26 PM

So I got to the car today and the guys son has decided to trade it for a 94 Civic thats automatic... Crap.

It wasn't flawless but it was a really nice car.
It had the TB and Water Pump taken care of when the engine was having head work done and a mild cam installed. The exhaust was a newish set of pipes made by the last owner.

The Console was removed, along with the glovebox but everything was in the trunk (that was dry). I guess the heater core went and after taking everything apart to find it he discovered that it was a whole lot easier to use the little access door for it. hahaha

He's going to see if the tradee wants to sell it but I think the thing is gone.

Thanks for all the help though guys, I'm still on the hunt for one and now I'm pretty determined to get it before summer hits.

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Looking at getting an 87 325i convertable project car.

Looking at getting an 87 325i convertable project car.

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