In reply to gunner :
Well, our 2003 T&C minivan passed 300,000 miles - but we really liked it, had taken care of it, and it seemed in great shape, considering, but we didn't trust it on long trips or with the kids at night.
So, I looked around and found a 140K miles 2007 (SAME GENERATION is important) with some little mechanical issues for cheap.
Swapped parts and tires over; radio, taillights, tailgate struts; rear shocks with helper springs, passenger window mechanism, radiator; various things - and now I still have most of a convenient parts van out in the barn. Pretty handy.
Folks just think we painted our van from beige to white - to get more boring, I guess.
Forrest in Atlanta
TGMF
Reader
1/20/20 3:06 p.m.
remove the intake manifold and spark plugs to get all the oil out of the manifold. Don't attempt starting till at least the plugs are pulled, but i would strongly recomend the intake manifold as well. It will have a ton of oil in it. Reassemble and take it for a drive. Asses suspension damage/ wheels other mechanicals. Then get it to a body shop to have only the roof repaired properly as to assure safety. Reattach bumpers and pop dents out of the hood and such on your own.
I'd drive that car as is with a new windshield for another 100k personally, and I assure you, other people on FB market place or list of craig think the same way. There's a easy 1500+ there with it running and driving.
BTW, when you do get it running again, its going to smoke out the exhaust like you hate the planet. Maybe start it after dark if you have special neighbors.
In reply to TGMF :
The only cylinder I was able to pull any oil from was cylinder 1. not even the air intake had enough to pull out of. It does appear that oil drained out the bottom of the plastic intake. Probably tweaked but I didn't look. Due to all that it didn't smoke nearly as much as I though it would. I really appreciate the info though because I think the no.1 cylinder was full.
Vigo
MegaDork
1/28/20 11:01 a.m.
Man, i like that ice racer idea...
Cut to today, There was no interest in the car for 3 days now I have 6 people that want to buy it and I will show it saturday to the first one. This guy offered me 1000 bucks and I was thrilled but I couldnt show it till this weekend anyway. Yesterday I had a guy offer 1500 just to look at it so Im like, You win buddy! I text this first guy that I got a better offer so I'm out and he ups his offer to match. So since he was the first interested Im giving him first dibs and showing it to him saturday morning. He wants the engine only but understands he has to buy the whole car to get it. I don't think he will have any problem parting it out and getting his money back if he wants to. Plus I know he is getting an engine that should last 300+ thousand miles with proper care. Everybody wins, and that's the best.
TGMF
Reader
2/7/20 10:48 a.m.
Glad that worked out! After seeing the listing the car was more banged up than I initially thought, and I thought to myself, eh...1500 is gonna be harder to get than i first thought...but apparently not!
In reply to TGMF :
Yep. Not a panel without a wrinkle, no plastic without a crack. :)
Sold it on Saturday to the first guy that looked at it. Got $1350 cash and he got the engine he needed with a car attached to it. He even drove it out of the garage and onto his trailer.
Done deal.
Edit per my previous comment, I was wrong. The trunk lid was still in perfect shape.
