is there no search function in the forums?

I looking for a targeted search of the classifieds. The search at top isn't doing what I want. Am I missing something?

Without knowing what you want, it's kind of hard to tell you how to do it, but yes, the search up top searches the forums.

I've never seen it work very well...

Fell free to just ask. This is not one of those boards where a question is replied with, "do a search."

I put up a "wtb" post on the $2008 classified forum since I didn't have very good luck with the search function on top. It would be nice to have an advanced search function. In a perfect world I would have done a search for (coil,spring,coilspring) in the classified forum. Searching all the forums for any of these terms gives a lot of interesting posts, but not what I am looking for.

If I were you, I'd put it in the classifieds

Here's a great example:

Why wouldn't a search for the word "phun" show up this thread less than a month after it was begun?:

Phun with Photoshop

I don't get it.