Hey guys, been awhile. I'm looking at buying a Ef hatch this weekend or early next week for $900, the only problem is that it idles bad and lots of white smoke comes out of the exhaust. It ran perfectly fine before they did a tranny swap and said they messed something up during it? Any ideas on what this could be? Is it worth the money? And if it possible to diagnose how difficult and expensive would it be to fix? Appreciate any help!

 

White smoke = coolant. Coolant burning and coming through the exhaust piping = bad head gasket. I would have a compression test done on the car to confirm.

 

A bad head gasket isnt that big of a deal right? A compression test would confirm it is bad if the number are low? And would that fix the idling problem too?

 

Don't believe much that a seller of a used car says. Especially if it has been driven overheated, the engine could be warped or cracked and a new gasket wouldn't fix it. You would need to replace the engine. Consider a car in this condition as needing a new engine and offer your price accordingly.

 

Head gasket failure is a huge deal. As you can tell by MK's post, it really depends on how long the car was driven in the current state and if the motor is destroyed. You will not be able to tell unless you pull everything apart.

 

It is my friends car. But the first time it stopped running it wasn't driven again. Worst case scenario, I buy it and replace the headgasket, it doesnt work and I have to get a new motor. They are a dime a dozen around here haha. Thanks for the help guys.