I love buying those vehicles, spending an hour and $20 and getting it running.
A few years ago I went to Fort Collins and a guy had a Cherokee he was frustrated with. I gave him $100 and got the title. Instead of towing it home, I crawled under and used my spare CPS, got it running and drove it home. He called me a thief and threatened to call the cops. I sold it later that day for $1500.
Did basically the same thing with a 1980 dodge crew cab with a 440 in it.
It was on the rough side but the guy only wanted $1500 or so, and I wanted the engine & transmission, so I went over with my dually & trailer, knowing I was gonna leave with it
even if he didn't come off the price.
He explained that it had been running fine, and it was his daily driver, but one day, it just quit, and he had not been able to get it running again. The battery & alternator were dead from him trying so much.
While I was there, his wife came out and was watching as I looked it over. I notice it had dual tanks, and I opened each tank and could smell gas strong in one. So, I asked about the switch, he said it worked, but the engine wouldn't run. I told him I would give him $750 for it if I could get it running, and $500 if not., but he might have to help me get it on the trailer. He said ok.
I hooked up the jumper cables, took a small water bottle and put some gas in it, then pulled the suction line for the fuel pump off the line to the tank and put it in the water bottle, and taped it to the frame rail. I used some starter fluid in the carb while I started it using a remote switch under the hood.....it fired up on the 3rd try....so I dropped the hood, and drove it up on the trailer.
His wife was standing beside me the whole time, and when it fired up, her jaw dropped. She said she must have married the most mechanically inept man on the planet, and walked away. I told her I could have just not let it start too. She was kinda cute too....LOL.
Anyway, I got it for $750, and the only thing wrong with it (well, that kept it from running anyway), was the switch that swapped gas tanks was stuck....and the off line tank was full of gas, but it indicated empty. The switch was like $20 bucks, but I went cheaper till and just ran some old fuel line I had so it only had the 1 tank to use. Sold it about 2 yrs later for $1500 for the running big block engine & transmission to a guy who uses it for mudbogging.
Most people these days don't know how to troubleshoot anymore.....no one ever taught them how things work when they were younger, so they have no clue how to fix them now that they are older.
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