1989 Sidekick needs distributor

[theskyfadesaway]

Hey, I'm new to the forum and I came here to ask an important question.

I'm looking at buying a Sidekick and a local Craigslist member offered one for $500.


I've been talking to him and he said that it needs a new distributor but in all the rest of the car is in working order.

It has 170k miles on it and I'd love to get into one of these.


How hard is it to replace the distributor on these and how strong are these transmissions?

I'm used to American cars and the trannies usually crap out after 150K.

If anybody could give me insight if this is a good deal or not, please let me know, I would greatly appreciate your help!

[HotTommy]

I investigated the distributor question earlier this week. It's easy to replace and you should be able to get a working one for less than $100.

You didn't mention what kind of transmission. I would expect a manual transmission to last longer than the engine unless it's abused. I can't comment on an automatic transmission.

[theskyfadesaway]

It's a manual transmission, sorry I forgot to post that.

I figured going to check it out before I forked over the money would be a good idea anyway.

[HotTommy]

My 89 Tracker was not drivable when I bought it about six weeks ago. The risk in buying such a car is that the seller might not identify all the problems that a test drive would normally reveal. My seller was very anxious to sell, so I talked him into including a statement in the bill of sale that I could return the car for a full refund for a period of ten days if I found any problems not listed on the bill of sale. After he agreed to my request, he suddenly remembered several other small problems he had forgotten to mention earlier. Perhaps you can make a similar deal with your seller.

[theskyfadesaway]

I know what you mean, I've bought a few lemons in my day.
I'm going to file this one under a possibility, I'm going to go test drive another sidekick tomorrow that is in working order and most likely I'll get that one if it has few problems.

[jtgh]

get a 96 (smart ecu)
the 89 , you can get the guts for the inside, cmp and ignitor., for under $200
some cos. have rebuilts.
if you must go below 96 get a 91 or newer.
if you do that , parts are easier to find.

change the AT fluid every 30k and it will go over 150k , an get the filter swapped.
no one does this and they die early.
ATs
the 3sp is ancient design from 1976 TH180
the 4sp is far more tuff and gets better mpg. and has TCM, getting rid of lots if fiddly parts in tranny.
and 5sp is great. if you do lube changes by the book.


break a leg. !