'94 Escudo missing the 4WD shifter..related to tight steering?

[GrenadaEscudo]

Hi there,

I'm looking to buy an automatic '94 Escudo in pretty good condition. Only thing is that its steering is a bit tight. I had the owner replace the power steering fluid but it didn't seem to loosen it up much. Then I noticed that the 4WD shifter stick is completely missing; there is a hole on the gearbox where it should be, and now I'm wondering if the tight steering could somehow be related to the missing shifter?

Is it possible that the car is stuck in 4H or 4L since the shifter is missing and that's affecting the steering? I think it's unlikely since he has not had issues driving the car at high speeds but if it is a sign of major transmission issues I'd like to know before I buy!

Thank you.

[Scudo]

The steering does get heavy when 4wd is engaged but not "dead power steering" heavy. There is a 4wd light though but since some strange work has been done a few things could have been disconnected.

Check underneath the car to see if there is a front drive shaft.

The main problem would come from the fact that there is no central diff in these vehicles to make up the difference in rotation of the front and rear drive shafts (rear of the vehicle take a shorter path) so the drivetrain starts to bind.

So either something has to slip or break. No problem slipping in mud but much harder time slipping on asphalt so the stresses are much higher.

If it doesn't have any problems now it may do in the not too distant future even if you rectify the problem.

Watch out with mismatched tire sizes as well. Even with diffs mismatched tire sizes can cause problems if run like that for an extended period. I bought mine with a shorter right rear than the left rear and though there didn't seem to be any problems on the purchase date now my rear end is making all kinds of noise in the corners.

You can use your concerns as a bargaining tool to knock of some EC.

[GrenadaEscudo]

Thanks for the reply Scudo! It's nice to know that you exist on the island. A few more questions for you:

1) Am I checking to see if the front drive shaft is there in order to determine whether it has been completely removed? I'm looking on Google images to figure out what it looks like so I can recognize it..

2) Is the missing shifter something that can be repaired or is it safe to assume that this car doesn't have 4WD?

3) Since you're on the island and seem to have a lot of Escudo experience, is 4K USD reasonable for a 4-door automatic '94 Escudo with the aforementioned issue? The esthetics on the inside are pretty clean minus rust on the outside and of course the missing shifter.

4) Do you work on the island? Are you a mechanic? Thanks!

[Scudo]

No probs man,

1) Checking the front shaft is there was just a quick way to make sure that the vehicle didn't have a drive train change and would have indicated whether or not it still has 4wd. I know of two examples here where owners blew out their tranmissions or transfer cases and swapped in a 2wd transmission from junked vehicles.

2) It depends on why the shifter is missing. No transfer case would mean no 4WD, so no shifter. You can see straight through to the transfer case?

3) All my experience with Escudos come from information on this forum that allowed me to go out and work on my own. There are folks on here who are 100x more knowledgeable than I am and are fantastic at diagnosing problems. I have never found such a grand resource on the internet. They make the other forums I frequent look like a joke.

- I bought my fairly tatty '93, 4 door, 4wd, automatic 2 years ago for $10,000 ECD which is just short of $4,000 USD which for St.Vincent is relatively good. My friends boss just picked up a 2 door from a down and out guy for $6000 ECD also tatty and we consider that a steal.
- The V6 Escudos fetch up to $4000 ECD more after you barter.
- Though I believe our economies are similar your islands car market may differ a bit from mine so best thing to do is look around for any other for sale Escudos and see what their prices are.

4) I work in St.Vincent mainland. I am more of a "hobby mechanic".

[GrenadaEscudo]

Ah I see, very interesting. I haven't been to St. Vincents but hoping to visit sometime.

I haven't examined the transfer case closely enough to be able to tell but I will next time. I did just speak with the owner and his mechanic has said that there is a leak in the steering box and will need to be replaced for about $500 EC. Although I'm already turned off to it since realizing that it most likely wont have 4WD.

In fact, there is a V6 Escudo for sale as well for the same price, the indicator light for the catalytic converter is on but it doesn't seem to have given any trouble to the current owner. Another poster here suggested that the V6's are usually more difficult to find parts for compared to the 1.6 so I moved away from it but I might have to get back in touch with that owner.

Most prices are near the 4500-5000 USD mark so I think 4K isn't bad, but only given that there wont be any major breakdowns in the near future.

[Scudo]

We Vincy folk have lots of V6 Escudo here so parts are common for us. The main thing with them is that the timing chain is supposedly a pain to replace.

The steering box is $500 EC for the total jobs (parts and labour)? I would leave steering box talk to other users but if it is a simple leak maybe it can be rebuilt with new seals rather than buying a new/used one?

It is not totally likely that it doesn't have 4wd but it was just a possibility I was throwing in the air.

It depends on what you consider a major breakdown. They shouldn't break down if the maintenance is done but remember the cars are older so after being abused by previous owners they tend to require some TLC to some degree. Despite mine being so beat up it has never actually failed on me in 2 years apart from a dead alternator once.

Everything else was user error, old tires popping, people not closing the door and draining the battery.

[Scudo]

Looking for 4wd

1st image - The front differential. Looking underneath front bumper circled in red. Easy to see on hands and knees. It is bolted to the body so it can still be there after removing 4wd

2nd image - Front drive shaft. Looking from underneath drivers side froward (RHD vehicle). You have to get underneath the car a bit to see it. Both the diff and transfer case have to be there for it to be suspended. Unless they tied it up with lacing wire or something.

3rd image - Part of the transfer case. located right behind the transmission. This is all you'll see on your hands and knees.

4th image - What the transfer case looks like when you get on your back

[GrenadaEscudo]

Thanks a lot man! That's super useful! I'll report back on what I saw in a day or so after I have a look down there. Thanks so much.