Looking at 1989 240GL: how bad are these oil leaks?

[moonweasel]

Gf and I are looking at a gold 1989 240 GL.

Exterior is in pretty good shape, no visible rust.

Has newer brakes. Drives pretty well.

What I’m worried about is oil/fluid leaks. Has quite a bit of grime on the engine. I’m not afraid of replacing seals and such myself, just want to know what I’m getting into and how much work we’d be looking at.

I did the rubber glove test, and it didn’t inflate per se, but did seem to be “spitting” some flecks of oil when I took the oil cap off with the engine running: does this mean bad or blocked PCV? How hard is that to fix?

The coolant level had risen about 1/4” or so after driving it compared to before: does this automatically mean the head gasket is bad?

A/C didn’t work, but blower fan did: does this mean probably A/C compressor needs replaced?

Exhaust tailpipe was pretty blackened inside, and rusty outside. Couldn’t find any rust on body. No smoke or visible exhaust when starting up or hard accelerating on freeway.

Here are photos of the fluid leaks I was talking about — how bad is this?

(They’re asking $1500, for what it’s worth.)

[dorvin]

Honestly from the pictures you've included, it looks pretty decent. Sure there are spots of oil under the hood, but it's hard to tell how long those have been there, it may just be seepage over a long amount of time.

The flecks of oil with the cap off are fairly regular, the camshaft is right under the cap, flinging oil like it's supposed to.
The rising amount of coolant after driving is to be expected.

How many miles, and does the odometer still count?

The main thing to keep in mind when shopping for a 240 is that any one you check out will be at least 25 years old, and things will need to be replaced/worked on.