Couple questions about a car I'm looking at (need help)

[Cliff2.2]

Had my brother in law drive a car I'm looking at that is out of state. I had some questions about some of his comments. The car is a 91 Turbo Legacy. Automatic.

1. He said there was a "clicking" or "something sounded like it may be rattling". He said this noise was coming from the rear axle. What could it be? And how much to fix?

2. He said it was hard to shift out of park. It shifted fine once the car was going. What could that be?

3. Said they had to jump it for it to start (the guy said the charging system was just checked out and was fine)

Any help you could give would be appreciated!

[fishbone79]

1. He said there was a "clicking" or "something sounded like it may be rattling". He said this noise was coming from the rear axle. What could it be? And how much to fix? ---- CV joint? Hard to tell, need more information.

2. was it parked on a hill? if it was parked on a hill without the hand brake on, it may have been hard to shift out of park. Ask him if the car moved as soon as he took it out of park, even though his foot was on the brake, that will tell you how much weight was on the parking pin. Did it do it consistantly? Stiff linkage from not being used?

3. How long has it been sitting and when was the last time it was run?

fill us in.

Cheers,

Morgan

[Cliff2.2]

He said the noise in the rear was intermittent and only happened when the car was going strait.

I believe the car was on a level surface. He said it was hard to get out of park and also hard to get it into reverse. The car is this guy's daily driver, so it hasn't been parked for long..

He also said that while on gravel, one of the rear wheels "peeled out" more than the other. Is this normal?

[Cliff2.2]

No one else has any comments?

[Cliff2.2]

Cobb is looking at it on Tuesday.

[tris91ricer]

Cobb? as in Cobb Tuning?? wow.. okay, looks like you don't need us!
The hard to get out of Park thing could be a problem with the (?) neutral safety switch, i think? while it's in park, have him step on the brake repeatedly and see if he can hear the clicking of that safety underneath the shift lever that frees it up to move out of park. The key has be either on, or in ACC for this to do it, IIRC. The rear diff probably has never had the oil changed --how many miles on the car?
That would be a good indicator of what's going on in the rear wheels.. also check out the rear CVs, just to be sure..
Is this the one in Seattle you're looking at?
Good luck,

[Cliff2.2]

Yeah, Cobb Tuning. I've always wanted to visit and they said they'd check the car out for me.

The Legacy SS in Seattle looked like it had been wrecked pretty hard. This one is a private owner in Salt Lake City (where Cobb Tuning is), a 91 (hooray LSD), white (just what I wanted), and is quite a bit cheaper. I leave on Monday.

At least 130K on the car (odometer was swapped at 76K according to Carfax)

[totech]

1. He said there was a "clicking" or "something sounded like it may be rattling". He said this noise was coming from the rear axle. What could it be? And how much to fix?

Rear sway bar bracket I bet

[tris91ricer]

Good Lookin' out, Totech, that's two for you, now! You saved me on the throttle cable, last time.. Good call.
Yeah, sway bar brackets are nothin'.. cheap.

[Cliff2.2]

The rear sway bar bracket sounds logical since it was only doing it when going in a straight line (when no pressure would be on the swaybar).

Thanks. You guys are awesome.