I need a car quick, and my friend who can take me to Adesa auctions isn't picking up. Means I gotta hit the classifieds

Basically '95 Legend w/ a little under 150k. Body looks to be in pretty good shape overall, a little bit of rust on the wheel well and some scratches on one side. It's loaded w/ white leather interior in decent shape.

He says it starts smoking black smoke out the exhaust- this means it's running too rich? Is this a cheap problem to fix? How can I verify the smoke is coming from it running rich? Someone told me to check the O2 sensor but not sure of details. My friend's dad is a mechanic and can take care of the work, I just want to make sure it's something not major. He said he thought it could have been a blown head gasket, but he didnt think so anymore- he sounded really dumb and cash strapped.

Thanks

 

if it is a BHG, it will be somewhat expensive

 

At some point you will have to deal with a BHG if you have a 95 Legend. See if theres any way you can do a leak down test on it.

 

Unfortunately blown headgaskets are a common problem on those cars. Actually, most of them just leak and are still driveable. I drove my leaky headgasket Legend for a year until I traded it in on a 03 Cl-S. Not saying that's the problem, just making sure you check the headgaskets.

 

a used motor will probably cost 500 bux. cheap!

 

I have a Legend and love it. I would say buy it. Check out the problem and if it needs a new engine then wait till the one it has dies and buy a new one. Much cheaper and easier than a rebuild.