Someone in my town is selling a 1995 hard-top Trans Am with the LT1 and 6 speeds manual transmission.

I'm gonna go look at it soon and I would like to know what to look for when looking for common problems on these models?

The owner already told me than when it's cold, the engine make a little "click" sound that goes away when the engine is up to temp, is it normal or that bad? Is their any additive or oil that can help with that?

I'm a noob so any advices would be appreciated.

The price is 5000$ canadian (About 4300$ US).

 

Some of the later LT1 engines have some piston slap issues when they are started ice cold, but they go away once they heat up a little bit and don't really seem to get worse or cause any problems. Thats how my '97 is, and has been since I got it. Some LS1s had the same issue. Use a good quality synthetic engine oil (5w30 cold weather, 10w30 in hot weather) and you should be fine.

The only major thing to check for outside of the normal things to check is to get under the front of the car and see how dirty the timing cover and distributor are - mainly, you are looking for water leaks. The water pump on the LT1 engines are known for developing leaks after alot of miles, but they leak in the back, as they are driven by the cam not a belt. This can cause a leak onto the distributor, which is pretty sensitive to moisture. You basically have to replace the whole distributor if it gets wet, and its not cheap.

Now, they are NOT as sensitive and unreliable as some people will have you believe. They work just fine and can give lots of trouble free miles, like mine. You just have to be a little more careful around this distributor than most others.