I think our poor old 3G is toast

[oldsub86]

We developed a tranny problem back in about March. No reverse or 4th gear (an automatic). We parked it until we could get to work on it. Tonight I started it up and put it in the garage with the intention to start to pull the tranny. Now it is blowing white smoke out the tailpipe. I am thinking head gasket or worse. I also jacked it up a bit and had a look underneath. We are getting quite a lot of rust in the underbody. I am thinking it is getting to the point where there are too many things wrong with it to justify the cost of repair. Too bad really as it was a good little car and only has about 80K miles on it. Just aging and not too gracefully. Hate to send it to the wrecking yard but I guess its time has come.

[cubert]

if its been sitting since march it could be blowing white smoke from sitting..

[Acid X]

That's what happens if you don't start it. It'll run like crap until it burns off the old fuel.

[Ichiban]

pull it completely apart, sandblast it, mig up all the rust...better rotisserie resto it, should take about a week. (teeheehee!)

[oldsub86]

Well don't get me wrong - I like the car and am sad to let it go but I can't justify putting a whole lot more into it than it is worth. On a good day I would be lucky to get about $2G for it if it had a good transmission. The quote to repair the tranny is $1G if I pull it and replace it. Factor in some rust repair and paint and then just gaskets and we are about to put an amount equal to its worth into it. We won't get it back if somebody wrecks it in an accident.

Hate to let it go - maybe I will have to take another look at it.

[phrenology]

Well don't get me wrong - I like the car and am sad to let it go but I can't justify putting a whole lot more into it than it is worth. On a good day I would be lucky to get about $2G for it if it had a good transmission. The quote to repair the tranny is $1G if I pull it and replace it. Factor in some rust repair and paint and then just gaskets and we are about to put an amount equal to its worth into it. We won't get it back if somebody wrecks it in an accident.

Hate to let it go - maybe I will have to take another look at it.

Don't waste your time and money fixing an auto...diagnos the engine problem first and if it needs a head gasket...pull it check and hone the cylinders if needed, replace the headgasket and convert it to a 5 speed. I got a newly rebuilt 5 speed for less than $500. You'll need the rest of the manual pedal assembly, etc. from a doner car. Sounds easy enough eh? :uh:

[oldsub86]

I was actually offered a complete 87 with a 5 speed last week and I turned it down. I just thought it would be more work than it was worth to swap the auto for a manual tranny. I like the manual tranny's but a swap would be a lot of work even with both cars side by side. At that point it just seemed easier to fix or replace the existing auto. Now I have the other potential problem with the engine. I am going to pick up a cooling system pressure tester and try that to see if it holds pressure. That should tell me to some extent if there really is a head gasket issue. May test the compression as well.

Still concerned about the rust. Are rocker panels readily available for these cars? The outer rocker is toast on both sides. Also some rust in the floor along about where the "frame" member runs back under the front seats. That is really what concerns me most as I don't want people driving this thing if it is not safe.

[POS carb]

dropping the tranny is cake. the hard part is getting it to line up with the engine and bolting up the suspension. with the help of a friend you can hack it out in a weekend

[88Accord-DX]

At that point it just seemed easier to fix or replace the existing auto. Now I have the other potential problem with the engine. I am going to pick up a cooling system pressure tester and try that to see if it holds pressure. That should tell me to some extent if there really is a head gasket issue. May test the compression as well.

Still concerned about the rust. Are rocker panels readily available for these cars? The outer rocker is toast on both sides. Also some rust in the floor along about where the "frame" member runs back under the front seats. That is really what concerns me most as I don't want people driving this thing if it is not safe.
I think a junkyard tranny would be worth the trouble than a swap. The cooling system pressure tester & compression tester will let you know where you stand on the engine. I have some rust forming on my floor pan. I plan on taking an orbital wire brush on a drill & removing it, then spraying an undercoating on it.
Here is one side of rocker panels on ebay. I'm not sure if there a dealer item.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/Honda-Accord-86-to-89-left-rocker-panel_W0QQcmdZViewItemQQcategoryZ42611QQitemZ45611 35056QQrdZ1QQsspagenameZWD1V

[joebeets]

If you can get a better car for the price of your repairs plus whatever you sell the Honda for, do that. But first try 3 trans fluid changes, and look for water in the oil to tblshoot your head gasket. Why would sitting cause a head gasket to blow, anyway?

Rust repair can wait. You're just overwhelmed, and may regret giving up a car you like.

Or is this just an excuse to buy something you want more?

[halxi]

dropping the tranny is cake. the hard part is getting it to line up with the engine and bolting up the suspension. with the help of a friend you can hack it out in a weekend

He is right, i recently replaced my tranny with another 5spd. It took us all of 3 hours to get it out of the car in the junkyard, then like 2 hours with 2 people working to get it out of my car in the shop. Got the tranny out of the 'yard for $70, good buy too. Cracked it open and all the gears looked BRAND new, the metal was still shiny lol.

I HIGHLY recomend using a lift however, youll be able to see alot more and find alignment problems that you cant see on the floor. We had to move stalls at the autoshop from a flat stall to a lift so we could get the tranny in, man did that make it easy. Hoist the car up, check everything at eye level and then use a tranny hoist/jack or whatever you want to call it to get it in place.

Whoever qouted you $1000 to replace the tranny is flat crazy. It better be like a race tuned tranny or somethin, sheesh.

Good luck to ya, hopefully you decide to keep it. A tranny swap isnt as hard as it might seem.