Honda Dealer Diagnostic

[meangreenLXi]

:pimp: I'm not sure if at the Honda dealer they were trying to get me to buy another car or if they were sincere in their diagnosis, but before we go further, they told me that my right front headlight would be $90. I was like the light and labor, that's decent because I knew that coming from the dealer it would be pricey. Online the light was $45 and then I figured another $40-50 for labor, cool. This guy then tells me it's $90 for the light and that's without labor . I told him what I saw online and they installed the light for free. I watched the guy do install the light and next time I'll do it myself.

Well now my car is leaking power steering P/S fluid. I got the pressure hose fixed because I saw the leak there, i got that fixed and still it's dripping P/S fluid. I wanted an opinion from the dealership because the last mechanic I talked with told me my radiator was leaking. It's oil dripping, not anti-freeze and your a mechanic. Anyways the guy comes back with the results of the P/S diagnostic and he says I need to replace the rack.

A replacement would be about $500 Genuine Honda or $285 aftermarket. I'm not sure if he's talkin Honda labor or not but he said that would run about $1000 total that's with the hoses changed and all an labor I'm driving a 3g, He said I should look to sell the car because you wouldn't want to be putting more into the car than it's worth. I'm like is this a sales pitch?

My car just hit 150,000 on the odometer and I was planning on another 150,000 before I got rid of it. When I'm getting work on my car at other shops, the mechanics are always good with the reviews on how well the engine looks in the car. One muffler shop mechanic said to a younger co-worker, that's what a Honda is supposed to sound like. I was just having them look at the header that I wanted to add and ask how much it would cost for the job.

I've started to believe that I could take the car 300,000 because it was kept in such good shape by the previous two owners and I'm doing all I can to keep it in tip top shape. Should I look to upgrade or should I stay with the 3g.

I know I'm going to get biased answers but I'd like to honestly know what you guys think because I could probably still get $2,200 to 2,500 for it now plus or minus a hundred or so, I could even sell my rims with it and get enough money to upgrade to a newer Honda. I don't have the money to go out and get another car, I've got student loans and I've recently moved outta my folks house. I'm strapped for cash and I'm the guy if anyone uses this site as his livelyhood(as many on here do) This car gets me to work and back everyday and with winter coming it's got to be reliable. I don't want to have to go to my parents for money for a car if mine gets any worse, because I'll more likely than not end up not getting the money. But this accord is a reliable car, so should I stay or should I go(pun intended).

[k-roy]

Here is what you do. Get this manual:
http://www.pauldesign.ru
Get a $100 set of metric tools. Get another $100 in assorted tools. Check out the thread about toolboxes from earlier this week.

At those prices I would have to say I have saved countless thousands of dollars in labor on my 3G alone. I started out when I was 16 with a few tool, a manual and the willing to learn. Now I can do just about anything that does not an alignment or tearing down a motor and tranny.

Although I reccomend having a mechanic replace the rack, it is very involved and you will need an alignment done. The headlights are $40 a pair and can be put in with a screwdriver.

[MrBen]

In my experience, it is not worth it to go to the dealer. The only reason I go to the dealer is I know someone there. They will screw you otherwise and that is what they are good at.

Headlights cost 8 bucks apiece at Schucks. Takes about 10 minutes to install one, depending on how you do it.

Keep the car if it's a good car, but if you're going to pour money into it, and don't think it's worth it, I say get a 4th gen. That will be my next car... I'm saving up for one.

[meangreenLXi]

okay, i count it two votes to keep. Yeah I thought the dealers were pullin my chain. I also thought they would wanna see people out there runnin the older cars. That shows as dependability for others out there drivin around. On this site, i've seen kick ass machines, I can't possibly think about driving anything other than an accord.

[k-roy]

$8 a piece, damn. The $40 I said is for a pair of Sylvania blues, the good stuff.

[A20A1]

PS fluid is nothing... you can drive without it... just make sure you remove the PS belt from the pump. If you can get under the car a search for the leak yourself. I think one of the hoses on the rack uses a plastic connector... I always saw that as a weak link.

In the final days when I did have my PS I burst one of the fluid lines cause I put in non-honda PS fluid.

Transmission fluid runs thru the base of the radiator... not PS If the Trans fluid is leaking then that could mean the ATF lines to the radiator are bad.

[meangreenLXi]

Wouldn't the ATF be red in color. The dripping fluid is clear in color.

[k-roy]

PS fluid Is clear. ATF is red.
I am with A20A1 on removing the pump and lines, I did that two years ago for the hell of it. PS is overrated on such a light car.

[mugenprelude86]

man seriously buy a set of good tools and work on your own car.. liek others on here i started on my car when i was 15. i reasearched and found the car i wanted and then bought a set of tools and started to work on it... 3 years later and i have the exact car i want, it is faster, handles better and is more reliable than any newer car i could want or afford, it is exactly what i could have ever wanted in a car... my vote is keep it, don;t be scared, work on it yourself, chances are you'll fix it right, and then if you fuck it up worse then thats what mechanics are for...

[mugenprelude86]

and once you get experienced installing a rack is no bizzle at all man... i've blown up my original a20 bought a euro bt1 out of an accord rebuilt it ground up and then overhauled a usdm accord tranny aswell and put them in... right now i have my ps pump lines and everything removed but i still want to get rid of the rack and get a manual rack, and thats going to be easy shit

[meangreenLXi]

Well if nothing else, I'm feeling better now. After talkin with the dealer I was kinda down because I like this car. I knew i'd get a pro-accord audience here but from the replies i'm getting, my day has been turned from gloomy to a good day. Still gotta get that fixed but the future for the car doesn't seem as bleek as the dealer made it seem.

[BITESIZE]

All I can say is to hell with the Honda Dealer, unless you need new hood latch plastic things that goes on you hood holder upper. Best $2 I spent lately.

But really start doing the work yourself, mainly because it's so much fun.

[A20A1]

yeah my damn hood brace keeps falling out.. I'm gonna run it over one of these days.

[danronian]

Mine snapped in half the other day, and then I went to the J/y and broke every one I tried to get. I guess I will finally have to go to the dealer for a part. That would be a useful $2, considering w/o I have just been holding the hood up with my head.

[meangreenLXi]

Yeah, mine broke off about 1 1/2 ago, ROTFLMFAO.

[DR.ZED]

I was able to source a place who sells remanufactured steering racks here in Canada, for $140 CDN!

Thats... ummm... $140 US now!

[meangreenLXi]

what type of quality or warranty?

[k-roy]

I had a quote the other day from a dealer.

$1,500 for upper control arms w/ balljoint, lower ball joints, inner and outer tie rod ends, upper and lower control arm bushings, new tires ( I allready have them) mounted and balanced and an alignment.

Yea, those bastards wanted over a grand for like 3 hours of work on less than $400 worth of parts. Fuck them. I am going to do all that stuff myself in an afternoon and have the tires mounted and balanced and an alignment done for like $120.

$1,500, thats what the car is worth and it would not really add to the value of the car. Bastards. For that price I am going to do all that and still have money left over for a paintjob.

[DR.ZED]

Originally posted by kroy
I had a quote the other day from a dealer.

$1,500 for upper control arms w/ balljoint, lower ball joints, inner and outer tie rod ends, upper and lower control arm bushings, new tires ( I allready have them) mounted and balanced and an alignment.

Yea, those bastards wanted over a grand for like 3 hours of work on less than $400 worth of parts. Fuck them. I am going to do all that stuff myself in an afternoon and have the tires mounted and balanced and an alignment done for like $120.

$1,500, thats what the car is worth and it would not really add to the value of the car. Bastards. For that price I am going to do all that and still have money left over for a paintjob.

Hellz yeh... :super:

Dealer prices in 9 cases out of 10 =