$3000+ car repair!

[LXlimited]

Hey guys! So I had my car inspected for free at a Honda dealership this weekend as part of their Honda Car Care Days program.
To my surprise, it turns out that there are a lot of parts that need to be replaced for normal wear and tear. It includes rack & pinion(worn and leaking), oil seal, shocks(4 of them leaking!), front bushings(worn) and battery(weak). This adds up to about $3000+!

My questions are:
1. Can I continue to drive the car with a worn and leaking rack and pinion as long as I fill up the PS reservoir?
2. Is the car still safe to drive with a leaking and worn shocks and bushings?
3. Would you recommend charging the battery or buying a new one? The battery is about 7 years old.

I drive the 87 Honda Accord LX auto with 102,xxx miles. Thanks in advance for your answers and suggestions!

[Estimated Prophet]

I'll take the easy one: Replace the battery. Your alternator charges the battery.

[jschatte]

you need a new batt for sure, and i would highly reccomend new struts

[bushbean]

My 3Geez has 220,000 miles on the original struts, shocks, and springs. I'm sure they are very worn out, but I actually prefer this way. Compared to a brand new Accord, my 3Geez feels a lot more comfortable because of the worn out shocks. My 3Geez bounces up and down alot. New shocks would improve handling, but I rather have more comfort at the expense of handling.

The steering will become super heavy when the P/S don't get enough fluid. Therefore, if you forget to top off the fluid, you might find yourself with a heavy steering at the most inopportune time. My co-worker's daughter crashed her BMW because of power steering failure while she was turning, but she really had noodle arms.

[cygnus x-1]

1. Of course. I removed all the PS stuff from my Prelude and packed the rack with grease. I like it better without the power assist than with. And I never have to worry about leaks.

2. Safety is relative. If the shocks were totally worn out it could be hard to control the car on bumpy roads. But mostly the ride will just be crappy. Worn bushings are worse since they could affect steering.

3. 7 years is old for a battery. Get a cheapie new one.

C|

[russiankid]

There are many things you can do yourself if you download the shop manual and get some tools and time. To answer your question, you can drive around like that, but you have to watch the level of the fluid. Struts leaking is not a good sign, replace them. Battery needs to be replaced as well, and the alternator needs to be tested to assure that it charges the battery.

[MessyHonda]

if you need some stock shocks you can come get the ones off my lx-i they are not blown....i just had to take them out because i got tokicos.

[AccordB20A]

aparently your sposed to change your shocks every 10000kms or some shit....200000kms later mine still going strong...not they suck ass.. but still passing inspections so im nt complaining.. but yeah 3 grand wow

[2oodoor]

Ok Im not going to blast your Honda Dealership's "free care care days inspection"
Psyche

I won't say the items they found defective are not, but I will say these kinds of inspections are for generating revenue in the dealership. Dealer shop rates are close to 100 bucks an hour. Mark up on OEM parts is rather expensive too.

Yea, the battery would be a good thing to check on, that could leave you stranded, all the other stuff is not too big a deal unless your losing significant amounts of PS fluid or your car drives like a bobble head on the interstate

[stereo]

yup labor is expensive especally here in california I just took my moms 88 Lxi in for t-belt, waterpump, drive belts , all the seals in the timing area , and a/c work it totaled about $1,200 shop rate but I didn't pay that much since I work there but labor and know how cost $$.

[MessyHonda]

yup labor is expensive especally here in california I just took my moms 88 Lxi in for t-belt, waterpump, drive belts , all the seals in the timing area , and a/c work it totaled about $1,200 shop rate but I didn't pay that much since I work there but labor and know how cost $$.

yup man....i did it for 120 bucks thats only parts. it took my uncle and me like 2 hours.

[LX-incredible]

1. Can I continue to drive the car with a worn and leaking rack and pinion as long as I fill up the PS reservoir?

Yes, but chances are one of your bellows on the rack is torn. If you want to see a longer life out of the rack, you will need to remove it, clean out all of the grime, re-grease, and replace with a new boot. The longer that you leave this, the more of a chance you will have to pick up a piece of gravel and completely tear the seals. If you clean out the inside of the rack well enough and lubricate with some mystic grease, sometimes it will seal up again, no guarantees here though.