AHH... Problems Galore

**three6ohchris** · 07-03-2002, 05:14 PM

I have been having nothing but problems since i have bought this damn car... first i had to replace the clutch... $600.00 there

now i have an oil leak that i cant trace just because i cant get under the car (cant do any work on it in the parking lot of my apts) and there is also a bad coolant leak that i cannot see where it is coming from. the struts are shot, the front tire is wearing thin because of a bad alignment done before i got the car, and the positive battery cable is corroding away causing electrical issues... All told i am looking at about another $900.00+ in repairs... this is more of a hassle than anything...

this car is biting my hairy balls... so, should i shoot it, push it over a cliff, push it into a river/lake, or just fork out the cash and get it all fixed? You tell me.

**TeKKnoTeKK** · 07-03-2002, 05:25 PM

That is the main downfall of owning an older vehicle and buying it from someone else......you have no idea how well the person before you took care of the car. By the sound of it not very well. These cars are very realible if they are properly maintained, but since they are older things, ARE going to go wrong occasionally. I would suggest fixing it, I think you would be really happy with your accord once those things are fixed.

**89accordlxi** · 07-03-2002, 08:27 PM

Yeah, I agree with Tekknotekk. If you have the dough, definitely get everything fixed. You will be a lot happier with the car once it is running better.. However, if you don't have the cash for everything, I would definitely get the oil leak and coolant looked at.. Cleaning and replacing battery cables should be something that you can do yourself as well as the struts. Then go get an alignment done. Your car will be all better and you will have the sense of accomplishment and better knowledge of the car by doing some of the things yourself..

That's just my $.02 worth.

peace out.

**three6ohchris** · 07-04-2002, 01:42 PM

well, the problem with the battery cable is that it is corroding on the cable itself, and the whole thing needs to be replaced... or, i can just take it to an auto electrical place and they can cut it, splice it, solder it, and it will be good as new, for $50.00 - $60.00.
The rest of the problems,... i just dont have the tools or the place to do that kind of work. I know i am going to have to get the coolant problem fixed, im taking it in next week to have an estimate done... from there, who knows. one thing at a time.

**damackz** · 07-05-2002, 09:05 AM

yeah i know how u feel man, when one thing broke down on my car so did alot of others, which is going to cost me $$$. I Dunno if am going to keep it or not but its been a lot of fun so yeah fix it man, for me i could sell it easily, and buy something else. It looks that way right now, going for a 88-91 civic h/b, 88+ CRX or a 90+ teg.............dunno which one or if i am actually going to sell it hehe might even buy a 89 5sp coupe. mines in the shop right now, after it comes out then comes the decision, these cars go forever so it will be worth it to fix it :pimp:

**three6ohchris** · 07-05-2002, 11:02 PM

well, looks like the coolant leak is a water pump issue with the timing belt having to be replaced too... quoted at350-400....

**88DXcoupe** · 07-06-2002, 04:07 AM

A smart man once told me that cars are the worst investment you can make, but I'll always be a gearhead anyways.

Fix the car, tell yourself that "shit happens", and keep on going.

**Einstein** · 07-07-2002, 06:38 PM

Unless you are able to do a good amount of the work yourself, or have a competent friend who'll charge you very little... what you propose to spend is a poor investment, especially if you have to get it done all at once.

Be sure to put collision insurance on the car before sending it over the cliff.

**Hoshizakido** · 07-07-2002, 10:31 PM

sounds like genral maintnents that should have been takin care of over thespand of that cars life. 600 dollors for a clutch that sound expinsive that must be the price to have it installed. most of the item you list here could be spanned out. if the leaks are bad to where you are constantly adding fluids then fix them first. if the clutch is totally shot fix it if not wait to fix it but dont wait tell it is completely gone. if the car starts and runs with corroted batery cables id fix them last. this is just how is see it

**CoAsTeR** · 07-08-2002, 05:32 AM

Yeah first find out where the oil leak is coming from... take it to a shop, get a free estimate and have them tell you where the oil leak and coolant leak is coming from. Coolant should be easy to fix, probably the rad if anything... 200 bucks canadian, or waterpump which is doubtful. Anyways, everything else is relatively cheap and easy to do yourself..... I'd base my decision on keeping it on the severity of the oil leak.

**Hoshizakido** · 07-08-2002, 08:46 AM

i dont know i had to change my water pump cuz it started leaking, and when it leaks you have to dump tons of coolant into your car.

1988starter · 07-09-2002, 08:09 AM

Yea a radiator is damn easy all you need is to get one and just drop in in your self about 1 or 2 hours worth of work if you have never done it before.

**three6ohchris** · 07-13-2002, 01:22 PM

well, the coolant leak was the water pump. I had it replaced and it ran me 247.00. Although the mechanic did leave a 70.00 snap-on ratchet under the hood. The oil leak looks like it just might be an oil pan gasket or something... I am going to need a dye test to locate it. I lost the front fender splash guard this week... i was driving down the road and i heard a loud rubbing sound... before i could pull over the whole thing got ripped out and tumbled down the road and over the side... thats only about 47.00 tho. I used the A/C because it was like 106 degrees over here and now i think i either need it recharged or the compressor is going out because ever since i ran it, it feels like I'm constantly losing power. Normally ill be doing about 40-45mph in 3rd and have it at about 3.5k rpm... now ill have it at the same rpm but only getting about 25-30mph. Overall though, i guess it isnt as bad as i thought... I am taking it in for a tune-up soon and I'm going to have them locate the oil leak and find out why it feels like im losing power....

**Jdub07** · 08-01-2002, 10:36 AM

from the list provided to vote on I can tell you want to fix it. I don't see sell it or donate or anything like that in the list so this tell me you don't want to get rid of it. If you were to sell it you would get close to nothing for it and you would still have to fork BUKO cash for a car that has no problems,...considering you can't work on it where you live. Fix the coolant first,...finding the leak shouldn't be too hard. Just clean up the engine bay fill it up with coolant/water start er up and get up in that shit. Then later do the oil leak, same thing to find out where that is leaking, clean up the engine bay and trace the leakage. The battary cable is a sinch...I don't understand how you figure $50-$60 that should be your easiest fix. I would get an alignment after you get new struts. But this is all what I would. There may be other simpler ways to go about the problems your having with your ride and I hope you get them fixed. Once you get to the point of "maintaining" your honda you'll fall in love with it.

**three6ohchris** · 08-10-2002, 11:40 AM

i had them cut off the battery cable where it was corroding and splice in a new cable.... cost was 41 bucks...
the water pump was 247 like i said before... im buying spark plugs and wires next week and im going up to my dads house to replace em.
i think the oil leak is just the oil pan gasket... so ima try to get that replaced shortly.
struts are next, then alignment... luckily the tire place out here will do an alignment for me for free when i replace the struts... but the bill is going to be about 400 bucks. just gotta save a little for that... then this thing should be running in tip top shape, and it will be pretty easy to maintain... im gonna work on the looks after the i fix these things... thinking about dropping it about 2 inches or so, and then going with the tsw white revo's and gonna have to do something with the exhaust. Any ideas?

**civilude92** · 08-10-2002, 12:03 PM

struts and alignment should be more like 200 mabe 300 at most might want to find a diff shop or the mechanic is trying to pay for his ratchet.

**three6ohchris** · 08-10-2002, 01:04 PM

well, the quote i got for struts was for front and back... and i had also asked about lowering, so it might have been skewed... i think its like 700.00 to lower the car 1 inch... what a rip off

**gr3k0sLaV** · 08-11-2002, 08:11 PM

I feel for ya. I mean though I really haven't had any real serious problems with my car.

The only one was a crack in the radiator top tank and a Killed Thermo Fan. And all in all that just costed me $400 for a full radiator reco, new fan and work. Which was cheaper.

Other than that nothing else. So far.

Some of us are lucky and some of us end up with lemons.
I say get another one, but dont let this spoil your experience.

**three6ohchris** · 11-12-2002, 10:55 PM

well, i did it... traded the lx in... got 2600 for it... which i think is pretty good, considering it has 3 oil leaks, the cv boots are shot, and the rear suspension is going out. We got a 2000 Civic EX. A pretty big step up... its a very very nice car, and its a big difference. I will miss my 3rd gen, but it was time to move up. I'm sure that the next person that gets it will enjoy it just as much as i did. Its been a great ride, and ill come back and say hi every once in a while. Thanks for all the help and tips, you are all awsome and a great group of people.

**Greg** · 11-13-2002, 12:27 PM

Hey man, it's nice that you got that new civic.

I wouldn't have paid anyone to do that work. I went through a lot of that shit on my girlfriend's LXI (first clutch, then waterpump, T-belt, and new radiator plus 2 new ball joints and the struts suck and there is an occasional miss that I'm trying to track down).

Of course, I got aftermarket and junkyard parts and I bought the car for only $50. So it was just a few hundred to do all that shit myself (and a lot of time).

But I'm replying mostly to say:

You're an asshole if you don't return the guy's Snap-on ratchet. I worked as a mechanic's apprentice for 9 months earning SHIT wages and had to buy all my own tools. Now I have a great set of tools, and I rely on them to keep my cars going since I'm a poor ass bastard.

Mechanics at the shop used to lose tools and people would bring them back and I'm grateful. Those were good people.

People bust their ass on cars and then buy nice tools to make their work easier. Then they get attached to their tools and hold on to them for life. And if you, who don't do work on your car anyway, keep that guy's ratchet -- you're an asshole.

So do the right thing and bring it back to him!

**three6ohchris** · 11-13-2002, 12:39 PM

lol, i returned it a long time ago... im not like that, but i did do a lot of work on that car on my own...

**Greg** · 11-13-2002, 01:12 PM

Cool. I'm feeling a lot better about my afternoon of doing nothing at my job while I'm getting paid to surf on the 3G site now that I know you did the honest thing by sparing the poor guy from shelling out for a new ratchet.

peace.

**oldsub86** · 11-14-2002, 06:23 PM

Older cars pose problems for people who cannot do most of the repairs themselves. Maybe you should sell the car to someone else and get a newer one.

Randy

That will teach me to post before I read the whole thing - but hey, he did what I suggested even before he got my opinion.

Randy

**three6ohchris** · 11-14-2002, 06:27 PM

well sir... if you would read the post above a little bit, you would see that i did, in fact, trade it in, and got a newer car.
Thanks Tho...

have a nice day....