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Car woes

Zombbg4

Zombbg4

Jul 15, 2008
1,371
7
Olympia,Wa
#1
Hello all,

I seek some car advice and was hoping for some opinions from my fellow TBers. Currently I have a 97 Honda accord, which on paper is a super reliable car and being that mine has 150k, should be so for another decade. However my accord is not living up to that reputation mostly due to being poorly maintained the last 5 years or so by the previous owner. Currently it's not wanting to shift into gear while running, a manual tranny, even though I replaced the master and slave clutch cylinders a months ago. I did that because it wasn't shifting into gear...and there's no way those new parts could have died already. It also has an exhaust leak, no A/C, tires are near bald, and it runs ok but not perfectly.

So the question is- should I throw money into my current car, which could be hundreds or maybe a grand or two, or make a down payment on a used car and be tied to monthly payments for years to come? I dont make a ton of money, currently i have as much left over in pay as goes towards all my living expenses. Example- i make 4 apples a month, rent/food/power/misc costs 2 apples, i am left with 2 apples to save. Being as there are some old...I mean people well experienced in life, I figure you may have been down this road. I know my personal opinion comes into play but I'd still like to know what you would do in this situation. thanks!
 
#3
I've thought about leasing, definitely some good bang for your buck as its close to financing a used car. I don't like the fact of putting all that money towards something, like you said, I don't own and will have to give back. The peace of mind of a warrantee would be nice for sure though, and It being a brand new car also being cool.
 
#4
My family has fallen into the 'keep the car and just continuously repair it' trap twice now. One was with an '89 Toyota Supra and the other was with a '94 Ford Tbird SC. Both cars have probably over 10k thrown into them over the years to keep them running, but all the while more and more problems keep popping up with them. IME/IMHO, sell the car and buy something else. Also, avoid leasing like the plague.
 
#7
OP, your problem sounds like one of two things with shifting: Throwout bearing, or shifter linkage. Fix those two, and the not wanting to shift thing should be taken care of. No AC? pfft. you have windows. use 'em :P bald tires? tires aren't that expensive. you'll pay FAR less repairing that particular car than you will buying another one. trust me. if you start keeping up on your maintenance and don't beat on the car, you'll be fine.
 
#9
mmm....might be in the gear box and it might not be

can you see the cluch linkage moving when the clutch gets pushed in?...stick your head under the bonnet and check....

if its not mving much you might need to bleed the cltuch fluid as you might have air in the line, ifs it cable you should be able to adjust it

if its def in the gearbox ie synchro's not engaging, then get a quote to fix and see what it comes out to be...if its to much compared to getting another used car then that might steer you
 
#10
If I was you, I would do a leakdown or compression test on the car just to see how healthy the motor it. If the numbers aren't good, I would sell the car or trade it in and get a new car. You'd be surprised how affordable a brand new Toyota Corolla or Honda Civic can be, and on top of that, a lot of places are offering to do ALL the maintenance (including oil changes) on the car for free for up to 100K miles.

If the numbers are good, I would throw some money at it and bring it back to its former glory. You'd be surprised how easy it is to bring back a Honda motor/tranny from the brink of death.
 
#12
slaps76 said:
What about leasing a new car? New car, under warranty, low payment...you don't own it, but if you're living paycheck to paycheck at least you'll avoid the hassle of potential expensive repairs on the Accord or a used car. It's got 150K, you may just keep dumping money into it.
Click to expand...

And if you lease, you're dumping money into something every single month. 150k is not a lot of mileage, he could spend a grand fixing it (3 months of lease payments) and get another 5 years and 150k out of it.

My recommendation...have a mechanic look at it and have them tell you what needs to be fixed now, what needs to be fixed in the near future, and what the estimated costs will be. Make your decision based on an expert opinon rather than guess work from non-mechanics on TB.
 
#13
Do you have any friends who are mechanics who could have a look and tell you (honestly) what is wrong?

The gear issue could be a relatively simple/cheap fix, it might not.

Exhaust leak, again, a good mechanic buddy could help here. With any luck it'll only be a small weld that's needed!

AC? That needs recharged sometimes anyway, you can live without it.

Tyres, as others have pointed out, it's going to happen, I don't know about the laws in the US, but for (possible) legal reasons and certainly for safety, they need replaced and that doesn't have to cost a fortune.


Either way, try and get someone in the know to have a look!
 
#14
Repairs are MUCH cheaper than a replacement car. If yours is good overall, then get the tranny fixed - or if you can find a replacement at a wrecking yard, just have the shop drop the old one and put in the replacement. Make sure that the replacement has some kind of short-term guarantee, as wrecking yard units from high mileage vehicles are always a bit chancy.

I'm not sure why you went for the master and slave cylinder; if it was based on a mechanic's diagnosis, that's one thing - but if it was based on a sheer guess, that's different - win some, lose some. Getting an accurate diagnosis is the single most difficult - but critical - part of doing repairs.

One of my beefs with FWD cars is that it's difficult for an owner to drop the transmission and rebuild it. I've done that myself on two different cars with a shop manual...it's not that hard. But in a FWD/transverse engine setup like the Honda, no way.

Perspective: we just put $2000 into my daughter's 1991 Camaro convertible because it's super clean, runs well, and she loves it. That's about 80% of what it's worth, but even at 150K miles it has another few years left in it.
 
#16
Awesome, thanks for all the advice. This is one of those things that I love hearing about what other people do or have done. Anyway, I think getting an idea of the general health of the car first is a good idea. To drop 1k into it and then the motor dies the next day would be ridiculous. The tires I know are not a big deal, easily solved yet still at least $300 plus tax for a new set of 4.

I replaced the master/slave based on research, price (25 bucks/14 bucks), advice from a driveway mechanic, and the fact that the carpet is black underneath from it leaking :p. it may just need to be bled again....who knows, but luckily there's an auto shop less than a mile away that I can try to drive it to. I can ram it into 2nd and put along to the shop.

Buying another used car could definitely put me back in this situation, though probably being in better shape from a dealer vs private seller. I think I'll try to save this old thing, should have some life left in her and I hate monthly payments. Keep it coming though, really helped me out so far.
 
#17
If you have replaced master and slave cylinder and you have a leak, chances are it's the hose in between them that's bad, not the cylinders!

If it shifts fine when the clutch cylinders are topped up, you don't have a transmission problem.

If after a few days you depress the clutch pedal and the transmission resists moving out of gear or into the next gear, it's probably air in the line so the clutch isn't actually releasing. That's not a transmission problem either.

Check the level of hydraulic fluid in the clutch master cylinder every couple of days. If it's a bad hose between the two cylinders, you can replace it for just a few bucks.

What are the EXACT symptoms of the shifting problem? Give us more detail.
 
#19
NWB said:
I'll just say that the lack of A/C shouldn't be a problem in western Washington.

I didn't use mine at all last summer.
Click to expand...

Can't say it's the worst place to have no A/C, really not a major issue but it's nice to have for those 3 hot days a year lol Also a pain in that it doesn't have power windows, the super basic DX model. Positive side being there's less stuff to wind up breaking.

As for the current problem- when the car is running it just won't shift into gear. Clutch pedal smashed to the floor, still nothing. Of course the cylinders aren't bad as theyre not even 2 months old and the fluid reservoir is as full as when I last bled after installing the cylinders. The leaking was inside the car, as in leaking from the rod area that connects to the pedal. From the research ive done the remaining causes could be clutch related like it spitting out a spring, pressure plate busted ect. It's just weird that the problem was totally solved by the new cylinders and now it's come back. Really thinking its air bubbles in the line, I'm no mechanic but that makes more sense than anything else to me.
 
#20
Honda motors do big miles when they get serviced regularly. Having the leakdown test isn't failsafe but a bad result would help you decide.

Clutch kit isn't very expensive. What is the pedal telling you? If it's going straight to the floor it could be simply air, or the clutch itself is fubar. I'd far rather pay for a new clutch every 100k miles than an auto trans recondition.
 

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