car issue - blown engine, what to do

[ski_king]

A friend of mine recently ran his Honda about the same year low on oil and toasted it. He managed to pick up an engine from a junk yard for $400 and had a mechanic friend help him swap it out. Not sure how it worked out as he traded it in 3 weeks later.

I learned the hard way to have AAA to cover towing any car that is out of factory warranty. At least with that you could have got it towed home to give it a good look over and work out your options.

[wtrskr]

Thanks for the help guys.

At one point the AC clutch fell off, and around that time is when I thought it seemed like it had too much friction. I thought it was probably from the bad A/C clutch slowing the belt. I had that replaced and it still didn't seem right. But I had others drive it and didn't comment that it felt weird so thought I was just being picky.

I hear how great these Civics are but I had the alternator go bad at one point, the A/C, the catalytic converter came apart from the muffler. My old dodge stratus held up better. Could be the luck of the draw but more likely something I did or didn't do.

I'll look rod bearing and what that means. I'm leaning toward getting a new car, just need to decide the best way to get the value out of it from selling/trading in/salvaging. Its clean.

Thx.

[clrussell]

If it was me I would sell it as is on craigslist or something along those line.. If you scrap it/ salvage it your prolly gonna get $500 maximum. Sell it to someone on cl with it known it has engine issues, but also post it's clean, if the trans is in good shape, has new tires etc. you could probably get 1000-1500 for it to someone who fixes cars and resales em.. I doubt anywhere will give decent trade in anyway.

[wtrskr]

Originally Posted by clrussell

If it was me I would sell it as is on craigslist or something along those line.. If you scrap it/ salvage it your prolly gonna get $500 maximum. Sell it to someone on cl with it known it has engine issues, but also post it's clean, if the trans is in good shape, has new tires etc. you could probably get 1000-1500 for it to someone who fixes cars and resales em.. I doubt anywhere will give decent trade in anyway.

helpful info. Wasn't sure if there are many guys out there that buy/sell fix or not, and if they tend to pay more or less than salvage places would. I think I'd feel pretty good if I got of 1K for it.

Off to go look at cars right now. Hopefully will find something, then can pick up the Civic and deal with it.

$45 for a day rental of a trailer dolly which isn't too bad. Already had to tow it off the interstate to a park and lot that was right there though. Went that route because it bought me some time to consider options.

Thx!

[Lars]

Bummer to hear, 01 civic with 150k is barely broken in. My 04 accord has about 160 on the clock.

I would hesitate to trade in, how long have you owned it? If you've had it a long time and taken good care of it you're better off spending $$ for one big repair that will keep it going for a while. I had to rebuild my trans in my accord at 110k but have had nothing but regular maintenance since then. Was upset at the $2500 bill at the time, but 4 years later I feel that its easier to deal with one big problem then a lot of little ones.

[TxsRiverRat]

No offense, but I have totally lost faith in Honda as a brand. I do not believe they're worth the "premium" prices they seem to get... Ypu think because its a Honda its a great, low maintenence car? BS... I've owned 3 hondas, and I can say after the last one, NEVER again.

91 civic: a ROCK on wheels - indestructible - awesome car

93 Accord: Pretty darned good - not as good as the 91 civic

03 S2000: I lump it into the same category as my 1 american car experience: 96 chevy blazer - P O S...

So who makes the best vehicles? Hands down toyota, I've owned 2 toyotas and between then had 400K almost maintenence free miles.

[SP Maristar]

Originally Posted by TxsRiverRat

03 S2000: I lump it into the same category as my 1 american car experience: 96 chevy blazer - P O S...

Blasphemy!! Stone him!!



But Seriously folks. We have had a 1990 Accord, 2010 Civic, and now the 2000 S2000. All have been flawless for us. I am a huge Honda and Toyota fan. Sounds like your S wasn't so good. Bummer.

[HartlandX1]

Expand on the s2000 issues.

[wtrskr]

Well got her back to the house using a trailer dolly from Uhaul. Getting it loaded was difficult though because the engine killed before I could drive it up. Right after it killed, oil started spilling on the ground.

It was a lot of oil and seemed like it could have been more than I put in after the engine killed the first time. Its hard to say if it really did run out of oil while driving on the freeway or not because I checked it while the engine was still very hot.

Got some interest from buyers which is good. Still have to load pictures and find some time to show it to people.

[JimN]

Originally Posted by wtrskr

Well got her back to the house using a trailer dolly from Uhaul. Getting it loaded was difficult though because the engine killed before I could drive it up. Right after it killed, oil started spilling on the ground.

It was a lot of oil and seemed like it could have been more than I put in after the engine killed the first time. Its hard to say if it really did run out of oil while driving on the freeway or not because I checked it while the engine was still very hot.

Got some interest from buyers which is good. Still have to load pictures and find some time to show it to people.

Sounds like a main seal could have gone away.