jnb0111

Took my 02 Accord in this morning to get the timing belt changed. Figured while they were in there, I'd have them look it over. They called and told me that besides the normal timing belt/water pump kit, they recommended that I change the valve cover gasket since they'd have it off anyway. No extra labor, just the gasket. I'd normally do that myself, but there is a slight leak, and its not costing me anything extra, so I told them to go ahead. They also said that my front lower ball joints are loose, and that the upper ball joint boot is ripped open, and the joint looks like its all rusty. Recommended replacing both lower ball joints, as well as the upper control arm. That would be about $1,100 for parts and labor, including an alignment. Does that seem like a reasonable charge, and is it something that I would be able to do myself with limited mechanical skill, but with a lift and any tools I would need for the job... $1100 is at that point where I have to question if its a worthwhile repair. I tend to think it is, because this car is great, and I intend to keep it a long time. I'm at 168k miles right now, so I know it can last. My concern is spending $800 for the timing belt and valve cover gasket, plus $1100 for suspension repairs, at which point, it'll still need sway bar links and struts. (Struts are original, not blown or leaking, but they're 13 years old, probably a good idea to just replace them.) sway bar links because it makes noise. I'm pretty sure that these won't make it ride and drive like a brand new car, right? If it did, it'd be well worth it. I told them I needed to think it over and they advised me to do the ball joints and control arm asap as it would be a safety issue eventually. Maybe tomorrow, maybe 6 months from now, but eventually. The other things they said could wait until I wanted to spend the money. I know nothing of suspension issues. Does this seem legit?

hometheaterman

These are a safety issue if they really do have play in them. However, they are also pretty easy to do yourself. The first time I had ball joints done I paid someone. The next 10 sets or so I've done myself and I regret letting someone rip me off the first time. This is one of those jobs that takes a couple of hours and cheap parts, but the shops like to rip you off on.

The tools you may need are a pickle fork or ball joint separator, and a ball joint press, and basic sockets. and an axle nut socket. You can beat on the knuckle and sometimes get it to pop loose without the pickle fork, but not always. You can also get by without a ball joint press, but it's much much easier to get the joint back in straight if you're using a press. Advance Auto Parts offers a ball joint press as a "loaner" tool so you get all of your money back when you return it. You can also get a axle nut socket set as a loaner tool there.

It's hard to explain how to do them in text, but I'll try. I'm sure there are a ton of videos on YouTube that will be helpful.

If you have the factory upper control arms, you can replace the whole arm, or you can do just the joint to save some money. I've done both on Accords. With most of the aftermarket control arms, you have to replace the whole thing when the joint goes bad. I'd recommend going with a good brand such as Moog or similar. Don't get the cheap house brand from Auto Parts stores. I found Amazon to be significantly cheaper by about $25 per joint than any parts store I could find when I did them on my Accord about 2 months ago.

Once you have the car on jack stands and remove the wheel you will need to remove the axle nut. Have someone hold the brakes while you do this if you don't have an impact gun. Once you do this, you should be able to pull the cotter pin out of both the upper and lower ball joints and remove the castle nut. I'd loosen the nut, but don't take it all the way off. Now you need to separate the knuckle from the control arms. Do this with a pickle fork, or a ball joint separator, or by beating on the knuckle (not the control arm), until it pops loose. Once you have the upper apart, to remove the control arm there are two nuts that you remove under the hood that hold the arm to the car. Once you remove these two the whole control arm assembly and mounting brackets just drop down off of the car. This is extremely easy to get out. To put the new one in you just slide it back on and put the two nuts back on.

For the lower this is a little more difficult. They make special tools to do this on the car, but I've never used one. The easiest thing imo is to remove the brake caliper and pull the whole knuckle off of the car. You separate the lower joint just like you did the upper and the knuckle will be off of the car. Removing the lower strut bolt may make this easier. Once it's off of the car, with the ones I've done on this car you can't really get the press on there to press the joint out. So what I do is hold the knuckle on the ground or in a vise. Remove the cir-clip on the ball joint and find a deep wall socket that fits over the ball joint, but is smaller than the whole in the knuckle. I then hit it with a hammer until the ball joint pops out. You can install them this way, but it's very easy to damage one, press it in crooked, etc. So I recommend using the press to put it back in. You use the the press to push the new one in the opposite way of the way you beat the old one out. Then put the new cir-clip back on it.

You basically now just have to put the knuckle back on the car. You just slide it back on, put the castle nuts back on, torque them properly, put the cotter pins back in, the axle nut back on (make sure you stake it), and the caliper back on. You should then be good to go.


It's hard to explain in text and I know I'm probably making it sound worse than it is, but it truly is easy on this car. Having done them several times on these it probably takes me 2-3 hours to do both sides and that's taking my time. There should be videos on YouTube that will help. I wish I'd taken pictures to show you. If you have any specific questions, or need any help, I'll be glad to try to answer them for you.

lazlong

Imagine you're cruising down the highway and all of a sudden your front tire does this:



Yeah, it's a definite safety issue.

tim73

1100 is a lot. Parts cost about $200. Rest is labor. Takes me about 2 hours to do both sides. Assuming the lower ball joints have sat in the freezer a couple of hours(allows for easier installation)

djkurious

^$1100 is extreme!

White_EG1

DIY man. For 1100 dollars you might as well save your weekly paycheck and buy another, honestly.

If you lived by me I would help you, or just do it for you for free. You know why? You're putting everyones life in danger by driving that car. I sure as hell wouldn't wanna be behind you when it finally gives. I mean if you value your life at 1k, and can't do it yourself.... Sure go pay somebody, but that's not gonna be cheap.

**** go on your local Facebook Honda group and post a ad for help. Somebody will either do it for free, or you pay a minimal amount, opposed to 1k.

jnb0111

I think I'll try it. I can drive my Traverse to work for a few days and order the parts for it. I work at a dealership so I can use a lift, and ask a tech if I get stuck.

jnb0111

Thanks! I'll try amazon.

lazlong

I just want to point out that it's $200 for generic from rockauto or the auto parts store, but $900 from Majestic for OEM.

Heat

Tough one. Other than the ball joints and timing belt, how is the car?

I have recently been having a popping sound when going over bumps and making right turns in my '99 LX, was quoted a price of about $450 for one side (upper and lower ball joints). But if one side is bad I'm assuming the other side will need fixed soon too. Other problems: The engine is in bad shape (burning about a quart of oil per 1,000 miles / bad fuel injectors), the exhaust system needs replaced, and the brakes are acting up again. And I'm still on the original clutch with close to 170,000 miles. And my registration expires at the end of October, another $102 to renew it.

It's done. I'm looking at a new (to me) car tomorrow morning, an '06 Accord EX. If I buy that I guess I'll take my '99 Accord to the junkyard and take whatever they offer for it's metal value ($200?).

And if you do keep your car and fix it, be sure to check your engine oil every fill-up for at least a couple of months after your timing belt change. That was what killed my car - hadn't leaked / burned a drop of oil and I got a timing belt change by the local mechanic. One of the gaskets or rings slipped and it was burning oil, I had no idea so what happened was that after a month or two the engine locked up (and destroyed my cat). I got it working again for about $1,800, but it's been on life-support for the last couple of years.

jnb0111

Replaced lower ball joints, rear sway bar links, and the upper control arms with Moog parts today. $228 in total for the parts, and lunch for one of the dealer techs in exchange for loaning me tools and helping me out with the trickier parts. Once that was done, a quick alignment, and it's all good. Did an oil change just for fun. Since I work at a GM dealership, I used an AC Delco filter and the cheap 5w20 they keep in stock for cars that dont use 0w20.
To answer your question, now that the timing belt has been changed, and the ball joints and related parts, it's pretty good. Tires are good, brakes are adequate for another year or two, interior is decent, no leaks... It's got a tiny spot of rust over one of the wheel wells, and the rear passenger door won't open from the outside. Heat works, a/c works, engine sounds great, transmission shifts right. I'll keep an eye on the oil level (I do that anyway) and have the knowledge that it's a 13 year old car with a lot of miles. I don't love it, but its good for what I need it to do. As it is now, I drive about 10 miles a day round trip. We are getting ready to move, and then it will be up to about 50 miles a day in commuting, so it'll have more wear and tear, and I'll have less desire to get stranded somewhere.

lazlong

I feel ya, 65 miles a day for me. You may want to change the brakes with that much commuting, but keep up the maintenance and you should be fine for several more years.

Heat

In the end I traded in my '99 (which I had bought new a little over 17 years ago) for an '02 LX, so I'll still be haunting these boards! The '06 EX turned out to be an '06 LX, and not in that great of shape. The '02 is in great shape mechanically (except for maybe the clutch), I'll get at least five years out of the '02 and gives me something to teach driving to my younger son.