Hey guys i am normally in the civic forums.

however i am going to be test driving and looking at a guy's 1995 GSR with 130,000 miles. it had a new clutch at 115k miles new brakes, timing belt, water pump at 120k miles.

what should i look for when driving this car and where should i look for the usual integra problems? he said it has no leaks and burns no oil. how much longer can i expect this car if well maintained to last? i need it to last about 3 years or 40k miles (until i get out of college).

thanks any pointers would be greatly appreciated.

 

Look at the engine block to make sure it has the b18c1 stamp on it that would be number 1 in my book, maybe b18c5 if you are lucky.

 

check for oil leaks...and make sure all the GUAGES are working (oil temp/water etc.) I test drove an LS and my cousin who is a mechanic drove it and realized the OIL TEMP guage wasn't rising which might mean he disconnected it and didn't want us to know the temp. gets to hot...also check the compression doesn't take to long and if he really wanted to sell the car he would take the 10 minutes out of his day to let you do it.

 

Ooohh comp. test good thinking

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Lan &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Ooohh comp. test good thinking </TD></TR></TABLE>

my cousin did it on that LS and since then I will always do one before I buy a car...

 

well i dunno if i'll have the time to check compression, he's 30 minutes away and is going to be in town to visit his girlfriend and he will stop by my work to show it to me. i dunno how work is going to like it when i look at another car that's not their's. considering i work for a Honda Dealership. he said he bought it from a 40yr old woman who was original owner and he's only had it for 10k miles but needs to sell it because he is getting married. he said its in excellent condition and had a few vouches on local forums but you know how that goes.

i don't need another crappy car like my 1993 civic with a busted strut and leaky oil and a CEL.

it is also bone stock.

 

yeah, work might put a damper on things..I thought you had more time than that....tell him to show it to you on a lunch break and do it then...it's better than buying the car and then find out one of your cyliners is at about 150 psi.

 

how do you do a compression test? i know i could prolly use a guage from the shop at work, but i don't know how to run the test.

BTW what is normal compression for a B18C1 ???


Modified by dogbiscuit at 6:19 PM 3/7/2006

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by dogbiscuit &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Hey guys i am normally in the civic forums.

however i am going to be test driving and looking at a guy's 1995 GSR with 130,000 miles. it had a new clutch at 115k miles new brakes, timing belt, water pump at 120k miles.

what should i look for when driving this car and where should i look for the usual integra problems? he said it has no leaks and burns no oil. how much longer can i expect this car if well maintained to last? i need it to last about 3 years or 40k miles (until i get out of college).

thanks any pointers would be greatly appreciated.</TD></TR></TABLE>

Make sure you see a vin number on the block, if it's scratched out then it's probably stolen, plus if the police see that you automatically lose your engine. I'm only saying this cause I actually know someone who just bought a integra and the vin on the block is scratched out.

 

how do i check if the synchros are good?

 

take it for a test drive. If you can try to go into third at a high rpm since that is usually the syncro that everyone has a problem with.

 

what will it feel like if they are bad? will it slip in and out of gear at higher rpm's in 3rd gear?

 

i would say just check it for wear and tear. look at how the car is taken care of. the wear on the seats, the wear on the pedals, wear on the tires. does the car ride all bumpy and bouncy? does it accelerate well? any funny noises? pop the hood and rev it a little bit to see if it'll go back to idle real smooth.

check all electrical things. make sure the windows go up and down, power mirrors work. sunroof work, cruise control, etc etc. depending how picky you are. just make sure it's working mechanically and make sure there's no leaks anywhere. check around the valve cover, head, block, etc.

 

it will make a nasty grinding noise if it is bad.

on my beretta, every time i shift into third w/o letting the rpm's drop all the way down, it will grind...anoying as hell (and embarrasing). OH well, what did i expect for $250! motor runs like a champ for 180k on it.

 

yeh i'll give it a good inspection thansk for all the help the guy said one front tire needs to be replaced sometime but i dunno i already have a shitty set of wheels and new tires i can put on it for now.

 

[QUOTE=dogbiscuit]how do you do a compression test? i know i could prolly use a guage from the shop at work, but i don't know how to run the test.

BTW what is normal compression for a B18C1 ?

Pull one spark plug at a time thread the compression tester into the spark plug hole. Crank the engine about three revolutions and the tester should read 170-190 psi if its stock. Just remember that the numbers should be similar on all 4 cylinders. Only pull the spark plug that you are threading into the hole, once you have checked that cylinder, replace the spark plug and move on to the next.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Lan &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">
Pull one spark plug at a time thread the compression tester into the spark plug hole. Crank the engine about three revolutions and the tester should read 170-190 psi if its stock. Just remember that the numbers should be similar on all 4 cylinders. Only pull the spark plug that you are threading into the hole, once you have checked that cylinder, replace the spark plug and move on to the next. </TD></TR></TABLE>

Well on my 98 LS I got 180 on all 4 cylinders which is good...on a gsr it should be around 220 psi. with I believe no more than 13-20 psi. variance between cylinders, but it also depends on how the motor was taken care of...220 is about where it should be on a healthy gsr.

 

I am looking at a gsr which the owner says holds 245psi on all cylinders(which i will check for myself). Is that good?The engine has 74k on it.

 

It is built. Thatt would indicate that his compression is at least 12:1, there is no way that his motor is stock; he may just be lying to you so have him check it while you are there.

 

i hear different compression guages give different readings.

 

that's true..it all depends on the size of the piping but the majority of the time with any compression guage your compression should read 190-220 at least.

 

do i have to take the front left wheel off and turn the crank pulley?

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by superls92 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">

Make sure you see a vin number on the block, if it's scratched out then it's probably stolen, plus if the police see that you automatically lose your engine. I'm only saying this cause I actually know someone who just bought a integra and the vin on the block is scratched out.</TD></TR></TABLE>

vin were put on engines starting on 96, the 95 gsr won't have it.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by civicdxtyper &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">

vin were put on engines starting on 96, the 95 gsr won't have it.</TD></TR></TABLE>

I was referring to the identifiction number where the engine code stamp is, not the part riveted to the bottom of the block, my bad.