hippiehipster

Right now I have a 81 civic sitting on my front lawn. It was working days prior to the event of it dying ever so randomly. I'm suspecting it could be the alternator but other than that, it still has other issues such as needing new clutch and all sorts of flushes. I am a poor college student who knows almost to nothing about working on cars. I can do the semi basics and that's about it. I want to keep this car so bad but it keeps draining money out of my pocket to the point I can't even enjoy a cup of ramen anymore =/

What should I doooo?!

this car also has 109k original miles on original engine. Yes you read it right =] clean title as well :D

sorry for misleading title. I meant to say 81**

csingham

if your poor than replace. On most early hondas you can do a clutch with a stakeboard and a friend. The clutch will run you around 80$. Alternators can be rebuilt at home most of the time for less than 20$ by replacing the brush. The only fluids you need to flush are the transmission, engine, radiator (don't use tap water).

I bought my first crx in '97 from a junk yard and was in the same boat. I needed a car and had only an emergency road side kit and two stores I could afford (biglots and dollar tree) near by. With zero experience, two blocks of wood, and the spare tire jack I replaced my clutch...yes...it took two days, but from that one moment in time I've now saved money over the last 10 years by that moment in time.

letank

Random dying.... remember you need gas and spark... so you need to find if it dies because one of the other.
Did it come back to life after dying? probably not as it is a lawn ornement. Did it ever come back to life at some point? even for a short time?

Check the carb fuel level on the side... not too sure about the 81, but the later models have it.... on the driver side... you need to pull the air filter holder....

Otherwise does pouring a 1/2 cup of gas down the carb throat help in restarting.

As for electrical... check your battery cables for tighteness... and use a voltmeter to make sure that you have 12v.... at the battery, in fact a fully charged battery has 12.56volts.... If you do not have a voltmeter, the starter should crank the engine without hesitation.... if it is slowing sown after the 3rd or 4th try... then your battery may be weak... or your starter....

If you can crank.... disconnect a spark plug wire and attach a spare spark plug.... saves on removing a spark plug from the block... making sure it has contact on the engine block.... do you see a bright blue spark... not orange or yellow weak....


BTW, car looks good.

Stretch7

Get rid of that bike rack and fix the car and drive it. This car is awesome............


...........minus the bike rack, of course.

StreetsideStig

Tough decision. When I was in college I had almost no money, but the biggest problem was time. I didn't even have time to do my homework, much less work on my car.

The cheapest option would probably be to ride your bike until you have the time/money to fix the car. I'd probably keep it, though. It's too cool to get rid of.