First of, its a 99 civic ex sedan. completely stock.

What is this and why is it going to cost me $1100 to fix it?!?

The Honda dealership recommends me to change BOTH my rear trailing arm bushing while I had it there for an oil change.

I said i'll think about it and left without saying much. So what do you guys think? I dont know what it is or what it do but apparently it sounds serious because of the quoted 1100 price tag. The car does makes some creaking noise in the rear when I go over bumps but thats about it. Its not even loud, only noticeable if youre actually trying to hear the sound. I dont think its worth 1100 to fix if all it will do is make the sound go away.

And how often or when should I flush my transmission/powersteering/coolant/brake fluids? Apparently, they also recommend that I flush all these fluids because they claim it 'looks dirty'. I dont know if theyre trying to take advantage of me or are they sincere. Im thinking the former. The car has 94,000 miles on it if that helps. All in all, i left the dealership with a quote of 1,800 to get all of them done. The car is only worth 5000, yet...i have to make repairs that cost 2,000?!?!?

I might flush the transmission fluids but thats about it....what do you guys think?

 

bump for morning crew

 

How mechanically inclined are you? Here is a great thread on replacing the trailing arm bushing. Even buying the tool yourself, should cost you less than $300 if you have a jack, jack-stands, and basic tools.

https://honda-tech.com/zerothread/1589298

 

umm, you can't do your own oil changes bro... and your asking if you should spend 2k on trailing arm bushings.

wow... see this is what happens when you don't learn the hobby your active in. Some advice would be learn how your car works, then you don't need to wonder if paying someone 2k to flush fluids, or change bushings is good or bad.

and obviously don't pay money for any of that.. ug

 

Your trailing arm bushings... they are worn and can cause alignment problems and tire wear! 1100 is a bit much tho I'd get another quote from someone else!
At my shop its about 2 hrs to do both and 1.5hrs to do the alignment, I have a feeling someone is lazy and trying to sell you the whole arm not just the bushing!

Honda is against any flushing systems, I can find the service bulletin about it if you'd like...

ATF is a drain and fill, but a lot of people will do it several times to get good clean fluid throughout the trans

P/S fluid is simple remove return line hose insert hose into return line have a assistant start the car till the fluid stops coming out!

Coolant can be done by yourself too just drain the radiator and refill then run the car for a few minutes with heat on and repeat until fluid is clean!

brake fluid is important, I just bleed my brakes same as flushing almost...




Modified by SiREJ8 at 7:20 AM 9/9/2007

 

_CLIFF NOTES_ new trailing arm bushings and refill fluids. cost: $2,000

Listen carefully, as we don't have much time. The culprit might get away. You need to get on the phone and DIAL 9-1-1 AS SOON AS MOTHER F*CKING POSSIBLE! I see that you are from the Bay area, and the Bay area police have been known to handle these type of cases properly.

Once on the phone with the police, say that you need to report a rape incident. The police will put you on the phone with someone to take a brief report over the telephone. Tell them that you were almost raped and that you know the assailant. You will be asked to come down to the station and to file a police report. When asked about what exactly happened, say:

"I was almost butt-raped by Honda".

They will understand, as these type of cases are quite common in those dangerous, upscale neighborhoods. You will most likely fill out a report and someone will take your written statement. Describe the dealership that did this to you in the most detail possible. I know you're scared, but please try your best to desribe the bastard that did this to you. It may help prevent future "Honda butt-rape" victims.

Now that the report has been filed, try to calm down a little bit, as the police now know who they are out to get. Rest assured, justice will be served in one form or another. To help prevent this sort of thing from happening to you again, I suggest you pickup a .45 calibur Springfield Magnum or if you're the type that's against guns, I guess a bottle of pepper spray would suffice. These type of protection items may be harmful, but it'll thwart off potential attackers in the future. If you have any daughters or a loved one you care about, I suggest you pass out the aforementioned items to them as well.

I'm sorry that such a tragic event had to occur in your life. I send my condolences out to you and your loved ones. Stay strong and don't let something like this change the person you are, as you are a somebody. God bless.

 

i wouldn't even pay 2 grand for your entire car.

i remember a few years ago i was in the same position with my crx, i had to get my stock exhaust cut off at a shop, and they mentioned the same thing.


at that time honda didn't sell the trailing arm bushings, they suggested buying new arms....for about the same price.

ff to 2007 and you can buy new bushings, and the tool to press them in. YOUR PROBLEM, you lack the mechanical inclination to do it...

so you have a decision to make, either ignore the bushings, try to fix them yourself, or find someone to do it for you.

good luck.

 

I live in San Francisco, I park my car on public roads. It is not possible for me to do my own oil changes on the street, let alone...changing a suspension component, I hope you guys can understand that.

I do not lack the mechanical inclination to do it, I lack the tools and environment. I have installed coilovers on my 6th gen accord before. However, while installing the coilovers, I do not know the name of the components I was messing with, I just unscrewed some bolts and used common sense. Hence, why I dont know what the trailing arm bushing was.

I guess my real question here is the bushing really that important to change IMMEDIATELY? If not, I will wait a few months and get a different price quote from a private shop. Obviously, the dealership is out to rape me.

And what is the USUAL timeframe to be changing my fluids? Will my car go be ok if I go another 5-10k miles w/o flushing it? I was thinking I should flush it one at time at monthly intervals........

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by SiREJ8 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">!

Honda is against any flushing systems, I can find the service bulletin about it if you'd like...
Modified by SiREJ8 at 7:20 AM 9/9/2007</TD></TR></TABLE>

can you give this to me? i'd appreciate it...thanks!


Modified by pho iz good at 8:04 PM 9/9/2007

 

the shop was just doing what they do to keep in business. SELLING.

im sure it wouldn't hurt to do all the flushes and change the bushings, but your car is not going to blow up if you don't do them. but you should do them eventually, maybe one at a time spaced out.

 

stick your car in park or in gear with e-brake off. grab the rear tires and pull and push as hard as you can in and out and then towards the front and then the back (kinda like your trying to roll it) if the wheel moves you better get it changed soon if not maybe take it to someone you know and get it checked out. if you look just in front of your back tire on the big bar that goes towards the front of the car there's a bg bushing there about 3 inches in diameter that's the trialling arm bushing watch that for any movement if not it's probably just cracked and showing signs of wear like mine

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by 98greensi &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">if not it's probably just cracked and showing signs of wear like mine </TD></TR></TABLE>

yeah either that, or they recommended to change it because of the mileage.

i work at a shop and we basically recommend **** if its over a certain mileage

 

hey i have the tool needed to do this for sale, if anyone is interested. This job is not very hard, just time consuming. If you got some time, you might want to consider doing it yourself and save a bunch.

 

i live downtown san francisco, DIY is not an option for me.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by 98greensi &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">stick your car in park or in gear with e-brake off. grab the rear tires and pull and push as hard as you can in and out and then towards the front and then the back (kinda like your trying to roll it) if the wheel moves you better get it changed soon if not maybe take it to someone you know and get it checked out. if you look just in front of your back tire on the big bar that goes towards the front of the car there's a bg bushing there about 3 inches in diameter that's the trialling arm bushing watch that for any movement if not it's probably just cracked and showing signs of wear like mine </TD></TR></TABLE>

i tried it, the tires isnt moving when im pushing/pulling it, the tires isnt moving either if im push/pull from side to side......so Im assuming Im safe for the time being?

 

so i searched for transmission flush and apparently, Im not suppose to 'power flush' the transmission, however, my car is a manual and the advisory is for ATF? So........I guess the advisory not to flush the transmission doesnt pertain to my car? Im assuming a 'transmission flush' is not the same thing as a drain and fill?


Modified by pho iz good at 10:59 AM 9/10/2007

 

bro, you need a helms.. buy it(50$), read it(time) do it

 

For the trailing arm bushings, just jack up the rear and use a flashlight and look at them. It only takes a few minutes and you can do it curbside without getting under the car, no more work than changing a flat tire.

Bad bushings have broken rubber on the top or bottom and look like this:



While good bushings have intact rubber and look like this (yours may be dirty/dusty, that is fine, but the top and bottom rubber should be in one piece):

 

rmc, I see you did a writeup for the bushing. Apparently, it looks very easy if I had the tool and place to do it but I dont so.....

but I do have a question.

My bushings doesnt seem to be cracking or broken as far as I can tell, but what are the symptons of a bad bushings?

And how is that an easy job like this will run me 1100 bucks? Installing coilovers looks like it requires more work yet its only a $70-100 installation job, the parts alone is about $100 for a set of bushings.....It shouldnt even have costed more than $400......

Honda dealerships

 

The rear gets loose and shifts/clunks, you can't get a good alignment, etc.

If the rubber is intact, then they may be fine.

It costs a lot because the lowest replaceable unit in their parts catalog is the entire trailing arm, which list for 240.67/ea, and are a lot more work to replace than just the bushing.

There is a TSB out for bushing replacement that lists part numbers for individual bushings, but I don't know if it covers 99's.

The Honda service tool for replacing the bushings is also a POS and tends to break if you use it, so some dealers either don't have one or don't use it. The tool that I used in my writeup is very sturdy and works well, making this a good job for DIY if you can find a driveway that you can do it in.

 

so youre telling me its so expensive because the dealers wants to replace BOTH my trailing arm instead of just the bushing?!? outrageous.

I see I have another option.....I can buy the bushings myself (aftermarket) and take it to a indepedent shop and have them replace it. Feasible?

 

Do you have any friends that you can park it in there driveway for a day or two and will help you?

You can buy the bushings yourself, take the trailing arms off, take them to a machine shop to press them out/in and then install it

 

im from hawaii......i moved here for college so I dont know anyone that close yet.....

 

It's not the dealer's fault, they have to repair the car in accordance with their guidelines.

You can have an independent shop do it. They either need a removal tool or they can remove the trailing arms and use a press to get them out. Some older trailing arms, like DA/EG arms, have a tapered bushing that can be popped out with a small sledge and a large screwdriver, I've done it and it's not too hard, but it's a bitch on a '99 and you'll want the tool or a press.

The thing about that is that with the tool and a lift they can do the bushings with the trailing arms on the car in less than an hour for both sides. If they have to remove the trailing arms with the hubs, brakes, etc, then it's a lot more work.

 

Dealerships almost always charge the largest amount for any given job. OTOH they're supposed to do good work, because they have technical resources at their fingertips to get detail on every Honda model. The dealer I occasionally take my car to for major maintenance has dropped my engine/trans and fixed my clutch woes... for free. 60K maintenance wasn't free, but 60K doesn't involve the clutch.

If you're not inclined to do it yourself, take it somewhere else - NTB, Sears, or another major chain preferably. Just have them look at it, don't tell them what the dealer said, just tell the shop the same thing you told the dealer when you dropped it off. If you tell them the dealer said the bushings were screwed, they'll probably charge you for new bushings, whether you need them or not. If the bushings are worn/torn they'll spot them during the inspection, no need to tell them beyond the general description of whatever problem brought you to the dealer in the first place. When you're clueless, it's always a good idea to get multiple opinions.