Hey guys,

I bought my '96 accord about a year ago, and I knew from then that it had a problem with rust in the engine compartment. Other than the usual rusty nuts and bolts,stuff like the starter has rust on it, the alternator and various brackets and braces. I know the car is 13yrs old but my last car was 3yrs older and hardly had a problem like this. I just wanted to know if this was common on these cars?

-Thanks in advance

 

Rust is a problem on any car if it has been exposed to the right elements, and not taken care of. Such as if the person leaved near salt water, or always had it sitting outside in really bad weather for prolonged periods without moving it. Any pictures of this rusty engine bay?

Sounds like an engine bay cleaning gone wrong....

 

Yeah I figured this was probably caused by the previous owner letting the car sit for a while. I'm thinking what I ought to do is replace the rusted components and just try to get the car in better shape.

 

when i sold my 88 civic in 2007, there was no rust in the engine bay. This is a CALI car.
My cousin who bought a 05 rsx from Illinois has rust all over the engine bay.

 

Makes sense, its probably the moisture in the air from living near the shore. Only reason I ask is because my last car had been had been in the same area just as long but had very little rust in it. I guess its hit or miss with these things.

 

Yeah, im on the east coast, and I have never seen or heard of anything like that, just above the rear wheels.

Typical honda cancer spots....

 

Since we are on the topic of rust, I have another question. When i replaced my radiator a few months ago, one of the bolts on the bracket that holds the radiator in place was being stubborn. So when I tried to get it off the head broke off. I've tried using things like Grabit but cannot seem to get the body of the bolt out. Does anyone have some tips that might get it out?

 

Usually if a bolt head breaks off, you need to either use a heated device, like a torch, to get it out, or you have to drill it out.

 

Yeah I've been using a small drill bit to make a hole for the Grabit to grab onto but it just wouldn't catch. While I was looking at the hole i realized i may have made it too big so I'll probably buy the next size Grabit bit and see how that works out.

 

Usually when you drill something out you start with a small drill bit and slowly increase sized until all of the metal of the original bolt is out or enough of it so whatever was bolted down is now free, then you have to retap the hole so the new bolt will go in correctly and easily.

 

Yeah if I can't get the body of the bolt out with this tool I'll probably just drill out the rest and retap it.

 

Ok, as it turns out the Grabit was not the way to go about doing this so I'm going to go with a tap and die set. Problem is never having worked with a tap and die set I need to learn a little about them. Mostly if you can explain what something like Metric 3-0.5 means. I know that the 3 stands for 3mm but what does the .5 mean. .5 threads per mm, cm... Thanks