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Your car sounds nice because you guys are the original owners, and it sounds like you have taken care of it. It sucks to buy a used car and find out about all the little details the old owner neglected to fix/notice. How is your paint? Your interior? Rattles? Little things like that are great to cure w/ a newer car, and a real bitch/expensive to fix w/ an older car.

Also, don't have the dealer do the rebuild work, take it to a non dealer Honda Acura shop. I am sure you can find local recommendations from people around here from your area, that will save you all sorts of cash. ****, buy a used tranny from someone on this board, and figure out exactly what needs to be rebuilt about your motor, and get it already built, or piece it together from people on this board and have the shop put it all together.

My car is @ 150K miles, and I am definitely going to go the rebuild route rather than sell it when the time comes.

 

yeah, that's why I don't wanna get rid of it. The interior is mint, except a lil wear on the driver's seat, barely noticeable though. one rattle in the dash to the right of the steering column, and the exterior is pretty good, a couple of door dings from careless people in the university lot, some paint pits from all the highway miles. But nothing worth getting rid of the car over, plus I know exactly what I've got myself into because it's my car, pops has been driving it since I was in 8th grade when he got it brand new, I got it in HS. I know everything about it. I definitely want to keep it, but is it feasible? Will it perform better with rebuilt engine/tranny than a car with 80 or 90k miles? Will a rebuild be safe from a reliability standpoint? And as far as not going to a dealer, is it that much more expensive there? and will a non-dealer shop have the same amount of knowledge? I just want to make sure whatever I drive is reliable. Thanks for the input though, and any more you have is appreciated.

 

Yea a rebuild can be safe, however it depends on who put it in your car, I say just get a new motor because it might be worst in the long run to buy another used car owned by someone who neglected it

 

Yeah i would just spend the money on a new motor (probably used). You can get a GS-R motor for pretty cheap. It would probably be the same price the dealer would charge to rebuild yours

 

just get a tranny. they usually sell for $500-$1000.

 

well if you are going to get get the dealer to do it for you might as well go type r motor...it's about the same for the block and head assembly. i asked already, hmmm why not just get a jdm gsr with lsd motor and drop it in for like around 3300? find someone to drop it in for you. there are many online manuals that can help you do it yourself.

 

o yeah and if you are going to go the rebuilding route, i suggest you do only if you are going to turbo/supercharge or n2o that thing or something. Think about it.

 

Do you know that it needs a rebuild? Or are you just assuming because it's old? Get or do a compression and leakdown test (easy and cheap) if the numbers are OK, just run it.

 

I'm not sure that the engine needs a rebuild, I know the transmission does though. However, the engine has lost some low end over the years, not a lot but enough that you can tell. Plus it's burning almost a quart of oil about every 1500 miles. Sounds like shot piston righs right?

Oh yeah and you said only rebuild if I plan on boostin...just curious but why? Is it more expensive than it's worth?


[Modified by sean96gsr, 3:15 PM 9/5/2002]

 

are you sure about "losing the low end"??? it could also be in your mind....over time, you could get used to the car. That loss of "low end" could be a clogged fuel filter, or crappy injectors, weak spark plugs etc...

As far as the oil loss, thats normal. i know of a ton of people with older gs'rs that burn 1qt of oil in 1500 miles. ****, my car with 92k burns 1qt in 1000 miles if i drive it hard! It just speaks to ring wear, which is no big deal, because that eventually goes anyway. Good thing is, it will stay in its current condition (only burning 1qt every 1500miles) for another 100k at least...so don't sweat it. Honda motors are good.

 

Sounds like all you need is a new transmission. Whether or not you go for an engine rebuild is up to you. Do you drive it hard all the time? How has the car been treated all these years? How is the compression? Just one of the many questions you should ask yourself when deciding to go for an engine rebuild. When you decide to take it in for a new transmission or engine rebuild, take the suggestions of everyone else and bring it to an independent, reputable shop. The Acura dealer will charge you a grip for labor.

I would definitely NOT trade the car solely because of the fact you know its history really well. It's hard to take the word of an unknown previous owner.

 

Well the oil burning thing is reassuring, I was afraid that meant it was shot. I drive it hard occasionally, not on a regular basis though. I never auto-x. It's always been treated well, regular maintenance, etc. I'll definitely look into the compression test, it goes in sometime next week. The transmission definitely needs some kind of work though, I'm just afraid to find out what. Plus it's near its timing belt/water pump service (180000) so I think I'll get it all done at once while the car's apart. Thanks for all the advice guys, definitely gave me a lot of tips I wouldn't have thought of.

 

I think it is better to get your car checked out and make sure the engine is that bad. 173k miles isn't that bad for a well taken care of Honda.


[Modified by RedGSR, 10:46 PM 9/6/2002]