This is probably the saddest day i've ever had. I did a b16 swap in my CRX and just got it done about a week ago. The guy that I bought the engine from failed to tell me that he royally fucked up the tranny and my car pops out of 5th gear on the interstate, and I found out that it would probably be cheaper to get a new tranny than to get fixed what is wrong with it. Plus, the passenger side axle popped out, and damaged the splines on the axle, so i need to get that replaced and was also informed that it might have damaged the shaft in the tranny. Then my radiator got a pinhole leak which was never there before i did the swap and ended up having to JB Weld it, which didn't hold, so now i need a new radiator. Then everytime I stop the car, it overheats. Then the coolant hose behind the IM started leaking and is leaking on the catilytic converter, causing it to smoke.
I'm done.
I can't drive it like this, only very very short distances, and I cant take it on the interstate, which is the only way i can get to work. I already accumulated absences at work because of taking time off to do the swap, as well as other absences for unexpected problems with the car, so if I miss any more work, I will be fired. Nobody can take me to work because everybody has different schedules that they work, and I have absolutely no money to give anybody for gas. No busses go out to my work because i live in the middle of BFE. They estimated the total of work that needs to be done to the car to be close to 1000.00 and I don't have it, I just don't. The place I got my car from before said they will approve me for a car if I use the CRX as a trade-in and they can get me in a real nice(and real stock, and real slow) 98 civic dx. My credit is absolutely shattered, so this is basically the only place I can get another car from and get approved, and i'm just absolutely devastated because it looks as though i'm going to have to go buy a car I don't want and take a huge loss for how much money i've spent on this motor swap, but I need a running car and have like 1 day to make a decision on this because if I don't go to work tomorrow, i'm going to be fired. There was also a 2001 Dodge Neon there(white, and auto, yuck) but with only 41,000 miles on it, and it's pretty much in mint condition, so those are just about the only cars in my price range that I have an option of that I would even consider. I just don't know what to do. If you guys were in my position, would you go with the Neon, or would you go with the Civic? (btw, the Civic is a green 5 speed)I don't even wanna do this, but I just don't have any other options. I don;t have enough time to try to sell my car to someone that would give me decent money for it.

 

Life gets tough sometimes, man. Suck it up, get rid of any outgoing cash you can, get the Civic (prolly a bit cheaper than neon?), plus after you get your **** straight, you have a car to work with.

Stick with it, man.

 

good luck dude....i know how ya feel. i did my first swap this summer and finished it a couple days before i had to drive cross country for school, and since then everythings been breaking and i dont have the money to fix it......but somehow it just gets done man.....just do what you gotta do, when ya get that done, then you can do what you wanna do

 

get a rental car!
goto the junkyard and find u a radiator for about 30 bucks, the hose thats leaking from the intake manifold thats 2 bucks
goto autozone get a new axle thats a whopping 60 bucks

find a junkyard with a 90-93 ls or gsr tranny 300 bucks

and fix your car,

you shouldnt mod your car without thinking of what could happen down the road. if you get fired collect unemployment

**edit, why cant you get a rental car until the weekend, and swap your old motor and tranny back in?


Modified by slowpokesi at 6:35 PM 5/6/2003

 

Ahh man, that's horrible... is there anyone that can help this guy out? Someone that can loan him a tranny? IMO I would be calling a yard to find a cheapo transmission and a new old axle and taking a cab or public transit to work... and then finding someone else to help you fix the radiator leak problem.

If you remove the radiator cap the system won't build pressure and will run slightly hotter, which might help it not to leak so much coolant everywhere. I've done this a few times after blowing a radiator drainplug gasket out and trying to keep the fluid in the tanks as long as possible.

If there was anything I could do to help you out, I'd do it... so sorry to hear about all the problems

 

this is why you shouldnt do a swap unless you have lots of money left over afterwards for things like this. You should have fixed your credit before you swapped your motor. Sorry to hear about your troubles man.

 

Man, I feel for you. This is terrible. I remember you telling us how happy you were when you had the swap done. But you know what? Your life and your job always come first, in my opinion. Get the Civic DX, save some cash on the side, and get a project car. That's what I would do. Get everything important sorted out first. And also bitch at the shop that gave you a shot tranny.

 

Just roll with the punches.
Get the Civic, and trade in the CRX. Once you get everything settled, then you can look for another CRX to mod up. Don't stress yourself over it. Believe me, there are a lot of people that have been in your shoes, and have made it out on top. Just do the best you can with what you have. Just remember to keep your head up, because brighter days are coming.
Stay strong my brother.

 

The saddest thing is.... I didn't get the tranny from a shop; I got it from someone I considered a good friend. you don't just **** up 5th gear by driving the car for one week and then mysteriously it pops out of 5th gear on its own. The problem was always there. I'm more hurt than wanting to kick his ***, though.....
Anyways.. would you guys take the 2001 Neon auto with 44,000 miles on it, or the 98 Civic DX 5 speed with 60,000 miles? they're both slow, and they're both something I don't want, but i need a car.

 

I'd definitely take the 5-speed. Autos are GAY.

 

Civic, The Neon will be just as big a headache in less than 40K miles. Honda in stock form last to 200K properly maintained.

 

Get the Honda! It will be worth a hell of a lot more down the road when you go to trade it in. Dodge Neons are not as reliable either. Sorry to hear about your loss, I guess it is another lesson learned. Suck it up and move on.

 

Course you cant change it now but personally I would never start a project (swap)on a car that has to be my daily driver. If the old motor was shot shouldve jus gone with another D series. But yeah, take the Civic, it should be more reliable.

 

thanks for all the help, guys. i really appreciate the advice.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by slowpokesi &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">get a rental car!
goto the junkyard and find u a radiator for about 30 bucks, the hose thats leaking from the intake manifold thats 2 bucks
goto autozone get a new axle thats a whopping 60 bucks

find a junkyard with a 90-93 ls or gsr tranny 300 bucks

and fix your car,

you shouldnt mod your car without thinking of what could happen down the road. if you get fired collect unemployment

**edit, why cant you get a rental car until the weekend, and swap your old motor and tranny back in?


Modified by slowpokesi at 6:35 PM 5/6/2003</TD></TR></TABLE>

Exactly, it's not the end of the world. Replace the axle, get a new tranny, and use some radiatar clay...I'm not sure how good JB weld works on radiators. A year ago when I was turbo I accidentally stabbed my radiator with a sawzall, slapped on some radiator clay and it's held up fine, so try that before a new rad. I've been through tons of **** too, but that's what you get when you **** around with cars, you can't expect everything to work out perfectly. Somehow get rides from friends, or rent a car, fix the rex, and then you'll be happy you didn't get rid of it.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by slowpokesi &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">**edit, why cant you get a rental car until the weekend, and swap your old motor and tranny back in?


Modified by slowpokesi at 6:35 PM 5/6/2003</TD></TR></TABLE>because i dont have the money.

 

so how exactly are you going to make payments on a car if you cant afford to drop 100 on a rental car for a week and swap in your old motor and tranny that you should still have.

 

Try one of those pay day advance places. You write them a check, they hold it until your pay day, and give you cash now.