These cars have got to be the hardest cars to wrok on... After many days I of roll starting the Del Sol I decided that the car must need a new alternator, since I keep charging the battery and it keeps draiing hte battery, So Tonight I was going to get a new battery and a new alternator , however the car would not start this after noon and had to be jump started, when that happen the speedo would not work and the tack was jumping all around... I figured the battery must be real dead, and the car would not run right either so instead of trying to make in home in 5:00 traffic like that I parked and called AAA, 1 hour and 14 bucks later del sol is in the garage, So I go to The Parts store to get said alternator and battery... My Mom came and got me since my wife is at work and then out with her firends. Get home, un blot alternator.. darn thing won't comeo out of engine bay... read helms find out I must remove the lower alternator bracket, do that.. alternator still won't come out! So I unbolt the strut from the font fork... still wont come out! so finally I undo the sway bar and get it out... argh!! My Cavalier and Dodge Shadow were so easy to work on... I replaced, water pumps, power sterring and water pumps on those cars and probably could have had all of them change in the time I took me to get the alternator out.
Now this the part where I hate owning a del sol... damn alternator does not plug up... ( about 2 years ago I had the same problem getting a master cylynder for the del sol.. damn car.. its just a civic ex with a differt body.. why cant the parts stores figure that out....)I noticed ced that the one connector was in a differnt place, when the guy looked it up I saw the same engine code D16z6 so I figured it would work... but know.. so now auto parts place is closed... I have nocar... no ride to work... argh... Any one want to buy one non running del sol ...

 

you should buy one running integra MC already replaced

 

I had similar problems in my GSR. Turned out to be a burned alternator fuse under the dash. My speedo was eratic, my battery kept on dying, rpm's would jump, etc... After we replaced the fuse the battery and alternator were fine.

Have you checked the fuses yet? It took me about 3 weeks to figure it out. Actually Art, Stan and Chris figured it out within about 45 mins. Crap!

Hopefully it's that.


Modified by Gee3 at 9:09 PM 10/2/2003

 

They're overall pretty easy to work on. But the parts that are not easy are really, seriously painful to work on. I blame front wheel drive.

FWIW, my BMW is no better. It's the usual story...to fix part A, you have to remove part B, C and D to get to it. B, C and D of course all work just fine.

 

try a Nissan 300ZX, now there was a car i wanted NOTHING to do with working on.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by krshultz &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">
FWIW, my BMW is no better. It's the usual story...to fix part A, you have to remove part B, C and D to get to it. B, C and D of course all work just fine.</TD></TR></TABLE>

Of course once you get everything back together, part C will decide it's time to crap out and of course you have to remove parts A, B and D to get to it...

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by tnord &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">try a Nissan 300ZX, now there was a car i wanted NOTHING to do with working on.</TD></TR></TABLE>

...or a 3000GT VR-4.

Of course I always end up bloodying my hands working on the Miata.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by jsi &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Of course once you get everything back together, part C will decide it's time to crap out and of course you have to remove parts A, B and D to get to it... </TD></TR></TABLE>

Sounds like the story of karl's life

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by tnord &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">try a Nissan 300ZX, now there was a car i wanted NOTHING to do with working on.</TD></TR></TABLE>

A good friend has a 96 twin turbo that needs a clutch. Every time he pops the hood, I look in there and think he will be paying somebody a LOT of money to do that. There's no room to do anything. I can only imagine the fiasco that awaits once the car is up in the air.

I'm seeing this in more cars lately. Ever look under the hood of an Audi S4, a new Infiniti or Nissan 350Z? Disaster. I don't know where you'd fit a wrench in there for anything. Hell, changing the oil on Mom's MR2 Spyder is a two hour affair thanks to the "hell cover" that covers the underside of the entire motor. They give you a trap door for the drain plug, but you can't get to the filter. Good job Toyota

--Karl, suddenly glad that Hondas are only a *slight* pain in the *** to work on...

 

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

...or a 3000GT VR-4.

Of course I always end up bloodying my hands working on the Miata.</TD></TR></TABLE>

I used to own a Starion - Mitsubishi would install everything with these philips-head screws instead of a regular 10mm bolt - and the material was soft, so the heads would strip out!
They would be in impossible places, and you could never get anything on them.

I hated working on that thing. It was like the Millenium Falcon - fast, yet always breaking down.

 

i have never had the pleasure of working on a car that was easier to work on then my civic. and it is d16z6 powered too. the best approach when dealing with "those places that sell **** they typically know nothing about" is to bring in the broken part and make sure it matches whatever they are trying to sell you. honda's are great for various little differences in parts and what models they go on. ever try to get a distributor for your 89 accord lxi? there are 3 common ones, and a 4th not so common one. same deal with alternators. for some reason nobody stocks the denso units, but that's what seems to be in most cars with a z6 motor that i've seen.

nate-who prefers to pay dealer prices and buy/install the part once.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by krshultz &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">They're overall pretty easy to work on. But the parts that are not easy are really, seriously painful to work on. I blame front wheel drive.

FWIW, my BMW is no better. It's the usual story...to fix part A, you have to remove part B, C and D to get to it. B, C and D of course all work just fine.</TD></TR></TABLE>

I have worked on lost of FWD cars and RWD cars and this car beats them all in bad design for stuff... I can't image trying to replace a water pump on this car... hell I can't imange chaing the damn belts. The only cars I can think were worse was my friends 69 428 mustang cobra, you practially had to let the engine to get he spark plugs out on one side...

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by solo-x &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote"> honda's are great for various little differences in parts and what models they go on</TD></TR></TABLE>

yup. try getting a speed sensor for a b16a2 - what do you means there's two? i just drove 20 miles to get here, and now i have to rip out a flaming hot speed sensor to show it to you?

overall, i can't really complain.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by ruthless013 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">

yup. try getting a speed sensor for a b16a2 - what do you means there's two? i just drove 20 miles to get here, and now i have to rip out a flaming hot speed sensor to show it to you? </TD></TR></TABLE>

das why me goes to de dealer!
VIN?
sure 1hgej1151p!
damn son! you memorized your vin?!?
yup, don't even have my gf's phone number memorized, but i can tell you nearly every spec from mah kaa!

nate
ps. shhh....don't tell my gf, she'll kill me!

 

You had lunch with Karl, didn't you David? I keep telling you people, stay the hell away from Karl....

Matt&lt;---driving the raSEcaR because the Eclipse is leaking 3 different fluids and hitting on 2.38 cylinders.

 

cant be worse than owning a saturn. I promise.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by .RJ &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">cant be worse than owning a saturn. I promise.</TD></TR></TABLE>

yup, couldn't be worse than owning a saturn. . . .

To be honest, being that there are sooo many civics everywhere and information is near endless, i think they are great cars.
Working on a taurus SHO, haha give me a break

 

LOL, first engine I worked on was a chevy 350 in a 1982Suburban. The hardest part was having to lift the parts up into the engine bay. That and keeping parts from hitting you in the head when you unbolted them from below.

 

Work on a jetski. Then you end up REALLY pissed about someone building a crappy engine part, because some jackass had to go put a whole bunch of fiberglass around it in close proximity.

PS- about engine compartments getting tighter- yep, that seems to be the trend. that, and they add some cover to everything. The subaru doesn't really have very many covers but everything goes funny directions due to the engine layout. I asked my salesperson "so, how do you get your hands in to work on anything?" "You don't, it's very reliable" LOL!

 

....and in unrelated news, my Datsun 260z is about the easiest car to work on I have ever owned. Inline 6, carburetors and exhaust on one side, plugs on the other.....all wide open. With a 14mm socket you can take most of the body apart.

I will say however that getting 2 weber carbs to work well in that car is a bitch, and sometimes bolts can be a bitch that haven't been touched in awhile, but you can't have everything I guess.

Cheers,
Roy

 

...and in more completed related, but still unrelated news; I love working on my Toyota Tacoma - it's easy to get to anything and you don't need to jack it up except to change out the wheels. I will find things to do on the Tacoma because it's FUN! For example, tonight I completed the install of my custom modified (welded brackets to the frame and made custom end-link extentions for proper fit) Hellwig rear Anti-Roll Bar - so she's ready for this Sunday's autocross.

I never really liked working on the DA integra - I mean who likes removing the brake master cylinder to get the alternator out (yeah, you could remove the driver's side CV shaft - but I'd rather walk in front of a firing squad than doing that for the third time!)?!?

Acura Integra - fun to drive, not fun to work on
Toyota Tacoma - a blast to drive, FUN to work on! Except for the brake rotors - why do they have to make it so complicated on the 2WD Tacoma?!

 

More proof that Del Sols are girl cars.

Women just take em to mechanics.


Good Luck...

 

why it's good to be a honda owner in southern california:

long story short, broke a wheel stud on each front side of my 6th gen civic. after some research, i concluded it would be cheaper to just buy someone's knuckles/hubs, as opposed to pressing out old hub/bearing, destroy old bearing, get new bearing, press in said bearing, etc. so five minutes of searching, and i find someone, 20 minutes away, with 99 si knuckles, for $75. picked em up tonight.

hmm, while i have front suspension apart, might as well replace some bushings. press search... hey, there's a guy selling an es master bushing set. hot damn. should have it by next weekend.

it can't get any better than this.

 

You think you guys have fun? Try a British car. My '74 MG Midget, to change the clutch you have to take the engine completely out of the car - and it only comes out the top. First step in replacing the starter (a regular maintenance item) you get a friend, pull a little rubber plug out of the passenger footwell, and have the friend stick a wrench through the resulting hole to hold the bolt while you crawl under and remove the nut. Tranny fluid filler is under another rubber plug on the driver side that's only accessible after you take the carpet out. Hell, the timing marks are on the bottom of the crank pulley, so you have to lay down and look under the front of the car to set the timing.

 

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

I have worked on lost of FWD cars and RWD cars and this car beats them all in bad design for stuff... I can't image trying to replace a water pump on this car... hell I can't imange chaing the damn belts. The only cars I can think were worse was my friends 69 428 mustang cobra, you practially had to let the engine to get he spark plugs out on one side...</TD></TR></TABLE>


can change water pump and timing belt in 1 hour 20 minutes.....cake work once you do it and figure out the angles you need....