I just picked up a '90 CRX Si from a friend of mine in MA. I changed the oil and everything that came out of the pan looked fine (black, but fine), but after I drained the oil filter (from the hole created by the screwdriver removal method), it looked as though someone had dumped a gold glitter pen into the oil.

I know this isn't the best of things to find, but here's the specifics:
-oil changed Sept 01 at 118,500 miles
-purchased by me July 22nd 04 with 118,600 miles
-car was supposedly run and driven every so often while it was sitting (for "a year" I was told but I'm guessing more like 2-3 years)
-engine does not have any unusual noises (sounds like an older honda SOHC engine, I can't really hear any abnormal ticks/knocks/etc.)

I drove it about 600 miles after the oil change and it seems to be doing okay (haven't really taken it above 4k RPM that often yet though). I'm changing the oil in the morning and putting in a magnetic drain plug (no, not spoon).

I got this car to be a reliable, fun daily driver. What are the chances that it will stay in one piece with regular maintanance and not die?

I'll update this with the finds of tomorrow's oil change.

 

Sounds like you are covering your bases well. Keep your eye on the oil, use a quality filter and just be cautious.

Its all you can do really, until you hear or see anything wrong. Not a whole lot of preventive medicine you can do.

Could be they changed the oil without changing the filter also, a lot of folks will do that to 'save money' , 'save time' or whatever other retarded reasoning they have.

You seem to have it under control, just post some pics so we can see your new car, and keep her babied until you are confident.

For your future maintenence on her, id check:
Radiator hoses, upper and lower
Thermostat
Coolant (change)
Timing Belt
Plugs/cap/rotor
Brake fluid/pads/rotors
Tires

Etc...

Just a quick list to get you going and some things to keep your eye on.

HTH

 

^^thanks...

ok, other stuff that was done sometime in the last year/200 miles, whichever (seriously, car was driven 200 miles tops in the year since this was done)
timing belt and water pump,
plugs, cap, rotor
tires
"brakes" though they are very squishy and fade quickly, I'm ordering Axxis metal master pads for the front and some ATE superblue tonight.

Coolant looks like crap so I'm changing that very soon

 

If the brakes are squishy and fade, you may want to check the fluid... Make sure it is bled correctly and that there arent any contaminents in the lines.

Check your calipers for leaks also, and brake lines for cracking... If its been sitting a while you never know what might have happened. Could be your MC also.

 

at least the gold **** came from the filter and not the pan....filter did its job

 

dont stab the filter with a screwdriver, sometimes that causes the metal in the filter to break off and then its in your filter, i know that its not gold though so im not sure what that could be.

like everyone else said, wait and see what happens, did you get new tires? im sure that you might want to look into that if the car has been sitting that long. I bet it smells like *** in there.

 

actually that glitter is a sure sign of bearing damage. not a very good indication of how well they maintained the engine.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Tyson &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">actually that glitter is a sure sign of bearing damage. not a very good indication of how well they maintained the engine.</TD></TR></TABLE>

That's what I was thinking too.
The bearings have a few layers to them. The flakey stuff is similar to chrome chipping off something.
That's the way I got my Z6 motor. A few of the bearings had lost all the plating off them.
Luckily it wasn't very severe becaues the crank didn't get damaged. I took it in for inspection and micropolish and it came out fine.

 

^^ that's what I was affraid of. I changed the oil again today and found some more glitter. not nearly as much though, and I saved a .5L bottle of the oil (that I had mixed up before pouring. I'm going to wait for it to settle since I can't see any at the moment.

I did 1qt of lucas oil stabalizer with 2.8q of el cheapo mobile 10w30 and she seems to be running much smoother, but I'm still worried. I'm going to look at this oil tonight once it's settled and depending on what I find, I might contact the old owner (since I talked to him about my concerns and he'll "work with me" if it needs anything serious.

 

if youre not hearing any knocking or slapping noises from the engine, then its not too bad. but the existence of the flakes means the engine ran low on oil. it doesnt take long, just a few moments running without enough oil to cause any amount of wear (from what i am told). but i found flakes on mine, i admittedly ran low on oil for a few miles, and a couple thousand miles later i got 4 holes in number 1 cylinder.

 

she actually sounds very quiet other than valves and injectors clacking away. IMO, I hope it doesn't blow or kill anything at all, but if it does, it better go in the next week.

My Sol is up for sale and this is the replacement...

 

MAN you gotta have faith in the good old D

 

sounds like a great time for a swap if it gets bad... ZC cheap and quick.

 

thanks, but I REALLY don't want to do a swap, I don't want to have to do one or a rebuild either.

I do have faith in the old d... I love my d16y8 in my Sol... but in this case, 15 year old car, reality overrides faith...

Anyway, I used seafoam tonight, some in the crank case and some in the intake (as recommended). hopefully that'll help

 

well good luck hope that may help your problem

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Darwin022 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Anyway, I used seafoam tonight, some in the crank case and some in the intake (as recommended). hopefully that'll help
</TD></TR></TABLE>

It might help, but it would seem that the damage has already been done.
the only cure is to replace those bearings.

 

that's what I'm guessing too... how many hours labor does a shop usually charge for this? yes, that's right, it will go to a shop, I don't have the time, tools, or energy to do a job like this.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Darwin022 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">that's what I'm guessing too... how many hours labor does a shop usually charge for this? yes, that's right, it will go to a shop, I don't have the time, tools, or energy to do a job like this.</TD></TR></TABLE>

Depends on the extent of the damage. They may look in there and see you just have some crank bearing wear and just need to slap some new ones in, or they may see that you have grooved your crank or rods are oblong from overexposure to fuxxored bearings and need to regrind the bottom end.

 

ok, so can I consider the engine/car totaled if the damage is extensive? Sorry, this is NOT a project car, it is a daily driver/beater

 

No, its rebuildable, just have to send the crank and rods out for machining. You will have to use oversize bearings depending on how much they take off the crank and rods.

Its not totaled, just more work. You will probably need/want to get headwork done when you have the head off, just to freshen it up a bit. Plus hone te cylinder walls, and depending on how bad those are from slop, you will need oversize rings, either way you will need new rings too.

Its all about how mechanically inclined you are, and how much time you are willing to be down. It could be a 1 day job, or a 1 week job.

 

Thank you for the good info...

I would love to do all of this, IF it were a project. Honestly, I'll turn around and sell it if it is going to require that much work. as I said, I don't have the time or tools to do this sort of **** anymore, nor do I have the energy or desire to spend another $1000 rebuilding the engine (I would not want to do a half assed job).

At least I think I narrowed the brake problem down to the booster... interestingly, I get much better braking when the car is out of gear and at under 1,000 RPM (brakes are pretty hard then), but any other time, they are squishy as hell.

&lt;edit&gt; damn, I guess I somehow had 2 accounts?


Modified by darwin22 at 2:12 PM 7/28/2004

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Darwin022 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">I changed the oil and everything that came out of the pan looked fine (black, but fine), but after I drained the oil filter (from the hole created by the screwdriver removal method), it looked as though someone had dumped a gold glitter pen into the oil.</TD></TR></TABLE>I think you are worrying about this WAY to much. Who knows what you knocked loose putting a hole into the filter with the screwdriver. Enjoy your car and drive it.

 

Umm... people like me are selling total D16A6 swap kits for $400.