How to deal with repair costs? AKA I need an NC repair buddy
MOD_MAN_EXTREME
Wagonist
EDIT-2!!: Found my local go to guy for repairs! I'm getting the belts all changed out, replacing my old water pump and also replacing my AC idler pulley for now and the rest will be done so on and so forth. Right now I'm only in $260 including parts and labor with him for the whole deal which is more than OK with me as it's $150 less the cheapest shop in my town.
I'm hoping to have the rear wheel bearing done next and follow it with the tires so I can be ready for summer.
EDIT!: I've decided to go for it all DIY but I need some help fro someone local, can anyone in NC that's got experience stop by and help me out? I'll take every scrap of help I can get as I'm a complete wet eared rookie with cars.
So I finally got the wagon out to several shops and had all the mechanical tweaks, checks and fixes that it needs and I want done looked at.
Long story short the price is atrocious (thank God for free estimates).
Here's how everything breaks down:
Absolutely necessary/essential maintenance:
(All prices include tax and disposal fees)
Timing belt/water pump - $345
Rear wheel bearing - $210
Transmission drain, filter change and refill - $125
New Tires (soon if preferable) - $265
Total - $945
Maintenance that's purely cosmetic and I want to get done:
(All prices include tax and disposal fees)
Proper AC Conversion and recharge - $220
Motor mounts (to stop the insano vibration at stoplights and in park) - $290
Front and Rear Struts w/Alignment (current ride is stiff and bumpy) - $665
Head Gasket (As I've heard older Hondas can eat through these) - $500
Total - $1675
Now combine both sets of repairs and maintenance and you get a grand total of:
$2620.00
That's INSANE for my current budget and living situation. How do you guys without any tools or a mechanic buddy deal with repairs and the like? I'm starting to freak as I have no idea how I'd ever afford anything on this level of repairs.
I'm hoping to have the rear wheel bearing done next and follow it with the tires so I can be ready for summer.
EDIT!: I've decided to go for it all DIY but I need some help fro someone local, can anyone in NC that's got experience stop by and help me out? I'll take every scrap of help I can get as I'm a complete wet eared rookie with cars.
So I finally got the wagon out to several shops and had all the mechanical tweaks, checks and fixes that it needs and I want done looked at.
Long story short the price is atrocious (thank God for free estimates).
Here's how everything breaks down:
Absolutely necessary/essential maintenance:
(All prices include tax and disposal fees)
Timing belt/water pump - $345
Rear wheel bearing - $210
Transmission drain, filter change and refill - $125
New Tires (soon if preferable) - $265
Total - $945
Maintenance that's purely cosmetic and I want to get done:
(All prices include tax and disposal fees)
Proper AC Conversion and recharge - $220
Motor mounts (to stop the insano vibration at stoplights and in park) - $290
Front and Rear Struts w/Alignment (current ride is stiff and bumpy) - $665
Head Gasket (As I've heard older Hondas can eat through these) - $500
Total - $1675
Now combine both sets of repairs and maintenance and you get a grand total of:
$2620.00
That's INSANE for my current budget and living situation. How do you guys without any tools or a mechanic buddy deal with repairs and the like? I'm starting to freak as I have no idea how I'd ever afford anything on this level of repairs.
Comments
LOL...
@ MOD_MAN_EXTREME: Become your own mechanic, prices on things go down dramatically. Don't be scared to pickup a wrench and get dirty.
DIY Costs for your repairs are rather cheap aside from some of the ones that require special equipment, like mounting tires and wheel alignment.
Needs:
~ T-belt and water pump is sub~$100 if you DIY, and it is a fairly easy job.
~ Tranny drain will cost you 2 qts of oil and about 30mins of time, call it $15~20 if you buy a filler funnel/tube
~ Rear wheel bearing, well that can be tricky, a shop can fix it right with new parts or you can junk hop for a rear-control arm. If you have a 2WD car i'm pretty sure you can use any ED/EF chassis rear control arm.
~ Tires - gotta bite the bullet on that one.
Wants
~ AC conversion?... If your system is empty now, may as well just pump a couple of cans of R134A freon( w/ oil) in and see how you stand, IE if you have any leaks etc. R12 cars obviously can't get the proper freon anymore and usually need "conversions", which ends up being a couple line adapters, a system flush and usually people replace the dryer bottle and assorted other things....usually adds up. I've dumped 134A in most of my R12 cars and gotten away with it. Allegedly R12 and R134A don't get along, but I haven't had any issues with it if you drain out all the old R12 and it's oil fairly well... might cost you $30~50 if you get nice cans with a built in pressure gauge.
~ Engine mounts - Go buy a tube of polyurethane sealer from lowes/homeboy depot and fill your mounts. Cheap, effective and provides a stronger/stiffer mount than the factory. ~ $10
~ Front/Rear *performance* struts can be had for half that price and unless you're wearing tires unevenly, there is not a need for an alignment after replacing them. Only if you lower the car and install a camber kit would you need an alignment.
~ Head Gasket - never had a D15 or D16 blow a head gasket without cause(overheating, poor maint, etc.) You're in luck the old D15/D16 that are in the EE chassis use the "composite" head gaskets that are stupid cheap, like $30? might take a couple hours to replace if you're in a hurry and know what your doing.
Food for thought...Cheers
The rear trailing arm is wagon-specific. If you swap arms to get a good wheel bearing, it'll have to be wagon.
And, I don't believe that the mounts are the cause of your vibration, and filling them with urethane will surely make the sensation worse.
I just got back from a meet in your neighborhood, and there looks to be a good network of enthusiasts about. Make some friends and learn from them. I've done all of those jobs and more on my cars, and I love them because of the LACK of "repair costs".
I look at it this way: This month I had to replace the catalytic converter and do a tune-up to pass emissions in georgia. Did it myself, about $140 parts. Also had to replace rear tires prematurely (because of my own poor suspension setup). That cost $150, so this month I made a "car payment" of <$300.
Most months? zipzeronada.
i'd just take that list and order them from most important to least important and just start banging away at it
Point is, don't take it to local repair shops, find a local honda guy.
To put things into perspective, my current financial status is that I literally have 4 cents to my name right now. Of course things will change on Friday, but not by much, I work a shitty dead end register jockey job with little to no hours so it's tough. Luckily I don't have any bills aside from insurance and the phone to worry about so almost all my cash can be dedicated to it.
Is anyone hear nearby that can help me out with assistance and know-how? I really want to get it done right, but as affordably as possible.
I already replaced my headlight blinkers & bumper blinkers, driver's window regulator, radio & speakers, all the cabin lights, rear window trim, wiper blades (lol), the lights inside of my climate controls (fucking hell to change), my AC switch, installed a dash clock and tons more. So, I'm up for the challenge just not all alone with just a service manual as I'm flying completely blind here.
No idea what I'm doing on the head gasket, but when I got the car in January I didn't get any maintenance records at all and I'm really paranoid about stuff like this.
You don't know the half of it, my rear steelies are smaller than my fronts by about an inch or so and slightly bowed in. They've been wearing my already balding and dry rotting POS tires to bits and pieces and I need to replace them ASAP. I've got a bead on some alloys in good shape for cheap, the local scrapyard offered me a set of Prelude Si wheels for about $150. But I'm gonna look around and see what I can get in the same price range or cheaper at other places nearby.
Haynes repair manuals are cheap and can get you through most jobs, the factory service manuals less than 100 or freely available online.
Also, the thing that worked best for me...is finding a friend locally. Someone who knoews what they are doing, you get along with, and loves working on cars. For the price of food and beer and your time you get good times, a feeling of satisfaction, and you learn how to do something (not to mention getting your car fixed!). I can now drop and replace engines, clutches, suspension bits, and I feel I can do a wire tuck to any OBD0 or OBD1 Honda after doing it side by side a few times with my more knowledgable friends.
Mom works at Sears so that means nice discounts on tools for when I need something I'll use often or just want to own one of.
Having a haynes and some basic tools are a necessity.
If you have any questions I'll do my best to help you.
To be honest while I'd really like to do all of this myself I know absolutely fuck all about the inner mechanics of cars so I'm pretty much just looking at it not knowing where to start.
No one really showed me either but I have spend a ton of time reading online, looking for FAQs or write up how to's, and reading the haynes.
Fortunately there are some good write up's on just about anything you could think of for our D series motors.
One of the shops I went to asked me if I had a 1.5l or 1.4l and I had no idea. I'm a complete greenhorn with any of this stuff, but gradually learning.
EDIT!: My thing is I really want to do this, but have no real idea where to start and am not able to pay for any parts sold I break stuff in the process. I make like $180 a paycheck so that's not a lot of cash after the $200 for insurance and phone bill each month (not to mention gas costs).
The size of your motor is stamped on the front of the block. It will probably say D15B2 is you have a 2wd wagon.
the 15 signifies 1.5L, this would also be covered in the Haynes.
If it is your only car it will be challenging to start a repair and get it fixed in time to take it to work. If you have a place to work on it, internet access and a manual its not that serious.
Doing my first timing belt took an entire day, and I am not the smartest guy in the world. I got it done right the first time but I took my time and kept checking my work. If you don't ahve the right tools it makes things much harder.
I'd say pick your smallest/easiest repair and get it done to boost your confidence.
I stopped by Auto zone and got all the belts and the water pump I need for $140 total and adding in his labor charge it's a grand total of $260 which is a shitton better than my local place considering they wanted another $65 over their existing estimate of $345 for the timing belt.
For tires I managed to spot a deal on a set of 13'' Kumho Solus' (85k Mi warranty) for only $200 at Discount tire. They've been absolutely great on my friend's '08 Rio-5 SX so, I'm wondering how they'll feel on the wagon and what it's going to feel like driving with new tires. I HATE the rapidly self-destructing set currently on it so anything else will be an absolute Godsend.
Sounds good man, you might look into the price difference for OEM Honda timing belt and water pump. Those are items you can't really afford to go bad.
As far as tires, I order mine online, it saves quite a bit of money. Once you have them, you can just take them to discount tire and pay to get them mounted.
only real problem you will have is removing the crank pulley bolt. It is a 17mm that is a pain to get off without an neumatic or electrical impact gun. I have an electric dewalt impact that did the job. other than that it was really very simple. if you don't have one, go to a local mechanic shop and ask the to loosen it with their impact. most places won't even charge you to knock it loose but if they do it'll only be like $10-$20. then tighten it back up by hand and as long as you're not driving like 20-30 miles back to your place it will be fine. when you get home it should come off easily enough by hand with a standard tool set like you have. just make sure after you put the crank pulley bolt back it you torque it to spec so it won't back off during your regular driving.
if you pay $125 for the transmission flush, no offense but you deserve to be taken advantage of, lol. transmission flush takes all of 20-30 minutes and is very easy to do. I got 2 qts of Honda MTF and it was like $6. I even rigged up a funnel cause I couldn't find mine by cutting the bottom off a 2 liter soda bottle with a hose duct taped to the spout and it worked like a charm. like the old saying goes, if life gives you lemons, make lemonade, lol.
What fluid should I use as well? I plan on switching it to synthetic but, I want to make sure I don't buy the wrong stuff for it.
So far we've replaced:
Timing Belt
Water Pump
Power steering, AC, and Aternator belts
Valve cover gasket
AC Idler Pulley
Idler pulley bracket
In the process we discovered that what I thought was a 100% stock Wagovan actually had a D16A6 in it! So, while not an amazing boost in horsepower and performance it's neat to know I have a nicer engine in my car. I am disappointed that I just have dual-point injection now though as I don't get any real benefits in performance with it but hey, at least it's a bit more efficient.
Coming up the stuff that needs to be done is:
Rear wheel bearing
New radiator hoses
Radiator flush and fill
Bleed and check brake system
New struts
New wheels and tires
New headlight housings
Install my new taillights
And things I want to do but can't afford just yet:
Convert to 5-Speed Manual
Power windows in the front
New mirrors
Convert interior to Gray
Fresh paintjob