Honda Problems...

[Andrew]

Ok, heres the story. The car's a 1999 Honda Civic EX coupe, not vtech. About a month and a half ago, the car starts acting up and hesitating when I'd accelerate. 1 1/2 weeks after this it died on me at 2 am in a Mcdonalds parking lot in the ghetto... go figure. So I have it towed up to the Honda dealership and they tell me its the starter thats shot. So I have them replace the starter and the sparkplugs and a few other small things. Cost me like $800. Now today, it feels like theres no power going to the wheels when I accelerate, only it doesnt do it all of the time. Only when it wants to. I do have a kicker zx650.4 hooked up in my car and I'm suspecting that it may be the alternator dying from this amp (80amps of fusing) and my 2 previous systems on the same alt. I believe its like 75 amp alt hot. Now here's my delimma. When I was getting the car checked out for my starter etc. I found out that I have an oil leak and my timing belts need to be replaced sometime soon and my rear brakes are shot. Well these things and some other small work are totalling up to 3k in repairs I definately dont have 3k to put into this car right and I'm not the best w/ the performance aspect of cars (ex. diy tranny repairs, engines etc) so it really sucks. But with whats going on now with the hesitation, should I buy an HO alt and see if that fixes the problem? Should I try and save up the 3k and get the car totally repaired? Or should I just say F it and drive it till it dies then try and get a new one? It really sucks even worse because I'm now going on my 7th month w/ no beats.

Thanks in advance,

Andrew

[Ray]

Ok, heres the story. The car's a 1999 Honda Civic EX coupe, not vtech. About a month and a half ago, the car starts acting up and hesitating when I'd accelerate. 1 1/2 weeks after this it died on me at 2 am in a Mcdonalds parking lot in the ghetto... go figure. So I have it towed up to the Honda dealership and they tell me its the starter thats shot. So I have them replace the starter and the sparkplugs and a few other small things. Cost me like $800. Now today, it feels like theres no power going to the wheels when I accelerate, only it doesnt do it all of the time. Only when it wants to. I do have a kicker zx650.4 hooked up in my car and I'm suspecting that it may be the alternator dying from this amp (80amps of fusing) and my 2 previous systems on the same alt. I believe its like 75 amp alt hot. Now here's my delimma. When I was getting the car checked out for my starter etc. I found out that I have an oil leak and my timing belts need to be replaced sometime soon and my rear brakes are shot. Well these things and some other small work are totalling up to 3k in repairs I definately dont have 3k to put into this car right and I'm not the best w/ the performance aspect of cars (ex. diy tranny repairs, engines etc) so it really sucks. But with whats going on now with the hesitation, should I buy an HO alt and see if that fixes the problem? Should I try and save up the 3k and get the car totally repaired? Or should I just say F it and drive it till it dies then try and get a new one? It really sucks even worse because I'm now going on my 7th month w/ no beats.

Thanks in advance,

Andrew

Stick or auto?

[Andrew]

stick

[Ray]

very common is the coil inside the distributer.

[Andrew]

Sorry for the ignorance, but could you elaborate a little on that?

[Ray]

I will give you a site that will explain it all.

www.honda-tech.com

[Andrew]

Yea I've checked on the site but I really guess I'm just looking for advice on what to do w/ my car more than anything.

[Ray]

iF YOUR NOT ABLE TO PAY A PRO TO LOOK AT IT, THEN YOU HAVE TO DO YOUR HOMEWORK and read about how to do it yourself.

I would make sure that the coil is good.

could be a clutch problem, but more than likely its the coil.

my first suggestion is always to burn it now, and ask q's later.

[kandiman71874]

I run into this question all the time with customers on thier vehicles, only correct answer to give them is none at all, but to throw some things at them to make them think.

what is the vehicle used for?

what would you get to replace it if you were to go that route?

will the replacement of the vehicle drive your vehicle insurance and license and registration fees through the roof and lets not for get sales tax and personal property taxes.

little things like this are what they all seem to forget when they say, " screw that, the car isnt worth it to put that much money into" they usually havent stopped and thought about the other side of the coin. not to mention in your case you will have more time invested due to having to rip out the audio and put it into another vehicle.

in the end, you have to make the decission for yourself, but you need to stop and think about what is that car worth to YOU, not just is it worth putting that kinda money into.

other things to think about, you probably know some people that work on cars for a living, find one of them that you know is dependable and has free time on the weekends and wants to make a little extra cash. most techs will work for 20-30 bucks per flat rate hour compared to 80 -120 a flat rate hour that a shop charges and they usually wont nail you as hard on mark up on parts as a shop will either, hell if ya know the guy well enough they might even give ya the parts at the same cost they can get em for.

hope this helps

Chris

Automotive Technician/Service Manager

Edited September 28, 2007 by kandiman71874

[Andrew]

Thanks so far for the help guys. I actually work w/ someone who knows hondas inside and out so I guess that will definately help.