SOLVED! Post 2853 Leaking Injectors, Dealer Techs Rock! Extended Cranking after Engine Swap 3.4L 5vz

Shit. Honda just called. Poor old Civ has seen better days.

The bad news: Oil leaks galore, both outer CV boots torn, 4 nearly bald tires, desperately in need of alignment and compliance bushings (whatever the hell those are?!?).

The good news: the undiagnosed rattle noise when accelerating uphill is the catalytic convertor, and is basically nothing to worry about. So we've got that going for us.

Not gonna spend $ fixing oil leaks on that poor old beast, just doesn't make sense. He said the two they knew of for sure that they'd recc' starting with are the spool valve (not sure what/where that is?) and the breather box (not sure?). But it'd be almost $400 just to address those two, and it sounds like it's highly likely that there are more leaks than those, perhaps many more. That could be way more difficult to get to and therefore way more expensive to repair. Just doesn't make sense to spend on this poor little car anymore. And in the short term, we can keep dumping more oil in - you know, the classy way of dealing with engine troubles!

But one bottom line that comes to mind is that for sure by the time rain season comes back (late October usually), we've gotta either have some new tires or have the Civ replaced.

OK, I admit, I'm a little sad Poor Civ. She withstood a lot of years of abuse, and handled like a graceful little race car on countless morning commutes. That was my fave thing about the Civic over the Taco..........I could slip in and out of lanes in heavy traffic like no tomorrow when I was late for work, whereas I didn't dare drive like that in the Taco!

Poor Civ. We will need to plan a funeral for this car. 17 years of service to me, plus 5 more to her previous owner. That's pretty bad ass for a little red Civ, don't you guys think?

Time to start some serious car shopping. And Civ funeral planning. I wonder if it was too much for the Civ to bear, watching us fuss over the Taco. So she got jealous and decided to get revenge?

Wait, have I been spending too much time thinking about my vehicles?

 

2 gallons of gas and a match outta do it

and god was waiting for you to have a reliable vehicle before he let the civic fall apart

if I were you I wouldn't touch the civic at all just let it go till it blows, as-is

for oil leaks in old clunkers like that I go to thicker oil so it doesn't leak, if the civ takes 10/30 then use straight 40, if it uses 10/40 then go to 20/50 oil. in an old worn out engine like that thicker oil is better anyway since things are so loose and worn out in there. unless something is literally about to fall off then I wouldn't do anything at all to it.

now I think if everyone in this thread sent you $1 you could go get a 4runner tomorrow, so how bout it guys? should we buy her a 4runner?

im thinking this one: http://www.ebay.com/itm/Tamiya-1-32...839?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item3cf14e2017

 

Jen, I just had a major brain fart!

start selling your pies and treats to get the money for a 4runner, by the end of the year you should be getting close if you charge correctly, charge $4 for every $1 it cost to make then adding in your labor at $10 an hour to make it (seen it on TV)

seriously get on facebook and advertise for making seats and take orders, im sure kids parties (cakes, cupcakes, brownies, other treats and such) are good business in your area as everywhere


your always cooking anyway and I bet eric wont mind having all the leftover unsellable mistakes sitting around the house

 

Morning all!!

@keakar -!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I totally want that 4Runner you posted!!! Are you guys gonna buy it for me?????
And thanks for the tip about the thicker oil. We were thinking about doing that.......seems like it would be worth it.

TW, the crappiest thing right now with the Civic situation is not knowing how long we could get away with just adding oil and expect the engine to still run OK.

If I knew it could go for a year or more like that, it'd make sense to spend the cash on the tires and Eric could probably figure out replacing CV boots/doing alignment at home for pretty cheap. Then just keep dumping thicker oil in, and that way it'd buy us a bit more time to finish dealing with the Taco debt and be better prepared to replace the Civ with what we really want (4 Runner) instead of another practical, boring, low cost (compared to a 4Runner anyway) Civic.

But if I knew it might only go a few months like that, it doesn't make sense to dump $500+ into tires, etc. In that case, we'd probably be better off not spending anything on the Civ and instead replace it right away with what we can afford now (Civic type car instead of 4 Runner = ).

One positive about the timing is that this is kind of the best circumstance this could happen in if ya think about it. Compared to the alternative of the Civ suddenly dying overnight (or like @keakar pointed out, what if it was while the Taco was still laid up?!?!?!? thank you Civ for not doing that to me!!), this sort of terminal illness diagnosis it's been given allows us a little time to shop for a replacement, while driving it in the meantime (don't worry, no more interstates or high speeds for the Civ - slow, easy driving and ridiculously frequent oil checks these days!).

Test drove a 2006 Civic last night with ~120K, for $9K. Insanely good gas mileage, cute and clean little thing, of course so small and easy to maneuver that it basically drives itself, reasonable price considering that car will easily last 10-15+ reliable years as a daily commuter. Nice boring dark grey color. Yep. Super boring purchase. An economical way to commute to work. Yay. Woo hoo, party. I should give it a little credit though - the sunroof AND the A/C worked in that Civic!!! And the dog didn't eat the drinkholder - yet!!

OR. A lovely new 4 Runner that gets to be a second adventure-mobile, to give the Taco an occasional break as she continues aging!! Now THAT sounds like YAY, WOO HOO, PARTY!!!!!

PS: I just have to point out that I STILL have not smoked, even though now I am dealing with more broken vehicle issues. Almost a week now! Please please, hold your applause. I know, I know, I am amazing. Fine, a little applause is acceptable.

Time to start some online shopping..........

Happy Tuesday TW!

 

http://www.beavertontoyota.com/used/BT52531.htm

Nice looking Accord : )

 

I bought my daughter an accord, EX, coupe, 1999 and have been sinking money into every since, and we have exceeded the purchase price with repairs, with the last major one being a rebuilt transmission at 2.6k. I just did a four wheel brake job on it and still need to take the right door apart!

 

Way cool you are on the doorstep of going a full week smoke free!

I was secretly thinking that you caved. I'm glad to hear I was wrong. Wouldn't want to hit you with a "bad dog! No biscuit! Go to your kennel!".

Keep us posted on the Civic trials and tribulations. Keep an eye on the lubrication levels and as a reminder, make sure that hood properly latches. If it doesn't latch properly, bad things can happen. Ask me how I know.

 

by the way, sticker shock warning, a set of tires is going to run you around $800-$1000 not $500

just go to a small gas station that fixes tires and they will sell you the pull off tires when people buy new tires, they usually have some thread left to them and should be fine to drive another year on them without worries and you can get them for like $20 each usually including mounting. they use these tires to sell to people needing something to use as a spare tire. I don't know if you need 4 tires but just get what you need so you have some rubber and traction. definitely don't buy new tires for that junker, not even cheap ones. the "official" tire retailers wont sell or even give away used tires because of liability issues so it needs to be a small local place.

 

@hetkind , sounds like some bum luck with that Accord of yours, sorry to hear it!! Wonder if 99 was a bad year for Accords or something? I had an '89 Accord - 1st car I bought on my own. Saved a giant bundle of cash tips from waitressing in my dresser drawer, then went to all of ONE car lot to shop for a car, saw a light blue Accord with a sunroof for just a little more than the wad of cash I had in my pocket, and started negotiating. I don't even remember if I test drove it!! I was in my early twenties, what can I say? I'm just a wee bit more skeptical these days. I loved that car like crazy though. I couldn't believe how well it performed on the snowy/icy back roads of Vermont, probably saved me from a few accidents with my brilliant driving moves back then!! Was a great car for what I needed then, and because of that I'll always have a soft spot in my heart for Accords. Especially blue ones. But we are now leaning away from getting a sedan anyway, more on that in a second......

@keakar , yep, tires for the Civ are cheap compared to Taco tires. Would be ~$350-400 for a new set of all seasons for the Civ. But then with alignment cost and some other crap, it would definitely be more. Anyway - I agree totally with you, about not spending that kind of cash on that car, period. And I love your suggestion about finding a small, local place to get cheap used tires!!! Definitely telling Eric about this!! Thank you for the idea, this might be the temporary solution we need!

@koditten , thank you for the support/encouragement about kicking my nasty habit!! I was thinking about you and your hood dilemma this morning - was it very expensive to get a new one? When will you get it? I can't believe that happened to you, that is flippin' crazy man!! Must have been quite a trip driving like that What did your wife say about the whole thing?

Guys, guess what we just test drove?????? A 2003 Taco for $15K!!!! Red like @Dirty Pool 's!!!

Here's the good stuff about it:

1) Two. Thousand. Three. Taco. Nuff said.
2) Most of our goodies - automatic, 4wd, TRD Off Road, Xtra Cab
3) Only ~90K miles!!
4) Comes with a matching topper

Here's the bad. There's kind of a lot. Sit down.

1) Weird pattern to paint peeling on the hood - there's kind of a large oval area on the passenger side of the hood that the paint is peeling from. But not peeling AT ALL anywhere else. We suspected some kind of abnormal heat issue there maybe? Anybody know what this is from? Trying to get a photo of this on here........
2) Has a dedicated tow brake installed - it's obvious this Taco did a lot of towing - transmission concerns? Shifted nicely on test drive though.
3) Carfax shows a whole laundry list of negatives - has had 3 owners, 1st owner lived in Mississippi (salt) and got rid of it at only ~12K (why????), failed emissions once in 2013, was stolen once in 2006, was in an accident involving the rear end of the truck once (small dent in bumper)......
4) Taillight is busted, bald tires and shot shocks. Guessing there is other stuff that would need immediate repair also.

We asked them about taking it out to our hero Toyota tech, noahpete, to have him check it out. They told us we'd have to make an offer and draw up paperwork first, then they'd let us take it for 48 hrs. We told them we'd think about it. The salesman was icky. It's been so long, I completely forgot how much fun car shopping is

I can't believe we are seriously considering this. His and hers Tacos.

 

Here's a pic of the weird oval where (I guess?) the clear coat peeled up, yet the paint is nearly flawless EVERYWHERE else. Doesn't that seem weird????

 

Actually we only paid 3k for the car, had about $500 of work done to get it road ready, put on a set of tires, a starter and finally last January, had the tranny rebuilt. So the low purchase price and the high transmission price is driving the cost train here...

Last few years, the price of decent used cars appears to have gone through the roof!

 

Agree! Especially Tacomas in the Pacific Northwest, it's crazy out here!!

 

I think the great recession with lowered car/truck sales for three years depleted the used car market...we had a heck of a time finding a decent running car in Dallas for my daughter for under 6k, and in 30 months, we have put about 6k into it or about $200/month so not too bad. It will be a few years before the supply of decent 6 year old used cars picks back up again. Since we were buying the accord in January, we were competing against all the folks who got their tax returns and looking for a cheap car.

 

That paint looks like something spilled on it and are away the clear coating.

Do you have access to the VIN on that truck? Go to the Toyota Care website, create an account then enter the VIN. It will tell you all dealer service the truck received early in its life from dealer.

 

Sorry, just went back and read your post.

Yes I have a hood coming, scheduled to arrive on the 27th. I paid $180, It is a Korean hood, but that is fine. I've had good luck with Korean hoods fitting well. Fenders, I like to use Toyota originals. They have a much better primer paint and have a better fit. Very important when fitting in lights.

I still have paint left over from when I painted the hood and fender last time, so the only addition cost will be my time.

 

looks good, the things you are concerned about don't look like anything to worry about to me, except the peeling clear coat "may" be a sign the truck will need a paint job, and the low mileage on it is insane! I would jump on it and trade the civic in on it, whatever you get for it its not worth that much anyway lol, but you might get $1000 out of them for it because they want to sell the red one. yes it might be tight on the budget paying the notes but it is what you need and how can you go wrong with a taco?

as to the paint color not being "your style", remember red vehicles last you a long time (remember the civic?) so put a hello kitty sticker over that bad spot in the paint and go park it in your driveway

as for bargaining, go in at $12k and be firm telling him a set of tires WILL cost you $1000 so tell the guy to drop the price $1000 or he has to put a full set of tires on it before you buy it. plus, be sure to list all the things that need work and read off you estimates for what it costs to do them "at retail prices". not saying he will agree to $12k, but im thinking you should get it between $13k-$14k but your no push over, your a tough cookie so negotiate hard telling him he has to give you a reason to buy it from him and not go get something at another dealer, you might get it into the 12's if you barter well and have a good poker face acting like you don't care if you get it or walk.

where is it? do they show how long its been on the lot? if its been on the lot 3-4 weeks then he is motivated to move it off the lot and gives you bargaining power.

you know you wont find something like this again so move quickly and get it without showing how much you are interested

 

not really, mine had a basketball sized spot on the rear roof cab corner and the rest of the truck looked perfect but a few months later it started with spots peeling on the doors and fenders where the sun hits it the most. all it takes to fix it is a sanding off the old clear coat and a new clear coat sprayed on it. you could use it as an excuse to change colors if you wanted to but that's more expensive.

as to your list of things that worry you:

1) Weird pattern to paint peeling on the hood - there's kind of a large oval area on the passenger side of the hood that the paint is peeling from. But not peeling AT ALL anywhere else. We suspected some kind of abnormal heat issue there maybe? Anybody know what this is from? Trying to get a photo of this on here........
explained above with the solution
2) Has a dedicated tow brake installed - it's obvious this Taco did a lot of towing - transmission concerns? Shifted nicely on test drive though.
doesn't mean anything as for how much he towed with it, just that at one time in its life it was set up to tow something. lots of guys have this and tow once or twice a year if that.
3) Carfax shows a whole laundry list of negatives - has had 3 owners, 1st owner lived in Mississippi (salt) and got rid of it at only ~12K (why????),
don't read anything into it, lots of people buy a new truck every year or every other year, my cousin is one of them

failed emissions once in 2013, was stolen once in 2006, was in an accident involving the rear end of the truck once (small dent in bumper)......
so what, again, so what as long as any damage done to it was fixed, a dent in the bumper OMG RUN!!!!!! you are worrying to much about nothing here

4) Taillight is busted, bald tires and shot shocks. Guessing there is other stuff that would need immediate repair also.
these things are great news, you can use this to bargain a price deduction for the value of these things then fix it cheap with your buddies on TW selling used parts. the less that wrong with it the more they wont deal on the price

 

Morning TW!!

@koditten , I took your suggestion (thank you!) about checking it out w/VIN on Toyota, but unfortunately it didn't show much more than what the Carfax already told us. Worth a try though, definitely - will keep that in mind on future Toyotas we might look at! Anyway, all we can see for sure on this truck is the negative stuff I mentioned in that previous post, and that the second owner (from ~15K up to ~50K miles) had the oil changed at a local dealer pretty regularly. The 1st and 3rd owners must have either maintained it at home or gone to a non dealer for care.

@keakar , thanks for all the advice buddy! We are not sure how we feel about this truck overall, I think we've got some serious thinking/talking to do. As you all know, we are the type of weirdos that keep a vehicle for 15-20 years, so we do not enter into a decision like this lightly. At all. In fact, I think I will need to get to know every car dealer in the area as a close personal friend for at least 6 months prior to choosing where to buy. JK. But it's almost that ridiculous for us, because we keep them so long. It's usually the most cost effective way to do it, so that's why. Although, I suppose that's not always true............sometimes it's more sentimental reasons rather than good financial reasons, as far as why we hang onto them so long..........hmmm, I wonder what recent situation I might be referring to there?

Anyway, point being, I agree with you that we should not let the things wrong with it scare us away (dent in the bumper, OMG RUN!!!!!!!!!!!!! Yeah yeah, got it smarty pants!!!). IF a 2nd Taco is truly what we want. I think that's the first part of what we need to figure out. We really haven't even talked about the possibility of a 2nd Taco (other than joking around), mostly because I didn't think I would EVER find one with reasonably low miles that I actually liked for the most part and could afford. Then this thing just dropped out of the sky. So we're still wrapping our heads around whether it actually makes sense or is just a fun/impulsive but kinda stupid decision to have 2 gas guzzlers. It WOULD lengthen the life on Taco #1, because then #2 could start taking over some of the off road adventures. Or, I suppose we could do it the other way, where we let #1 take ALL the abuse til she dies for real, then #2 would be fresh and ready for it's turn someday. HA!! Who am I kidding? We'll NEVER let #1 die..........Anyway, obviously there'd be some great perks to having 2 Tacos, but we gotta talk more about exactly what those are for us.......

I suspect this thing will get snatched up FAST, considering how rare it is to find a Taco of that era with such low miles ANYWHERE, but ESPECIALLY around here. So I realize we're taking a chance by not moving on it fast, but when we woke up this morning we both felt like, nah, not so sure about it.

Eric asked me which Taco I would want to drive if we got that one.

I replied, "MY Taco, of course!" (you know TW, the one that we've been talking about/spending on pretty much daily since December? )

Eric: "Then I'd drive the red one?"

Me: "Yep."

Eric: "Nah, I don't want it then."



Maybe the only way we'll be happy is if we can clone this one, with it's flaws and dings and all?

Wait, not .

More like .

Then .

PS: Today marks ONE WHOLE WEEK since I quit smoking Every passing day I gain more and more confidence that this time I will really follow through and be done with them FOREVER. And cigs are so expensive these days that just kicking that habit will cover at least 1/3 or 1/2 of a monthly car payment, how bout that!! Now if Eric could cut his beer consumption in half, we'd be buying a 2015 loaded Tundra with cash!!

 

another thing to consider here jen is something I know you never thought of.

ponder this, buy that taco trading in the civic for $10 or whatever lol, then trade your old 98 taco in on a 4runner if you still really want one and the trade difference in the 4runner vs taco is a small amount.

in the end you have a taco with less miles then yours and its 5 years newer then what you have now.

now on to other distractions, I found something you need for camping https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IH5h0qU4EQ4&feature=player_embedded

https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=yPWhbdvvJ-A

 

Oh yeah, we also test drove a 2009 Subaru Outback with ~90K for ~$14K. Drove really nice, and appeared to be in good shape. Could be a nice compromise between a Civic type car and a 2nd Taco or a 4Runner.

We gotta figure out what the heck we want!!! It's a hard decision!! I wish you could press a button and PRESTO, you could change your vehicle from a rough and tough truck that can handle anything into a teeny little commuter that only asks for a little drop of gas here and there. Tough to choose between them, or to know if something in between them will satisfy you!!