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1985 Honda Accord ‘S’. 1.8L 12 valve, teeny tiny carburetor with countless vacuum lines running from it. One owner, 5 speed (if you held it in 5th it had 5 forward gears), manual everything. All mine for the princely sum of $300.00 in the summer of 1991, just 320,000 KM on the dial. It had only minor collision damage from rolling into a tree, mild to severe rust depending on the panel, smelled of German Sheppard and pickles.
Swapped in a set of ’87 CRX buckets, 14″ steel wheels and the factory caps, a universal fit SuperTrapp muffler that worked every bit as well as you think it did and a number of pine scented trees to combat the odor. I spent at least 10 times the purchase price on stereo equipment. Among the many lessons this car provided, I learned bondo, broken bolt extraction, and tetanus shot frequency. Thankfully my Dad (a skilled welder/fitter and more than fair mechanic) was kind enough to share his experience and knowledge.
Each and every day that car was in a state of ‘Mission Readiness’. My only other vehicular experience involved Honda 4 stroke 2 valve air cooled dirt bikes. Anvil reliable, and therefor so should my Honda car be. It had 13 souls in it on a ‘Carload Thursday’ at the drive inn. Countless trips to Washago Beach (the largest freshwater beach in North America) driven by a maniac listening to Metallca at a volume well past ‘clipping’, an AWOL trip to Toronto ON to see Guns’n’Roses with ‘just’ enough gas to get us home and no money for more, a skiing trip to Mont Tremblant, Quebec where at the time you couldn’t buy gas for a car with Ontario plates. Never once did it leave me stranded – even the time it stalled – some clown drove it into a large ‘puddle’ during a local flood – water over the door sills once we came to a rest – it had enough heat in it to steam the water out of the distributor cap (screws were broken off in the distributor body, the cap was held in place with a really good elastic) and fire back up just like nothing had happened.
That ladies and gentlemen was a fine automobile.
Snap On ECFHKY magnetic swiveling mini work lamp. It fits everywhere and provides an unbelievable amount of light, charges on the same mini usb adapter as my smart phone.
+1 on Water Displacement formula 40 as a test remedy only. Zep has an extensive line of products, choosing the exact product for your needs can be daunting – fortunately cap269 has identified a winner already.
I had an ’02 Libby 3.7L Limited, loved that thing. 150000 KM (85000 Miles) Towed a 4000Lb travel trailer with it and it never skipped a beat. It ran so hot (synthetic oil, aux trans cooler, premium fuel), unbelievable. I’d be suspect of the fuel pump more than vapor lock based on that experience.
The corrosion on the clutch would make me suspect the problem isn’t mechanical, but rather mother nature taking over.
What about just putting some spray lube / ATF on the face of the clutch then run the AC? I’ve done this with success in the past.
Brake parts cleaner is your friend. It’s only a couple of dollars for an aerosol can, you’ll need 1 or 2.
Raise and block (jack stand) the car or drive it onto ramps if you have. Get a large drain pan or large/thick piece of card board and slide it under the car in the area of the leak.
Spray the affected area with the brake parts cleaner (Neoprene gloves, face shield or goggles at least). The brake parts cleaner will ‘cut’ the oil and wash it off of the parts. It is VERY thin fluid, so be prepared – wear old clothes. No need to be concerned overly about spraying hot parts (it is flammable, but will need a naked flame or spark to ignite), just try to avoid rubber parts as best you can (serpentine belt). Spray from the sop down for greatest effect, use compressed air nozzle to ‘chase’ the brake parts cleaner if you have access.
Get it as clean as you can, it need not be perfect but as best as you can. Be sure all of the brake clean has evaporated or you’ve blown it dry with compressed air.
Start the car and observe, try to spot the leak at it’s highest point, that’ll be the source – possibly the crank sensor itself or that black box on the side of the block? Don’t rev the engine up while you’re observing for the leak, windage from the accessory drive pulleys will push the leak all over the engine, confusing the issue.
None of the above!
Volvo V40 wagon.
Why?
Cheap insurance. Reliable, commonly found with 200K+ miles. Excellent paint/materials, seldom see rust. Are easy to look at (for a wagon), can blow the doors off of most everything else in the parking lot with some tuning (look for the 1.9L turbo if that’s important to you, i believe there’s a 2.3 naturally aspirated lump as well). Almost every one was equipped with an automatic.
Best examples were 2001 to 2004.
Rotors don’t have much direct impact on brake performance unless they are slotted and drilled – a true ‘performance’ application. For the rest of us, typical rotors they are generally best judged on a weigh scale. Good quality rotors will weigh more than average or poor quality rotors. They also have ‘more meat on them’, generally will last more than one set of pads if they’re not warped. The ‘extra meat’ results in enough density that they may be thick enough to be cut on a brake lathe and be like new for a second set of new pads.
Brake pads on the other hand will have a tremendous impact on brake performance.
Semi Metallics provide excellent stopping power, are inexpensive, are short lived, produce more than their fair share of brake dust and tend to be a bit noisy – watch the opening sequence of ‘The Transporter’, pay special attention to the BMW and you’ll know what I mean.
Ceramic brake pads have good stopping power, are a bit more money, long lasting and not as dusty. I’ve had issues with Chrysler products and squealing with Ceramics, usually resolved by taking the hard edges off of the pads, but I digress.
Parts stores will generally list there products as first line, second line and so on rather than by brand.
A ‘proper’ auto parts store (ie: established independant) will sort through the inherent quality issues / brand selection for you – they don’t like warrantying parts any more than you like doing the job twice.
First line products will generally be name brand, may include little extras – spring kits for brake pads would be a good example.
Second line products will usually not be a name brand, probably a house brand – likely manufactured in a name brand facility and may include a little extra like spring kits.
Driving environment usually dictates what grade (first, second line) of product rather than a brand name.
For my wife that’s rust belt city driving. Friends, family and my junk get second line ceramic pads with second line rotors. By the time hard city stops, road de-icing brine and some miles on cottage country highways have killed the pads there’s usually nothing left of the rotors but memories.
For my 8000 Lb service van its’ first line semi metallics, first line rotors and some detailed prep work.
I have – alot – of experience with the GM 4.3L ignition setup, pre and post Vortec. Pre Vortec the cap was tall (similar to HEI distributor), post is flat.
Stupid things I’ve encountered that caused a grinding noise include:
Not removing the two screws for the rotor that are taped to the inside of the cap. Yeah, that happened.
There was a definite grinding noise after.Grabbed a cap and rotor from the shelf (Vortec, – read flat cap) and installed. Grinding noise followed.
Turned out the rotor was actually for a 2.5L L4 from a mid 80s S10, ever so slightly longer. Suspiciously the apprentices S10 was purring like a kitten…Had one come in with a grinding noise, high mileage truck. Bushings on the distributor shaft were worn so badly worn that the rotor got lost inside the cap and had to stop to ask for directions.
I suspect your issue may be the latter. Check for signs of metal transfer between the rotor and cap electrodes, see how much the rotor deflects from center pushing it around by hand with the cap off.
Clean it off with a wire brush and apply new to ensure a good seal. I like the stuff with PTFE, good for sealing most chemicals including gasoline. You don’t have to crank this down super tight to ensure a seal, treat it like an o-ring sealed fitting. Snug it down, don’t over do it.
First thing you need to know, I’m incredibly lazy.
I had a Matrix (same engine), not a Corolla so your mileage may vary.
Jack and block (jack stand) the passenger side front, remove the passenger front wheel. Then remove the inner fender (plastic phillips head screws – inner fender fasteners – back out the phillips head fastener, then give it a pull to remove the fastener lock with the phillips screw. You may damage a few of these in the process, its par for the course) working from the front to rear – you don’t have to remove all of them, just enough to gain access.
When installing a new belt I have good success starting at the crankshaft pulley and working my way to the highest point.
On the Corolla, I’d start removing the belt from the alternator and work my way down.
Don’t forget to spin each of the pulleys (except the crank, of course) and listen for an odd noises.
Assuming your fork seals are NOT leaking and the fluid level is correct (there is no way to tell, aside from comparing the oil amount drained from left to right), swap out the fork oil (Honda -used to- use ATF on the simpler setups like that on your cruiser) for something heavier, like 15 or 20w. That will eliminate the bounce and won’t break the bank. If the fork seals are leaking, go ahead and reseal.