Racketeer Car Gurus and Gearheads ASSEMBLE! (need car help)

[Mod_Man_Extreme]

Damn dude. That is so many problems. Regular maintenance is important. Almost all of my families cars have been driven a whole lot and 3 of them are 20 years or older. We have never had any problems but we do maintain them regularly.

Tell me about it. The original owner was great to it and actually maintained it pretty well, but her granddaughter who had it for about two years left 90% of the maintenance to the wayside.

I've personally replaced:

Both front turn signals
A taillight
Rebuilt my interior lights (because my dome light & trunk light were shot)
Tore my dashboard apart to install new lights in my climate control panel as the old ones had burnt out.
Replaced my driver's door window regulator
Put in a radio & finally filled the gaping hole where there would typically be one in my dash.
Bought some floor mats
Installed a dash clock
Installed new wiper fluid squirters all around as two were broken and one was missing
Fixed my sagging rear wiper
Scrubbed down the grimy interior like there's no tomorrow to where it's sparkly clean.

The end result was a much nicer car to look at and ride in.

When everything's said and done I've only put about $350-$450 into the car including all the parts I bought and the new radio I put in. I've been pretty thrifty, waiting for sales, ignoring large purchases I don't need and generally not rushing things that don't have to be done.

After I get the timing belt settled on Tuesday I plan on going out to the local Honda specific junkyard and finally getting some alloy wheels. That way I can junk my existing steelies as they are complete garbage with inside cupping in the rear followed by the new tires I need later this month.

Here's a few pics of the car as it looks now:

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[CRTGAMER]

Transmission fluid change I can do myself in a single shot. It's basically twenty minutes in my garage to drain it and than another 10-20 to refill the case with fluid via the dipstick, right? Also, torque convertor? I've been warned about transmission fluid leaving people with insane burns so I'm a bit worried. It's not like I was gonna change it after some sort of cross country drive, but when's a good time to change it? Say after a day or two of not driving it

I got the bearings inspected when I took the car to the mechanic and they confirmed that the loud thrumming noise I heard from my rear right tire was indeed the bearing.

Nice ride! Car looks very clean, amazed of how pristine the interior looks.

You won't get burned if you just run the car long just enough to warm up the fluid. Idle for about five minutes, shift to drive and reverse a couple of times. Fluid drains better when warmed up. Be sure you have SOLID Jackstands, give the car a couple hard shakes before crawling under there.

Transmissions normally don't have a drain plug. The reasoning behind that is the pan has to be removed anyways to get to the filter. Hopefully you have a drain plug, if not, leave a few bolts in loosely. Pry from one side and hope you catch most of the sludge in a catch pan.

Unlikely the Torque Converter (Its bolted to the Flywheel) has a drain plug, but worth a look see. Usually a metal shroud needs to be removed first to uncover the flywheel. If there is a plug, bump the starter or get a flywheel tool to spin the drain plug to the bottom. Try to avoid the engine running with a transmission drained of fluid, best to check this before draining the pan. Drain and replace plug. If there is no plug, thats okay. Its just that you won't get all the fluid out without a flush pump. But its not a great amount of fluid in there so no biggy.

A little teflon tape wound clockwise will help for a better seal on pipe thread type drain plugs. Not too much as to contaminate the internals and don't use on a machine thread plug that has a gasket.

There are a couple various types of transmission fluid, with Dextron predominate in most vehicles. A friction vs lubrication factor for the internal clutch plates. Make sure you get the right fluid. Refill thru the dipstick with a flex tube funnel. Car has to be running to verify the level. Be sure to put in drive and reverse a couple of times.

I really question the bearing diagnosis, but as in the timing belt don't wait. Usually when a wheel bearing starts to go it just eats up the race and the axle from the shear weight of the car on it. If it was a front wheel drive I would immediately say its the CV joint. Perhaps the throbbing more likely from the dive train, maybe a universal joint?