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

[Mod_Man_Extreme]

EDIT!: Found a local car buddy to help me out for a lot cheaper and I'm feeling good. His quote is $120 for all the belts, AC Idler/Tensioner pulley, Water pump and Timing belt.

Original post below line:

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So, I've been taking my car around to local shops to get an estimate the stuff I need done to it and frankly I can't afford any of it.

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.

Also, any of you guys in NC and near Statesville that know cars feeling like stopping by and giving me a hand? I'm desperate for any scrap of help I can get as frankly I don't know jack about actually fixing cars, just what the parts themselves do.

[dsheinem]

Didn't you just buy this car? Did you not have it checked first? Were these problems known?

There is a "lemon law" which may offer some protection to you if you got swindled...

[CRTGAMER]

I don't understand why some of the repairs.

Timing Belt/Water Pump - Timing belt is critical, but only if abnormal wear or milage reached. Water pump - Is it leaking or is just in combination due to belt change out?

Transmission fluid and filter - A good preventative maintenance if the milage reached. Be sure the torque convertor gets drained too. You can do this one, although it can get messy if no drain plug.

Wheel Bearing - These are either working or the car is not moving, no grey area. Or is just preventive maintenance, a repack of bearing grease?

Tires - Be sure to check for abnormally more wear on one side or other. Indicator if alignment might also be needed.

AC Conversion and recharge - If still working, leave alone.

Motor mounts - If motor is moving around, fix soon as you can, too much movement may damage transmission mounts followed by rear seal.

Front and Rear Struts w/Alignment - No rush here unless steering or noise problems.

Head Gasket - Either works or fails, never heard of preventative maintenance on a Head Gasket. Questionable of changing one to prolong life, with unnecessary torque of head bolts in a soft threaded aluminum engine block.

[Anapan]

My dad has done almost all of those repairs himself so I asked his opinion.

His first piece of advice go to an auto wrecker and get a repair manual for your car since most of the repairs you listed are not that hard. Most wreckers have a large bookshelf of manuals (since many people keep one in their trunk) that explain clearly with detailed illustrations how to take the car down to it's frame and put it back together. Chilton or Haynes repair manuals are common. You can request one on Craigslist if your local wrecker doesn't have one.
Next he suggests asking people in the area to suggest a backyard repairman (maybe try Craigslist for that too but make sure to ask for references...). From the prices you listed, he figures the shops are charging $60-$75 an hour. Except for the tires he agrees with you that those prices are ridiculous. Most backyard repairmen he knows (himself included) charge $25-$40 an hour and would have it done quicker, often with better care than a busy repair shop.

My dad figures if you have the time, everything except the wheel struts can be done with a few basic tools you can pick up cheap from a pawn shop and a hydraulic jack (maybe borrow that).

Timing belt - The water pump must come off to replace the belt. Timing belts are usually $69 - $129. Timing belts should be changed around 100,000 -125,000 Km. If one breaks the valves will drop and hit the pistons causing irreparable engine damage.

Transmission fluid & filter - You need to remove the bolts of the transmission pan from one side, and loosen the side ones, finally slowly loosen the rear ones and removing some of the side ones to slowly drain the old fluid into a 5 gallon fluid container.
The filters are usually held in with 1 bolt or screw. The kits come with a new gasket. 3-5 Liters of fluid will drain out. New fluid will be $20-25. Transmission filter kits are usually about $8.
That repair needs a hydraulic jack and jack stands in place. Some 4 cyl. and V6 engines have the transmission and motor all-in-one. If the transmission is going on one of those you might as well scrap the car. Our '91 prelude's engine was one piece and when the gears started slipping we found it would be a $3000+ fix.

Wheel bearings - If a wheel is making a grinding or whining noise it needs a replacement. Otherwise you might want to remove them, clean them to inspect for wear and then re-apply wheel-bearing grease. Most can be removed fairly easily, some not without special tools.

Air Conditioning - Likely most of your freon has leaked out. Most shops just bleed it into the atmosphere before using a recharge kit anyway. A good refrigerant recharge kit is made by Red Tek. It has easy instructions on how to do it. You should have no problem after reading the documentation. The full recharge kit is around $40. It comes with one can of leak-stop, 2 cans of 12-a refrigerant, and a gauge to tell when the pressure is right for your vehicle's AC setup. It fixed my dad's Oldsmobile's AC that hadn't worked at all for over 20 years. Still works perfectly 5 years later. He had quotes of $600-$800 for this $40 fix.

Motor mounts - Pick one or 2 up at an auto wrecker (they'll already have it taken off so you can compare it with your damaged one(s). Jack up the car and get it on jack stands. Next, jack the engine up about an inch until the old motor mount can be slid/hammered out. Use a wide piece of wood to prevent the oil pan from caving in.

Struts - You need special (expensive) tools for this to collapse the springs. The repair manual will tell you if you have gas-charged or spring loaded struts. In any case my dad recommends leaving it to a professional because you could get injured easily. Probably not necessary...

Head Gasket - If the engine coolant isn't changed periodically it will eat away aluminum parts of the head as well as the head gasket. If your engine has high mileage you should replace the coolant and the gasket. This can be done with very common tools. The repair manual will explain it. You need a torque wrench to torque the heads down to proper specs.

Timing belt/water pump - $69-129. 3-4 hours.
Rear wheel bearing - $30 for bearing, $12 for a bunch of bearing grease. 1 1/2 hours.
Transmission drain, filter change and refill - Filter kit $8 fluid $20-25 for a big jug. 2 hours.
Tires - $265 for new is decent. You can get used at an autowrecker for much cheaper if necessary.
AC Recharge - $40 1/2 hour.
Motor mounts - $30 1 1/2 hours.
Front and Rear Struts w/Alignment - Our mechanic did it for $122 each + $150 install. That's at $30 an hour.
Head Gasket - New head gasket is $30 to $40 4-5 hours to change.

$314 not including tires and struts.
~23 hours @ $30 an hour - $660

The part prices are probably a bit more expensive that you can get in auto stores in the US. The hours are his estimate for how long it would take him - he's retired and his back's screwed up so he takes his time doing stuff.

This is just my dad's thoughts on it. He says "Take it with a grain of salt."

[Mod_Man_Extreme]

Didn't you just buy this car? Did you not have it checked first? Were these problems known?

There is a "lemon law" which may offer some protection to you if you got swindled...

I bought it in January, but yes I knew about all the things that would be needed on it, It is an older car after all. I didn't get swindled as I bargained him down $600 on the price. At it's original price of $1800 he was going to install a new rear bearing and timing belt. At the time I was absolutely broke and literally only had $1300 and some change to my name so I bargained him down to $1200 and left with it happily.

Thing is, only the stuff I listed under necessary is what I need to have done. All of the rest is purely cosmetic or luxury fixes to get the ride feeling smoother and more comfortable, otherwise they're really not needed at all for the vehicle to operate properly.

I bought the car without any maintenance records from it's second owner who had put it up for sale at an auto Consignment shop. The original owner had it until '09 as was confirmed by Honda of USA's VIN tracking and kept it extremely well maintained. The second owner was her granddaughter, she simply ignored any maintenance and just drove it around without a care even tossing away all the old records.

So, since I lack any service records I want to at least replace the timing belt as the car's creeping up on 216K miles already. I don't know when it was last replaced and since the car is a Honda and uses and interference engine. If it snaps I'm fucked and out looking for a new car again unless I want to pay about $2k just for the engine repair work.

I don't understand why some of the repairs.

Timing Belt/Water Pump - Timing belt is critical, but only if abnormal wear or milage reached. Water pump - Is it leaking or is just in combination due to belt change out?

Transmission fluid and filter - A good preventative maintenance if the milage reached. Be sure the torque convertor gets drained too. You can do this one, although it can get messy if no drain plug.

Wheel Bearing - These are either working or the car is not moving, no grey area. Or is just preventive maintenance, a repack of bearing grease?

Tires - Be sure to check for abnormally more wear on one side or other. Indicator if alignment might also be needed.

AC Conversion and recharge - If still working, leave alone.

Motor mounts - If motor is moving around, fix soon as you can, too much movement may damage transmission mounts followed by rear seal.

Front and Rear Struts w/Alignment - No rush here unless steering or noise problems.

Head Gasket - Either works or fails, never heard of preventative maintenance on a Head Gasket. Questionable of changing one to prolong life, with unnecessary torque of head bolts in a soft threaded aluminum engine block.

Timing belt - Needs to be done ASAP, my local shop that I got all the quotes I posted from said it's about time for it so I should get it done in the next 3k or so.

Transmission fluid and filter - Again, don't know when it was done last so it needs to be done ASAP I'm having weird short shifts where it likes to stick on four or two and never come out as I climb hills or come out of a dead stop like when at a red light. It's an auto so it can be a multitude of things, but luckily it's not going to be too bad of a fix. Most shops just said a drain and refill should take care of it no prob. I was quoted a rebuild by a local transmission shop for around $300 which was a lot cheaper than I expected. They said the old-school civics that have some years on them typically have issues around the 200k mi mark so there's always one or two in the shop daily.

Wheel bearing - It's giving me the loud whir that signals it's time to change it, this was also mentioned by the place I bought it from so I knew it before hand. I figure it's something to do soon before the car locks up.

[Mod_Man_Extreme]

~Anapan's really long post~

I'd love to be able to do any of that myself but I don't have any tools. I do however have a Chilton's Service Manual that covers 84-95 Civics and actually has a fair bit of info on the Civic Wagon which is what I drive and the black sheep of the Civic family. There are a some parts differences so while I can buy most of it at autozone or advance there are some things that just have to be refurbished or rebuilt as they're no longer made.

[sneth]

Proper maintenance on a car is always more than people think. A lot of this is really easy stuff to do on your own but it takes time. I do all my own work on my old lincoln, but my new car I get it done professionally.

I just dropped $1800 on tires, so consider yourself lucky.

[CRTGAMER]

Timing belt - Needs to be done ASAP, my local shop that I got all the quotes I posted from said it's about time for it so I should get it done in the next 3k or so.

Transmission fluid and filter - Again, don't know when it was done last so it needs to be done ASAP I'm having weird short shifts where it likes to stick on four or two and never come out as I climb hills or come out of a dead stop like when at a red light. It's an auto so it can be a multitude of things, but luckily it's not going to be too bad of a fix. Most shops just said a drain and refill should take care of it no prob. I was quoted a rebuild by a local transmission shop for around $300 which was a lot cheaper than I expected. They said the old-school civics that have some years on them typically have issues around the 200k mi mark so there's always one or two in the shop daily.

Wheel bearing - It's giving me the loud whir that signals it's time to change it, this was also mentioned by the place I bought it from so I knew it before hand. I figure it's something to do soon before the car locks up.

Just read your update in the OP. Great price on that belt change out. Timing belt alone worth that price. Most newer engines won't kiss valves on the pistons if the belt fails, designed with clearance. But don't mess around with the risk get that belt done "yesterday" if due.

Agree with the Trans diagnosis, try the inexpensive route first. Be sure the fluid in the Torque Convertor also gets changed or flushed. Just by asking that, may help getting a legitimate service.

Wheel bearings don't give any warning before failing. If they are making noise, you would drive less then a block before the inner race and axle shears off! Very likely your brakes dragging or the brake wear sensor yelling at you to change the pads. Good to get the bearings inspected and repacked with fresh grease while the brakes are being done.

[Mod_Man_Extreme]

Timing belt - Needs to be done ASAP, my local shop that I got all the quotes I posted from said it's about time for it so I should get it done in the next 3k or so.

Transmission fluid and filter - Again, don't know when it was done last so it needs to be done ASAP I'm having weird short shifts where it likes to stick on four or two and never come out as I climb hills or come out of a dead stop like when at a red light. It's an auto so it can be a multitude of things, but luckily it's not going to be too bad of a fix. Most shops just said a drain and refill should take care of it no prob. I was quoted a rebuild by a local transmission shop for around $300 which was a lot cheaper than I expected. They said the old-school civics that have some years on them typically have issues around the 200k mi mark so there's always one or two in the shop daily.

Wheel bearing - It's giving me the loud whir that signals it's time to change it, this was also mentioned by the place I bought it from so I knew it before hand. I figure it's something to do soon before the car locks up.

Just read your update in the OP. Great price on that belt change out. Timing belt alone worth that price. Most newer engines won't kiss valves on the pistons if the belt fails, designed with clearance. But don't mess around with the risk get that belt done "yesterday" if due.

Agree with the Trans diagnosis, try the inexpensive route first. Be sure the fluid in the Torque Convertor also gets changed or flushed. Just by asking that, may help getting a legitimate service.

Wheel bearings don't give any warning before failing. If they are making noise, you would drive less then a block before the inner race and axle shears off! Very likely your brakes dragging or the brake wear sensor yelling at you to change the pads. Good to get the bearings inspected and repacked with fresh grease while the brakes are being done.

Timing belt along with a complete belt change and AC Idler pulley replacement is being done this Tuesday. As I was driving home Friday my idler pulley started squealing and literally exploded underneath the hood. I was lucky in that nothing else was damaged because it came very close to shearing my power steering belt in half.

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.

Oh and it's a no go with my mechanic friend and his cheaper repairs. My om flipped shit about how he's not a licensed mechanic, etc... etc... She's a fucking idiot half the time, but this takes the cake. She even threatened to pull me off her insurance (which I pay for with my share at $100 a month) if I didn't got to a real mechanic so I'm stuck doing it the "right way" according to her. Luckily as I had already bought all the parts I'm only going to spend $230 on it all when it comes to the T-Belt and other engine bay stuff.

[Arbitern1]

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.