MAN ALIVE!!!!!!! This P.O.S. is nickle and dimen' the **** outta me!!!!! Every time I get something fixed, something else has to go wrong with it! I'm so sick and tired of this car! For a Honda it's not being very Honda for me! It's extra frustrating because I've wanted to sell it now for the last 2 months, but haven't been able to because it's in the shop or has needed to go to the shop! I will not sell a busted car to someone. Plus, my wife and I have a baby on the way. Low/little cash. Anyway, it has only 135,000 miles on it ("just broken in," right?). I've owned it since spring and have taken care of it well. Supposedly the h2o pump, t-belt and t-stat were all replaced (seller said so, but had no documentation). It was trouble free until I bought another car and decided to sell this Accord. That's when it all started. It's getting back at me I swear!. Aaaaaanywayyyyy, the problem now is intermittent dripping coolant - not from the radiator. It's somewhere in the back of the motor on the driver's side. Not on top. Not on the bottom. Somewhere in the middle near the water pump location? It doesn't appear to be coming from any gaskets either. It may sound strange, but it almost looks like it's coming from a small, purpose-built drip hole. I used some stop-leak and it seemed to work, at first. Now it seems to leak only while the motor is cold. When it's warmed up it stops. This flippin' car has really stressed me out! It's worth $2800-$3000 and over the last few months I'll have put in $1100-$1300 just so I can sell it with peace of mind! Anyone have an idea of what's leaking? Thanx!

 

prolly the seal between water pump and block.....expensive to repair unless you are mechanically inclined.......

 

I sympathize with what you're going through. I really do.

Unfortunately, I very much doubt if the previous owner had the water pump replaced. The holes you mention are indeed purpose-built to drain leakage around the water pump shaft. In a way it would actually be better if it were leaking from the O-ring which seals the pump to the block, because that might indacate that a perhaps-new water pump was not installed properly or the wrong O-ring was used to install an aftermarket pump. Because the leak appears to be around the shaft, this indicates that the pump is probably just plain worn out.

Again unfortunately, if the guy you bought it from wasn't honest about the pump, he may very well have not been honest about the belts or seals, either.

But there is a ray of sunshine in all of ths, if you are willing to see it.

You say the car has 135,000 miles. If the previous owner was being honest about at least this much, there is a lot of life left in that engine and probably the rest of the car, too.

If the belts were not ever changed, they must be changed now - regardless of who owns it. In order to replace the water pump in this car, unlike a V8 engine, a fair bit of disassembly has to be done to get to the water pump. This is the best time to change those belts and seals and you'd be crazy to pay what you'll have to pay to replace only the pump and not the rest.

You say you've already sunk maybe $1300 into the car. That money must have bought something quite substantial - probably brake, or suspension, work, yes? Well, that's a good sound maintenance investment that any owner has to make in a car of that year. It's to be expected on ANY car.

A complete timing belt job, including seals and water pump is going to be at most $700, so then you'll be into the car $2000, plus whatever you paid for it - a car that you say is worth $3000 on the market.

But after you pay for all of this work, the car will almost undoubtedly be a very reliable car that probably will not need major work for many years. This car you hate may then very well be as useful and reliable as a new, $20,000 car.

If the tranny is still operating well, change its fluid. You can do it yourself.

Put in new bake fluid and bleed the brakes. You can do it yourself.

Replace your old coolant (with the stop-leak in it) with new coolant. Again, DIY.

After a few years of trouble-free driving, you may even start to like the car.

Good luck in your decision, and I also wish you nothing but the best with your soon-to-be-larger family.

Sorry about the trouble with the car.

 

Unless you have seen the repair receipts, I would not take anyone's word for it........I seriously doubt that the belts have been changed. It will cost you about $650 - 700 at your local honda dealer.......

 

Okay. So, then why does it STOP leaking once the motor is warmed up? I'd assume it would leak non-stop cold or warm. No?

 

metal expands when it warms up and seals the leak.....

 

I was sort of assuming that too, but I was hoping to hear something else. Something that would've been better news. I hate this car! I just had to buy the bad one from '93.

 

This is the main reason that I have all of my cars inspected before purchase......

 

Yeah well, I needed a car ASAP. I'm no dummy when it comes to inspection. I know what to look for. Besides, I didn't have the time or the cash for that. It was all good at the time of purchase. It was gonna happen regardless. It just happened to me. I got the bad one unfortunately.

 

You're right. If the coolant leak was not there when you purchased the car, it would have been a very diffictult thing for any inspector, regardless of how competent, to ascertain the need for a new water pump, belts, etc. (For example, before I replaced them, the belts in our 92 looked perfectly OK.)

Even though you've been financially trapped in this, I'm glad you started this thread, because others who are considering the purchase of a relatively-old Accord might learn from your bad experience.

When considering the purchase of an Accord of that age, unless the seller has proof that the work has indeed been done (receipts), one should assume that this work will have to be done - regardless of the miles on the vehicle - and that the purchase price should be negotiated accordingly.

It think that your experience should also drive home to us owners that we should keep all receipts for all the maintenance we have done, or have had done, to our vehicles.