Is it worth it

[Grumpys93]

http://jacksonville.craigslist.org/cto/5960421609.html
Is it worth 550? All I want is the engine. He claims the motor is solid. Thoughts?

[Accrdwgnguy]

Is it worth it to you? Honestly I won't be buying it for the engine if it didn't start.

[CyborgGT]

To me it is, but I don't mind doing work if it does turn out to be more than just a starter. The junkyard gave me $200 for my car without an engine or trans in it, so that knocks your actual cost down a bit. In the next year or so I plan on 'risking' $300 on a junkyard longblock to do an OEM rebuild on for the RSX; totally worth it in my eyes.

[Raf99]

If the car is beat, the engine was beat.
If one looks after their car (interior / exterior), they look after the engine/heart.

Don't buy it. You can't easily fix lack of oil, no tranny fluid, metal in the engine.

[F22Chris]

I wouldn't. there's probably a good reason it doesn't run. If it was just a starter or some shit, the car would be over a grand.

[CyborgGT]

You'd be surprised at the reasons people ditch their older cars. I have a friend that goes from one beater to the next, and he's made some stupidly simple "rescues." Bad head gaskets are a popular one; cheap and easy work when you're mechanically inclined, but with this Accord, if the owner didn't personally perform the swap, he could have easily assumed the worst. Doesn't hurt to ask questions and have a personal look at the engine. Is the no-start a new problem on a swap that he had driving for a while, or did he simply run out of patience trying to get the engine to work in that car in the first place? It is an automatic, where most of the swap info/support on the net is for manual, after all. I don't know, I just don't see it as that big a gamble considering the money you could get back if it is a flop. Junkyards always pay for a complete shell. That looks like a HASport driver mount; a full set sure as hell isn't worthless. Header. Good parts from the longblock could always be salvaged. Looks to be a complete, useable power steering setup for your own swap; those are notoriously tricky, with the number of people ditching P/S when they swap in an H. You guys are always looking at the negative. People other than yourselves are capable of being honest.

[Grumpys93]

ITs an automatic, I need a battery for my cb, and always liked the H22 if I could simply drop this in temporarily until I finish the turbo motor, this would be a gain. I would part out what I could, then sell it to the scrap yard. They said it ran fine until it stopped starting. They bought it already with the H22 swapped in it. I asked to go look at it tomorrow. Waiting to hear back I also asked for better pictures of the engine. But I could use the battery, axles, engine, mounts if hasport, ecu. Or I could just part out the h22 and scrap the car and maybe make 20 bucks off it. I'm going to try and get them to 500. I will bring my starter with me, check the oil, remove the valve cover, and look at the quality of the swap job. I have swapped a couple h22s so I have a decent understanding on how it should look. I'm just not 100% sure on the cd5 chassis.

[Losiracer2]

why would they give up on the car for a simple starter failure? Something's fishy there and how can they assure you that the engine is in great condition without it starting?

[CyborgGT]

Like I said, people sell their cars for stupid reasons all the time. People buy cars with these "problems" all the time. It's old, it's cheap, it may not be worth the potential cost of repairs to that particular owner. And at that price, Grumpy's not really risking anything.

Give it an inspection, bring someone more knowledgeable along if you can.

[Night Wolf]

$400 at most. thats around what the JY will pay him anyway. probably rebuilt, and beat on.

[deevergote]

For the engine alone, it could be worth it if you could confirm that it's in good condition. Hard to do when it won't start.
You could do a compression test on it, if it cranks. You could look at the oil on the dipstick to see if it's low or horribly black (both signs of poor health and neglect.)

You could part out the rest of the car and recoup most, if not all, of your $550.
It's a definite risk, but I'd say it's worth looking at. At the very least, part the car and sell the engine cheap to someone that wants to do a rebuild. I'd say it pretty much hinges on your desire to either lose $550, or work to recoup that money piece by piece. If you're willing to work, it's fairly low risk. If you're willing to risk $550, then go for it.

[oni_cb7]

If the car is beat, the engine was beat.
If one looks after their car (interior / exterior), they look after the engine/heart.

Really? That's how you judge a car? Ever heard of the age-old saying: never judge a book by its cover?

With over 10 years in the automotive industry, I've seen more cars that contradict your reasoning than those that would match it. You'd be surprised how many people just want their car to look pretty.

IE one customer, gorgeous newer Honda Odyssey (super clean inside and out), rotors were worn down to the fins, the motor was full of sludge and the tranny was slipping. But you know, it had a really nice interior and exterior....

another customer: beat up 93 Corolla, missing half of the bumper, crack in windshield and it looked like a bear attacked the interior. Other than the appearance, the car drove perfectly.

I wouldn't. there's probably a good reason it doesn't run. If it was just a starter or some shit, the car would be over a grand.

why would they give up on the car for a simple starter failure? Something's fishy there and how can they assure you that the engine is in great condition without it starting?

No. Just no. I've bought a car that just wouldn't start and it ended up being a dead battery with a bad starter.

Most people don't know a single thing about cars. A lot of people can't afford paying the fees to have their car diagnosed correctly (let alone fix the actual issue). Their logic goes, I can't afford to pay several hundred dollars to diagnose and fix the car, so I will just sell it. Literally, this happens A LOT.

[deevergote]

That is very true. Hell, I sold my first car for $200 because of a failed petcock valve on the radiator. $5 replacement part, or a $100 radiator, and I'd have had my car working fine again (as long as the regular overheating didn't warp the head...) But I was clueless, and let it go for next to nothing.
People that don't know anything about cars get scared when their car won't start. When the car is an old beater, a no-start is often enough for them to wash their hands of the whole thing. Reminds me of the vacuum cleaners my uncle would pick up in the trash. 9 times out of 10, they just had a simple clogged hose. On the curb it went. Took my uncle 2 minutes to return it to a fully functional machine. My family never had to buy vacuums!
Back to the car, though... this one is swapped, so the seller SHOULD know how to fix such a minor issue. Unless they bought the car like that, expecting it to work perfectly. Some people are that naive.


While it's true that there are times where cars are neglected cosmetically but carefully maintained mechanically, I do see merit in Raf99's assessment. Perhaps it's not always true, but if you let your car look totally awful cosmetically, chances are often good that you neglect the mechanical bits as well. I'd be wary of anything in rough cosmetic shape, unless it was clearly a halted restoration project.

[Crankshaft]

[QUOTE=deevergote;3265298]
Back to the car, though... this one is swapped, so the seller SHOULD know how to fix such a minor issue.

Deeve over the years we have seen MANY members open accounts or with accounts already open come in here because they started a swap and realized that they were in over their head with the project or simply failed to go over everything necessary to do the swap simply because they knew or heard someone did it before and therefore thought it was easy. Personally i know or knew 2 guys that did swaps on running cars because when they read threads it seemed easy, one was a 73 datsun 240 with an RB35 and the second was a 93 hatch with a B18C; the datsun has been down for 8 years and counting and the civic was sold because my friend got tired of dealing with the details that arose from the swap. Like the guys stated you can part it out and get money back or offer depending on what is there and you think you can use. Personally i avoid buying other people's projects as you usually have to go thru everything they did to fix problems.

[Grumpys93]

I am going to see the car hopefully tomorrow. The person selling says that they bought the car with the swap already done. From the picture it looks like a decent swap, I don't see any cut wires or cheap parts. I plan to bring my compression tester with me and do a quick compression test if I can get the car to turned over. I am not worried about the work as you can tell with my current turbo build that has been coming along very slowly. I know I could get most if not all my money back by parting some of it out and scrapping the rest. But I'm looking at it this way. I have to already buy a battery for the accord this comes with it, that's (100) bucks right there axles which is another 100, intake until finish the turbo and break in period, another chipped Ecu. The only downside is this is an automatic.

I'm on the fence on whether to buy it or not but I am not going to count it out until I have seen it in person and checked out the oil, spark plugs, compression, and overall appearance of how the swap was done. If I'm not 80% positive the motor is in good condition then I won't get it. I don't plan to beat the hell out of it, I just want a motor to throw back into the accord. I know I could get a junkyard motor but this would be putting me in the same spot I am in now.

It also comes with a clean title which tell me it hasn't been in any major (reported) accidents but I could careless about the body