New Prelude, not a good start.

[Justin66]

So turns out my just boughten prelude needs more front end work than originally hoped. The guy said so far all he knows was that the front drivers side wheel bearing needs to be done, and after a short test drive ya you could definitely hear it. My friend/mechanic looked over what he could and it looked decent. So i took it to his shop and they checked over the car and found that the front brakes need new pads and rotors, both lower ball joints need to be done, a rear link of some sort and soon the output shaft seals. He gave me a rough quote of about $800...... that sucks. So after all that gets done ill be able to hopefully then safety the car...... but i still have to do an emission test which i am praying passes the first time, without any work. So im currently driving it illegally, as its not in my name til i get and safety and e-test. Lets hope i dont get pulled over.

Its a silver 98 base, with 182,000km on it.

Do any of you have trouble passing with your preludes?

 

[Justin66]

Ok now im looking at $1500 to do the ball joints and bearing and brakes. He told me you have to replace the whole lower arm thing and its for about $500 each. Is this true? can you not just replace the ball joints separately? I really cant afford this right now .

 

[RoughKnight]

Go get some Moog ball joints from an auto parts warehouse, they have a lifetime warranty. Go get the bearings there too, and your pads as well. You'd look around 400 for all. Go to a shop and have them do just the labour for like 2-3 hours. You're at around 600 bucks. There ya go.

 

[Justin66]

I was told you need to replace the whole lower arm part of it too, not just the ball joint itself.

Bearing and brakes are done now anyway.

 

[91_stylin_civic]

I dont think you need to replace the lower arm for the ball joint. They press into the lower part of the knuckle i believe. The upper ball joint you have to replace the arm

 

[josh_crewdson@y]

Correct! The lower ball joints press out, and the uppers you replace the arm. The easy and more profitable way for the shop to do it is to replace the whole arm(they make money from the part). take the arms off and take them to a machine shop with your new ball joints you purchase they should press them in for around 50 bucks for both. Rep me if this helps. Good luck

 

[Justin66]

Ok i found Moog lower ball joints online but it says for the Type SH, would they still fit?

.... it might not matter, none of them ship to Canada anyway.

 

[Justin66]

Ok we are still figuring out this ball joint dealy, a new problem came up, my high beams werent working, turns out the holders for the bulb and the harness are missing.... how did i miss that? Honda is asking $600 for it! WTF i dont understand how they gather this shit up or price it but im so confused and frustrated with them right now.

This car isnt even in my name yet and its pissing me off cause i cant get it safetied or e tested yet, i need to replace an exhaust gasket before the muffler before i can e test (might not even pass)...... this car doesnt need much just what it does need seems incredibly expensive and most you can only get from Honda.

This is the last non certified and e tested car i ever buy thats for sure. Most cert/etested preludes i found were atleast $6k and usually had between 120-220k kms on it. This car has 182k kms and cost me $4k, seems ill be spending $6k after all....

List of what it needs still:
-left and right front lower ball joints (approx $1000)
-rear sway bar link thing (approx $150)
-highbeam bulb holders with harness, both sides (approx $600??!!)
-exhaust gasket, before muffler (no clue)

What has been done:
-front rotors and pads ($120)
-front left wheel bearing ($175 , had to be premium bearing)

Also i still need to pay all the fees for the e testing, hoping it passes the first time, thats $35. The safety, not sure how much, depending if it needs anything else. Car registration transfer and new stickers $80 + the provincial tax for the $4000 car, another $80.............. im really freaking out right now. I just want it all done and in my name already, sick of being stressed.

 

[Justin66]

Ok so Majestichonda failed me, they dont ship to Canada. However i checked at another local parts store and they say they have lower ball joints and it doesnt specifiy for SH or not, only on the uppers. Honda says that the ball joints for the Base are not sold individually, but that doesnt mean they cant be put in if they were? I really need to know cause they are $60 each instead of the $500 each for the ball joint/knuckle assembly from Honda. Can they be pressed in?

 

[dacheat]

you can buy non-honda parts that are separate. honda doesn't sell them separate.

 

[Justin66]

Ok cause i ordered the ball joints, didnt specify for SH or not so i assume universal. Lets hope, $1000 just to get 2 ball joints are absolutely ridiculous.