goMO

son in college has (had??) '97 Camry that my mom gave him. He drove it home from Baltimore to Charlotte and the engine ran like crap. i knew it needed an oil change and tuneup, so I brought it to my new local guy. He did the oil change, replaced the plugs and did clean the throttle body, etc.

Car ran fine for a day and then started to stall out while slowing down to a light or stopped. Brought it back. He increased the idle. Worked fine for an hour then son called from the highway saying car had no power. couldn't get it above 40 mph. So I went to get him and gave him my car (my beloved 02 TL-S with 192k miles and running strong!). So I tried to limp it back to the place, but it was bad. I could have had more acceleration with a tricycle! And it stalled out a dozen times while stopped at lights (yeah, it was rush hour too...). And it sounded like the rattling engine was about to drop out of the compartment.

Finally I was a half mile from the shop when it died. The place towed it in and he told me the crankshaft is shot and that the car is basically done. It would cost at least $2k to get another motor in there. The car isn't probably even worth $2k in its condition, age and miles (175k).

So I have 2 questions:

1) Do the symptons I described indicate a crank?

2) Assuming the car is done, do I just call a salvage yard or should I donate it somewhere (if someone would take it) and take the tax credit?


thx

Es617

That Sucks sorry to hear about that sucks to be stranded on the Highway. Does the Car have any check Engine Lights? Ive have my GF car do the same thing you described but it was the TDC sensor and crank sensor. Changing the Timing belt solved these issues in her case.

01tl4tl

lack of oil changes could have damaged the crank--clogged passages = no cooling and lubricating flow (daughter just killed saturn this way)
bearing damage etc would explain noises

Hows the oil look now?
see what the new spark plugs are- brand wise correct for the cam?--probably calls for ngk,,not bosch or others! make car run bad- and plug condition,,worn out already?

any signs of oil in coolant or coolant in oil?

a junkyard- now called auto dismantler and recyling- will give you actual money,
maybe a few hundred or more depending on interior and panels- glass etc,,
the more they can resell the more its worth to them..and they will come tow it for free
Camry parts fit many years, so always a good market for them
or sell it local to a kid that wants to drop in a junkyard motor/race motor and can diy it
they get a good car for a good price that way,,you give a car new life

the donation program/tax bs gives you a very small credit and when the person who buys it from the charity to rebuild- doesnt register it and parks on the street--
YOU get the ticket! guess how I know~

goMO

Thanks!

I wonder if I should try to get back any of the $300 I paid for the oil change and tuneup.

Any chance they caused something to happen that hastened its demise? It seems very coincidental the car died after they serviced it. But I don't think a crank dies that fast, right?

Karanx7

iTrader: (2)

It could be, but the problem is that it's hard to prove anything. Of course the mechanic won't take responsibility for it, and there's no way to prove that he did the damage.

Assuming that he only did the oil change and regular tune up, there's not much he could have done wrong.

01tl4tl

if the old oil was so thick and sludgy it was holding the engine together
a change may have revealed the other major problems

the question is- why tune it with a major engine noise?
which order was the work done in?
that shop wont give you anything,,but you can probably get 300+ for it from the recycler

01tl4tl

the symptoms after tune are in line with loss of compression
car wont run below a certain point,,bumping up idle helped rings seal
and keep it going a little while
Cleaning TB may have lossened stuff too,,but it wont cause a failure thats not waiting to happen
Sounds like typical kids car,,,why change the oil~

goMO

ok, thanks for your comments.

Now my kid wants to take my car back to college for his senior year. I work from home so I can deal with it, but I'm not sure I'm comfortable with him driving my tls.

01tl4tl

require PROOF from a shop of oil changes every 6 months or 7500 miles, whichever occurs first
like a warranty company would want~
and photo proof of washed and vac'd -at least monthly-
and bird dropping cleaned immediatly!! (box of baby wipes are good for that)

everything else is good on the car right? 105 service done, brakes good,,
make sure he has a download copy of the owner operator manual www.owners.acura.com and is told not to use SS mode of the trans for anything

you are reg'd with acura care 1 800 382 2238x5
make sure all recalls are taken care of
need cars VIN to reg

goMO

thanks for the great advice, as always!