I am going to be purchasing a 2009 tsx with a blown engine.. It has around 73k miles on it and was told that the timing chain rattles off which caused the engine needing to be replaced. The owner has not tried to start it or look further into in after the car decided to shut off and towed to the dealership where they said it needed a new engine. Does this sound accurate? could it just be in need of some work?


Want some feed back from you guys to see if it is worth taking in and trying to fix the prob..



Thank you!

 

There is a little blood leaking out of my nose - the doctors say it is a brain tumor. Is it possible that it is a simple nose bleed or is it really a brain tumor?

How the hell should we know?

 

All depends cost.

Consider worse case. Motor blown . Price new motor on eBAY. Consider freight etc.
Then figure labor to install new fluids etc. To get new motor running.

Then add in price of car. Is it a few g under market ?

If not walk away.

 

Remember that a replacement engine will make resale value plummet - the car would need to be nearly free.

 

good way to put it but was asking for feed back or if anyone had experience with the same prob. I know it was a long shot but this is what forums are for right?

 

already had a quote with a new engine w/ 38k miles installed for 2800$

I would be trading a 2005 tl aspec with 82k miles on it.... it does have a salvage title as well which is why im considering it.

 

Rule of thumb for salvage title is take 50% off the high blue book price. Like robpp said, factor in the cost of the engine/install and that is your price point.
Let's break it down:
2009 TSX 78K miles high KBB is $16,120 chop 50% ~8k Motor installed will be $2800, but lets error high and say 3K.

8-3=5K

Now if you meant your car has a salvage title then expect to get bent over and told to like it from the dealer and if it's a "used car only type" dealer well, You'd probably be treated better in a prison shower.

I'd pay no more than about $9,500 for a 09 tsx blown motor. (clean title)

ya have to wonder how the timing belt went at 78k though ????

 

It's a timing chain.

It was probably the timing chain tensioner. The OEM unit has been known to fail. K Tuned and Skunk 2 both have replacements. After I get the turbo on and tuned, I will probably look into replacing mine with one of those units.

 

http://cms.skunk2.com/id/389/K-Serie...-The-Solution/

 

Your math is a bit off.

Going by your theory of 50% of KBB the a car with a salvage title should be $8k. Subtract the cost of the motor ($3k installed sounds awfully cheap) and the true value of that car is $5k.

$9500 for a clean title that you need to invest $3k in is way high. That means that you have $12.5k in a car that is worth $15k private party since the condition will never rise above "average" - is that savings worth it?

 

2800 to instal a motor isnt actually that bad because, labour to install a motor is about 19-21 hours so you are paying roughly 125 an hour to instal the motor. so i think that totally reasonable.

 

Learned something new today (thanks), surprised this is, or hopefully was an issue with the K-series motors. Looking at the Skunk2 website the tensioners are all on back order and doesn't look like they make one for our engine anyway.

 

K-Tuned also has one, with two ratchets on it. I would imagine our tensioner is either upgraded, or that will fit on our motor.

It's just that everyone is too lazy to do anything with the 09 + tsx, so they just assume it doesn't work.

 

This

 

you guys are stupid! honestly! lol

having a rebuilt title or salvage title does not mean the car is worth 50% of the actual value.

i sold my 08 TL Type-S With a rebuilt title cuz it was a recovered theft for 17,000 blue book was 22k..rebuilt means is worth alittle less but not half!

if this TSX has a salvage title, then it probably sucked water into the motor and hydrolocked it...right now in chicago i can get you a motor with 11k miles off a 2010 for 1500 bucks and any mechanic shop can replace that engine for 600 bucks.

2009 with a rebuilt title can probably be sold for about 13-14k...you can get a engine off car-part.com many reliable auto parts places on there.

if i was buying the car to keep it. i would pay 8 for the car spend about 2500 fixing it..have 10,500 into it total..and thats cheap for a 09 TSX!

dont listen to people telling you salvage it garbage, any insurance company will insure you..get a good insurnace like state farm or geico and if anything happens down the road they will pay full value!

 

The key word in this post is "Chicago". Since like 99.9% of the rest of the country bares little resemblance to the "Windy City" (thank God), I would question some of the assumptions made here. Salvage title? Wouldn't touch it with.... anything, and no one with any..... (well, you fill in the blank) would either (why would you? If you can't afford a straight one, you shouldn't be looking at an Acura to begin with). So be ready for a long, hard, sell if you want to move the car. Insurance? Maybe there, but I wouldn't trust one man's opinion. Why would they insure a car that has already been claimed a total loss, especially the "bargain" insurance companies like State Farm and Geico? I'd like to hear from the OP (this thread is a couple of months old you know). I'm curious what he decided to do.

 

That is crazy about the timing chains going. Worked for Honda for 7 years and have seen a lot of high mile 4 cyl Honda's/acura's traded and never heard of that. I am on the sales side though. One of my friends is a master tech and has worked for Honda for years. Out of curiosity, going to ask him about this tomorrow.

 

we have a 2002 RSX-S in the house with 99,000mi on the clock. only mod it's got is an Injen intake. My buddy (who owns the RSX) does not work on his own car (either ask me to work on it or bring it to a shop), will not perform service on the car until the "maintenance required" light come on, and drives like a car thief who just stole a car. But he's never had a problem with his motor. Makes me wonder what causes this "chain tensioner" to fail? Are those engines that had this kind of failure had force induction? supercharger? OR driven like there's "NO REDLINE" on the tach?

 

keyword is your cool? nobody said anything about not being able to afford anything. i have a 07 type-s with a clean and clear title. i just know from experience from the place i work at how things go.

everyone sees rebuilt and they think its like the end of the world. if u saw half the cars that are totalled, there are cars that are damaged more that some insurance actually fix...and really. State Farm, Geice, Farmers, American Family, USAA. those are bargain companies?? so which aren't?

and i didnt realized this was old post til just now..

 

damn $300 -- http://www.hybrid-racing.com/store/i...s-engines.html

 

so how tough is it to replace the tensioner????

 

1st off, the rsx has a totally different engine than the tsx, the k20 is a much better engine than the k24 the 2g and 3g tsx has.

2nd off, something nasty had to happen to earn a salvage title, please show us in writing any insurance policy that will pay out full on a salvage title car.