The timing chain cover is leaking. YourMechanic says $1,129.56 and RepairPal says $229-264, although it calls it a “Front gasket.”
The timing cover is on the side, so that must be something unrelated.
Dr Car shows how to remove the cover and replace the timing chain. The video is only 22 minutes long, but he says that if you have a good impact wrench, it should only take you 10 hours. He removes the cover 8 minutes in, so 3-4 hours?
How bad is this leak?!
I don’t know what is on the side of the engine bay under the overflow reservoir, but I don’t think it is Armor All!
The radiator is leaking and you need to flush the cooling system after replacing the radiator.
I am just going to wash off the dried coolant and leave it alone.
The shocks and struts are leaking. MyMechanic says $1,957.20 to replace all four and RepairPal is drunk. You can only select one or two wheels, not all four. They say $1,016-1,077 for the front and $933 to $1,011 for the rear.
Seriously?!
Mom replaced those from some random shop in 2017 and it was more like $1,200!
You need an alignment after replacing struts. YourMechanic simply doesn’t show alignments, but RepairPal says $343-437 and KBB says $101-118. I cannot find anywhere around here that posts their prices on-line, but I found a place near Mesa through Groupon doing 4 wheels for $36.
What could possibly go wrong going to the absolutely cheapest place?!
The parts would be $750 at O’Reilly’s, but RockAuto has Monroe quick struts for $460--$437.88 with 5% off.
When I make a big purchase I install Honey to see if it has better coupons than I can find. For some reason it doesn’t do anything with RockAuto.
Amazon has the same parts for $448.38 and they aren’t supposed to arrive any faster.
The power steering pump is leaking. I don’t know how bad, just that it is on the bottom of the engine bay, so it shouldn’t wreak havoc like on my Prelude.
YourMechanic says $494.88 and RepairPal says $384-627.
I don’t know that it is worth dealing with the timing chain cover or power steering pump. The shocks and struts aren’t nearly as bad as Mom’s were when I drove down in 2017, but I shouldn’t keep driving like that. These three repairs may easily total $4,000. I took my Prelude to two mechanics before I bought it. Each looked at it quickly and said they wouldn’t be afraid of it. I found a shop that gave it a full inspection after I bought it and they listed over $4,000 in repairs, saying this was typical for a 13-year-old car, and you need to figure out what really needs to be fixed.
According to
this page, we have had 50% inflation since I bought my first car. So, that Honda’s repairs would cost more like $6,000 today, while the Camry is 17 years old, and has 199,000 miles.
The Prelude had 150,000.
That Prelude cost $3,750 in 2021 dollars.
I watched a 7-minute video for replacing front struts and a 5-minute one by the same guy for the rear. So, someone--not me, but someone--could do this in an hour for $450 and a shop would charge $2,000?
Well, I should probably spend more than $50 on an alignment.
So, I could replace the struts myself, have the lowest bidder on Groupon align it, be out $500, and try to live with two leaks?