Lately, i've seen a number of people getting ripped off buying hondas and I just wanted to do a little writeup to help people and to use it to see what to look for.
First, I myself was completely hosed when i bought my hatch, i bought it off a guy on ebay, had him end an auction early to get it, i called him and he seemed knowledgable. Mistake number 1, if someone seems very knowledgable about a car, test them on it, most often it is a fake thing, so that you will trust them more instead of using natural insticts to check and recheck everything. the car did have most of what it said it did, b18c1, ITR conversion, but it had some good damage that was hidden to me, after replacing the core support and then stripping the car to its shell and then getting an entire new cabin wiring harness, the car runs perfectly. I even did some of my own tests, i ensured the ecu was the correct one, but never thought to see if in fact it was a OBD1 ecu, yep that's right, I had a obd2 ecu in a obd1 car, running an obd1 motor, talk about cluster of wires.
Anyways, on topic:
before starting car, underhood inspection
1. check oil, coolant in radiator and in overflow bottle.
--two purposes, if blown headgasket, you will see the two mix, you also can see the quality of the oil, IE if its been changed in the last year
2. if a b-series, check around cam seals for leaks, b-series are notorious for developing leaks around the cam seals, Note cam seals are located on the passenger side by distributor and vtec selenoid (if present). Next look for oil on the tranny where the head and block meet, another indication of something gone wrong.
3. Look for leaks around the lines, check radiator upper and lower, and on the back side of the block by thermostat housing, check where the heater hose lines go into the cabin. Check PS lines around resevoir. Look at the brake master cylinder/booster, big black round thing on firewall, see if there is any white build up or chipping paint. If the paint on the booster is chipping off, then this means brake fluid is starting to leak.
4. check vacuum lines, look around the intake manifold at the vacuum lines are there any blocked off? any cracked, since some cars are getting 15+yrs old, this happens.
5. if car has over 90k inquire 2-3 times about when the timing belt was changed, if they are vague get it change immediately, along with water pump, tensioner.
6. Pull the plugs, check for the color, if there is any oil on them, run away unless you are doing a motorswap soon. they should be a nice brown color, white indicates lean condition, black is rich.
7. check air filter if its not a CAI.
inside car
1. place key in ignition, turn to on, do not start, you should hear the fuel pump prime (humming for 1-2 sec). you should also see the CEL flash on, then turn off if there are not CEL(check engine light) codes. If it doesn't light up, the bulb has been removed, replace or leave.
2. check ecu, its normally located passenger side kick panel, if you open the panel and the ecu is bolted down, then most likely it hasn't been touched. but its something I look at since with swapped hondas you get poeple that don't use the right ECU. also make sure its the correct generation, as you could be like me and get a obd2 wired up ecu in a obd1 car. OBD1=92-95, 96+ obd2, before 92 is OBD0.
3. check in passenger side for any coolant leaks, this is the heater core if anythign is busted you shoudl be able to see it.
4. start car, make sure oil pressure light comes on and cuts off immediately. check idle, if its a cold start, should be around 1500rpm until the coolant gauge rises. should settle around 700 at idle once warm.
other things
1. open up the trunk, hatch, whatever and look for any water in the sparetire well.
2. check all 4 tires for the tire ware, this is a big issue to see if its been wrecked or just never aligned.
3. push on the car, IE push on rear bumper towards ground to see if the rear shocks are gone, push side to side,, you shouldn't be able to move it that far.
test drive
while you don't have to do the drive yourslef, you can just ride along.
1. go through all gears, including reverse, when you pull out of the parking spot, look for any oil deposits on the ground, do a visual inspection under the car for anything leaking when car is on.
2. go over some bumps, you want to see if the car can hang together, a speed bump is a good way to test. go around some corners at more than 5mph.
3. keep the stereo off once you tested it, you need to be listening to engine noises and other noises. Test heat and AC at full blast.
4. make sure to feel the steering wheel if not driving to see how it shakes, also get a feel of the clutch/brake/gas pedal to make sure in proper order.
5. when done, check oil and look underhood for any new leaks or anything.
if satisfied, purchase car.
First, I myself was completely hosed when i bought my hatch, i bought it off a guy on ebay, had him end an auction early to get it, i called him and he seemed knowledgable. Mistake number 1, if someone seems very knowledgable about a car, test them on it, most often it is a fake thing, so that you will trust them more instead of using natural insticts to check and recheck everything. the car did have most of what it said it did, b18c1, ITR conversion, but it had some good damage that was hidden to me, after replacing the core support and then stripping the car to its shell and then getting an entire new cabin wiring harness, the car runs perfectly. I even did some of my own tests, i ensured the ecu was the correct one, but never thought to see if in fact it was a OBD1 ecu, yep that's right, I had a obd2 ecu in a obd1 car, running an obd1 motor, talk about cluster of wires.
Anyways, on topic:
before starting car, underhood inspection
1. check oil, coolant in radiator and in overflow bottle.
--two purposes, if blown headgasket, you will see the two mix, you also can see the quality of the oil, IE if its been changed in the last year
2. if a b-series, check around cam seals for leaks, b-series are notorious for developing leaks around the cam seals, Note cam seals are located on the passenger side by distributor and vtec selenoid (if present). Next look for oil on the tranny where the head and block meet, another indication of something gone wrong.
3. Look for leaks around the lines, check radiator upper and lower, and on the back side of the block by thermostat housing, check where the heater hose lines go into the cabin. Check PS lines around resevoir. Look at the brake master cylinder/booster, big black round thing on firewall, see if there is any white build up or chipping paint. If the paint on the booster is chipping off, then this means brake fluid is starting to leak.
4. check vacuum lines, look around the intake manifold at the vacuum lines are there any blocked off? any cracked, since some cars are getting 15+yrs old, this happens.
5. if car has over 90k inquire 2-3 times about when the timing belt was changed, if they are vague get it change immediately, along with water pump, tensioner.
6. Pull the plugs, check for the color, if there is any oil on them, run away unless you are doing a motorswap soon. they should be a nice brown color, white indicates lean condition, black is rich.
7. check air filter if its not a CAI.
inside car
1. place key in ignition, turn to on, do not start, you should hear the fuel pump prime (humming for 1-2 sec). you should also see the CEL flash on, then turn off if there are not CEL(check engine light) codes. If it doesn't light up, the bulb has been removed, replace or leave.
2. check ecu, its normally located passenger side kick panel, if you open the panel and the ecu is bolted down, then most likely it hasn't been touched. but its something I look at since with swapped hondas you get poeple that don't use the right ECU. also make sure its the correct generation, as you could be like me and get a obd2 wired up ecu in a obd1 car. OBD1=92-95, 96+ obd2, before 92 is OBD0.
3. check in passenger side for any coolant leaks, this is the heater core if anythign is busted you shoudl be able to see it.
4. start car, make sure oil pressure light comes on and cuts off immediately. check idle, if its a cold start, should be around 1500rpm until the coolant gauge rises. should settle around 700 at idle once warm.
other things
1. open up the trunk, hatch, whatever and look for any water in the sparetire well.
2. check all 4 tires for the tire ware, this is a big issue to see if its been wrecked or just never aligned.
3. push on the car, IE push on rear bumper towards ground to see if the rear shocks are gone, push side to side,, you shouldn't be able to move it that far.
test drive
while you don't have to do the drive yourslef, you can just ride along.
1. go through all gears, including reverse, when you pull out of the parking spot, look for any oil deposits on the ground, do a visual inspection under the car for anything leaking when car is on.
2. go over some bumps, you want to see if the car can hang together, a speed bump is a good way to test. go around some corners at more than 5mph.
3. keep the stereo off once you tested it, you need to be listening to engine noises and other noises. Test heat and AC at full blast.
4. make sure to feel the steering wheel if not driving to see how it shakes, also get a feel of the clutch/brake/gas pedal to make sure in proper order.
5. when done, check oil and look underhood for any new leaks or anything.
if satisfied, purchase car.