Ouchy Ody!

[princess]

Last Spring on the way back from AZ my mom was feely yucky. She let her husband drive the Ody for a while. He's unlicensed due to seizures. Well, after a few minutes he was driving up an embankment, staring blankly. They ran into boulders & stopped at a ravine by hitting a good sized bush. Some 4 wheelers saw it & came to their rescue. They weren't hurt. Since he'd played with wires the air bags didn't go off.

The poor van was making odd noises. He pulled off a wheel & pulled stuff out of the brake area. They saw the boogered up bumper & knew the gas tank was dented (only holds 3/4 tank now)

Last night my prince checked it out. (My sister bought it down from NV) He got SOME of the dent out of the gas tank. It has no front brakes. The suspension has bent & twisted parts. All 4 tires are worn out from the tweaked parts. The frame has damage, the steering parts have damage. He totaled it!!

He's going to tell them to drive it they need to get tires & try an alignment. He'll put new brakes on it before it goes home.

He'll also tell them it's time to start over with another vehicle!

I have a cute card that says: sorry about the death of your car" I plan to send them!

She's already been yelled at, right after, for allowing him to drive!

[princess]

I just told mom about her van.....she's not happy, but said their closest dealer is having 0% financing right now on used cars. They have an '00 on the lot, so she may go check it out.

Pretty much everything underneath this one is bent! Even the exhaust & gas tank... there's not much left that wouldn't need to be replaced.

I think it's going down the road slightly sideways!


:(

[anysia]

and they've been DRIVING it like this?? yikes!!! :eek:

[princess]

Yep! In fact, it almost didn't come here this time... they wanted my sister to bring the old Chevy van so they'd have this one at home. I talked them into it since I wanted it checked out! It's been all over NV like this! Her husband looked at it & said it only had a bent gas tank. With the crease it has they're really lucky it didn't get a hole in the tank!

My mom is so tight with money she squeaks! So I'm a little glad to see this one condemned to make them get a newer one! Right before the accident we'd put on (& paid for) the timing belt, external belts & water pump. She's talked about replacing it for a couple of years, now she HAS to!

I'm sure it'll make it back home, but I told her no more trips in it! It's not worth selling, so she could keep it for the dirty job van, if she wants. I wouldn't, but it's not my desicion.

Maybe when he does the brakes I'll take pictures of the damage....no promises. Although I'm not sure BB650 could handle broken Ody pictures!!;)

[anysia]

from the sounds of it, it's amazing it was still able to be driven!

it is defintely time for a new one! your mom sounds like my dad. as long as it gets from point a to point b, there is no reason to spend money on a new one! (he had been driving around the 86 nova with a rusted out floor!!! he did some body work on it and now it's "safe" but i still think it should be scrapped!)

[princess]

The Chevy van is an '85 with only 60K, but has rust & not much of it's blue paint left! They won't part with it!

Just plain stubborn!:rolleyes:

[anysia]

my dad reluctantly gave up the 87 plymouth voyager in 2002 as a donation to a church for a specific family who needed a car. if it hadn't been for that family, he'd still be driving that thing today, rust, non stop oil leaks, engine probs, tranny probs, transaxle probs and all!! :rolleyes: sometimes i just don't understand that thought process! sink tons of money into an old beat up car every year when you could've had a new car for less! ;)

my dad hould meet your mom!!! hehe!!

[princess]

She will replace it with a Civic....I think we found one, so if the seller can get the title today my sister can drive it to NV tomorrow!! Yea!

The van will stay here. She wants us to repair it.... So we'll be putting on new subframe pieces & tires first. Align it. Staighten the parts we can, replace the parts we can't. It also needs shocks. They seem to have suffered too. We may price used gas tanks.

To make all this worse to me is that my mom's husband sent my sister on this nearly 300 mile trip here in this van with only 10 psi in the tires, 2 of which are showing cord & only 2 quarts of oil in it! I'm just old fashioned enough to get really riled about that! I believe loved ones protect each other. One simple way is to check those simple things before a trip! Our Hondas a still "new" & we check the fluids & pressure before trips!! Since I'm the primary driver of the Accord, it gets checked on a regular basis!

IF we can get this van road worthy again....our youngest will get it. Cosmetically it only needs a front bumper. This may take months!!!

[princess]

ouch!

[princess]

ouch 2..... dented oil pan

[princess]

the gas tank....after some dent removal!! Still seriously creased!

[princess]

The front motor mount is dislocated.....

[anysia]

:bawling: ouch!!!

[anysia]

how's the civic purchasing coming?

[princess]

The funds are suposed to be here tomorrow...... when we have access to them I'll go pay for it & send it on it's way! With my sister in it!

:D :banana: :jumping: :lmao: :jumping:

[anysia]

a little excited ?! :D

[princess]

Nah, what gave you that idea????

I'm just living for the day I'm waving "Bye" as she drives down the street....... then I'll come in & do so much happy dancing I'll fall down from exhaustion!!:banana:

[princess]

Today the broken Ody is getting all the interior cleaned.... our daughter has decided to take it over.... so she's starting with the cleaning. This weekend it'll get a new rear subframe (unless it can be staightened) & new tires. Then next week an alignment & smog.

The struts & tank & other stuff will get done one at a time...... some by my prince & some by her hubby.

That steam cleaner is really getting a workout!!! It's ICKY!!!:puke:

[Coil99]

Originally posted by princess
That steam cleaner is really getting a workout!!! It's ICKY!!!:puke:

Why so dirty?

[princess]

It's been living in the desert in AZ & NV it's whole life.... dust storms & my mom's VERY far from a neat freak!!:) She's not lazy....always moving, just nothing seems to get done! Cars are very low on her list...:(

[Coil99]

Gotcha!

Post up how repair progress. That's a lot of work to do to one Odyssey!

[princess]

Today he bent the rear sub frame back into shape, managed to bend the front piece that has the motor mount on it back where it belongs. The radiator was pushed back on the bottom, now it's straight again. All the belts had been replaced by us last year, but the jolt made one of the external ones lose, so that was tightened.

It's now ready for the new tires & alignment! So sometime this week it'll get those.:)

Then all the safety issues will be done. It still needs a strut, but he got the rest straightened out. So far we haven't had to buy anything!:D

[princess]

Yesterday the alignment was done....he had the son take it to where he works...so he could do it himself. He knew there'd still be some "tweaking" to do.....

He also smogged it. It passed, but the NOX was a little high for a Honda. He thinks it's EGR is getting clogged.

So next is a belt squeal & cleaning out the EGR.

Jacob called when he was driving it yesterday to sing "the wheels on the bus".. he said the steering wheel feels BIG, like a bus..... And that's after driving a suburban! He also said all that visability is sorta spooky!

I think they'll like it once they get used to it!

I'm not sure when they'll get that strut replaced..... it's leaking. We may end up completely rebuilding the engine for them next year.... it's smoking on accelleration..... so it's probably burning oil.....time for rings. It's only got 130K on it..... but they're hard miles. Especially the last 50K or so.. when my mom had it she usually didn't even get it to running temp before shutting it down. That's got to be the worse thing you can do!! Plus the general neglect. We kept threatening her about taking it away for Honda abuse!!:)

[anysia]

honda abuse... :bawling: i feel like i've abused mine! (between the scratches and learning to drive a stick....) i should be severely punished like my car has been! :(

but hey, you gotta figure any other make and the van would be completely dead at this point after that abuse! :D

[princess]

Now that this one's clean, the only visable sign of abuse is the smoke when it goes under aload.... amazing!

I don't know what oil they'd been using in it either.... I do know they had a cheap filter on it. We did the timing belt, water pump & external belts last Spring. So that's all done.

So if we put in new rings, bearings & seals she should be happy for a long time to come! This kid doesn't neglect her vehicles as much as her grandma does. I cringe when I think of her now having a nice '02 Civic! Who knows what she'll do to that!!! I bet that in 18 months it'll have dings, bangs, never been washed or vacuumed, have a dash light on, & in desperate need of an oil change! She hasn't had to gas it up since she got it! Her hubby does more harm than good when he touches them... so I keep telling him everythings computerized & not to lay a hand on it!:D

Hondas can handle quite a bit of "abuse"....I just hate seeing them actually neglected! We threatened her about the '95 Accord too! After banging it into a pole she expected them to trade her straight across for the '95 Ody! She did talk them down to a 4K difference & that was amazing!

Now the Ody is insured here & maybe today or tomorrow will get the papers into DMV.

[Coil99]

Wow! You guys did a lot in little time, Princess. Keep us posted on how the Ody likes it's new home. :)

[princess]

Today we ordered a new heater control. It's had a broken knob since my mom bought the thing! They've been using pliers so you can imagine the condition of the little piece that would hold the knob. So we're replacing the whole thing. The stupid part is that the dealer where they bought it offered to fix it for free!

The daughter is enjoying the van. It's got great visability! Her hubby wants to tint ALL the windows..... not happening! Just the back ones.

All these little things will be dealt with.....one at a time......:)

[anysia]

princess~closing in on 3k!!!!! :D

sounds like the oddy has found a new life!!!!

we'll see about how much abuse a honda can REALLY take when i get news on my poor car!! ;) (i have a one track mind right now. i miss my car and want it back.)

[princess]

I hadn't even noticed the numbers.....

I understand about your mind being on your car....I'd be the same way!

:sorry:

Luckily if you run across any questions, the people here can help you with nearly anything!:)

I'll feel better about the Ody when we get the chance to completely rebuild the engine.... I'm scared the kids will forget to check the oil regularly & run it too low & burn it up!:(

[Coil99]

Originally posted by princess
I'll feel better about the Ody when we get the chance to completely rebuild the engine.... I'm scared the kids will forget to check the oil regularly & run it too low & burn it up!:(


I must have missed something. Is it leaking/burning oil? Why would it run low on oil?

[princess]

When it arrived it didn't have enough oil to register on the dipstick! Then when smogged it was a tad high on the NOX, (wasn't the EGR) which indicates worn rings.... so yep, it's burning oil....no leaks!

We can rebuild it in a day easy. So after the holidays we'll take care of it. It'll be as good as new... Hondas rebuild nicely!!

We'll go ahead & put all new bearings, seals & rings.... normally we'd put in all new belts & water pump, but it's been done already. :)

Looks like when it's done, it'll have a small dent in the back & a scratched front bumper....but be in pretty good shape!

[princess]

Yesterday he took the whole heater control apart. He knew it needed a new cable & knob....but the control box was in pretty sad shape! He knew he'd have to order a new one, so instead he used some apoxy & operated on the cracks it had. Success!

It was a busy day.... before his bike ride he had to use the power snake in the main pipe outside to unclog the plumbing. Then while waiting an hour or so for the epoxy to dry we took a chainsaw for the tree between our driveway & our neighbor's for it's annual prunning. After the van was back together he tightened a belt (it had a squeal), found out why the SRS light came on (it has a weak battery), found the source of a weird noise (some things that connected to the now missing windsheild squirter were rubbing in the wheel well). The kids checked the oil & added some last week.... they said it was less than a quart low. Well, when he checked it, it was overfilled!

[anysia]

sounds like it has been a busy day so far!!!

[princess]

Jacob drove the poor little Ody for just over a year.... & put 17K on that little worn out engine. He never had the time to let us rebuild it.

So now my sister has it & Jacob is in the old '78 Chevy Silverado.

My sister has PROMISED she'll give the ODY back for a week in Feb for the rebuilding. We delivered it to her today. It's replacing her '78 FORD van. The drive shaft fell out a couple of weeks ago when she was out & about. Then yesterday the battery died....really died, refused to be jumped even!

The Old Ody's interior is still in pretty good shape. We just vacuumed it up before passing it on.

It still has a dented gas tank...so she may be having fun figuring out how far she can go! But that's OK a little walking would do her good.....she does my share & the rest of the family's sit down time.... I've never seen anyone move less!!! :lmao:

[shamrock]

On top gear I once saw a building demolished on a toyato helix. Somehow it drove away.

[princess]

The boulders the Ody ran over survived fine.... :lmao: Actually it's been amazing that it's still going! We'll probably just leave the dented gas tank alone. After 17K the tires aren't showing any signs of the suspension being out of whack & that's good! That means the frame is fine too. No weird wear! :thmsup:

So we'll fix up the engine, raditor, heater control (this time replace the whole thing....it's stuck on hot). If there's enough funds the front struts could use replacing. See if we can get the broken brakets here & there so things arent' held in with wire..... It's all doable.

It'll last her quite a while after it's done! :)