Dear Scotty! Just discovered your channel and felt amazed at your honesty and integrity! Please, could you help me with a few problems?
A year ago, I bought my 1999 Honda CR-V (200,000 miles, I drove about 5000 miles myself) for just $2500 and I'm still happy the way it performs. Although, it has a few things I would love to solve for a better ride.
1. First, the automatic transmission is a bit slow to change from 3 to 4 uphill or even on a horizontal road. I live in Armenia, so there is always a lot of elevation to consider during a standard commute. Moreover, when under this kind of stress (mostly uphill), I hear an indistinct mild sound like choked-up clattering (like clclclcl) from somewhere in the engine.
2. The oil is disappearing somewhere...
3. I have totally rusted Rear Frame Pipes down under. Are those worth replacing?
Since then, I have already spent about $400 on urgent repairs that needed to be done - mostly some bearings, adjusted the engine valves, etc. It's not much, since the car is really a good one. I would love to have is as long as I can.
Thanks again for your time and effort!
Best Regards,
Vazgen Ghazaryan
cut your losses
The car has little power, so it does not do well on steep hills. You will have to drive slower uphill.
The clattering is just a worn engine (especially after valve adjustment).
Worn engines burn oil. You can try 5W-40 oil instead of 5w-30.
The little frame pipes rust and break on all CRV's. No need to replace them.
They are nice little cars. Hope it keeps running.
Thanks for your advise. Although, I would love to hear from Scotty as well. 🙂
Thank you for taking time to answer this thread. Is it possible to repair the engine so that this sound disappears, and, if yes, what should I be doing? One more little question, please. Why does transmission take longer to switch gears?
Thanks again!
You would probably have to replace/rebuild the entire head to stop the chattering. Big money.
The transmission usually stays in lower gear on a steep hill. It just won't go faster.