1986 Honda Civic Transmission Repair

For over a year I was driving this Civic with a slipping transmission. Finally, a couple of weeks ago it gave up and wouldn't run at all. I went back to where I had left it parked and was able to drive it slowly a mile home. I knew I could drive it over to the nearest Lee Miles Transmission shop, which I did a day after limping home with it. I was told it might run about 1400 to fix the tranny. After I took it in and they had it apart it turns out the price would be about 1700 to fix it. I waited almost two weeks while I was told they had to send away for parts they couldn't get locally. When I talked to the manager on the phone he told me the transaxles were bad and he would replace them for 75 bucks each, which I thought would relieve me of having to do it as I knew the boots were ripped. I like this car, old as it is, so much that I was willing to spend money on the tranny. It only has 90k miles on it. Today I finally got the car back and paid the bill of $1,999.15 and drove it home. They told me a couple of things I already knew, such as the exhaust system leaked and the battery was oversize for the car. I had planned to put in a new exhaust pipe after the tranny was fixed. They also told me the brake booster didn't work. That became obvious as I drove it home with a hard brake pedal. I popped the hood and looked to see if the vacuum hose had merely come loose. I found a bolt stuck in the engine side vacuum hose which I pulled out and connected the hose back to the booster. I drove away and the booster still did not do its job but also I stalled and the engine wouldn't run properly. I had to restart it several times to get around the block. My question is: what does my booster (which worked fine when I took the car in) have to do with my transmission and what could they have done to damage the booster while they had it in the shop? Why won't the engine run properly without the booster vacuum hose being plugged? If someone can tell me what might have been done to the engine I would appreciate some input. Thanking you in advance for your help.

Derek

Reply to
Derek Lawler
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the booster uses vacuum from the manifold. if the vacuum hose is disconnected, the motor just sucks air. replace or repair the booster, reconnect the hose, and you'll be back in business.

Reply to
jim beam

I think it was coincidence. As jim beam says, the booster is "consuming vacuum" and bleeding air into the intake manifold, which is causing the idle trouble. It's a common enough failure and sometimes results from a leaking primary seal in the master cylinder - the fluid accumulates in the booster and attacks the diaphragm. Got a couple tee shirts for that one.

Replacing the booster is a simple enough DIY job, mostly involving master cylinder replacement labor plus adjusting the push rod afterward. A wrecking yard booster should be under $100 US, probably about a fifth the price of a new one. Obviously, if there is fluid in the booster from the master cylinder, the MC needs to be rebuilt or replaced.

Mike

Reply to
Michael Pardee

Michael, my problem is that the brake booster was not a problem when I took the car into the shop but it became a problem while they worked on the car. If it worked fine before I took it in and it doesn't work now, shouldn't they be accountable for fixing it? It is too much of a coincidence for me to believe that they didn't mess it up while working on the car. Why should I be stuck with having to fix it myself? I don't understand what working on the transmission could have to do with the brake booster.

Derek in Florida

Reply to
Derek Lawler

I don't understand what working on the transmission would have to do with the booster failure either - that's why I think it's coincidence. There isn't any obvious way to cause that sort of damage to the booster, so I doubt they had anything to do with it.

Mike

Reply to
Michael Pardee

I think you mean the CV joints. The transaxel is the transmission/differential and you only have one of them.

I agree with the other posters on booster except that I might want to have a close look at it to determine if they had done something to it. Probably not.

Reply to
Gordon McGrew

The shop tore your car half apart to do this job...in the process they probably messed up your brake booster.

They SHOULD fix it, considering all the $ they made off you, but they may deny you just because they can, and you probably can't prove the booster was ok before the work. I had a Honda dealer damage my vehicle in similar circumstances and only make partial reparations.

Reply to
chartrookie

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