1987 CRX with a bad cat... any thoughts?

[Figit090]

there's a guy locally that is selling a 1987 honda CRX for 200 (and said make offer so he might take less)...

he said he's sick of putting thousands into it, and he told me that he wasnt able to register it because it wouldnt pass smog. he said the catalitic converter glows red hot and the engine starts running bad....(woah)

so i'm thinking its definitely a clogged cat. I was wondering how much this would be to fix and if it could have damaged the engine or anything from the heat....

if i could get this car, put on a new cat, smog, and register it for under 400 bux, i think i might have a nice deal. but i'd ONLY get it if there weren't chance of engine damage....or other problems associated with this. here's what he said:

"It has a new carb, radiator, all fluids, filters, good tires. When it run the catylitic converter heat red hot and the car runs rough. No fluid leaks of any kind. I thought about cutting the cat converter off and seeing if it will run better but I dont have the time. It also needs a rear brake job, temperature guage doesnt seem to be accurate and the fan doesnt kick on. The engine doesnt sound to bad. No knocking or anything. Hopefully this info was helpful. Make an offer."

 

[Supracentral]

Anything that runs is worth $500.

That car doesn't even look 1/2 bad.

It's either running psycho rich, or the cat is clogged. (If it is the cat, you have to figure out what clogged the cat...)

Either way, it's a decent deal.

 

[Figit090]

Anything that runs is worth $500.

That car doesn't even look 1/2 bad.

It's either running psycho rich, or the cat is clogged. (If it is the cat, you have to figure out what clogged the cat...)

Either way, it's a decent deal.

hmm. alright. thanks for the insight.

i thought it would be a fun car to rip around in, maybe take to my local autocross so i dont have to learn on (and wear out) my supra.

but it is probably slow so it wouldnt be that great.

and just for a cat that might not fix the problem i'd be looking at another 80-100 dollars. and thats before insurance kicks in. i need to look at lowet-possible-coverage and see how cheap it gets.

i could just cut the cat and weld up some pipe, but then it would never smog.

well i was mainly curious. CRX's arent exactly sought after so i couldnt turn around and make much off it... meh.

 

[MDCmotorsports]

As Mike stated above, or the timing (cam or ignition) is WAY OFF!

 

[Figit090]

really.....

THAT my friend...is intriguing.

but he said it runs decent.... timing wouldnt cause it to just run like shit after the cat has heated up to glowing red, would it? i figured it would run like doodoo all the time if the timing was off.

 

[mkiiSupraMan18]

^ My supra ran 'fine' with the timing off like 40 degrees. :icon_bigg

$200, buy it, put on a new cat, and sell it for $5-700. Hell for $200 it'd be fun to go in on w/ friends and just thrash all to hell out in a field or some woods.

 

[ret]

CRX's, around here at least, actually hold their value pretty well. It's rare you'll see a clean one go for less than $3000, no matter the mileage.

 

[johnathan1]

It depends...the ECU temp sensor could be bad, and once the car heats up, the ECU is pulling timing like crazy or something...

Either way, i would TOTALLY get that car and use it as a daily driver! Where is the car at anyway? Think you could forward me the info for it, if you decide that you don't want it?

 

[Figit090]

one that old even? 1987....

well...hmm. if i can get a fairly clear idea about what is wrong...and under further inspection figure it out...i might be able to convince my dad. i wonder if the guy would let me hit it with a timing light, and NOT raise the price if its off.

how do you know if the cat is bad? mmmpppffff i'm not sure what to do now.

----EDIT!______

john. yeah i can tell you when i'm done figuring things out. its in nor cal though. just to give you a heads up.

and my supra is my DD.... non-turbo...not the greatest car...and i dont want it to just sit.... i dont need two seperate cars. but i could use the good gas milage of a small car....

temp sensor expensive?

 

[mkiiSupraMan18]

^ uhhh... give him the cash and get the title first, THEN hit it w/ the light....
*edit*
or atleast take it for a test drive and do it away from him

*edit #2*
Sensor
http://www.partsamerica.com/ProductDetail.aspx?mfrcode=GPS&mfrpartnumber=385035&parttype=290&ptset=A
$35

 

[Figit090]

nice, nice. thanks bunches.

i think i'll post up on a CRX forum and see if there is a common issue. i found one post where the honeycomb stuff inside the guy's cat clogged it and caused it to run 'red hot' like this one is... soo maybe? thanks for the help guys.

unless there is some bad news in terms of the car possibly having damages from its little issue....

i keep finding deals that fall through though....so who knows. the last one was a v6 camry for 500 bux. but it had a tranny problem, wheras this one doesnt as far as i know.

 

[GotBoost?]

For $200 this crx is a great deal. So what if it's slow. You don't always have to be going fast to have fun. If you have the time, space and a little money to tinker with the car, get it and have fun finding and fixing the problem. I'm pretty sure you can get your money out of it when/if you get tired. The crx has a pretty large following, and it's on my list of cars to own (along with many others), once i make room in my garage.

 

[Figit090]

well if i can convince my dad.....

first coming up with the 200...not exaclty expensive but not pocket change either.

then insurance and titling.... it wont smog as it sits...i dont know how the process works.....
i'd have to fix it, then smog it...get a non-op until then? i'm in california BTW.

then i have lots of college prep, but i could work on some things during the weeknds. i think i could fix it... its just the chance that i can't that makes it a scary decision.

but if i could practically buy, fix, have fun, and sell it....i think it might work.

 

[1jzdreamer]

Under 500 for a running car and its great. IF nothing else, cut out the cat and "rally it" 500 bucks for a summer worth of fun... thats a deal.

 

[Figit090]

i would like to do that.

i like how you have that crx in your avitar.... i know its not yours, but it makes me get a weird feeling when i read your advice

 

[1jzdreamer]

i would like to do that.

i like how you have that crx in your avitar.... i know its not yours, but it makes me get a weird feeling when i read your advice

That aint a CRX son. Thats a true JDM TYte hatchback civic. Nah i just found it google search RICER... like third image.

 

[Figit090]

hahaha. oh yeah.... it isnt a CRX. thats why i said it looks close...i saw the rearend difference...the rest looks too similar for me to tell the diff. but now i will remember.

 

[ChadMKIII]

Figit, pretty sure you could do that for the smog (xfer title and register as non-op). That would also give you a break on the ins (I believe) if you have it reg'ed as that for a while.
Just get the absolute minimum in liability only coverage from some cheap place off the wall. It doesn't matter if they raise your rates or even drop you after paying off a claim if you ever have one, cuz you'll just toss the car and drop the policy. Also, if you do it in your dad's name it should be a hell of a lot cheaper

 

[Figit090]

after some talk with CRX owners and more correspondance with the owner, it looks like a money eating monster waiting to happen. it would only be considerable if i was willing to strip it down and use it as a track car with a straight pipe welded on. plus he said he put on a new head....which worries me he doesnt know what hes doing. one bad move and he might have given the next owner a BHG inevitibility. soo basically he tore it apart, and he did tell me he fooled with the timing and maybe the tuning. so basically it would suck balls to get it running nicely again. even if its a plugged cat, chances are it would happen again if i couldnt fix the engine issue.

i'm going to have to pass on it. thanks for the help everyone. there's always something you dont hear about until the end that makes the whole deal sour. plus it has some rust = not good for me. another deal will come along.

 

[AF1JZ]

CRX's, around here at least, actually hold their value pretty well. It's rare you'll see a clean one go for less than $3000, no matter the mileage.

Very true almost anywhere. I'd say buy it, fix it and turn around and sell it.

Or, fix it and keep it for a DD. My wife has a 90 civic hb 5sp with like 180,000miles. Has about 90hp and it get around 38mpg.