fcino wrote:
> * the car has 118,000 miles... & only a few thousand on the rebuilt
> trans.

Is that an automatic or a manual transmission?

> yeah, some things like alt., battery, brakes, etc. that's wear & tear...
> with the fuel injectors i did smell a lot of 'raw gasoline', but i wonder
> if they could 've been cleaned instead of replacing?

I'm not sure. I've never had any problems with fuel injectors.

> * what do u mean 'run on the bench'? do u mean pull it & get power to it &
> see if it's noisy when not hooked up?

Yes. It would be beneficial to run the blower outside of its housing to make
sure that it's not binding or rubbing against something. Like you said in an
earlier message, maybe there's some foreign object stuck in there. Maybe
there's a bad bearing. It's hard to tell with it in the car although with the
glove box and duct removed you'll have a better idea. Maybe the mechanic just
forgot to tighten the mounting bolts.

> * thnx for the directions on removing, is it time consuming?

Ten or fifteen minutes to get it out of the car and more to take it apart. I
think you can do it all with a Phillips screwdriver.

> i may take it back to mechanic & see where i get.

I'm not sure he should be trusted unless he's going to fix that rumbling sound
for free.

> * i'm tempted to keep, but... i've noticed a few other things like there
> seems to be some
> - 'vibration/looseness' under the passenger front end [tire wearing fine,
> motor mount?],

You'll have to watch it more closely. Does it only happen in turns? While
accelerating? While braking? Could be a worn tie rod. Struts. Warped rotor.
Tire out of balance. If you can narrow down the symptoms, you'll help a
mechanic find the problem more quickly. It should be inspected soon, though.
Some things in the front end break without warning and can kill you.

> - sunroof leaks sometimes [drain holes r clean],
> - steering column seems to need greased? [makes a slight rubbing sound-
> "sheeeee"- when moving the steering wheel, i've tried spraying lub.]
> - there's a transmission leak [upper seal?] ,
> - & MAY need new struts...

I think the recommended interval for struts is 60,000 miles.

How many accidents has this thing been in? Your father and brother really
trashed this car, didn't they?

> * mechanic charged me re: blower:
> PARTS-
> knob $ 8.43
> blower switch 44.65
> blower motor 69.00
>
> + LABOR 59.00
> TOTAL $181.08
>
> so, i thought/understood it was new?

It's unlikely that the blower is new at $69. The online discounted price at San
Leandro Honda (http://www.slhondaparts.com/) is $228.92 for just the new motor!

Do you ever listen to Car Talk on National Public Radio? I highly recommend it
every week. Tom and Ray are very funny guys. Go to their Website
(http://www.cartalk.com/) and look at the top of the left column for "Where To
Listen."

Chuck