In article <wsednbSCB7jWSOXZRVn-tw@speakeasy.net>, jim beam
<nospam@example.net> wrote:

Jason Johnson wrote:
> In article <Ze2eg.82467$F_3.12351@newssvr29.news.prodigy.net> , "hondaman"
> <jeffscomp@hotmail.com> wrote:
>
> i may be buying a 1991 accord that has 274,049 miles on it. the timing belt
> and water pump have already been replaced probably for the 2nd time in its
> life about 40,000 miles ago. the auto trans shifts ok. is there anything to
> be extra concerned about with a car with that high of miles on it engine
> wise. the body is better than some with lower miles that old.
>
> -jeff
>
> You may want to have it checked by a mechanic. A compression check should
> be done. Many engines that have 274,049 miles have what I refer to as "bad
> rings" and that's an expensive problem to fix.

come on guy, how much honda mechanical experience do you have? be
honest. you can have /very/ high mileage hondas that are almost
perfect. similarly, you can have near new ones that are duds. chances
are, if the vehicle's got this far, it's ok. it's all about
maintenance standards. nothing else matters. and compression testing
is pretty much a waste of time unless you've got some academic interest.
minor variance means nothing. substantial variance you can usually
hear on cold cranking. low compression is apparent from excessive
blow-by, and even then, if the car's cheap and only going to be run for
a year or so, so what? it'll still work, and keep on working for a
/long/ time.

> You may also want to run a carfax report on it--don't buy it if it has
> ever been involved in a accidents. Bent frames are VERY expensive to fix.

again, on a car this vintage, wtf does a carfax mean? if it had a
reported repair year one, but has lasted the subsequent 14 years ok,
then what? is it a lemon because it was repaired, even if the repair
was factory standard? how does carfax help you differentiate between a
good repair and a bad one??? carfax is utterly irrelevant at this stage
- it's only possible value is on a nearly new car to see if it's a
re-build or not, and even then, only as a price factor.

> You might have someone else start the car while you watch the exhaust
> pipe. If black smoke comes out--don't buy it.

if the cat's cold, maybe. but if you're looking for oil consumption,
oil gives blue smoke, not black. black is excess fuel, and that could
be normal operation. catalysts mask a multitude of sins.

> Mechanics can easily determine if an engine has a cracked head
> gasket--therefore, have the mechanic check that--that's also very
> expensive to repair.

that's stating the obvious - advice on diagnosis would be much more helpful.

>
> try carfax.com or google Car Fax or carfax

don't waste the money.

Jim,
I usually agree with your posts and I have also learned a lot from the
posts of other real mechanics that post in this newsgroup. I am nothing
more than a back yard mechanic. However, I disagree with you related to
this car. Bad rings are a serious issue related to cars that have 274,049
miles on them. We have both followed old cars down the freeway or
interstate and seen black or blue smoke smoke coming out of the exhaust
pipes. You don't see black smoke or blue smoke coming out of the exhaust
pipes of most newer vehicles. I would not advise anyone (unless they were
a mechanic) to buy a car that has bad rings. The best way of discovering
bad rings is by conducting a compression check. Do you know of a better
way of checking the rings other than a compression check? I would not buy
a car if black smoke or blue smoke came out of the exhaust pipe. An engine
that is working normally should have almost no smoke coming out of the
exhaust pipe. I was referring to excessive amounts of smoke in my post--I
should have been more clear on that point. The reason that I mentioned the
carfax report was to help the poster avoid buying a car that had been
involved in an accident. As you know, a bent frame is a major problem.
jason