Honda Car Forum

I have a broken front coil spring on my Accord 2.2SE. I can't afford a
garage fee to do this so wondered if anyone could give me any advice on
how to tackle this.

barco wrote:
> I have a broken front coil spring on my Accord 2.2SE. I can't afford a
> garage fee to do this so wondered if anyone could give me any advice on
> how to tackle this.
>
go to a junk yard and buy the assembled shock/spring assembly. minimal
work involved that way and fewest tools needed.

if you replace just the spring, you'll need a spring compressor, and the
wrong type of compressor risks damaging the spring in a way similar to
that which could have caused your original spring to break.

jim beam wrote:

> barco wrote:
> > I have a broken front coil spring on my Accord 2.2SE. I can't afford a
> > garage fee to do this so wondered if anyone could give me any advice on
> > how to tackle this.
> >
> go to a junk yard and buy the assembled shock/spring assembly. minimal
> work involved that way and fewest tools needed.
>
> if you replace just the spring, you'll need a spring compressor, and the
> wrong type of compressor risks damaging the spring in a way similar to
> that which could have caused your original spring to break.

Thanks for the advice - makes sense.

barco,

I have 320K miles on my 1991 Integra and both front springs cracked at
around 150K miles. They typicially crack on the lower end near the
pan. My Honda mechanic convinced me not to worry about it. Haven't
had a problem since. Alignment is fine, doesn't eat tires. This shop
only works on Hondas and they have never seen a spring with a crack
like this collapse/fail. We have used them now for all major work (on
our three Hondas/Acuras) for over ten years now and trust them
completely.

Sean

barco wrote:
> jim beam wrote:
>
> > barco wrote:
> > > I have a broken front coil spring on my Accord 2.2SE. I can't afford a
> > > garage fee to do this so wondered if anyone could give me any advice on
> > > how to tackle this.
> > >
> > go to a junk yard and buy the assembled shock/spring assembly. minimal
> > work involved that way and fewest tools needed.
> >
> > if you replace just the spring, you'll need a spring compressor, and the
> > wrong type of compressor risks damaging the spring in a way similar to
> > that which could have caused your original spring to break.
>
> Thanks for the advice - makes sense.

sgfitzs@verizon.net wrote:
> barco,
>
> I have 320K miles on my 1991 Integra and both front springs cracked at
> around 150K miles. They typicially crack on the lower end near the
> pan. My Honda mechanic convinced me not to worry about it. Haven't
> had a problem since. Alignment is fine, doesn't eat tires. This shop
> only works on Hondas and they have never seen a spring with a crack
> like this collapse/fail. We have used them now for all major work (on
> our three Hondas/Acuras) for over ten years now and trust them
> completely.

what's your understanding of "crack"? if the coil of the spring fails,
what is described by the op, the spring needs to be replaced or you'll
be driving around on the bump stops.

>
> Sean
>
> barco wrote:
>> jim beam wrote:
>>
>>> barco wrote:
>>>> I have a broken front coil spring on my Accord 2.2SE. I can't afford a
>>>> garage fee to do this so wondered if anyone could give me any advice on
>>>> how to tackle this.
>>>>
>>> go to a junk yard and buy the assembled shock/spring assembly. minimal
>>> work involved that way and fewest tools needed.
>>>
>>> if you replace just the spring, you'll need a spring compressor, and the
>>> wrong type of compressor risks damaging the spring in a way similar to
>>> that which could have caused your original spring to break.
>> Thanks for the advice - makes sense.
>

sgfitzs@verizon.net wrote:

> I have 320K miles on my 1991 Integra and both front springs cracked at
> around 150K miles. They typicially crack on the lower end near the
> pan. My Honda mechanic convinced me not to worry about it. Haven't
> had a problem since. Alignment is fine, doesn't eat tires. This shop
> only works on Hondas and they have never seen a spring with a crack
> like this collapse/fail. We have used them now for all major work (on
> our three Hondas/Acuras) for over ten years now and trust them
> completely.

My '93 Accord broke a front spring on the top coil, near the spring mount.
But I believe this was the result of the car striking a curb with brute
force after being cut off by a bad driver. I got both front springs
replaced, although I didn't really notice a difference in handling or
alignment at any time.

High Tech Misfit wrote:
> sgfitzs@verizon.net wrote:
>
>> I have 320K miles on my 1991 Integra and both front springs cracked at
>> around 150K miles. They typicially crack on the lower end near the
>> pan. My Honda mechanic convinced me not to worry about it. Haven't
>> had a problem since. Alignment is fine, doesn't eat tires. This shop
>> only works on Hondas and they have never seen a spring with a crack
>> like this collapse/fail. We have used them now for all major work (on
>> our three Hondas/Acuras) for over ten years now and trust them
>> completely.
>
> My '93 Accord broke a front spring on the top coil, near the spring mount.
> But I believe this was the result of the car striking a curb with brute
> force after being cut off by a bad driver. I got both front springs
> replaced, although I didn't really notice a difference in handling or
> alignment at any time.

that may have been /when/ it happened, but it wouldn't have been solely
/because/ of it. springs break because of fatigue over an extended
period. this can be confirmed by examining the fracture surface.

jim beam wrote:
> barco wrote:
> > I have a broken front coil spring on my Accord 2.2SE. I can't afford a
> > garage fee to do this so wondered if anyone could give me any advice on
> > how to tackle this.
> >
> go to a junk yard and buy the assembled shock/spring assembly. minimal
> work involved that way and fewest tools needed.
>
> if you replace just the spring, you'll need a spring compressor, and the
> wrong type of compressor risks damaging the spring in a way similar to
> that which could have caused your original spring to break.

Also, if the spring compressor slips due to your inexperience or its
poor design, you now have a spring propelled by a few hundred pounds of
force flying around in your lap.

sgfitzs@verizon.net wrote:
> barco,
>
> I have 320K miles on my 1991 Integra and both front springs cracked at
> around 150K miles. They typicially crack on the lower end near the
> pan. My Honda mechanic convinced me not to worry about it. Haven't
> had a problem since. Alignment is fine, doesn't eat tires. This shop
> only works on Hondas and they have never seen a spring with a crack
> like this collapse/fail. We have used them now for all major work (on
> our three Hondas/Acuras) for over ten years now and trust them
> completely.

Me too. Posted here previously

jim beam wrote:
> sgfitzs@verizon.net wrote:
> > barco,
> >
> > I have 320K miles on my 1991 Integra and both front springs cracked at
> > around 150K miles. They typicially crack on the lower end near the
> > pan. My Honda mechanic convinced me not to worry about it. Haven't
> > had a problem since. Alignment is fine, doesn't eat tires. This shop
> > only works on Hondas and they have never seen a spring with a crack
> > like this collapse/fail. We have used them now for all major work (on
> > our three Hondas/Acuras) for over ten years now and trust them
> > completely.
>
> what's your understanding of "crack"? if the coil of the spring fails,
> what is described by the op, the spring needs to be replaced or you'll
> be driving around on the bump stops.

Naw, this sounds like what happened on mine; spring broke less than one
full turn from bottom end, and is still stably captured by lip of
bottom arm. God knows how long I've been driving around before noticing
it. I'll replace it someday, but there are more urgently serious
priorities involving "air bushings" on rear control arms I've posted
about.