I've been looking at my sister's Civic. (Well, one of them. There are 3.)

She has a VSM 1999 DX-VP sedan. The body is torn the hell up. Rear bumper cracked. Front bumper ripped and trashed. Right rear quarter has damage. Trunk lid has damage. Hood has some dents. Fenders are slightly dented. Headlights are yellowed and slightly cracked. Front windshield is cracked. Interior is FILTHY.

We got it at 174XXX miles. It now has 248XXX miles.

Her complaint was overheating and losing oil. I popped the hood and noticed oil on top of the coolant reservoir. Opened it and saw a somewhat oily mess. Opened the radiator cap, found more oil inside. Not an oil slick, but oil residue for sure. Block is caked in oil, so is the tranny. I added coolant and bled the system. Found that the temp sensor on the thermostat wasn't working. Verified by jumping the plug and the fan came right on. Had planned on changing the thermostat because of the overheating issues.

It sounds like the head gasket is blown, or maybe there's a crack in the block or head somewhere. Not sure. I drove it and it didn't seem to have any loss of power. Drives a lot like my 2000 LX does.

She drove it from Missouri to Arkansas and somehow lost 3 quarts of oil in the process.

I can't decide if I should even bother changing the oil and flushing the coolant system tomorrow. It will also need that thermostat and temperature switch. If the head gasket is blown, I think I should forget it. But I need to limp the thing along for another month until she can get another car.

Ugh, should I bother?

 

I would do a ground up on it.

But it soulds like there is a really big list of things to do.....question is, do you have the time to do all the work.

 

will this become a potential hobo plaything after she gets a new ride? does it have a manual transmission? if yes to both, then i vote yes. if no to either one, i wouldnt fool with it. gotta help ur sister out tho. all girls can do is break cars, have babies, and make sammiches.

 

This one can't even make me a proper sammich.

The car is an autotragic. And I'm beginning to feel that the to-do list is too great. I would love to do a ground up rebuild on this car. I have the money but not the time. And I have nowhere to store it while working on it. Sigh.

 

i bet the oil leak is from the o ring on the distributor, my sedan is a beater, and i love it, i drive the thing every damn where. its got 220k on it, dent in rear quarter and hood is all dented up. interior is dirty. but hell for the 36 mpg i get and no oil leaks and everything works and i only paid 800$. im going to drive it til the wheels fall off.

 

Well said 94civic! i wish i had paid so little for minee, and wasnt to **** already, mine doesnt even run at the moment!! :/

 

whats wrong with it? me and mitch will come fix it. only a 16hr drive. hobo, i wouldnt fool with it man. sounds like heartache if u ask me. mitch, im glad my old white car is still treating you right. i may trade my rex for a b18b del sol this wk. i have been dying for a del sol for a long time...