Car Troubles :(

[WonderBread]

So to start off, Being the older bro can be really frustrating!

About a month ago my mom decided that I need to teach my 16 yr old sister to drive my car. Its a 5 speed manual transmission Honda. I give my mom the usual Okay...with a big sigh to it. 1st time out my sister does alright for a first timer. 2nd time she gets a lil better but for some reason freaks out and drives my car straight into a curb. She hit it hard enough that the other person on the other side of the parking lot came over to see what happened. After this I noticed that my car had been making a strange noise ever since my sis hit that curb.

After about two weeks the noise began to get louder and louder so i take it into the shop. The mechanic has it for a week and i get it back. The mechanic said noise was in the tranny and that he replace the 5th gear. I thought to my self, How does crashing into a curb cause the 5th to go bad? But I'm not a mechanic and don't know that much so I paid the 418 dollars it cost to have it fixed because i needed the car and hadn't had it for a week.

I get in the car and low and behold the noise I brought it in for is still there! I didn't have my Cell phone with me to call the mechanic plus he closed shortly after I left. I call him the next day and he said to bring it in the next morning. After it was checked on a Wednesday, the following morning, I was told to hold on to it till the next week and bring it in on Monday because he was short staffed.

I talked to this mechanic yesterday and he said that my transmission was shot and that it needs to be replaced.

If he replaced the 5th gear and had the transmission out of the vehicle, on the first repair, wouldn't he have noticed that it was bad/going bad? How can something like that be missed? No test drive after in was installed?
Also if you were the mechanic in my situation would you charge me again for the tranny replacement, give a significant discount, or even for free because it wasn't fixed in the first place?

I'm a little upset right now because I'm having to use my money saved up for other, MUCH more important purposes to help me move on in my life.

[danrok]

If you hit a curb with the front wheel, the chances are the half-shaft will have been bent slightly. If it is bent, it will wobble as it spins making a noise. The noise will be worse at certain speeds, and when turning. Eventually, it will get worse and the wheel bearing may become damaged.

If you're lucky the wheel may just be out of alignment. Most tire centers have machines for checking wheel alignment, so they they can adjust it back again. This doesn't cost so much. So, try that before taking it to a mechanic again.

I'd doubt that she could have damaged the gear box by hitting the curb with a wheel.

[WonderBread]

The wheels never hit the curb. the front end was the only part of the car that hit it.

UPDATE: He ordered a used tranny, going to put the new 5th gear from my current tranny in it and install it in my car. He's not going to charge me for the labor and all i'm going to have to pay for is the used tranny.

[noob]

Very unlikely it's your transmission. If you had been having gear change problems, or it was popping out of gear, then either clutch or gearbox.

If you hit the front of the car, the noise could be the rad fan, or something loose. Depending on what the conditions are, when you hear the noise. If its loudest while turning, then I would go with danrok.

As I have found in the past, don't take it to a small mechanic, unless you know how good they are. You should have at least one decent reputable chain that specialises in under car repairs, take it there, but let them know how much you are willing to spend, and they should ring you with a quote if its going to be more.

EDIT:

Also what type of noise is it making? Grinding, rattling (ball bering in plastic box rattle, or ball bearing in metal box rattle), humming, graunching, creak, squeal, etc.

Any performance issues? Changing gear, heating, fan, lights, steering wheel wobbly (esp at high speeds?), car not tracking correctly, etc.

[WonderBread]

it was a major grinding, like a ballbering with a repetitive scratching like a bicycle tire thats warped rubbing against its frame. But the noise only happened when the car was in gear 1-5th deceleration and acceleration . There was no noise when the clutch was pushed down and the car was in gear or when the car was in neutral.
2 or 3 days before i took it back in i noticed that there was a vibration that had started when i let off the gas but left the car in gear in 4th and 5th gears. No issues changing gears or anyother issues.

[noob]

get your clutch checked out.

As for other things happening after you took it in the first time, sounds dodgy to me. Get documentation of everything (they should have it by law) I would take it somewhere else personally.

Grinding noise, could be driveshaft, breaks, steering, trans, or something rubbing on your tyres. It could also be your clutch, does it rev proportionally higher than speed, when you are heavy on the gas, accellerating quickly? i.e. instead of being 3k revs in second at 20miles/hr, its at 5k revs, or something like that?

[WonderBread]

revs are the same, if not better than before they replaced the 5th gear. Same goes for acceleration too. But that noise was still there. I had my dad talk to him, hes much better at getting the truth out of people than i am. He told me that the mechanic has the issue solved. I wont have to pay for the labor this time.

I've had the car for 2 years. Its a 1989 Honda Accord LX-i with 178,800 miles on it. I've never had it in the shop for anything until now and The previous owner never did either(i have all the documentation), I'm not surprised that something like this would happen, especially with my luck that I have.

[noob]

Good for you. Let us know what it was - would be interesting.

I seem to find all the dodgy places myself, so while it may cost more initially, I only take it into reputable chains now.

If you take good care of a car, you shouldn't have many or any problems. Just remember, changing, brakes, oil, filters, tyres (with associated balancing and alignment), cam belt, and general maintenence (tuning, spark plugs, fluids) you shouldn't have any major problems. There are cars out there with over 1 million miles on the clock, no maintenence issues, just regular normal small stuff.

[captinhector]

Well I hate to say it, but your engines output shaft is probably bent, causing your clutch to not lock up, as well as grind into your flywheel.



You should most definitely take it to another shop, preferably a big chain!



To check and see if this is right, just start your car on a cold day and drive enough to get the engine warm to the touch. Quickly jack up your car and feel of the bell housing, it should be the same temp if not colder than your engine. If it is HOT then your clutch is slipping a bit and is slowly wearing itself down to nothing.

This seems like a far fetched thing, but it happened to a friend of mine. He hit a curb(with me in it) at ~20. Not long after the same that is happening to you happened to him. He had a 91 accord lx w/the 4 banger, we only figured it out after we yanked the engine, low and behold the bell housing was cracked on the top half(the part you cant see). We tore into it, found that there was NOTHING left of the clutch and the flywheel was around .25" thick. Well we slapped all the new crap in there, got a new tranny, and its still driving around today(has 2 fried rings, but thats what you get racing) and around 250k miles.

^This is why I hate front wheel drive vehicles.^

[WonderBread]

It turned out that my tranny was bad. It gone a significant time without any oil in it. The mechanic still has it because they have had a hell of a time finding a decent used one that isn't as ****ty as mine. Just this afternoon he had a good one delivered and is installing it now. I'll have it tomorrow. but still a week and a half is still a long time.

It blows not having a car.

[WonderBread]

I got it back, with a new tranny(actually used from a low mileage car, under 100,000 miles) he only charged me 250 for it. It runs smoother and quieter than it has ever before.

[danrok]

Glad to hear you're back on the road!

[noob]

good to hear.
thankfully me and my partner own a car each - makes those carless headaches go away

[WonderBread]

alternator is bad now *starts crying*

[captinhector]

Well atleast its a cheep fix this time ~$45 from autozone, which sells great stuff. You will have to pay big up front ~100, but theres a huge core chg on alt's, which you will get back. GOOD LUCK, and hope that there are no mo prob's for you in the future!