The Money Pit: Part II

[burninator]

You may remember me. I bought a '93 SHO 5 weeks ago, and the seller had concealed the knock from a spun bearing using high viscosity oil. The engine seized just 30 miles after I picked it up. I posted here attempting to find a replacement motor, but concluded it would be more economical to simply have the bottom end on my car rebuilt.

Oh boy, was I ever wrong...

The crankshaft, #4 conrod and bearings machined/replaced, I also got the clutch replaced and all belts replaced (as insurance) and so on. Some nitwit had replaced the rear engine cradle mounts with the front cradle mounts - drilling holes in the firewall to make it fit (why???), so we replaced those with the proper parts too. We also had to replace the starter motor, since it caught fire when the motor seized.

The mechanic finally completed the rebuild of the motor on the weekend and fitted it to the my SHO. He then took it for a test drive, and it ran sweetly and responsively, as a SHO should.

Until it promptly spun another crankshaft bearing.

Yes, you read that correctly. The mechanic was nearly in tears.

The machine shop that machined the crankshaft made an error when they machined it, which lead to the bearing failure. The only "good" news is that I won't have to pay for any parts or labour to rectify this latest problem.I just hope I don't end up having to replace the crankshaft.

I've owned this car for five weeks and have driven it a grand total of two times. It will be another few days before I can drive it again. Hopefully. It's been nothing but a nightmare.

Despite the fact that it will be a strong car in top-notch condition with a huge amount of work put into it, I think I will sell it immediately after I get it back. I'm going to lose thousands when I sell it. I've been so badly burned that I don't think I'll be able to touch another SHO again.

There's no real moral to this story; I just wanted to vent.

Rob

 

[SHO_Driver]

It's good to vent but I've heard many horror stories like yours happening with Honda's. Hopefully you've fixed all of those problems and can now just drive it.

 

[shojuan]

Yes, there is such a thing as having a SHO all fixed so you can reap the rewards. Maybe it will be fine when you get it back.

 

[Machspeed]

Welcome to sho ownership.

 

[Nook]

Keep it and hope you can get a month's use out of it for every $200 spent.

(Nook's rule of used car price to value measurement)

N

 

[Yamaha V6]

When the crankshaft is turned to repair a spun bearing, you MUST use oversized bearings, plain & simple. Hope you did.

Honestly, the BEST thing, strength & parts-wise is to replace with an unturned decent crank, IMO.

I know parts can be hard to find in certain areas, but it's workable.

Good luck!

 

[sdpatt]

Did you ever contact the former owner-criminal?

 

[burninator]

I may have to look into getting a new crankshaft - apparently it had been machined once before (before I owned it). I'll wait to hear from the machine shop to see if it is within tolerances. Or would that be a bad idea?

And yes, I did contact the former owner - I sent him a letter, providing him with an opportunity to settle the matter in an honourable way. There was no response, so I'm about to file an action against him. I promise, he'll be sorry for what he did.

PS: At one month for every $200 spent; it looks like I'll be driving that SHO for quite some time!

 

[luigisho]

Instead of looking for just an unmolested crank I would get another motor and get some fresh bearings and seals if you are going to sell it. If you can get more stuff done for what you already paid (new rings etc.) it might be worth keeping and enjoying. Good luck and save those receipts.