Considering a Del Sol:things I should look out for?

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klijam64@email.pct.edu - 04 Mar 2005 02:39 GMT

Hi folks,
My girlfriend is considering buying a 1994 Del Sol from a
co-worker. Unfortunately at this time I'm not sure on the trim: if it's
an 'S', 'Si', or Vtec... The car has ~90k on it, original owner, garage
kept.
Because I do most of the work on our vehicles, I'd like to be well
informed before I go to look at it. I have briefly read some problems
surrounding this Honda, like leaking roof seals. I'd like to hear some
things you would check for/or ask about regarding a Del Sol before
buying. Any other problematic parts of this car?
Also more specifically, do all Del Sol engines have a timing belt,
or chain? You'll have to excuse me, b/c my only Honda engine experiance
has been with an F22A1 in a '90 Accord. I hope that it has been
serviced, because I hate doing timing belts: my accord was a royal
PITA.
Anyways, anything outstanding that has caused you grief with your
Del Sol?

Thanks for any/all info you can provide; I'll post back with the exact
model ASAP.

Cheers!
-Jamie

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John Ings - 04 Mar 2005 13:32 GMT

>Hi folks,
> My girlfriend is considering buying a 1994 Del Sol from a
>co-worker. Unfortunately at this time I'm not sure on the trim: if it's
>an 'S', 'Si', or Vtec... The car has ~90k on it, original owner, garage
>kept.

In Pennsyvania? Check the floorboards and doorsill for rust if it was
driven in winter!

> Because I do most of the work on our vehicles, I'd like to be well
>informed before I go to look at it. I have briefly read some problems
[quoted text clipped - 3 lines]
> Also more specifically, do all Del Sol engines have a timing belt,
>or chain?

Belt.

>You'll have to excuse me, b/c my only Honda engine experiance
>has been with an F22A1 in a '90 Accord. I hope that it has been
>serviced, because I hate doing timing belts: my accord was a royal
>PITA.

It's due for a belt on milage and way overdue on time (belts need
changing every 6 years). If it hasn't been changed, a scary price
quoted by a dealer may be the reason it's for sale.

> Anyways, anything outstanding that has caused you grief with your
>Del Sol?

DelSlows were a damn poor replacement for the hatchback CRX in my
opinion!

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Dan Beaton - 04 Mar 2005 15:03 GMT

Anything unique to the car can be difficult and expensive to replace.
Hence the concern about the window and door rubber.

Del Sols are prone to rusting around the rear wheel arches, and the
car should be carefully checked for body damage or rust.

If well maintained and not abused, the engine and drive train should be
fine. Do you have a full service history? If not well maintained or
abused (tire smoking starts, redline on a cold engine), I wouldn't touch
it.

A Del Sol is a wonderful car on a warm day, but a little creaky and noisy,
and being low to the ground, a little harder to get into.

Dan (1993 Del Sol Si)

(This account is not used for email.)

> Hi folks,
> My girlfriend is considering buying a 1994 Del Sol from a
[quoted text clipped - 19 lines]
> Cheers!
> -Jamie

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klijam64@email.pct.edu - 04 Mar 2005 20:46 GMT

Dan,
Regarding the wheel well rusting: is this due to a drain located
there? I was told it was serviced regularly, but I'm still waiting to
see the records myself.

Thanks,
-Jamie

> Anything unique to the car can be difficult and expensive to replace.
> Hence the concern about the window and door rubber.
[quoted text clipped - 11 lines]
>
> Dan (1993 Del Sol Si)

Reply to this Message

John Ings - 04 Mar 2005 23:20 GMT

> Regarding the wheel well rusting: is this due to a drain located
>there? I was told it was serviced regularly, but I'm still waiting to
>see the records myself.

Unibody cars are made of spot-welded sheet metal. When you spot weld 2
or 3 downward pointing metal edges such as the rim of a wheel well or
the lower edge of a doorsill, you create an area vulnerable to rust.
The metal is close together along a considerable distance, but only
actually attached in spots at intervals. Brine from the road wicks up
into such cracks and undercoat has a hard time protecting an edge.

The aftermarket anti-rust schemes often use a real skinny oil that is
sprayed downward into such cracks from above to cure the problem. That
works but it has to be redone annually.

I don't know about a mid 90s Honda, but my 87 CRX had the most rust
where the floor of the passenger compartment was folded down and
spot-welded to the tubular doorsill. That's the edge visible where the
jacking points are. The rear wheel well rims were also a rust haven.
The carpets of a car driven in winter where salt is in use gets wet
with brine from the driver's and passenger's footwear, and this damp
brine-poultice can corrode the floor under it. With the car on a
hoist, poke at the underside of the car with a philips screwdiver and
see how many places it goes through!

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Dan Beaton - 05 Mar 2005 14:40 GMT

I am not aware of a drain. The rusting appears as bubbles in a straight
line just above the rear wheel opening. As long as the car has not been
painted recently, careful inspection should show it. There are other
rust spots (door sill, floors, "B" pillar just above the window sill)
but all Del Sols I have seen with rust had rust above the rear wheel
wells, so it is the first place to look.

I love the term "serviced regularly". For some people, it means that
they took it into an oil change place twice a year (better than not
taking it in, I suppose, but hardly adequate). For others, it means
that they checked the oil every time that they got gas, and added
more whenever it was low! For some, it means that they memorized
the service recommendations in the manual, and plan trips to ensure
that they never exceed a recommended service interval. This last
group can be equally hazardous to the health of the vehicle,
because they can "baby" their car to the point of never taking the
engine above 4,000 rpm, let it idle 10 minutes to warm up before
starting, etc.. 50,000 miles of that kind of driving, and then you
take it out for a good run, even fully warmed up, hit red line a
few times, and head to the garage for engine repairs. This isn't
unique to the Del Sol of course, but small-displacement, high-
performance (and tight-tolerance) engines will suffer more from
this kind of "babying".

Good luck.
Dan

(This account is not used for email.)

> Dan,
> Regarding the wheel well rusting: is this due to a drain located
[quoted text clipped - 22 lines]
>>
>> Dan (1993 Del Sol Si)

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gmccx - 08 Mar 2005 14:07 GMT

> Hi folks,
> My girlfriend is considering buying a 1994 Del Sol from a
[quoted text clipped - 4 lines]
> informed before I go to look at it. I have briefly read some problems
> surrounding this Honda, like leaking roof seals.

In case you're still following this thread, I have owned a 95 VTEC for
some time now and have found it very reliable so far. It's only got
about 50K on it now though, and I have had the timing belt/water pump
done once so far.

Someone else may recall this more exactly, but at some point in the
model history the roof seals were changed to a double seal with a
channel in between. That is what mine has and it was stock on the 95.
All I've ever done is put a little silicone grease on the seals every
few months and it remains leak free.

I owned an S model for a very short time before finding my one owner low
mileage VTEC, and it was frankly a little slow for me (I drove a 79 RX-7
for about 20 years prior). The SI seemed probably tolerable when I test
drove one, but the VTEC would be my preference for obvious reasons.

But then again, if she is buying something to drag race full time, this
probably isn't the car she needs anyway. Ignore the 'delslow' comments
as I do... it's just fine as a daily driver as far as I'm concerned and
I generally like the dual personality being available, depending on
whether the tac is kept below or above the 5000 mark.

While it will likely be fine, let her sit in it and make sure the seat
to pedals/steering wheel distance suits her. I have always wished the
pedals were a little more distant when the seat is set for where I like
the steering wheel.... but I'm a guy with fairly long legs.

Otherwise, it's a high revving Honda, and they have a history of
building engines like that pretty well.

Signature

George

http://people.delphiforums.com/gmcc

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Bubba - 27 Apr 2005 12:39 GMT

I'm new to this group. Anyway, I have a 94 del Sol with 192,000+ miles
on it. Just had the 2nd timing belt put on last weekend. The car runs
great and I'm not easy on it either. At 100,000 miles I had a buddy of
mine with me and we revved 1st gear to the rev-limiter, just to show him
that it won't hurt. I get 45 MPG on the highway and can fill up for
around $20.00, even with today's gas prices. No trouble with the roof
seals ever leaking, but I had the '95 seals put in under warranty.
Change the oil every 6000 miles or so and you'll be just fine. I plan
on driving this car until it literally breaks down and then I'll do an
engine swap with an Acura Type R engine. Oh yeah, one other thing. If
you look under the hood, there should be a sticker that says, "Final
Point of Assembly: Osaka, Japan" This is why my del Sol has lasted for
so long.

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