[vladha]

First, for $1200 and as long as it's not full of rust, buy the damn thing. If you don't want it, let me know. For that kind of money, I'll buy another.

As far as it understeering to the left and diving when you turn right... axels, ball joints, cv joints, bushings, struts, springs, etc... any/some/or even all of these can lead to this. None of these should keep you from buying the car... not when it's only $1200.

Is it the differential... no.

This board and others have tons of ideas/ways to fix, upgrade, replace and maintain the car... so, you'll always be able to find what you need.

Buy it, take care of it, and enjoy it.

Later,
Mark

 

[vladha]

There's not a lot of places for rust and rot to hide on the Classics. Double check the rear suspension and exhaust for rust, i.e. around the nuts, bolts and springs.

If you're just going to street drive(even if it's aggressivley) the stock suspension is fine. You will have to replace the bushings and what not. The car is fairly low mileage, but even age will do damage to those parts. Motor mounts will definitely make a difference. Shifter bushings.

But, since the car understeers when you turn left and dives when you turn right... I still suspect that there is a problem somewhere in and around the front suspension. If the current driver whacked a curb or pothole hard enough, one of the fron control arms could be bent. Does the car pull left or right when you brake? Can you take your hands off the steering wheel on the highway w/o the car steering left or right?

Your next best bet is finding someone in your area who already owns an SE-R and is willing to test drive it for you to help pinpoint the problem. Over on the sr20deforum.com, there is a list of areas and states where there are SE-R members. Go over there and see if there is anyone in your area and maybe they can give you more specific help. I know at least 20 members in my area who are always helping each other out.

Still, for $1200, it's a good deal. Oh yeah, also check for 5th gear pop out in the car... car will not stay in 5th gear or even go into 5th. That can be a huge pain to fix.

Later,
Mark

 

[vladha]

Hmmmm... well, if it were me and the car runs as well as you say, I'd go ahead and buy it and figure out the problem as you go. Is the steering wheel any more difficult to move in either direction? And as far as I know, you can align a car that has a bad control arm or strut. Unless the steering wheel has a type of "binding" when you turn it to the left, or feels loose when you turn it right, I'm going to guess the problem is actually on the RHS of the car. Without a stabilizer bar in the rear and no front tower stabilizer, the cars tend to understeer anyway... unless you trail brake, something you don't want to do on the street with traffic.

Last guess, check out the front springs/suspension. One side could be much stiffer than the other. One is probably fine, the other shot... not difficult to fix.

I'm probably screwing this all up. The '91 and '92's are pretty much alike. I've got an FSM for my '91 and will double check the suspension components... ok, double checked. Unfortunately, it doesn't have a problem/answer section for the front suspension. But, by just looking at the information and having a good idea what the springs and struts do, I'm going to say either something is binding in the left front strut, or the right front strut is blown or the spring is not on correctly. In other words, when you turn right, and the load bears onto your left side(assuming that strut/spring is good), there is no compensating force on the right side. Hence, the car "dives" into the turn... there is no balance for the weight shift.

Without driving the car, and from your descriptions, that's my best guess. You sound like you know something about cars and have ruled out the click/clack of the cv joint, no leaks or busted boots. The ball joint on either side can become dried out and will sometimes bind, but I don't know that it would cause that problem. Find a speed bump and drive over it with just the front driver side only, then with the front passenger side only... at about 5 to 15 mph. Then see if you notice one side "loading" differently than the other.

Still, for $1200, whatever the problem, I'd buy the car. I absolutely love mine and I'm someone who owned a Honda for 17 years.

Later,
Mark