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Del Sol Common Issues


MChester

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During the process of searching for and buying my car, I found several somewhat to very common issues among Del Sols. Let's face it, these cars are getting up in years and as such can display some common "undesired features".

 

 

 

Rust on the rear quarters above the rocker panel and/or above the wheel well lip on both sides.

 

Rust on the door jamb at the spot welds for the door striker.

 

Center console doors don't operate and/or parts are missing. (Radio door, ashtray door, cup holder door, rear console doors/lock)

 

Drivers seat outside bolsters broken down and/or badly worn depending on how a person gets in/out.

 

Door armrest vinyl has shrunk and pulled away or cracked where people arms naturally rest on the door panels. Both sides.

 

Roof panel and door seals/rubbers are often not maintained well. They will show cracks, chunks missing, etc...

 

Trunk water leaks due to the seals on the rear sail panels or tail lights going bad. Pull the trunk liner aside if you can and look for signs of water sitting or a musty smell. Similar issues can happen with the 3rd brake light trim panel and water can leak into the rear cabin. You'll notice a smell if this has been happening long. Check under the trunk spare tire cover for rust while you are in the trunk. Pull the cover all the way out if you can. Pay close attention to the most forward part of the trunk floor where the cab meets the trunk floor. Rust here can be a big issue if allowed to get bad.

 

Antennas broken off seem to be common and it's a bit of a bear to replace because it's in a tight spot in the body, although not expensive through DS Tuning. Power antenna was an accessory that seems to be rare. Power masts are available seperately from the motor drive and can usually be replaced seperately if your motor still clicks when the radio is powered up/down.

 

Paint faded on Red and Black seems to be common and obvious to see.

 

3rd gear grind especially when cold is somewhat common on 5 spd cars where the transmission is either old or mistreated. Shift forks get bent from abuse. It's an expensive fix due to the labor involved.

 

Door triangle window frames, the black painted parts, seem to rust out from the bottom up on some cars.

 

Door lock mechanisms can get stiff and in need of lubrication and possibly rebending some rods that have "stretched" over time. You'll see the door lock pivot doesn't move easily and/or gets stuck partially closed/open when operating the locks via the power switch.

 

Door and trunk lock rod clips can get brittle and break causing the trunk lock cylinder or door handle to not open the trunk/door. Clips are very inexpensive and not very difficult to replace.

 

Fuel door and trunk open cables stretch over time and may not work consistently. I know the trunk cable has adjustment notches than can be used to tighten up the cable just a little. There are 3 notches. Mine is on the last and next step is a replaced cable. Fuel door MIGHT have the same adjustment, but I have not confirmed this.

 

CV joints go bad eventually on all FWD cars. If you can drive in a tight circle very slowly in a parking lot first to the left then the right, making a couple circles each way with the steering wheel turned all the ay to lock, you want to listen for clicking coming from the front wheel area. If it clicks when doing this, then the CV joints are on their way out. Might last for many more months or might go the next day.

 

Instrument panel or switch bulbs being blown is also common. These are pretty old cars. But relacing them is cheap and fairly easy if you are mechanicallly inclined at all. Caution, some switch bulbs have been discontinued BUT your local dealer parts person should be able to match up a similar bulb from another application.

 

 

 

I will elaborate on this list as I get information including photos and part numbers/diagrams where applicable. If anyone has additional information, corrections, contributions, etc... Please post up. The goal is to build something worthy of Pinning to the top of this Forum for the Del Sol owner or perspective owner to use as reference. It's not intended as a slam in ANY way of our cars. I love my Del Sol. It is intended only to inform and assist.

Edited by MChester
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In addition to your comments on roof seals. The 93 and 94 model years especially have an endemic problem with water leaking regardless of maintenance performed on the seals. Brand new cars were known to have been leaking while still sitting on the dealer parking lot. If you have an opportunity to look you should check the rust status of the foot wells under the front carpet.

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In addition to your comments on roof seals. The 93 and 94 model years especially have an endemic problem with water leaking regardless of maintenance performed on the seals. Brand new cars were known to have been leaking while still sitting on the dealer parking lot. If you have an opportunity to look you should check the rust status of the foot wells under the front carpet.

 

I agee it'd be great to check footwells but most folks are going to get upset if you start pulling up their carpets. :o

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You don't necessarily have to pull up the carpet to look, you just have to look under the seat. :wink:

 

Bolts and brackets that hold down the front corners of the seats will wick the moisture upward. Any car with significant water intrusion will have surface rust on, in and around the mounting flange. The flange just so happens to be on top of the carpet.

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You don't necessarily have to pull up the carpet to look, you just have to look under the seat. :wink:

 

Bolts and brackets that hold down the front corners of the seats will wick the moisture upward. Any car with significant water intrusion will have surface rust on, in and around the mounting flange. The flange just so happens to be on top of the carpet.

 

I'll bet you are correct, though I've not seen that in a Sol yet.

 

For example, mine had some rust on the bottom of the outboard drivers side bracket, like you mentioned, but the floor is solid. No rust at all. I'm thinking in my case, given the wear of the carpet I am replacing, the PO used the car in winter without floor mats and the carpet got wet from snow/rain directly on the carpet and soaked up into the bracket. Just a thought, but it's the only thing I can think of to explain my slightly rusted seat bracket bottom. I can't understand how the PO took such good care of the car in every other way, but wore holes in the carpet due to a lack of floor mats. Crazy...

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  • 4 months later...
  • 1 year later...

i have a 93 and yes it leaks big time cant avoid it when it rains but it may sound cheezy but i plasti dipped the edges and any black plastic i got a little too happy and did the ones just around the window and around it and it does the trick no leaks their yet ;) but of course i assume sooner or later ill have to see to it again try it

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  • 3 months later...

>Hey guys thanks for the tips...I used to have a scion but im moving on to the del sols,ive always liked the body style and t he colors,...im looking at one now its a 95 with a 133k miles automatic(very hard to find these days)and lady kept.she just put a new paint job on it which in my opinion looks great.I should be in it by the end of the week if it passes inspection from my mechanic friend lol wish me luck,looking foward to being a new del sol owner.</li>

Edited by Brooke Hamm
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  • 4 months later...

The bottom of the seat rails on my 95 Si are rusted AGAIN. They were replaced under warranty in 1997.

 

The car has been undercoated (Crown) multiple times, and has never been driven in the snow, or even rain....well maybe once or twice in an unexpected rain shower.

 

I lifted the carpet, and there's no sign of water intrusion whatsoever.

 

Any chance this rusting is caused by galvanic corrosion between two dissimilar metals?

 

I'm dremelling off the rust, painting the brackets with a rust-preventitive paint, and replacing the 8 seat bolts with stainless steel ones. May even fabricate 4 stainless corner pieces.

 

Cheers, Senior Sol

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Tx Raley,

 

If you are correct, then a good dremelling, priming, and multiple coats of rust-preventitive paint should do the trick for me.

 

Cheers, Senior Sol

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  • 2 weeks later...
  • 1 month later...

As a companion post to "my top flew off" I have another question:

The top rattled quite a bit when driving through Toronto's exceptionally maintained roads (say, like Detroit). Is this common loose body flex or an indication that there is something else at issue? The car already has a strut tube across the rear struts, which I assume was installed to deal withbody flex. Is the rattling common?

 

I moved "up" from my '90 Miata to the newer '96 VTEC Del Sol but find that the slickness of the Miata gearbox is just not there. Do I live with it or are there any "fixes" for that?

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Hi Babu,

 

The rattling of the top is often caused by lack of grease in the holes that the roof's stainless steel locking pins fit in to.

 

These holes are located near the top sides of the windshield. Pack them, and the rear ones, with Silicone grease, preferably Shin Etsu, available from Honda dealerships, and the rattling should completely stop.

 

DO NOT use Vaseline, as it is petroleum based, and will deteriorate the weatherstripping seals.

 

Can't be of any help regarding the gearbox, as I have never driven a Miata...................mostly looked at them IN MY REARVIEW MIRROR!

 

Cheers, Senior Sol

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  • 3 years later...

The gear box specs 10-30 or 10-40 engine oil, as I recall. It would likely improve with a full replacement of synthetic wide range oil (5-50?) if the seals are good. Another option is Slick 50 PTFE oil additive based on similar engine weight oil (not the manual trans product with heavy oil base). I'd take the car for a drive immediately after you put S50 in to prevent the Teflon from settling out too soon before it can get to all the wear surfaces. Drive it daily if you can for a while to set the stuff right. Warm season is a better time for this too. I was a S50 distributor before the stuff was put in stores (at half the price!).

 

Roof seals were supposedly updated in 1995 to stop the leaks. May have to rely on NOS to find them.

Edited by jopower
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  • 2 months later...

I am just now encountering a problem with the door lock on my passenger door. It locks fairly easily but won't unlock. Where do I lubricate? Inside door latch or rear latch mechanism. Can I lubricate the locking mechanism without taking the door panel off? How? Where? Suggested lube?

 

Any detailed suggestions about the door lock problem will be greatly appreciated.

 

I have a 1997 del Sol Si Cypress Green Pearl with several well thought out updates. It is in fantastic condition inside and outside except that the paint on the sails is beginning to deteriorate. The SW Florida sun is brutal on all plastics. Many here have wells for irrigation and they use non-potable water with high phosphate content (essentially mild phosphoric acid!) so I avoid parking near sprinklers when I am out and about. I also live within about 6 miles from the Gulf and when a strong storm front with high winds blows in from the Gulf there tends to be some salt that gets picked up so it gets rinsed off as soon as I get home if I am out when one of these storms hits. Fortunately, I have frequently maintained my rubber seals (Top, doors, trunk) with Shinetzu so I have never had a water problem except when I have parked it with the top off or the windows down and return literally just a few minutes later to find a very brief tropical storm has passed by. Some years ago I had some small dents fixed and they removed the sails to access that area and soon after I discovered a significant water leakage problem so I replaced the clips and seals on the sails with new ones coated with Shinetzu - problem solved. My 3rd brake light paint was fading so I replaced it with a new one and also used Shinetzu on the seals for that so I have no leak issues. I replaced my manual antenna with an electric one about 10 years ago so I don't have people breaking off my antenna mast anymore!

 

 

Thanks very much for any suggestions

Edited by mondobyte
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The gear box specs 10-30 or 10-40 engine oil, as I recall. It would likely improve with a full replacement of synthetic wide range oil (5-50?) if the seals are good. Another option is Slick 50 PTFE oil additive based on similar engine weight oil (not the manual trans product with heavy oil base). I'd take the car for a drive immediately after you put S50 in to prevent the Teflon from settling out too soon before it can get to all the wear surfaces. Drive it daily if you can for a while to set the stuff right. Warm season is a better time for this too. I was a S50 distributor before the stuff was put in stores (at half the price!).

 

Roof seals were supposedly updated in 1995 to stop the leaks. May have to rely on NOS to find them.

 

I had another del Sol and replaced the transmission oil with synthetic and it suddently developed the 3rd gear glitch after a few weeks. I don't race and don't hard shift so those weren't issues. Later, I was told that the Honda Oil prevents this. I have replaced the oil in my 1997 del Sol with Honda oil (not an aftermarket) and no problems with any shifting including 3rd gear in over 10 years of driving! I would recommend using ONLY the Honda brand transmission oil based on my experience.

Edited by mondobyte
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Trailing arm bushings, as well as various other bushings tend to always need replaced. Let's face it, there's a lot of high mileage del sols out there

 

In real terms, the original Honda bushings just deteriorate with age irrespective of mileage. Mileage, of course, will prematurely cause the bushings to fail too! My del Sol had less than 70K miles on it when the struts and bushings were replaced and all the lower bushings, control arms, etc. were deteriorated and in dire need of replacement. At the time, I was told that even if the del Sol had 20K miles or less would need new bushings, struts, timing belts, other belts and struts after 10-15 years just because the original materials deteriorate with age irrespective of mileage.

Edited by mondobyte
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You should add "Every year or Maximum 2 years, the del Sol should have a radiator flush and a brake fluid flush!

 

Brake fluid breaks down with age and exposure to humidity. When the brake fluid breaks down or absorbs humidity it loses the ability to protect against corrosion and this usually results in corrosion of the metal parts of the brake system (calipers, master cylinder, proportioning valve, brake lines). This can be a very expensive repair.

 

Similarly, anti-freeze provides corrosion protection AND lubrication for the water pump. Especially here in hot SW Florida, anti-freeze breaks down and can lead to premature water pump failure and radiator failure. This can be a very expensive repair too!

 

Also, for those low mileage drivers or for vehicles that are stored not driven for weeks or months and especially in high humidity climates fuel additives to expunge water are necessary. Fuel contains ethanol. Ethanol absorbs water. Water will corrode your fuel system, particularly the gas tank and fuel pump. It is never a good idea to let a car sit for any period in any climate with a partially filled tank because this will increase the absorbtion of water. Again, the corrosion in gasoline ages and deteriorates with age and humidity. Fuel driers should be used periodically to remove any built up water in the bottom of the tank and especially if you are in a humid climate even if you drive every day! Fuel stabilizers should be used if a car is not driven for weeks or months at a time and you should drive the car long enough that the fuel stabilizer will permeate the entire fuel system up to and including the injectors. How do you know if you have a problem, change your fuel filter and look for particles of rust or sludge coming out of it if you flush it backwards!

Edited by mondobyte
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  • 3 years later...
  • 1 year later...
On 10/29/2009 at 12:58 AM, diablo2dusk said:

close and stickey

On 10/29/2009 at 12:29 AM, MChester said:

musty smell

On 6/25/2012 at 6:52 PM, Raley said:

its just the pot

hey guys, made this nice little poem for ya out of quotes from your replies. Hope you all enjoy! P.S. Del Sols are cool :^)

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