undeRwhelmed

On Friday i took the S in to get a custom alignment. Just before the shop was about to close the tech phoned and told me there was a problem; there was an eccentric bolt stuck on both the left front and right rear of the car. I left the car at the shop over the weekend and had him phone me back today with an estimate to repair it. I almost passed out when i got an estimate for $1400-$1500 CDN. This was a worst case scenario and included a new front lower control arm and a new rear lower control arm ($600 in parts right there). He ordered the control arms just in case he would need them and is hoping he won't.

I'm wondering why he would possibly need new control arms. Is it possibly because he might wreck the bushings? As i understand it Honda doesn't sell these bushings separately and a new control arm must be purchased. Or is there some other reason a whole new arm might be required? If the bushings are the reason i'll just order some Mugen's and the car will have to sit until they come in.

Also, does anyone have any advice on how to get the eccentric bolts out or unstuck?
I know the tech tried liquid wrench or something to that effect and likely a long breaker bar.

Any advice would be appreciated as i reall don't like the idea of paying $1500 so i can have an alignment done.

Billman250

There have been threads on this. I explained how to fix it many times, there's even pictures. Search it up

undeRwhelmed

Could you point me in the right direction? I tried searching about this for an hour before posting this. The search engine on this site is a little lacking.

undeRwhelmed

Billman 250: you replied to my initial post so quickly, but now, no response. I even PM'd you. Sorry to hassle you but i need info before tomorrow morning so i know what to tell the tech (whether i tell him to wreck the LCA or whether i should try to fix it myself).

Slows2k

The bolt is seized inside the bushing sleeve. Turning the bolt usually tears the bushing = new control arm.

Heating with a torch melts the bushing, but usually the bolt is OK = new control arm.

Part of living in the rust belt is dealing with issues like this.

undeRwhelmed

Well that's the thing. This car just came from the USA. It spent most of it's life in Illinois and was garaged. Judging from the condition of the underside of the car it's not seen any snow or roadsalt etc. so i'm a little confused why two corners are seized.

Sounds like you are saying the LCA's need to be replaced because the bushings will be destroyed removing the eccentric bolts. This helps my decision making. There's no point in replacing the bushings on one side and not the other. Therefore, i'm thinking ordering some Mugen bushings for the LCA's front and rear might be the way to go.

When i see prices around $200 US for the front LCA and get quoted $460 CDN i also have no desire to buy new ones.

Slows2k

Illinois = rust belt

I used to live there. 1 trip on a salt covered road can do all the damage.

undeRwhelmed

seems like kind of a shoddy design, then. Well, you would agree that replacing the front left and rear right LCA's only is kind of a poor way to do things? So it's either i replace all the LCA's ($1200 in parts alone) or i buy new Mugen bushings and keep the old LCA's.

Slows2k

How old of a car are we talking about?

I think living where road salt is used is kinda shoddy.... But I live below the Mason-Dixon line.

CoralDoc

Before spending a lot of money on new bolts and control arms, see if a prolonged attempt with penetrating fluid can help out. It may take several days of multiple liberal applications per day to work. Make sure the mechanic was using real penetrating fluid like PB Blaster or Liquid Wrench, not just WD-40.

If not, you're "stuck" with the problem.