Car ignored and rotted for 4 years. Lets put it on the road.

[1HGCG2]

I bought the CG2 in 2013 and drove it for a few years, then I got a new job and a new project car, so I parked it in the back yard and ignored it ever since. Maintaining an S60R is a goddamn nightmare and costs a literal fortune (spend a few grand, drive it for 2 weeks, repeat for years). I had forgotten how comparatively easy, cheap, and fun it is working on Accords. Anyway..

My volvo blew a power steering hardline so I parked it for a bit. Might as well replace a bunch of things while its down, so it will be a couple months in my garage and cost another 5 grand before its back on the road. I was moving my cars around and memories of driving the CG2 just hit me like a ton of bricks, so I figured why not put it back on the road in the meantime?

Well sitting in a canadian back yard for 4 years takes its toll on an old car. Right off the bat I need a new battery, all new fluids and filters, all new rotors and pads, and new tires. I rebuilt all the calipers so they're good, but my handbrake cable needs to be replaced. First test fire I found out the throttle was sticky when I put the pedal down and it didnt come back up. The noise at WOT let me know one of the mufflers was wide open too. Second test fire was much better, except the idle was all over the place. Rebuilt the IACV and that problem was solved. Now it runs smooth but I'm looking at a new oxygen sensor. Cat might be in bad shape but a complete new exhaust is in the plans if the car ends up being driveable.

The body is in surprisingly good shape except for the paint, and the now nonexistent rear wheel wells. The rear jack points collapsed too, wonderful. Im no stranger to metalworking and bodywork so we'll see what happens there. If the car behaves over the next year, I'm ready to do a complete teardown, frame restore, and proper rebuild. Its one of the most fun cars Ive ever had, and I like the thought of keeping it for a long time.

I know the average person would have scrapped the car by now, but so far I'm looking at a grand total of about 900 bucks to put it back on the road, which is far less than the cost of one shock absorber on my volvo. SIGH. Also I've been paying the plate and insurance on the car this entire time so, sunken cost fallacy..

I suppose this thread will serve as a place for me to track the progress, get input on other things to check on a car thats been rotting for 4 years, and hear stories of other cars saved from being scrapped.

 

[T.$.Racing]

4 years really isn't that long, I mean its not ideal by any means, but as long the thing didn't sit with the hood off, or the head removed for an extended time you should be fine mechanically speaking. Change the fluids and listen closely for any hub noises. I'm sure the brakes and hubs are somewhat rusty now, might just be surface rust that wears off right away. The tires are probably cashed (the rubber itself) by now, best to just replace those before any serious driving.

 

[1HGCG2]

Spent the day on it yesterday, new tires, new rotors and pads, new fluids, new battery. There was an old squirrel nest on top of the engine, pulled apart the whole air intake as a precaution and found nothing. Started it up and took it around the block, I have a cracked flex pipe and both CV axles are bad. Accessory timer is pooched, and the, brakes are super spongy (going to have to bleed them again), and the idle is bouncing badly in park/neutral despite rebuilding the IACV, so I'll be looking at the EGR next. Besides that the big bad V6 runs beautifully.

The lighting system in this car is dogshit, its a canadian model so forced DRL, but the previous owner installed a really cheap pair of aftermarket headlights that take those awful H1 bulbs, which keep burning out and have long since cooked the entire harness. I swapped them for amazon LEDs but had to remove the DRL module and wire in an additional relay to get them to work with the light switch. I've searched across the internet looking for DRL delete information but people only whine about laws and never provide real answers, so I might make a DIY video on that.

After fixing the flex and replacing the axles I'll start welding in some metal and thinking about some new paint. It wont look nearly as clean as some cars I see here, but it'll give the car a bit of a better life.

 

[T.$.Racing]

How long/many miles have you driven it? The car might still be sorting things out and "relearning" so to speak, I'd drive it a pretty good amount first and see if the idle smooths out. Could also try getting some MAF cleaner and clean the mass air flow sensor and run some Lucas fuel treatment with fresh gas.

I feel you on the daytime running lights, I absolutely hate them. Maybe its as easy as the first gen 00-06 Tundra. On those it is as simple as pulling the fuse for them, and voila , no more DRL's. Every other light functions as normal when YOU turn them on, its almost like Toyota knew people would want to eliminate that crap the second they bought the truck lol

 

[1HGCG2]

Car is roughly 350,000kms, between the previous owner and now its gained about 80,000.

I solved the headlight problem by tapping a wire to where the left headlight relay plugs in. Its negatively switched direct from the light stalk, so a simple relay at the battery to send power to the new headlights. Going to do a similar jump to get the highbeams working again.

Had another look at the IACV, gave the harness a wiggle and the idle flattened out, so some contact cleaner solved that problem, woo.

Tranny dumped all its fluid. Turns out I have a bad leak where it meets the radiator, going to take a look at that when I swap out the two axles.

 

[Adhmuz]

I feel you on the daytime running lights, I absolutely hate them. Maybe its as easy as the first gen 00-06 Tundra. On those it is as simple as pulling the fuse for them, and voila , no more DRL's. Every other light functions as normal when YOU turn them on, its almost like Toyota knew people would want to eliminate that crap the second they bought the truck lol

Pulling the fuse is all you need to do on the 6th gen Accord too, I had mine pulled as the module stopped working long before I retired the car. The module itself is repairable, its under the steering column and just needs the contacts re-soldered, or simply remelt the existing solder as it has fatigued and cracked, common problem according to my Honda mechanic.

Funny enough the same pulling of the DRL fuse trick worked on my 8th Gen, I eventually put it back when I installed LED bulbs for the highbeams which are typically what Honda uses for the DRL at either reduced voltage or PWM.

The body is in surprisingly good shape except for the paint, and the now nonexistent rear wheel wells. The rear jack points collapsed too, wonderful. Im no stranger to metalworking and bodywork so we'll see what happens there. If the car behaves over the next year, I'm ready to do a complete teardown, frame restore, and proper rebuild. Its one of the most fun cars Ive ever had, and I like the thought of keeping it for a long time.

Sounds like my 98, rear wheel wells had gone out and all the jack points rotted and crushed into the frame, even had about the same mileage on the clock at a little over 380,000 km

How are your door frames? Right behind the mirrors seems to be a real troublesome place, sadly Honda didn't learn as again my 08 has the exact same problem occurring... Quebec winter is a real sob.

 

[1HGCG2]

pulling the fuse doesn't work on my car, i have a newer module that puts the highs in series, if you pull the fuse the headlights don't switch and the DRL light comes on. i dont know if its that way because its a canadian 2001 model, or if it was done by the previous owner when he installed the shitty ebay headlights. And I 100% have the rotting behind the mirrors haha

this will be my last post on this site, unless I come back to this platform in the future. I've run out of time and space putting this car back on the road, and was forced to make the tough decision to buy a new car. as it is I have too many project cars and no reliable dailies, and that doesn't fly when you own a business and need to be able to move around reliably.

I say goodbye to my CG2, and instead turn my attention (and money) to my 67 impala project and my S60R project

thanks for everything