98 CRV traction

http://www.helminc.com

$20.

 

Or... https://techinfo.honda.com

$10.

Except that you need to download it in separate PDFs.

 

Honda, the EPA, and the NHTSA all class the CR-V as a light-truck, even
though it's Civic-based.

My boss's new 2011 CR-V says "4WD" on the tailgate.

 

"Elmo P. Shagnasty" wrote

If I ever were to consider buying a used car, and that car didn't have a
manual, I would walk away from it. Not having a manual would tell me the
owner may have paid little attention to what the car needed for maintenance
or its proper operation.

 

if anything, i think it's the other way around. if it's not in the car,
the owner is more likely to have taken it out to read it. you're not
going to plow through several hundred pages of a modern manual while
sitting at a stop light. i say this because i've had used cars with all
the original documents in perfect condition in the glove box - never
been opened or looked at, and the car utterly neglected in every way.
i've had others with no docs whatsoever, but well maintained. it really
is no indicator of whether a vehicle has been maintained properly
whatsoever.

anyway, what's with this obsession with maintenance records??? a
vehicle can have a full maint. record, but be a wheeled chicken coop if
the maintainer was incompetent. or it can be recordless, and
obsessively immaculate. again, it's no indicator of condition that
opening the hood and actually looking at the vehicle's guts won't tell
in much better detail.

you can even extend this to the clear title/salvage title charade. i've
seen clear title vehicles that have clearly had poorly done crash
rebuild work. and i've seen [owned] salvage title that have been
flawless, simply because they had been de-registered by the previous
owner who didn't want to pay non-op fees. there is NOTHING about a
vehicle's "documented history" that matters even vaguely against a
competent inspection. nothing.

 

"jim beam" wrote in message

if anything, i think it's the other way around. if it's not in the car,
the owner is more likely to have taken it out to read it. you're not
going to plow through several hundred pages of a modern manual while
sitting at a stop light. i say this because i've had used cars with all
the original documents in perfect condition in the glove box - never
been opened or looked at, and the car utterly neglected in every way.
i've had others with no docs whatsoever, but well maintained. it really
is no indicator of whether a vehicle has been maintained properly
whatsoever.

anyway, what's with this obsession with maintenance records??? a
vehicle can have a full maint. record, but be a wheeled chicken coop if
the maintainer was incompetent. or it can be recordless, and
obsessively immaculate. again, it's no indicator of condition that
opening the hood and actually looking at the vehicle's guts won't tell
in much better detail.

you can even extend this to the clear title/salvage title charade. i've
seen clear title vehicles that have clearly had poorly done crash
rebuild work. and i've seen [owned] salvage title that have been
flawless, simply because they had been de-registered by the previous
owner who didn't want to pay non-op fees. there is NOTHING about a
vehicle's "documented history" that matters even vaguely against a
competent inspection. nothing.


--
nomina rutrum rutrum



--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
I bought this car in the beginning of 2004. It cost me 3000 dollars at the
time. I was hoping it was going to be OK because I had really good luck with
a Honda Accord I bought new in 1985. This 98 CRV has been very good to me.
The only maintenance that was pricy was the timing belt at 100 thousand
miles. That with the water pump came to almost 500 dollars. The car works
really well in the snow bound environment here in the UP. There seems to be
only one design flaw that I don't care for. The air conditioner is marginal
in really hot weather (above 100). That temperature here is rare. So,
overall I like this car and am happy with having invested this much money in
it.

They salt the roads here. Finally I saw the beginning of rust on the rear
quarter panel in the form of a paint bubble. I do keep it washed even in the
coldest weather. But it is hard to keep salt from getting to it. It is going
to cost me 400 dollars to have the rear bumper removed, cut off part of the
rear quarter panels and then weld on new pieces. It will then of course be
painted. They told me at the body shop that people who want to keep their
cars have to either replace the sections that are rusted or have new pieces
welded on. It cannot be simply sanded and painted over. So that is what is
going to happen next month.

My mechanic said I would be crazy to spend the cash to get another vehicle
when this one is in as good shape as it is and has 110 thousand miles on it.
He claims that if I continue to have him keep it up, I should expect another
200 thousand miles. Considering how many miles I put on this car each year,
(3000 - 4000) this car will outlive me. I get the oil and lube done twice a
year even though I have not reached the 3000 mile marker. I think the thing
should get attention at least twice a year. The other reason is that he goes
over the car and checks everything. This added attention brings the bill to
40 bucks. If I am going to need brake pads or shoes or anything like that he
will tell me and do it. The car is kept in a temperature controlled garage.
In winter it is exposed to 50 degrees and in summer it gets 70 degrees. The
only direct sunlight is when I am actually driving it. I believe this helps
save the paint job and plastic headlight enclosures.

The lack of a manual does not seem to have been a predictor for a troubled
vehicle. It has performed very well now for 7 years. Oh yes, the ignition
switch failed at about 100 thousand miles. That cost $60.

Michael

I reread carefully the technical description of the RT4WD in my Honda. I
finally began to partially understand how it works. The important item that
I was having trouble understanding was how the difference in RPM between the
front and rear tires starts putting hydraulic pressure going to drive the
rear wheels. It appears to me to be a very clever designer who thought that
up.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

It sounds, reading it, like a variation on the fluid flywheel system used
for the clutch on the pre Routemaster London double deckers (the RT series
for anyone interested) and on early Daimler and Lanchester cars. No doubt
some US manufacturers used the system as well. I remember as a lad,
sitting up front and marvelling how the bus driver would just lift his foot
straight off the pedal, which with any normal clutch would either stall the
engine or cause a kangaroo pullaway, and the bus just drove off as smooth as
anything.

 

CRV is front wheel drive. To get better traction in the snow, you need to get dedicated winter tires. Michelin and Nokian are really good yet pricey. Consider Uniroyal tires if you're on a budget.