Originally Posted by
Ironfish653
Hard to get a car with a dead starter up on ramps, LOL. Try something really low like a Pontiac Firebird (and SBC starters are both bigger and heavier than you'd expect)
Can't say why you had so many problems with yours; The K24 motor shows up in a bunch of places in the Honda/Acura lineup, including the CRV that the Element gets its suspension and 4WD from.
Mine gave 12 pretty solid years of service, the only real issues it had were the alternator and radiator fans went out in year 10, but that's not unusual for a car that age. I replaced it with a late-model VW wagon that was fast and swanky, but became a never ending string of cascading failures. I'd have my old Honda back in a minute.
I hear you and agree in principle. I really thought we made a good buy. Car looked good, he paid the Honda dealership to go over it, etc. Seemed solid but that just has not turned out to be the case. I'm betting he's put as much in parts as he paid for it now, just 3 years into ownership. Some to be expected like the stock paper speakers literally falling apart. But a lot of it is a surprised for such a highly regarded vehicle. And the multiple failures of the same part over short times is really weird. Like the VVT Solenoid (I think that's what it's called) that went out twice. I replaced the first one with the highest quality NAPA part. It lived about 3 months and died again. Dealership installed the replacement and it made it about 6 months. Now the 3rd one seems to still be living but WTH!!!
Heck even my Jeep Patriot I have for 4-5 years only gave me problems with the CVT regularly overheating. And that was a Jeep factory QC issue with not filling it right and then the local dealer blowing me off each time I took it in for "fixing" under warranty. I finally drained the CVT myself, put in a new filter, filled it to the proper level per the temperature and as I knew it would, the problem stopped. Loved how the first time the dealer checked the CVT they told me too my face the fluid was pink and clean. Funny since CVT fluid is green. LOL! Anyway, my point being I would expect a Honda product, even with more miles, to be more dependable than any Jeep, especially the low end Patriot.
Still for anyone else I can't say not to get an Element. They are unique and I guess our experience is atypical.