Jetdoc

You are looking for a 2nd gen Legend and you think you have found one at a great price. You go look at it and it looks great, better than you thought, a great combination of luxury and power at a fair price. You test drive it about two miles down to the local grocery store and back. That's all it takes to know that this car is special. What a deal. Why would anyone want to sell a car like this? you ask yourself. You buy it and proceed on your way.
About a week later while out with your favorite girl or "other" and notice the temp gauge acting erratic. The next day you get on the internet and look for an answer. You find www.acura-legend.com and make your first post. It will look something like this:

"I recently purchased a 95 Legend LS and have been searching the forum for misc. repairs I may need to do if the previous owner didn't take care of their car properly. I have been reading alot of threads about BHG and I think I have one but I'm not sure. My temp guage sometimes reads overheating and the RPMs go up and down. There is no coolant leak. Also, usually when idling, my heater sometimes blows cold air. From what I've read it sounds like a BHG, but I'm not sure. I was wondering what you all thought."

Over the past few months I have read a new post simular to this one at a rate of about 3 per week. Unbeknown to the new Legend owners, These cars have HEAD GASKET PROBLEMS. Owners/dealers are selling these cars with known problems. The problem is not very noticable and most "excited new owners" think it is a simple fix. It's not! You will spend a lot of $$$ trying to diagnose it only to find out it's got a bad head gasket that can only be repaired by removing the heads-$$$$-$2000 + and replacing the headgaskets.

If you are looking for a Legend to buy you must:

1. Do a complete test drive. Drive it at least 10 miles or more on the interstate at highway speed. After the test drive let it run for 5-10 minutes at idle. "MONITOR the temp gauge constantly during the test drive". Once it reaches normal temp it should not move any. Any movement of the temp needle after reaching normal temp is a "RED FLAG". Normal temp is about 1/3 up from the bottom of the range. If it doesn't come up to normal temp it could be an indication that the thermostat has been remove to relieve the overheating symptoms enough to sell it.
2. ASK the tough questions. "Has this car had ANY overheating problems?" Tell them you are aware of the headgasket problems with this model. Watch their reactions to the tough questions. Ask for a 3-5 day warranty on any overheating problems, write it in the bill of sale. Take it on a long trip within those 3-5 days.

I'm not making this up or being "paranoid". It's real. You will find yourself on the Headgasket Highway if you don't heed this warning.

BUYER BEWARE

2/13/06-

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People are often reluctant to pay for good advice but rarely follow free advice.

 

bl420

word... i think this should be a sticky.

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**Anti Alpine Type-R Thread**

SBLEGENDS

For sure, I'm glad I found mine without any of these problems. But my old one had a BHG, I'm almost positive now.

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17" Motegi FF7 Blk 205/40/17
Weapon-R Dragon intake
KMS strut bar
JDM 1 Piece's FTW!!!!! Finally
Red fuzzy dice.
(Refering to his white sedan)

duck

Who'd you sell it to, and did they drive it at interstate speeds and then let it idle?

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Rythmic, systemic and world control Magnetic, genetic, dement your sou...

Rumnarv

I second this! I would recomend that potential buyers follow these instructions.

Blown Head Gaskets are very expensive to have replaced. I am an experienced ASE master tech and I repair alot of headgaskets. The Legend is a tricky one to diagnose, so taking it to a mechanic for a check over will not guarentee that the car does not have a BHG. Being hard to diagnose the BHG is one thing, but repairing them is another. It is a long process and books out around 10 hours + parts + machine work usually ends up being around 2 grand.

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No Mods

Mike Diaz

I replace head gaskets for $1250 if somebody brings me either an engine or a car. That's including gaskets, and milling the heads flat. I can get it done in 2-3 days if my schedule isn't booked up.

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3.5L DIY | Crank-No Start Diagnosis | How I built My Legend

SBLEGENDS

Transmission died, we didn't sell it. We gave it to cars for causes. Lol we're not as mean as car dealers.

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http://i17.photobucket.com/albums/b7...Photo-0068.jpg
17" Motegi FF7 Blk 205/40/17
Weapon-R Dragon intake
KMS strut bar
JDM 1 Piece's FTW!!!!! Finally
Red fuzzy dice.
(Refering to his white sedan)

Herb

When I bought my first Legend, I didn't look at the temp guage at all during the test drive. I just focused on beating the crap out of it, the logic was, if it broke, then I wouldn't buy it. Whoops..

blkonblkcpe

Ya, I'm thinking sticky II

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300,000miles and climbing!

C-Dog 91LS

This definitely needs to be a sticky!

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Check me out at:
http://www.cardomain.com/ride/833911

Mike Diaz

sticky? Ok

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3.5L DIY | Crank-No Start Diagnosis | How I built My Legend

ntujyug

For most people, including myself, by the time they discover this forum they have already own a Legend.

beav

You can add me to the list, bought an otherwise mint 93 legend last week and after putting around 400 miles on it I have discovered it pushes about a cup of antifreeze into the overflow every 100 miles or so. I was pretty thorough on the test drive and personal inspection and could not even tell. Its was not bad enough to notice on a 25 minute test drive and the temp only climbs after idling a few minutes after driving it around all day, no smoke at all or any other red flags. The only way I would have been able to tell on this car is to empty the overflow or mark it carefully and drive around for several miles and then there will be at least a few tablespoons of water in the overflow. I should be able to handle the headgaskets myself once the weather gets a little warmer but it is a pain because I have two turbo civics that already take up all my free wrenching time and the only reason I bought this car was so I would have something that did not need any work. I am guess I am getting the full legend experience .

1SWEETLEGEND

I bought a Legend like that,my first one I bought it from the dealer and he gave me a warranty and then didn't want to fix it,I had a 15 day 500 mile warranty on the car. It was a 91 with 200k miles on it. I should have known not to buy it when the salesman turned it off right away. I spent over $1000 trying to figure it out and then just got tired of it and traded it in to a dealer in Tucson and bought this 94 that I have. Never again will I buy another car from Bell Acura and the dealer in Tucson Arizona.

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183 horsepower at the wheels
182.5 torque at the wheels with now over 220K miles and automatic.

coupe_6spd

I'm currently interested in a 93 coupe, 6sp. The owner seems to have maintained the car meticulously and says he has all records. There are 190k on the motor where the clutch & timing belt have been replaced twice already. When I meet the owner, we are meeting about 15 minutes out so if he does not shut off his car and I test drive it right after to check for fluctuations in the temp gauge, will that be sufficient to test for a BHG? Of course I will be asking him if there have been any overheating problems, but if not, should I be paranoid about problems arising? TIA! =)