DEAR CAR TALK: My 16-year-old son has been driving my mother's 1997 Honda Accord for a couple of months now, with the intent to buy it from her once he has saved enough money. The car was bought new, and has always been very reliable. Recently, though, he has had some starting problems. Sometimes when he turns the key in the switch, the car not only will fail to start, but the horn will sound. The horn stops as soon as he turns the switch back off. Sometimes when he tries again, it starts, but other times it keeps doing the same thing, and he has to find other transportation. At first I thought he must be doing something wrong. But last week, we were in the car together (he was driving), and it did the same thing. I didn't see him do anything incorrectly, and the car started on the second try. I can't imagine what might be causing this, and it has had several mechanics scratching their heads. It happens only when the car is warm. It has never failed to start first thing in the morning or when it has been sitting for a few hours. This car has been a great one, and my son is excited to own it, but this problem needs to be addressed before I feel good about turning it over to him. I hope you can help us.
-- Bill
DEAR BILL: I'm not sure why he's so eager to own it. It's a lot cheaper to borrow it. If it were my kid, he'd borrow it and just try to wait Grandma out.
I'm guessing that the problem is related to the built-in alarm system. Many cars come with an immobilizer that prevents the car from being started under certain conditions. Like, if the door is not unlocked with the key, the system will conclude that someone broke in, and will immobilize the vehicle. Or if it's 2 a.m. and a guy named Bruno is sitting behind the wheel with a crowbar and a bunch of ignition wires in his teeth.
Or perhaps the key is faulty. Lots of cars of this vintage have keys embedded with computer chips that have to be recognized by a reader in the ignition switch before the car is allowed to start.
So the first thing I'd do is ask Grandma if she has a spare key and try that one. If she lost the spare 16 years ago, your Honda dealer can make you a new one using the vehicle identification number and proof of ownership.
If a new key doesn't help, then you might just want to take the car to a good mechanic and have him disconnect the immobilizer. The car has already been effectively stolen by your son, Bill, so Grandma really has nothing to worry about.
DEAR CAR TALK: I have owned my 1983 Datsun (Nissan) 280ZX Turbo since it was 6 months old. It has only 125,000 miles. It has never been in a wreck. Recently I had it repainted, got new tires, muffler, suspension, struts, tie rods, calipers, new bearings, brakes, new air conditioning unit ... pretty much everything on it is new, including the reupholstered bucket seats. The problem I have is that the front end now sways, or "floats," back and forth on the highway. It almost feels like I'm driving on ice or hydroplaning. Two separate mechanics have looked at it and can't figure out what is causing this. Any ideas? Please don't tell me to get rid of it -- it was a birthday present from my husband 33 years ago.
-- Elizabeth
DEAR ELIZABETH: I can tell that this car has great sentimental value to you, Elizabeth. So, look at the bright side: This steering problem will keep you from racking up too many miles on this beauty in the future. You'll never have to upholster the seats again.
Actually, it sounds like a classic case of a car that's out of alignment. For instance, if you have one front wheel that's pointing straight, and the other front wheel is even slightly pointing in or out, it'll feel as if you're driving on roller skates. It's hard to imagine that two different mechanics would have failed to check that, but I guess it's possible.
So the first thing you should do is take it to a good alignment shop and ask them to align it. And don't forget to check the rear wheels, too. That's something they may have missed.
If it can't be aligned, then you've got a deeper problem. It's hard to believe that a wrong suspension part was used -- usually the wrong parts just won't fit -- but I suppose that's possible.
The other thing that can make a car impossible to align is a wreck -- something that distorted the shape of the frame or a front-end component. Maybe that time you lent it to your cousin Leo and he hit that 7-foot-wide pothole, he bent a control arm or something.
Or something could have happened in the shop. I once dropped a car off my lift. In fact, it was a Nissan Z! That car was never to be aligned again. Actually, it was aligned right to the junkyard after the insurance company declared it a loss.
But it doesn't take falling on its side from 6 feet in the air to bend a key component, and it's possible that something happened to your car that you're not aware of.
The other thing that could possibly cause this is bad tires. I know your tires are new, but if there's some tread separation or some other defect, that could cause squirming. Bad tires are more likely to squirm at lower speeds and create a wobble at high speeds, but I wouldn't rule out a bad tire.
An easy test is to ask your mechanic to try swapping the front tires and rear tires to see if that makes any difference. If it's better, that suggests you've got a bad tire up front right now.
But start with the alignment. Your symptoms are classic, and if it hasn't been properly aligned, an alignment could fix everything.
Ray Magliozzi dispenses advice about cars in Car Talk every Saturday. Email him by visiting
cartalk.com
HomeStyle on 02/18/2017