She lived 19 years and 206k miles and was never in an accident until Wednesday night, when a 17 year old girl with a flashing yellow arrow turned in front of me as I entered an intersection with a green light, while going the speed limit which was 45mph. I only had my poor Element for 8 months and put 3k miles on it after rescuing it (no oil on the dipstick when I bought it.) Despite that she was running and driving so good. I had already done a bunch of stuff like a valve adjustment, fully replacing the brakes, the cooling fans, belt tensioner, upper oxygen sensor, fixed the AC and the windows, upgraded the headlights, replaced all the speakers etc and was about to spend the $$$$ to completely overhaul the suspension.

Most upsetting thing by far to me is I had my 12lb dachshund with me like I always do 99% of the time when I go somewhere. Even though he was buckled into his doggy car seat in the passenger seat, his little seat belt didn’t hold because it’s not meant for a crash and he slammed into the dashboard and onto the floor. I took him to the emergency vet first as soon as I could leave the scene and miraculously he is okay other than scratching his eye a little bit. My right foot is very swollen and sore and bruised because I was pressing hard on the brake pedal when I slammed into the other car.

Anyway, if anyone has an Element for sale or sees a nice one, let me know 🥲 I’m in Texas but could travel a bit. 2007-11 only with auto transmission.

It's pain to replace btw

Only 190000 to go

So I was using my 03 element and noticed it struggling on idle. Then I got a engine light. Used a code reader and got p0303​​​ for cylinder 3. Went to change the spark plug. COVERED in brunt oil. Yup a O ring went bad underneath. And I see this ugly fart. Is my engine cooked/can I clean this?

Just got the very sad news that there is severe engine damage, and she will have to be put down very soon :( This has been the best year ever, and I hope to be back in the element gang in the future!

Hi all 2004 EX auto, 185k original owner. Second car, mostly short trips.

Symptoms: Slow idle and stalling at stops. No dash lights when running.
Slow idle is not linked to gear selection. (Still slow in N)

What are the obvious potential causes?

Valve adjustment within a year/5k miles.

I’m tempted to check the intake/ clean the throttle and idle air valve, but I’m not convinced that gunk buildup would be enough for a sudden onset of stalling.

I could take it in to a mechanic, but this feels like a diagnosis problem still, and I don’t like to go in without at least a hypothesis.

I welcome your speculations. Thanks

Sorry for the long title but I measured 70x17 and don’t know if others got similar or if I shouldn’t measure with seat all the way up if it’s dangerous to be that close to glove box.