Honda Accord (2003-2007) Maintenance and Repair

elroy5

Yes, the throttle does have some control over shift points. On my 92 Accord, there were two throttle cables, one for the throttle itself, and one for the transmission. I don't think they have two anymore. My current car (03) has the electronic throttle, so it doesn't have a cable at all. On my 92, the throttle cable had to have some slack (3/8" slack), so make sure you have the correct adjustment.

sidthesloth

There are 2 cables. One goes to the gas pedal and one goes to some sort of control device. I am assuming the control device is for when the car is cold. Anyhow, I adjusted (tightened) the cable that goes to the gas pedal and the shifting is a lot more responsive and better. I am happy again. Thanks.

elroy5

Glad to hear it. Happy Hondaing

tankbeans

Hello all-

It's been awhile since I've posted in this forum for my own vehicle. Anywho, I have been noticing a vague shimmy from the front end when going between 55 and 60 mph. At first I thought that the tires needed to be rebalanced and I took the car to get them balanced. That helped for awhile, but now the shimmy is back.

Should I be thinking about an alignment and if so where would be a good place to have the alignment done.

This is only a minor shimmy. I don't believe that it is dangerous, just wondering if it's worth it to get the alignment, if that truly is the problem. I also know that people are saying that getting the vehicle realigned will help with gas mileage a little bit.

Thanks.

packer3

If it helped for awhile then it's the tires, it's possible that one of the weights fell off a tire bring it back to the station, also did they rotate the tires when you brought it in.

tankbeans

Yep they rotated them. However, I brought it in for my 50k interval at Honda and I think they rotated them back if that makes sense, I told them that I had them rotated, but they must not have listened. Would it be easy enough to tell if it through a weight or are the weights on the other side?

I know when I had my EX, 95 the weights were on the back.

packer3

Maybe I wasn't clear, the weights I was referring to are the ones on the rims of the tires some have them some dont, some tire stations put the weights on the inside of the rims only, but maybe one of the weights fell off of one of the front tires, bring it back and have them re-balance the front tires. Also a slightly bent rim will also make it shim.

tankbeans

I'll have to do that. I hope it isn't a bent rim, although I could see it happening since I've jumped a few curbs trying to avoid hitting careless drivers in parking lots and turning out into the street. Sometimes I undershoot it and jump over.

chucko3

If you rotated the tires and still experienced the shimmy, my guess it would be a (little) bent drive shaft.

packer3

Keep us all posted.

tankbeans

I don't know how long they were rotated as they were rotated twice in as many weeks. The people at Honda rotated them after I told them that they were already rotated. I'll take it back and find out if they need re-balancing.

They're due to be rotated again anyway.

tallman1

They're due to be rotated again anyway.

You may want to ask them to measure the tread to see if they need rotating. Then you'll know how they are wearing.

pastatie

My 2004 Accord EX is a little over four years old, purchased in May 2004. It just turned 32,000 miles. I am requesting any information on how long the original batteries have been lasting. Advance Auto, in my area, is offering Optima batteries with a $25.00 rebate and I would consider this battery. The sale ends the last week of August. Any experiences with 2004 would be appreciated. Thanks

jeffa2

I had to replace my battery in my 2004 EX-L, 2.4liter, in June, 2008, purchased car in July, 2004. Car wouldn't start one morning after attempting to crank it twice. I checked the battery voltage and it was about 10.5VDC. It should have been ~12.5VDC. I knew the voltage was not good. Called AAA and got a jump start. The car started on first attempt with the AAA jump start. I drove directly to Advance Auto Parts and they tested it and said the battery had a bad cell. I replaced it with a Titanium battery from Advance Auto Parts. They installed it for free (I'm sure I paid in some way for the service though by buying the battery there) and it only took 5 minutes to replace. Car has started fine for the past two months.

I live in Florida and hot weather is not the best for car batteries and probably has shortened my car's battery life. I had a former cars battery die in Florida after 25 months, a bit short lived. One month after the full replacement warranty expired... My experience has been that around 3-4 years is about what I've gotten out of batteries with different car makes/models.

If you don't mind being inconvenienced the day your car won't start, and you have to wait to get a jumpstart, you could just wait until that day arrives. Or if you you'd rather be proactive, replace it this month and get the rebate...

Good luck.

grampy1

I'm not surprised that a original battery dies after 3-4 years. Cars today have so much electronics in them that need power for operation. Even when not running ,todays cars still need power for all the gadgets.

I 've bought batteries with 8 yrs.,or so warranty,with first 3 years free replacement for $50-$65.

packer3

Just buy a Delco and you will be changing them alot quicker, like tires you should change them at or around the five year mark, the batteries life begin to fade and the tires begin to dry rot.

harryhonda1

I began hearing a slight whining noise from the transmission area of my '06 Accord I-4 some time ago. The transmission otherwise works fine. The car now has 58K and the 60K drive train warranty is about to expire so I took it to a dealer to check and document the problem. They asked me whether I had changed the transmission fluid at 30K. I didn't remember and this dealer was not the place I had my service done, so we couldn't look at service records. I know I do everything the maintenance minder tells me to do, except oil changes; those I do twice as often as recommended (when the 50% oil life shows, I change the oil myself just to be safe and do not re-set the minder-then I have my mechanic do the minder required items at 0%). The dealer advised me that the ATF must be changed every 30K miles. I had them do this $60 service on the spot but I still heard the whining as I drove home. I checked my service book at home and found that the maintenance minder ATF service indicator had never appeared (on this car, it's a #3). At $60, there is no way I would not have had this service done. So now what? My plan is to let Honda know about the problem and hopefully get them to extend the transmission warranty. The dealer told me that I should have the ATF changed at the next oil change again (even though this would be fairly soon) to help de-varnish the system parts.

Bottom line is that I won't trust the maintenance minder for ATF again!

mrbill1957

Check your owners manual, I thought the required interval for trans fluid is 110K miles? If so, It still is a good idea to have the fluid changed more often in your Accord, but for warranty purposes the manual states what is required which is different from what the dealer told you. Dealers like to push things like trans fluid changes even if they don't follow what Honda recommends.

Mrbill

grampy1

I thought I'd check out the condition of the air filter. Anybody changed their own filter,and how is it done>
Thanks

tankbeans

If you have an I-4 and if the engine compartment is unchanged since 2003, which I would assume it is since they generally don't do major changes within a generation, all you have to do is unfasten 4-clips from the air intake box. You may have to jiggle some things and hustle things out of the way since it is vaguely tight in there, but it's otherwise very quick and painless.

I know there is one person who has a service manual, may be able to get more specific.

grampy1

Sorry i didn't mention I have a V-6

harryhonda1

I followed your suggestion and checked the manual. The big owner's manual says to change the ATF according to the maintenance minder. It has no mileage listing for that service interval. The maintenance book itself has no mileage or time listings for any of the services except three years for brake fluid changes and160K for checking idle speed. In other words, I am completely dependent on what the car tells me to do. This is fine as long as the car doesn't forget! The dealer yesterday told me the fluid was very dirty. I don't drive anywhere unusually dusty or hot. Help a long term stick shift driver out. Back in the day, before maintenance minders, how often was ATF changed?

elroy5

My 03's manual says to change the ATF fluid every 120k miles (60k for severe situations), but most Honda techs will tell you to change it every 30k miles. Since my 03's tranny had a recall on it, I change it often. Even before the MM system, the intervals in the owner's manual for oil changes, ATF fluid changes, and Coolant changes are all way too long, IMO. The maintenance minder system doesn't sound like something I would totally agree with.

slick505

My '03 Accord is making screeching engine noise whenever I abruptly step on gas pedal as to accelerate. But there's no noise with smooth acceleration. Any input on the source of the noise is appreciated.

The Maint Req'd light is also lit, but I don't think it's related to the noise.

kiawah

Sounds like your accessory belt needs replaced, or the belt tensioner.

thegraduate

The Maint Req'd light simply means your maintenance indicator hasn't been reset in at least 7,500 miles. Steps for resetting this are listed in the owner's manual; a dealer should reset this if you choose to have them do the maintenance. If you haven't had the oil changed in 7,500 miles, its past due.

slick505

Thanks, all.

So I need to replace either the accessory belt or belt tensioner?

kiawah

Well that is most typically the problem, but it's hard to completely diagnose over the internet without hearing/seeing. If you are on your original belt, if it looks glazed or cracked, then I'd replace it. The belt would cost in the neighborhood of maybe 30 bucks, it's easy to replace and even local oil place shops can replace it.

If you are looking (with care) at the pulleys and belts with the engine running, and you see the tensioner wobbling or jumping, then tenioner is probably bad. That's more expensive.

You could also have one of the bearings in the accessories going bad, but that probably squeak all of the time. It could however be putting an excessive load on the belt, causing it to squeak.

The belt is a reasonable cheap thing to try first, particularly if you haven't replaced it yet.

chucko3

Put the car in D (with brakes applied) and turn on the A/C might put enough load on the belt.
If the belt is loose, one could hear a screeching noise.

robgrave

I can not find any reference to "air filter" or "air cleaner element" in my 2006 Owner's Manual. The graphic you have posted above (Post #2769) must be from the service manual, right?

But it is strange -- and a bit disappointing -- that such a relatively routine maintenance issue is not dealt with in the Owner's Manual. Not even a reference to the question of how often the filter should be changed (granted that it depends on driving conditions, but still.)

I went and purchased a filter replacement when I first bought the car, without realizing that the job isn't as simple as I expected it would be. Yes, I can imagine doing it myself, taking heed of the little "snags" referred to in this thread, but really, it doesn't seem like Honda even expects the typical owner to do so. Otherwise, why not mention it in the manual?

elroy5

The illustration is from my 03 Accord owner's manual. It has directions for changing coolant, spark plugs, air filter (cabin/engine), and probably many other things the Accord owner's manuals with the Maintenance Minder system don't have. It's almost 400 pages. Why Honda decided to leave this information out of the 06 & 07 manuals? Beats me. :confuse:
If you would like to see the information in the 03 manual for yourself, it's at this link. Just click on the owner's manual link at the left, and enter 03 Accord.
https://techinfo.honda.com/rjanisis/logon.asp

robgrave

Thanks for the prompt reply, and for the link as well. I've run a number of different Google searches, but never came across that site. Should prove very useful.

And I agree, it is curious that the 2003 manual is so much more complete than the 2006. As far as I'm concerned, changing an air filter falls into the same category with checking tire pressures, changing light bulbs, and topping fluids. Standard info, which should be in the manual, maintenance minder or not.

tankbeans

The maintenance minder system is sort of frightening to me. I don't have it but I know of it. It's almost as if car manufacturers are wanting to get you into their shops more and more than they already do.

Pretty soon cars are going to detect something wrong and drive themselves to the shop, and your license plate will be linked to your credit/bank account. Isn't that a scary thought. :surprise:

The MM seems like it is geared for those who know absolutely nothing about the car. I'm close, but I know a little bit. Granted some maintenance items can probably be skipped.

thegraduate

Actually, the complaints I have heard have been that the minder doesn't bring you in enough; not too much.

bvdj84

Yep, that is true, I could possibly change the oil and do a few other things before it even starts to warn me. I don't really do by what it tells me. I usually keep the fluids up, oil changed, and keep my tires rotated often.

And of course keeping the paint washed, waxed is all in part of maintenance to me.

tankbeans

I guess it's just another thing to ignore, like speed limits.

Also, there's a review in Edmund's long term test blog about the 08 Accord with VCM. The writer/reviewer was writing about how the eco light is more annoying than useful because he says he can't keep the thing on and it's just more of a distraction.

I don't think I would trust it. Meanwhile, I have about 6000 miles to save up for the big 60k interval. Which is around $450ish. Scary.

My cars getting middle-aged. Not really. It's just entering it's prime. I want to keep it motoring well past 250k.

bill59

I've just been told that I need to replace the battery on my 2003 Accord EX V6, Any thoughts about one that would be less than the $168 Honda wants?

Thanks.

imidazol97

Group 35 battery. Advance Auto Parts $72-87

Walmart probably $59 for quality battery from Johnson Controls. There are only a few companies making batteries these days.

chucko3

Looks like the price included an hour labor charge.

elroy5

I also have an 03 V6, and my battery had to be changed last year. I bought one from Sam's, and installed it myself. Less than $50. Easy to install with basic tools.

imidazol97

>Easy to install with basic tools

And if you don't want to do it yourself..., most of the auto stores mentioned will put it in for you as well as actually checking the old one to see if it really does need to be replaced. Walmart even used the voltage maintainer to keep all the computer settings and radio settings while the old battery was removed.

janina

My car did the exact same thing this morning. Did you find out what caused your problem? Please email me back jts768@telusplanet.net

chucko3

The lights came on once in a while. A few tmore imes since I
posted last.
I am scheduled to have the TCS-VSA modulator replaced
(under extended warranty) next week.
Will post it if the lights continue to come on after the replacement.

What year is your car?
Do you feel your brake pedal soft and shinking when you
apply the brakes?

ezshift5

What year is your car?
Do you feel your brake pedal soft and shinking when you
apply the brakes?


it's an '05 V-6 6M. The brakes are sensitive and sometimes will vibrate with the transfer of material from pad to rotor(disc)......... Light braking has been effective in countering this for some 50k + miles...........

My only [non-permissible content removed] is with the clutch (lately, the infamous 'pedal actuation CLICK' is first and foremost). I understand there is a TSB (Jan 2005?) out on this very subject. Any steers toward that TSB deeply appreciated by this sailor.

all the best, ez...

chucko3

The Vibration could be caused by warped rotors or
thinner front pads.

There is an TSB 07-045 (Brakes Pedal is Low and Soft Feeling).
All 03-06 V6s are affected.
TCS/VSA modulator could leak air into the brake system.
Your light braking could be a result of air in the brake system.

It's the only pedal TSB I can find.

chucko3

I think I found a TSB regarding the brake pedal click & pop when
depressed.
But it only applies to Accord 03-04 or Civic 01-05.

bvdj84

I have an 08 model, with 6,300 miles on it, and I have not had it in yet for its first oil change? lol, is that bad? Should I be worried, its a lease, but I always keep up on my cars, but hey, a few months, miles fly right by. Let me know

thegraduate

Change your oil at 15% or 12 months, whichever comes first. What does your Oil Life Monitor show now?

elroy5

In 03 (before maint. minder) the oil change mileage intervals were less for the V6, than for the I4 (7,500 vs. 10,000 under normal conditions). So I wonder if the maintenance minder is calibrated to go down (percentage wise) quicker on the V6 models, than the I4s? It also makes me wonder if the 08 V6 would have had the same mileage intervals as the 03 V6, if there was no maintenance minder.

bvdj84

It says 48%, but you also have to consider it had been sitting since last October before I bought it though no driven much, I also took it all the way down to Florida, so I am betting the oil is a bit dirty. Normally, I don't wait too long. I'll get it done soon.
I think 12 months is too long when I drive about 1k or so a month, especially in the winter months.