Honda Accord (2003-2007) Maintenance and Repair

michael2595 · January 2011

go to tire rack on the internet for Petes sake. They are realiable.. why trust us.. we can all be pole dancers on dope.

Kirstie_H · January 2011

That's a bit rude - people come to these discussions in hopes of getting advice from others who own the same vehicle. No one said they must take the words here as gospel handed down from above, but it's legitimate to think that you might get tire buying advice from other people who own the same vehicle you do.

I'm wondering why a business that makes money selling items to consumers is any more likely to be reliable than other members here? Surely a business would never attempt to steer a consumer to an item that has a higher profit margin than another... nah... I trust Tire Rack, but multiple opinions are generally useful.

blufz1 · January 2011

blufz1 · January 2011

What happened to my post to dolfan?

Mr_Shiftright · January 2011

it's a little bug that affects some people here, on rare occasion, and that will be cleared up Jan. 6th. Our apologies, if that's what happened to you.

Visiting Host

michael2595 · January 2011

you asked the same question twice.. Have you never ever bought tires before.? what makes the Honda so special?. It doesnt require low profiles nor a Z rating, etc. I believe your question is quite sophomoric.. As I stated go to to tirerack , put in your year make and model.. They will give you their choices then do the research, read the reviews and make your choice , or you can sit here and wait for somebody who can be a high school kid playing on daddys computer to give you an answer you take as the gospel .. This a chatrrom full of people no one knows who give out info that is sometime superb and many times worthless... I Asked a question here that according to one"expert" who answered it would have cost me in repairs 1200 dollars... Went to the local mechanic specializing in this repair and it cost me 400 dollars and everything is perfect. Good luck to you... By the way dont go to tire rack.. sit here, dust yourself off every week and wait for the answer you like best.. see you in a year.

blufz1 · January 2011

No problem. Thanks for your reply.

blufz1 · January 2011

Buy at Discount Tire. Only 1 vendor and free lifetime rotations,balance,and air. They will match Tr price. I like the Goodyear Assurance Comfort Treads for comfortable,quiet, ride. GACT Tourings for better handling,mpg,but a little noisey and firm ride. 80,000/6year warranty. Keep up with the free rotations and get proration credit from DT on your next set of tires when they wear out early. Hope this helps.

tallman1 · January 2011

So what were they?

At the risk of sounding like a pole dancer, my OEM tires are Bridgestone Turanza EL41's. I've been very pleased with them but I'll still do some shopping when the time comes to replace them. I sure can't complain about how they've held up. And my gas mileage has been great too.

I remember reading the reviews on Tire Rack several months back and they were quite varied. I think the other OEM tires from Michelin were even rated a couple tenths of a point higher.

But who knows, those anonymous Tire Rack reviewers may have been borrowing their dad's computers too.

Kirstie_H · January 2011

I didn't ask a question at all. I was responding to YOUR answer to someone else's question.
I understand that you may not find this Forum useful - there's no one-size-fits-all forum for every person, and it's almost impossible to diagnose a mechanical issue to perfection, every time, on a forum, or to give pricing estimates for every problem, fixed by every mechanic, in every area of the country. However, there are many instances in which this forum has saved others money or hassle. If you don't like the advice or appreciate the assistance in this forum, that's fine, but no one is welcome to stick around here and make posts for the express purpose of denigrating our other members.

michael2595 · January 2011

by golly..
buying tires is diagnosing a a mechanical issue.? And are you reading me the riot act... I feel so special.... find your tires yet.... I believe 2 people including me said Bridgestone.. I said Potenza, he said Turanza.. case closed. we seem to both like Bridgestone. Is that enough for you aor are you waiting for the holy grail of tires.

dudleyr · January 2011

There is actually a seprate thread for tires and wheels for the Accord.

dolfan1 · January 2011

tallman1 · January 2011

And here is a link: Honda Accord Tires and Wheels

dihett · January 2011

I just replaced my 2007 accord battery after about 4 year. During this time, it never worked well here in Chicago, I could jump it but it never held a charge. Shortest time I've ever had a battery, and my other cars were GM PRODUCTS!!!(Chevrolet Cavalier and Geo Prism) I really expected my battery to last longer--disappointed with my HOnda.

jonahdog · January 2011

Disappointed?? 4 years from a original equipment battery is about par from my experience. Maybe more if you live in a warmer area, but 4 years in the Chicago area is pretty good IMHO...

dudleyr · January 2011

I also just replaced my battery, but keep in mind Honda does not make the battery. Battery life can vary, some are good and some are not. The battery in my Integra lasted over 7 years.

Having said that, the OEM battery is a little small for us in the Northern Plains. I am in a small town and I do a lot of 1 mile trips or less. Real tough on a battery to constantly start a cold car and not get much time to charge. To make it worse it gets extremely hot in the summer and I have a dark colored car.

I replaced it with a group 35 from the V-6 to get a little more reserve. I am also avoiding the rear defroster as much as I can to help the battery charge faster in town.

chuck1919 · January 2011

Four years for a battery is not bad. For the winters in Chicago, I would upgrade to the (group 35) bigger battery.

igozoomzoom · January 2011

The Bridgestone Turanza Serenity, Michelin Destiny and Goodyear Assurance TripleTred all have the same (very high) rating on Discount Tire's website. But the Bridgetstone only has a 45k warranty and the Michelin and Goodyear both come with an 80k warranty! There's also a Goodyear Assurance Fuel Max with a slightly lower, but still excellent rating, and it has a 65k warranty. But it's a low rolling resistance rubber compound to improve fuel economy...kinda cool.

dolfan1 · January 2011

Had to replace the battery in my 07 at 37K miles. I've rarely had a battery last as long as it claims its supposed to. Personally, I wouldn't be that disappointed with 4 years.

Mr_Shiftright · January 2011

I think that with all the new gadgets modern cars are using, that 4-5 years on a battery is becoming the normal life span rather than the exception. Also extremes of climate, either very hot or very cold, does stress them quite a bit.

srizvi1 · January 2011

Just got my car back from the dealer after getting the next oil change was done. The last one was done in June, almost seven months ago when the car was at 33,611 miles. By the time I got the car into the dealer today to get the oil change done, the car was at 42,004 miles and 1332 miles over when the maintenance minder said the oil change was supposed to go down.

Dealer didn't say anything though, so I guess it's not a big deal. I wasn't really worried for being so over. If my math is right, I was a bit under 8500 miles and in my old '04 accord, per the manual, you could go 10k miles in between oil changes - not even on synthetic oil.

I'm planning on doing a used oil analysis on the next oil change. I'm hoping to start doing my own oil changes soon and I would then get the oil myself.

As far as the inspections went, pretty much everything was fine:
- Interior/Exterior (headlights, interior lights, windshield wipers, parking brake, horn)
- Under hood (fluid levels: oil, coolant, power steering fluid, brake fluid, windshield washer, automatic transmission), external drive belts and radiator hoses)
- under vehicle (brake lines/hoses/parking brake cable, shocks/suspension/tie rod ends and bolts/steering, exhaust, oil/fluid leaks, drive shaft boots/velocity boots and bands)

The tires are all fine at 7/32 all around (These are still the original tires - the car was bought new in late september 2010)

The brakes weren't looked at and there are no comments on the air filter and cabin air filter which is fine because I just changed them recently last september.

The big thing mentioned was the battery which is at a replace mark. They said replacement was highly recommended. They did a test on it and it was 12.75V 310 CCA.

I'll get into the battery more in my next post. I wanted to reply to that separate.

srizvi1 · January 2011

Hey Dudley, sorry for the delay in reply. As you may have seen in my post right above, the battery in my wife's 07 Accord Coupe I4 needs to be replaced asap according to the dealer. Doing what you did, I know the battery is the MAXX-24FS from walmart. Or if that's not available, you gave some other battery suggestions in your post here: http://townhall-talk.edmunds.com/direct/view/.efdf924/5497#MSG5497

Regarding the other parts that I need to make this battery work with my '07 accord i4 , I believe you had mentioned the hold down, upper, and lower covers? You had mentioned the diagram here:

http://www.hondapartsnow.com/Page_Product/PartDetail.aspx?catalogID=65&productID- =5&yearID=38&doorID=4&gradeID=487&areaID=2&transmissionID=7&originID=-1&colorLab- elIDs=-1&colorLabelID=-1&sectionID=5&idAndImageID=11980%20465815&isBigPicture=Fa- lse&pageName=Battery%20%28V6%29

Sorry if this is a dumb question but would you mind telling me which parts specifically I would need? There's a lot of items in the diagram. This will be my first time attempting to put in my own battery so I'm really not familiar

ks0424 · January 2011

I have a question that I was hoping you all might be able to help me out with. Since December, I have had the SRS airbag light indicator come on in my 2006 Honda Accord (EX-L, 2.4 L, Automatic), but only in the morning, and only when the outside temperature has been below freezing the night before. After a few minutes when the car warms up, if I turn the car off and then back on the SRS light is gone. The rest of the day, no problem. Figuring that it was not the safest thing to drive with, I had it checked out by a repair shop that I feel comfortable with. They checked the code and said that it showed up as a faulty SRS computer, and the computer would need to be replaced. It seems crazy to me that a 2006 Accord with under 52,000 would need a new SRS unit, so I started looking online to see if I could find any info. I saw about the SRS units in previous Accords, but it seems like they have those issues ironed out in the 2005 and 2006. I did however, see that some people have said that low voltage also could trigger the same defective code in the SRS unit, which got me thinking. The original Honda battery died and was replaced at the end of November with an AC Delco ACD 51R60 (460 CCA). My original theory was that the AC Delco battery was not cranking enough when it is cold compared to the old Honda battery, and it is triggering the SRS airbag light. I ended up having the shop switch out the new battery to an AC Delco 51R6YR (500 CCA). Unfortunately, however, it did not fix the problem.

I can't get past the fact that if it was a defective SRS unit, why would it only cause a problem for the first few minutes when it is cold, and then consistently be fine after that? Any suggestions other than having it replaced?

Thanks much for any help!

dudleyr · January 2011

Not sure if a group 24 will fit or what parts you would need. That is a very large battery.

The group 35 from the V-6 will fit with no mods if you remove the plastic battery covers. The top bracket will still hold the battery in place, but it is an awkward fit. It should probably be replaced and is part number 3. If you want to cover the battery you would need parts 5 and 6 or one of the two would offer some protection.

I have left mine as is so far. Too cold to work on the car right now - have not been above freezing in over a month.

temj12 · January 2011

You are going way too far between changes. It won't make any difference if you trade often, but it will make a difference in engine wear if you plan to drive the car above 100,000 miles. The maintenance minder is way too generous. I would never go above 5,000 miles, but I plan to keep the car beyond 100,000 miles. I have an '05 with 102,000.

fw_man · January 2011

I disagree. I use maintenance minder religiously, and so far, a very healthy engine. I have a 2006 i4 with 142000 miles. Oil is always very clean when poured out and engine looks inside and behaves beautifully.

dolfan1 · January 2011

I've been using the maintenance minder as well. Didn't think there was a good reason not to. I have noticed it won't kick in until well after the mileage on the oil change sticker has come and gone. The reason for that I had thought is a lot of my driving is on the highway doing around 60mph, figured the oil lasts a bit longer under those conditions.

But again, I've had no reason to question the maint/minder system.
Should I?

dudleyr · January 2011

I generally go 9k between oil changes. 100k so far , no probs. Oil is clean when chaned.

I do use syntheticc.

srizvi1 · January 2011

whoops, sorry for the confusion. I just did the Walmart thing to choose your own battery and it's the MAXX-35N (S) I need. My wife's taking my car to work tomorrow so I'll have the day to try and take care of it. Planning on grabbing the battery from walmart and then seeing if I can get the parts you said ( PLATE, BATTERY SETTING (70D) , BOX, BATTERY (70D) , and COVER, BATTERY ) from the dealer. Otherwise, I'll order them.

temj12 · January 2011

Synthetic is a different story. Synthetic does not break down as petroleum oil does.

srizvi1 · January 2011

Went to the Honda dealer today with a printout of this: http://www.hondapartsnow.com/Page_Product/PartDetail.aspx?catalogID=65&productID- - =5&yearID=38&doorID=4&gradeID=487&areaID=2&transmissionID=7&originID=-1&colorLab- - elIDs=-1&colorLabelID=-1&sectionID=5&idAndImageID=11980%20465815&isBigPicture=Fa- - lse&pageName=Battery%20%28V6%29

Told them I needed parts #3 (PLATE, BATTERY SETTING (70D)) , 5 (BOX, BATTERY (70D)) , and 6 (COVER, BATTERY).

At first he told me the price was going to be $80-something and that he had none of the parts in stock. But that was around double what I could have gotten from the hondapartsnow link. So he adjusted the price down to $54.93 total and that seemed fair. I'm not sure what shipping was for all the stuff I needed from hondapartsnow.com anyways.

Here's the breakdown of the parts I ordered, the cost at hondapartsnow.com and the price the dealer gave me:

#3) 31512-SDB-A01 PLATE, BATTERY SETTING (70D) USA 1 $6.87 $4.98
#5) 31521-SDB-A10 BOX, BATTERY (70D) USA 1 $21.90 $15.88
#6) 31531-SDB-A00 COVER, BATTERY USA 1 $23.05 $16.71

(It's funny, the price that's crossed out on the hondapartsnow.com website is the exact cost of the parts that the dealer went down to.)

Anyways, the parts will be here on Wednesday. I still haven't picked up the battery yet, plan to try and get tomorrow. Need to go through your posts dudleyr to finalize the other tools I need for this install. I hope to have the better battery securely installed in my wife's car by the weekend

rec2 · January 2011

Hello.

My 2006 accord is doing the exact same thing. Were you able to determine what the problem is?

srizvi1 · January 2011

I Saw the replies from # temj12, fw_man, dudleyr, and dolfan1 to the extended oil intervals I've been doing in my '07 accord i4.

On my the next oil change I'll push the oil around the same amount as I've been doing and send in the oil for a used oil analysis. I'm guessing I've had 5 oil changes now, all at the dealer, and I believe each one was decently past the maintenance minder.

I mentioned this before - in my '04 accord i4, as per the manual, you could go 10k in between oil changes, 20k in between oil filter changes. In my '08 IS 350, the manual says 5k in between oil changes but many threads in forums for the car/oil say you can go 10k miles there too and be fine. That's why I've always never taken the maintenance minder seriously. I like set schedules.

I'm planning to start doing my own oil changes soon and would like to start using Mobil 1 synthetic (it's what I use in my '08 IS 350 and my '04 Accord i4). I just hadn't gotten around to start using it in the '07 Accord i4.

srizvi1 · January 2011

My wife's '07 Accord was bought new in September 2007 and my dad's CR-V was bought new in (iirc) May 2007. I don't believe the brake fluid change has been done in either car yet and I believe it's supposed to be done every 3 years independent of mileage. I picked up brake fluid from the dealer sometime in '10, specifically "Honda Genuine Brake Fluid DOT 3." I have two 12-oz bottles for each of the vehicles (so four 12-oz bottles total).

Anyone have any hands on experience with doing this? I stumbled across this thread on clublexus.com which involves DIY brake fluid change for the second generation Lexus IS. I'm planning on following the instructions on here to do the change myself on my '08 IS 350.

I did a search on brake fluid and found the following posts:

#5165 of 5566 Re: - [dudleyr] by elroy5
Feb 06, 2010 (7:34 pm)
Replying to: dudleyr (Feb 06, 2010 6:26 pm)
...and a hand -held vacuum pump is a one-time purchase.

could you elaborate a little bit on the hand-held vacuum pump (I assume used to suck out the current fluid). I was planning on just using a turkey baster

stickguy · January 2011

pumps make the job a lot easier. And less messy.

If you want to get real fancy, there are electirc machines designed for the job that shops use. That would make it a eal quick process, but probably not cost effective!

rudolfo · January 2011

Could you post on Honda-Tech, there is a longer thread going there on this topic with more people with the same problem. Thanks
http://www.honda-tech.com/showthread.php?s=c6dfe522d4e8366ab0582cc264c0af7f&p=44- 496896

evilius · January 2011

I heard about a lady in the Philippines that passed away due to this problem with the Accord 2006. Antoher driver had to ask a street child to smash the window so she could crawl out. Very dangerous if its really hot outside to be locked in.

temj12 · January 2011

Please let me know what you oil analysis shows.

srizvi1 · January 2011

Today I picked up the 3 parts I ordered to install the V6 battery in an i4 accord. Also got the battery too from walmart. Started on the blog post here:

http://shahryar.net/2011/01/30/installing-a-v6-battery-in-2007-i4-4-cylinder-acc- ord/

Hoping to do the install later today

srizvi1 · January 2011

Found this other thread on the same subject on driveaccord.net ( http://www.driveaccord.net/forums/showthread.php?p=786384#post786384 )

Going to wait for the responses to my questions before I get started with the install, specifically on the need for the 32600-SDB-A00 CABLE ASSY and not the 31531-SDB-A00 COVER, BATTERY USA 1

dudleyr · January 2011

While it certainly would not hurt to install the larger cable for the ground, I don't think it is necessary. The V-6 has a larger alternator so it has a larger ground cable.

srizvi1 · February 2011

did the battery swap yesterday. All the parts you recommended fit fine to accomodate the new battery. The problem though is that those skinny metal rods (that are "L" shaped) are not long enough for the new battery set up. I need longer ones

dudleyr · February 2011

My metal rods did fit but barely. You can actually get those at any car parts store - they are pretty generic.

srizvi1 · February 2011

Dudleyr, my uncle's a mechanic and had been helping me with this remaining part of the install. I went to visit him today and he had ordered longer rods however they were too long and would have needed to be cut. However someone else was there with him and they were able to make it work with the older rods. The used some tool which bent the edge down a bit and like yours, fit but barely. Everything is all set now. One thing I had done wrong was connect the cables to the terminals too high. They were lowered and tightened closer to the battery.

Between your initial post here: and this post is all the information that someone needs to put a V6 battery in an i4 accord. thanks for all your help

srizvi1 · February 2011

While getting all the battery work sorted out today at my uncle's (who's a mechanic) shop, I brought up that I needed to change the brake fluid soon because the manual says it should be changed every 3 years regardless of mileage. But we looked at the brake fluid together and he pointed out that it was clean and that there was plenty in there. Any thoughts? If it's not a big deal, I'll push it another year. I still have to take care of the brake fluid in my dad's '07 CR-V though which is now pushing 4 years of ownership (we had bought it new in May '07)

lambanlaa1 · April 2011

In the US, does my Honda Accord EX V6 with Navigation 5 Speed Automatic really have this feature:

Multi-Reflector Halogen Headlights: with Auto-off

I think the lights have been turning themselves off when I get out of the car in the past 5.5 years, but they may not be now and they may be draining the battery. Note that there is no Auto setting on the steering wheel light stem.

tallman1 · April 2011

They are not auto-on like some cars but they should turn off automatically. I'm a little confused about how you "think" they have been turning off and they "may not be" now. :confuse: I'm guessing you'd be able to tell this for sure by looking at them when you got out of the car. What am I missing?

lambanlaa1 · April 2011

I "think" that they have been turning themselves off, because, even though they remain on when I get out of the car and lock it via my key remote, when I return to the car, even after a short time (inside a store, for example), they are off.

Hope that clarifies that statement.

Lambanlaa

tallman1 · April 2011

Well, that is exactly what they are supposed to do. What makes you think that they are no longer working? Are they on when you return from the store now?

I believe they stay on for about 30 seconds to a minute. I would suggest that you just wait outside your car and watch them. If they are still on after 5 minutes, something is wrong.

Honda Accord (2003-2007) Maintenance and Repair

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