Honda Accord (2008-2012) Maintenance and Repair

rodut · January 2013

Interesting article. It doesn't say which kind the 2013 Accord uses though. It may be confidential. People could get scared.

What bothers me is the fact that money moves out from what used to be a car (steering, suspension, transmission), into electronic gadgets. While I am typing this, I see at the top of this webpage "The all-new Accord" advertisment. It says: "With a standard rearview camera". Wow !!! How impressive !!! It has a camera, like any cheap cell phone I could buy at the local grocery store ! The fundamentals, like Honda legendary reliability, double wishbone suspension, etc, don't matter anymore. Only the electronic gadgets matter.

Did somebody see the "Idiocracy" movie ?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Idiocracy

I am afraid we are going in that direction.

Peace

wayne21 · January 2013

"What bothers me is the fact that money moves out from what used to be a car (steering, suspension, transmission), into electronic gadgets. While I am typing this, I see at the top of this webpage "The all-new Accord" advertisment. It says: "With a standard rearview camera". Wow !!! How impressive !!! It has a camera, like any cheap cell phone I could buy at the local grocery store ! The fundamentals, like Honda legendary reliability, double wishbone suspension, etc, don't matter anymore. Only the electronic gadgets matter. "

THANK YOU. I was beginning to think I was the only one seeing this. It's almost like buying a bunch of electronic gadgets (that you may or may not want) with a car attached to it. I think this is one of the reasons so many of the carmakers have gone to such cheap quality interiors - they had to do it to pay for electronic toys.

rodut · January 2013

Funny idea ! Electronic gadgets with a car attached to it. You made me laugh. Priceless.

Cheapening the interiors was the first step, many years ago, when cars had just a few electronic gadgets. These days, the 2013 Accord has way too many gadgets. They needed way more money. So they cheapened the fundamentals (steering, suspension, transmission). This provided enough money to finance all the electronic toys, and also some interior improvements (the 2013 Accord interior is more luxurious than the 2012). If this continues, you may get a luxurious leather sofa, with all the imaginable electronic toys. No car though. Exactly like my living room. Comfort and toys. Static.

scottcpa · January 2013

I have now had my 2013 Honda Accord V6 with Navi. While I get excellent mileage with the ECO button on, I tend to agree with your analysis. The most frustrating issue is that much of the technology gadgetry does not enough work properly. For example, every time I make or receive a call from my car, the car may automatically put the audio on MUTE (happens if I touch the volume control, and sometimes when I touch nothing). Additionally, the media play devices are also very unreliable and work intermittently -- especially Pandora, and the Aha media is just a joke as it is not the actual Aha media player. But worst of all, my Navigation system response is incredibly slow -- much slower than my 2010 Accord and 2006 Civic. So for all the technology and gadgetry they added, those aren't even of high quality. But my dealership says Honda knows the issues and will probably release a software update . . . we'll see.

7435 · January 2013

7435 · January 2013

Please tell me the required maintenance for my 43,000 mile auto.
I have had to change the brakes front and rear and have changed the brake fluid at the 2. year mark.
when is the radiator, transmission, power steering and whatever i have left out require flushing or draining and refilling? in miles? or years?
i think the manual says it will show up on the odometer screen . but i have never seen a code to tell me.
thanks in advance.
i would be happy to receive an e-mail if i am allowed to put my email address on the discussion board.

Mr_Shiftright · January 2013

No, don't post your e-mail in *any* public forum!

Here's what you need to do at the 45,000 mark:

Service Details

Service due at 45,000 Miles
Action: Description
Inspect/Adjust/Change Alignment (optional)
Inspect/Adjust/Change Inspect charging system and belts
Inspect/Adjust/Change Service front and rear brakes
Inspect/Adjust/Change Inspect hoses
Inspect/Adjust/Change Rotate and balance tires
Inspect/Adjust/Change Inspect front and rear brakes
Inspect/Adjust/Change Inspect drive shaft boots
Inspect/Adjust/Change Inspect exhaust system
Inspect/Adjust/Change System Road Test
Inspect/Adjust/Change Replace drain plug washer
Inspect/Adjust/Change Inspect and Top Up all fluid levels
Inspect/Adjust/Change Inspect tire pressure, lights, horn, and wipers
Inspect/Adjust/Change Replace engine oil and filter

For further lists/mileages, try THIS WEBSITE and click on "service and repair" and insert the mileage schedule you wish to know about.

rodut · January 2013

Interesting. I didn't know that. So they replaced sound mechanical engineering, with bug prone electronic gadgets. It's even funnier.

Finally between "To keep, or not to keep", I decided to "not to keep". I traded my old & faithful 2001 Accord, for the last 2012 manual 4-door Accord in Eastern Canada (5 states). I had to drive over 550 miles one-way to get it (no dealer in my area had any 2012 manual leftovers). It drives OK, I would say. It's a bit noisier than the 2001 though. Road noise is a bit louder (Dunlop tires ??), and at low speed (1st and 2nd gear) there is a faint whining (from the engine or the gear box, I don't know). At higher speeds either it dissapears, or it's covered by the road / wind noise. My wife was impressed. She likes it. Me too I like it. I may actually like that faint whining.

Obs: installing the manual gear shift lever turned to the right (at an ~ 30 degrees angle) is really a weird idea. I say "weird" to be polite. It really shows that the desire to change became absurd. They make changes, when absolutely no change is required. The ideal car was manufactured in the past. It's not in the future. It's a pity I cannot post here the picture of the shifter lever. When I saw it for the 1st time I asked the dealer if somebody rolled over the car, and the gear shift got bent. He said: "no, this is an improvement" ...

rodut · January 2013

This discussion group is dead !

icyou812 · January 2013

Maybe no one's car is having problems? Other than a new battery, mine hasn't been giving me grief....(fingers crossed)

Kirstie_H · February 2013

Yes, this should fill your heart with warm fuzzies! As icyou812 mentioned, perhaps it's because people aren't having vehicle issues. It's a maintenance & repair discussion, so if you're an 2008-2012 Accord owner, it's probably best that it's dead rather than having "trouble" comments pouring in.

rodut · February 2013

I agree !
I remember the glorious times when I was the owner of a 2005 Chrysler Pacifica (bought brand new). I was here, on Edmunds, every afternoon. Each time I had a couple of new pages to read !!!

Kirstie_H · February 2013

Well, I'm very sorry to hear of your past automotive trauma... we had a 2003 Pacifica (or around that year), so I feel... or felt... your pain.

rodut · February 2013

Wow ! You may remember that Chrysler's logo during those times was: "Inspiration comes standard".

As a joke, I modified that into: "Clunking comes standard" (while chatting on Edmunds about the low speed suspension clunking many Pacifica owners experienced). Later I saw my joke quoted all over internet. No dealership was ever able to fix that clunking. It was there since day one, and it also was there the day I traded it (for a 2008 Honda Pilot).

rodut · February 2013

Does somebody know why the 2012 Honda Accord user guide says:
"Break-in Period: Do not change the oil until the scheduled maintenance time" ?

For highway driving I heard that may be 12,000 Kms (7,500 miles). So a lot. Is there something special about the oil they initially put in the engine, at the factory ?

catmike · February 2013

Rodut

Honda makes 14 million internal combustion engines each and every year. Yes 14 million. I am not much a car man although I own a 2008 Honda Accord, a 1997 F250 and two Model A Ford Sedans. My wife and I figured that Honda knows more about their engines than we do. She helped fight that urge to change oil immediately; and yes I waited, waited and waited for the dash oil change indicator to roll around to a change oil status. When that happened we went to Mobil1 and have stayed with it. Today, my Honda drives new and I still love it. There have been a couple threads on this very subject by people much better informed than I but not better informed than Honda. I'd did check my oil often and after a couple of months when the oil stick showed oil was needed, I added dino. This process was really hard for me. Waiting, Waiting. Honda's "break in oil" looked sick; but, since the date of my car's build, Honda has made 70 million more engines and the world loves them.

rodut · February 2013

Catmike,

I asked the question because there are two opposite recommendations, both coming from the very smart guys at Honda:

1) the 1st one says to not change the initial break-in oil till the change indicator tells you to do it. Given the distance I drive per year, this is likely to happen one year from now, when the car will have 1 year (future) + 1 year (since the car was manufactured, because I bought a new 2012 leftover) = 2 years.

2) The 2nd direction coming from the Honda too says to change the oil after one year maximum, doesn't matter the mileage (it seems that the oil shouldn't stay for more than one year inside any engine).

As you can see one Honda recommendation tells me to replace the oil now (because the oil stayed there for one year already), the other recommendation tells me to wait for approximately another year (till the break-in oil, if such a thing really exists, is used).

You don't really have to answer questions, if you only know that the Honda guys are very smart. We all know that. Also we all know they make lots of engines.

catmike · February 2013

Rodut

Prior to WWII the U.S. Army, Navy stockpiled hundreds and hundreds of trucks, cars, vehicles and machines of all sorts. The Amry found that oil/lubricants did not degrade by just being parked for months or years.

If Honda thought that oil wore out because a car sat on a dealer's lot they'd tell you. Oil does not degraded in a year's time just sitting in a crakcase. The one year BS refers to cars "driven" by an owner for one year but with mileage so low that the oil indicatior doesn't do it's thing. Yet, no one ever sends the oil for a test. May I repeat, 14 million internal combustion engines are built by Honda each year. To me and probably only to me that means Honda is way smarter about their products than I. However, my Honda dealer's svc dept. lies, steals and works extra hard to seperate me from my money. Once an oil pump for the valves failed making a heck of a racket. The svc writer and supervisor told me that was normal for Honda's with 30,000 miles. I came home, opened Google and typed in a description. Bang on, the various sites told me what the story was. With the facts the svc dept were forced to fix the car (they were ignoring a Honda Svc Bulletin). My engine wont make that kind of noise until it passes the 3 million mile mark. But, I digress. Know what? change your oil ! You'll be happier; but, do it because you want to not based on svc dept BS.

rodut · February 2013

No, Honda's service department didn't give me any BS. I didn't even talk to them at all. I was just reading the owner's manual, like any new car owner should, and I found those two incompatible recommendations. I sent an email to Honda, with the same question. I guess they will say the same thing you said. Probably that oil, as you say, is OK after just sitting in the engine for one year.

Peace !

rodut · February 2013

Correct. Honda confirmed that the oil sitting in a brand new vehicle stays OK. So we count one year since the car was put on the road, not since the manufacturing date.

Also they said the initial 0W20 engine oil contains some special break-in aditives. So it should stay there till the maintenance minder tells you to replace it. Replacing it early would be bad for the engine.

rodut · February 2013

I remember looking under the hood of an EX-L (at the dealership). It had a black pipe connecting the top of those things where the suspension is. I think that bar is called a "strut tower bar". My SE doesn't have it. I saw in some pictures on the web that other Accords also don't have it. To be honest I thought that the trim level affects only the luxury items, not steel pipes !

I can't see where the spark plugs are. Either they are hidden, or as a cost cutting measure the SE doesn't have them ... LOL.

rodut · March 2013

Does somebody have any idea about how to adjust the headlights ? The screws are hidden behind those sheets of metal, and the left headlight has a black plastic box behind it. I don't know what that plastic box is, and how to remove it.

On my previous 2001 Accord it was piece of cake (the screws were very accessible).

Do I have to remove the whole headlight to turn those adjustment screws ?! It would make no sense. Anything becomes more and more complicated.

skywalka · May 2013

I use a 2008 Accord V6 with 28k mileage. I noticed today as i was reverse out of my garage that; as i shifted the auto gear to R the indicator on D was blinking and the check engine light came on. Luckily for me i had a scanner in the trunk so i pulled it out and checked and i saw these codes P0706 and P1717. Does anybody have and idea what these codes mean and how i can fix it?

Appreciate your help.

Mr_Shiftright · May 2013

You have an electrical problem related to the Transmission Range Switch. it could be the switch, the connector to the switch, or the wiring from the switch to the PCM, or the connector to the PCM. Could be a short, a bad ground, a bad switch, etc. It is not a mechanical problem.

skywalka · June 2013

Thanks Mr Shift!!! I'd try and have the switch changed and see if this solves the problem.

Honda30 · September 2013

Go here for more detail re the settlement.

http://www.topclassactions.com/lawsuit-settlements/lawsuit-news/4946-class-actio- n-settlement-reached-over-honda-accord-oil-defect?utm_source=Infusionsoft&utm_me- dium=email&utm_campaign=Top+Class+Actions+Newsletter+092313&inf_contact_key=34a6- 224b8fd1f4b84c30d10984449a360f5dd64f25f3a17470b34c6d1afe3bcf

golfnut801 · September 2013

My 2009 honda accord ex has just about 65,000 miles on it. for the past few months now. the engine will make a grinding noise when cold start up. If i was to turn the engine off and then back on. No grinding noise. If I let it sit for an hour. The grinding noise comes back. I have gone to more then 10 shops 4 of them honda dealership. 1 honda dealership said it's my power steering and broken seal. the other said its my vtec selenoid needs to be replaced and drivetrain adjustment. The other 2 dealership said its a actuator problem. When my car starts up it doesn't activate the actuator to lubricate when start up. The other shops said pretty much the same thing as the dealer have told me. But now I'm in a loop. Has any actually gotten this issue fixed?

Honda30 · October 2013

Does the grinding noise get louder when you turn the steering wheel after a cold start?

hondalova · October 2013

Having three problems with my 2011 Accord V-6 manual coupe (besides the fact that I've never liked this car):

(1) when shifting from 1st to 2nd and/or 2nd to third, the gates feel notchy - sometimes 3rd gear feels almost like its not there and I have to pop back out into neutral and push it forward again, and

(2) when I upshift at anything more than 2000-2500 rpm, I get a shudder or what feels like slippage in the engagement of the drivetrain (this happens in 3rd gear ALL the time, even when I let out clutch to downshift, unless I throttle blip), and

(3) cannot accelerate aggressively or tranny shudders and slips at every shift below 5th gear (but not when fully in gear between shifts). High rpm shifts produce a lot of protest noises from tranny/clutch at each engagement point. Have never liked this gearbox - the one in my '04 was awesome, but this plasticky notchy one is a piece of crap and one of the reasons I just bought my wife a Mazda CX-5 to replace her recently wrecked Honda.

I am NOT super aggressive with the throttle - the car has 53,000 miles on it since I got it brand new in May, 2011, most of which are long-distance highway commuting. Both of my prior Honda Accords (a '91 EX Sedan and an '04 EX-L V-6 Coupe) and my last Nissan ('99 Maxima) were bought brand-new and sold with close to 200,000 miles on them with the original clutch, so I'm fairly confident that its not me.

I'm also pissed b/c this all started just past the 50,000 mile powertrain warranty and I'm now afraid to go to dealer b/c he will charge me a diagnostic just to even tell me what's wrong with the car.

Any ideas? Tech bulletins? Recalls? As always, thanks for your assistance.

-FS

thegraduate · October 2013

Hondas come with a 5 year/60,000 mile powertrain warranty if bought new. Take it on their dime.

icyou812 · October 2013

I have a 08 2.4 5 speed sedan that was great for the first 5k, then started having shift issues like you describe in #1. I also had issues with it popping out of third as I let the clutch out on the upshift. There is a older TSB for the 2003-2008 Accord 6 speed coups for that issue. Apparently the syncro and or shift sleeve was faulty. Your other symptoms sound different from the TSB. After much run around from the dealer, I finally changed my gear lube to synthetic BG Syncro Shift 2 and all shift problems went away. At 75K + and still shifting like butter. I wonder if there is an issue with the cluch and or flywheel? Like the graduate said, get it to the dealer and see what they say. Ride with the tech for a test drive so they can't say "we can't replicate the problem." I heard that line several times from my former dealer.

hondalova · October 2013

Thank you both. I've always thought the flywheel felt unbalanced on this car but always forgot to mention it to the dealer. I generally don't have the car serviced at the dealer after the 1st year of ownership as it is easier to have my local mechanic by my office (whom I've used for 20+ years - and believe me, I'm a tough critic - this guy is good) do oil changes and basic maintenance service.

I thought powertrain was only 50k - so that's good to know. Will make appointment to bring car in and update you all about what I find.

-FS

edhornyak · December 2013

I hit a curb going way too fast and bent rear wheel. Honda dealer wanted $500 for a new one. A local body shop sold me an aftermarket one for $150. Can't tell the difference. Go online, you can find one for probably even less.

edhornyak · December 2013

I had the same problem with my '08 4-cyl accord. Received memo to take it in for reset on the computer due to excessive oil consumption. Did that and consumption dropped to less than 1/2 qt in 5000 mi. You might look into that one the 6 cyl as well. May or may not be the same issue.

hondalova · December 2013

Try www.hubcaphaven.com

I got a great deal on a reconditioned rim from them.

Also, check if shimmy is in the steering wheel or just felt in the seat. If its in the steering wheel, it's likely one of your front rims, while if its in just seat, its probably one of the rears. If your unsure, try rotating them first to see if there's any difference in where you feel it. Any road hazard big enough to damage all four rims at once would almost certainly be a pants-wetting moment. In other words, you'd remember it. Short of that you probably don't need more than two rims at most.

Honda Accord (2008-2012) Maintenance and Repair

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