Older Honda Accords

dfong87

i have not noticed any sensitivity of this sort on our 2003 EX-I4 Accord. i, haven't been looking for it, but there is nothing noticeable here in comparison to other cars i've driven recently [in the last year or so] which include 2000 Civice Coupe, 1990 Acura Integra, 1984 Mazda RX-7, 1985 Honda Civic Wagon, 1991 Acura Legend, 1987 Porsche 944, and a slew of rental cars from Cheverolet, Chrysler, Dodge, and Ford.

perhaps, i'm not as sensitive to such an issue?

jedi1977

I have read numerous posts on the auto tranny problem that has occurred in the '00-01 Accords (and even earlier models) so don't think I haven't done my homework. I have an '02 and there seems to be some hesitation or a "jerk" when the car is shifting between 1st & 2nd...even after the engine has warmed up.

Last time I was at my dealer he drained some of the tranny fluid as it was high, which seemed to have helped but now...no luck...the problem still exists. I've checked the fluid level and it is fine. I have around 7000mi so I think I've broken the car in.

Has anyone else with an '02 EX V-6 noticed anything? Should I start the ball rolling for Honda to extend the tranny replacement to include '02's? Any other suggestions for me to have the dealer check? Is this just a "characteristic" of the Honda trans...coming from a Pontiac Grand Am there are already a lot of differences...all for the better! Thanks in advance for your assistance!!

silverk21

My gen 6 coupe is sensitive to road crown. Maybe it has something to do with FWD? Alignment is perfect when driving on flat roads, but always having to oversteer on crowned highways.

bodydouble

That's what I'm encountering. The steering wheel has to be a few degrees off center when driving on crowned road. No drifting experienced though.

prebmw

Yes, I am still around. In fact, I am like a junkie with this forum - if I don't read it on a regular basis I go into withdrawal. Anyway, the trim is tight around the window now, little to no play at all. On the subject of drifting - mine does not suffer from it, but it is a four banger. It seems that most folks with the problem have the six. The extra weight in front maybe? As for performance of the four - I find it very acceptable. We took our first road trip this weekend, three hours one way, all interstate with several long grades. I was very impressed both with how well it kept speed (cruise set at 75) and how much smoother the transmission shifted from fifth to fourth on long grades than my previous 00 did, in fact, I thought smoother than our Lexus. My wife drove the car for the first time last week and actually commented on how much "get up and go" it had (however, she is used to driving her SUV). One last thing, I found out last Friday when I was at my dealer that all the service writers and salesmen drove Hondas for their own cars (no demos). I thought that made a very strong statement.

yrmac

I am planning to install a 3.2 TL Type-S rear sway bar on my '02 Honda Accord V6 to neutralize the accord handling (too much understeer for my taste). The cost is not expensive, as the sway bar itself is only about $85.00 from the dealer and some bushings and brackets. In total, about $120.00 or so. Not a bad investment for a huge handling improvement. I think this will also rectify the Accord's tendency to drift. I will update this TH on the outcome.

mdames

I had a 2000 EX V6. The transmission always stayed too long in first and the shift from first to second was quite aggressive. I eventually got used to it. There's nothing wrong with your car. That is the design of the tranny. If you take off slowly from a start the shift from first to second is fine. But if you give it even a moderate amount of throttle it will hold in first quite long and then give you the hard shift. This is how the transmission is designed. I just purchased a 2003 EX V6. The five speed transmission is much smoother.

jud95accord

I just filled up my tank for about the 4th time in my 03 V6 sedan and my mpg was 17.2! What have other people experienced with their new car? I mainly drive short distances - rarely at highway speeds.

ickes_mobile

There must have been an explosion of new Accords. I saw three at my polling place, then two on the road, and one at the gas station. Variety of trims and colors. Very nice...

dfong87

thanks for checking back in and getting your fix. i'm glad you solved your problem. unfortunately, i can't find any play in our chrome trim either. the above the window rattle came back for a moment this morning on the drive in and then disappeared. oh well, hopefully, as other suggested, our rattle will go away. the key problem i have is i fixate on it once i hear it. i think i almost would have an easier time if it were constant so i could get used to it.

oh well. we just crossed 1000 miles and besides my anal-retentiveness about this rattle, it's been a great car. the more i drive it [my wife is starting to wonder if this is really *her* car], the more i appreciate how well it drives. the power is truly effortless--this weekend, i had to punch it to get up to speed from a short onramp and i was left with a smile on my face: amazing considering its a 4 cylinder. Sure, it's not as fast as the V6, but certainly more than adequate.

sobers

is all over the place now....I didn't see a red one yet..the new body style looks best with Grafite & then Red IMO.

ravyn

what is the mm on the type-s swaybar? and this is the lower rear sway, correct? i've been thinking of getting the neuspeed one to go with my neuspeed upper strut tower bar, but i believe it's only 19mm and around $200.. (it could be 22mm, but i'm not sure). in which case the acura one might be better for the time being. thanks!

yrmac

The rear sway bar on the Type-S is 19mm and the one on the accord is either 16mm or 17mm. The price that I qouted was in CDN dollars and I am assuming that it will be around US$50 in your area. IMHO, Neuspeed et al. are not worth the extra money because the material is the same. Be very careful when you go above 19mm such as 22mm, it might cause undesireable effects such as oversteer. I think 19mm is probably the "sweet spot" for the Accord since Type S is Accord-based.

stantont

The Neuspeed rear bar and the Acura TL Type S rear bar are the same diameter: 19mm. I have had one on my '01 EX V6 sedan for 6-8 months now, and am totally pleased. Handling is much quicker (much less understeer) and cornering is flatter; the ride is virtually the same except under a sharp one-wheel bump, in which case you can feel the slightly increased rear bump stiffness. There is no change on two-wheel bumps, because the bar simply pivots under that condition. There is still a little bit of understeer, enough to make the car safe for an unattentive driver, but if you hit the brakes in a decreasing-radius curve, the back end will slowly try to come around. For a refined car like the EX, the change is nearly perfect: a passenger would never notice the change in ride, but a sensitive driver notices the handling improvement immediately. My daughter came to town for a friend's wedding and borrowed the Accord without knowing I had done anything to the car. When she came in that night, she said, "Okay, Dad, what did you do to the Accord; and can you do it to my Volvo C70?"

Unlike most aftermarket bars, which are so stiff that the car not only corners flatter, but actually OVERSTEERS, this particular change integrates very nicely into the car. Many years ago I tried an aftermarket rear bar on a 1967 Dodge that made the car hazardous in sudden swerves; I got it broadside several times and caught it before it spun, and finally removed the bar. Many years later I tried another aftermarket bar on my 1995 Ford Aerostar van, and everyone who drove the car commented on the fact that the rear end always seemed to be trying to pass the front on highway curves. I removed it also.

Remember that as you increase rear roll stiffness, you do two things at the same time: reduce lean on turns, and shift handling away from understeer towards oversteer. A little can be very good, making the car almost neutral; too much can be scary as h***!

Also note that the stiffness of a torsion bar increases as the cube of the diameter, so a small change in diameter makes a big difference in stiffness.

For our generation of Accord, we have several choices in rear bar to "tune" the handling to your preferences. The V6 sedan comes with a 16mm bar; the V6 Coupe uses a 17 mm; the Acura TL uses an 18mm ; and the TL Type S uses a 19mm (same as the Neuspeed). All can fit the same mounting bolts; all you need is the bar and the appropriate bushings to fit.

The 17mm diameter bar is 21% stiffer than the 16; the 18mm is 43% stiffer, and the 19mm is 67% stiffer. AFAIK, the I4 doesn't use a rear bar, so you could add the 16mm bar for a nice change.

I haven't noticed any change in the car's response to crowned roads. It has always felt completely normal to me; and quite the contrary to any "drift", I have found the Accord's steering to be very precise, almost telepathic. I drove a Passat before I bought the Accord, and preferred the Accord's steering feel; the Passat steering felt overboosted, too light for my taste. YMMV, I guess.

yrmac

Did you do the swap yourself or is this process out of the D-I-Y category? I am thinking of doing this myself. I've checked the location of the rear sway bar, it seemed accesible and looked like a DIY. Do you also have to do a wheel alignment after the swap? Thanks for the info...

jeffrey15

...what were they thinking.

    I just received this item for my new EXV6 from collegehillshonda.com I din't think to look at the instructions before hand since I easily installed it in my 99. The install is so complicated, you wonder why they just didn't install the mounting screws at the factory.

 

http://www.collegehillshonda.com/instructions/03accord/cargonet.pdf

Not sure If I am going to do it myself or let the dealer do it.

Jeff

stantont

The swap is a very easy DIY job; only six bolts. There are two urethane (?) bushings where the bar rides across the frame, each sitting in a metal bracket held on with two bolts, and each end of the bar is connected to its side of the suspension by an end link with a single bolt through the "eye" in the end of the bar. If you slide under the back end of the car, it is right there in front of you. I backed the car up onto a pair of ramps to get working space.

You need a couple of box end wrenches, and there is a metric Allen wrench "socket" in the end of the the bolt for the end link. You use that to keep the bolt from turning while you turn the nut.

This whole thing is harder to describe than to do it, once you get under the car. The entire process took less than an hour, including backing the car onto the ramps and driving it off afterward.

The sway bar is just a torsion "spring", and has no effect on alignment, so no re-alignment is needed.

It was probably overkill, but I used a little bit of stringy, viscous grease on the bar where it turns inside the urethane bushings just to be sure it didn't develop any kind of squeak over time.

If you buy the Neuspeed kit, you get all the directions; if you get the parts from Acura, I guess you'll just have to plunge in and do it. The only thing that is not obvious is the little hole for an Allen wrench in the end of the end-link bolt; if you didn't know it was there, you might have a hard time removing the end-link connection. The nut is tight enough that I feared I'd break the Allen key, but not so...I finally decided that if Honda could tighten it without breaking THEIR Allen key, I could loosen it without breaking MY Allen key. Since all name-brand Allen wrenches are some kind of hard steel alloy, heat-treated to some phenomenal strength, that was indeed the case.

yrmac

I just bought the sway bar yesterday from a local Acura dealership and I will try to install it this weekend. I was talking to the Acura parts personnel and he mentioned that alot of Accord owners are doing this upgrade. He also said that it is probably one of the best, not to mention the cheapest upgrade that you can do with the 6th Gen. Accord. He also mentioned about the Type S strut tower bar that might fit the 6th Gen Accord but I told him that I will take this one step at a time.

anonymousposts

I let the dealer put the cargo net in my Civic and it was $15 .. worth it since you have to drill holes into the trunk to install it. An Accord may be a little more, but it shouldn't be that much more.

inky4

1. net. I read directions and did not buy. Went to Walmart and bought a nice 3 pocket for $16 and installed using one factory clip and installing one new one. The Honda net is ridiculous. A dealer would have to charge $40 to put it in.I have replaced stereo systems easier.
2. Gas mileage. My 03 EX V-6 is getting 27 in average driving. I do wish I could get the 38 like the I-4 guys. I think 38 is commendable.
Anyone test V-6 on pure trip. I am hoping for 30 plus on a trip. Around town and communiting, i am content with 27 on regular gas. Tried premium but no seat of pants difference to me.
3. I agree that road slope (ie crown for drainage) has tremendous effect on this car. I am getting used to it, but my 02 Acura 3.2 did not have this. Hmmn.
INKY

talon95

Unbelievable! I also installed my own cargo net in my 2000 Accord, and would have never expected the new install to be orders of magnitude more difficult. Had I not seen your post, I probably would have thought to do it myself when I eventually get a 2004. Think I'll let the dealer do it...

pro_honda

I was just wondering if anyone else had an opinion on the power of the 2003 four cylinder Accord (with automatic tranny). Is it enough?

brydymond

I think the chrome around the windows is a little thick, has anyone tried to black it out, I think it would look amazing.

dudleyr

The 4-cylinder has way more than enough power. The only reason to buy the 6 would be if you like to use more gas, or use your car to drag race. ; ^ )

bimmer4me

front end of the new Accord. It screams KIA RIO. As a loyal Honda fan and owner of an 99 Accord, I was hoping as the weeks pasted by that the front end would grow on me...it hasn't. I was looking to trade my 99 Accord on a new Honda, but this time reluctantly, I'll be a Camry owner once again. I'm not thrilled with the styling of the Camry, but I can live with it as opposed to the Accord's new design. Now I only wish the Camry had the Accords wonderful designed interior...I guess I can't have it all.

bodydouble

I think if you do a lot of long-distance highway driving, especially involving hill-climbing, the V6 would be good to have.

rpm29

I just bought a 2003 Accord LX-G 5AT. The car is great and the 2.4 has enough power but mpg is below 25. I have mostly driven during rush hour in cold and snowy weather.

When the engine is cold, the car will accelerate to 20 km/h even when I'm off the gas. The car idles rough when I brake. Once the engine is warm, the car accelerates to 10 km/h on its own and it usually idles smooth.

Are other 2003 LX automatic owners having the same experience? I am thinking of taking the car into the dealer but since it took them 2.5 hours to install the cargo net (my car was the first they did this in), I am not sure they would have the answer just yet.

bodydouble

I think getting 25mpg in city rush hour driving in cold weather is not too bad.

BTW, what does the G in LX-G signify?

yrmac

G stands for "grunt" as in Lots of Xtra - Grunt...

yrmac

I test drove the Accord V6 last weekend and my take on the performance of this 7th Gen is one of a disappointment. The low end performance of the engine is much like the the 6th Gen engine. I didn't really feel any difference at all between the old 3.0 and the new 3.0. HOwever the top end of the 7th gen is an improvement from the 6th gen, although, the engine gets a little peaky to achieve this advantage(You really have to floor it). Regarding handling, I think Honda is trying to emulate the Camry on this regard. The 6th gen has more road feel than this 7th gen. The new Accord feels softer than the previous model.
Styling is really subjective I guess, but comparing it to a KIA RIO is going a bit far. To me it looks like a modified cool looking CIVIC at the front and a crunched Buick Regal at the back.
Is this a mistake for Honda? I don't know, time will tell. Just like the new 7 series from BMW>>> a very odd looking car IMO...

03accordman

I bought a 2003 LX I4 a few days back. In the first fill up I noted I am getting 29mpg for about 70% Hwy and 30% city driving. I am not concerned about the mileage coz of the car being so new. What I am concerned about is that with the low fuel light on and the fuel gauge reading empty, I filled up and could only put in 12.6 gallons into the tank. Seems pretty less, I expected about 15 Gals. Anyone else noted the same thing? The car otherwise is great and I love both the s2000ish front as well as the lovely interior. IMO, this car can't be compared to a camry, its a whole level up.

yrmac

When your low fuel light comes on, you still have around 2 gallons of gas in your tank. Your low fuel light comes on to warn you that you have low fuel not an empty tank and your gauge is not really a good device of giving you a precise volume in your tank.

dindak

Interesting, I haver the same thing happen with the 2.2L Ecotec in my Alero. It idles a little rough on cold morings (sub-freezing), but once up to temperature is as smooth as ever. Perhaps these ohc I-4 engines all do this as I have never had one before?

03accordman

I thought so too, I mean I expected to fill about 14.5 - 15 Gals once the light came on, since the tank is 17+ Gals. But I was able to fill only 12.6, does that mean the light comes on with 4.5 gals inside the tank?

yrmac

03accordman,
Its either your theory is right(4.5g left in your tank,) or your fuel meter sensor/solenoid/float is out of whack. However, having 4.5 gallons in your tank and your gauge is reading E I think is out norm.

tblazer503

It will also depend on a few things such as angle of the vehicle, since the meter/pump assy is not always in the dead center, and if it is, it can still be thrown off by a incline, decline, etc.

Temperature seems to have some strange effect on gas too... I noticed in the summer I would put about 17+ gallons in, and during the winter, only 16... not sure how that computes, but just something I noticed.

I filled my '03 Accord up w/ just under 1/2 tank the other day and the guy squeezed about 7 gallons into it... perhaps this is just the way that the gauge is calibrated....(read too many people driving until E then run out of gas... =o) ... hehe)

03accordman

I filled at a gas station with no slope. Just spoke to a Honda Service guy who said that with Honda products, it is normal to have around 4gs inthe tank when the light shows up. I find it pretty silly though, and I am a new Honda owner, also own a Nissan Altima, so maybe it is common with Hondas. Maybe some experienced Honda owners could shed some light.

cds12

my dealer said the light comes on when your down to 4 gallons

I guess honda figures we need a 100+ mile buffer.

dfong87

FWIW, we haven't driven our 2003 Accord down to more than 1/4-1/3 left, and that tank was around 11.5 gallons. but to answer an earlier query, at half tank, i tanked up 7.9 gallons.

OTOH, my Honda civic, with its 11.9 gallon tank, has the "low fuel light" come on with about 1-1.5 gallons left. it's flickering with 1.5 gallons left, and the time i let it go solid and bought gas immediately after that point, i bought 10.9 gallons.

4 gallons seems a bit excessive. i would have though 2 gallons is more appropriate. but of course, i'm sure Honda will claim a "bug" is a feature like many other companies i know of. [even though i like all the Hondas i have had, i know they definitely play their games...]

aming

My 87' Accord Exi used to light up with 10-15 litres left...which would equate to 100-200kms of driving before it was totally emptied. Also, my 92' Lexus ES 300 is the same. Once I find out what my average miles/km is, I then go by the mileage instead of the fuel gauge. The fuel gauge also fluctuates differently in city driving compared to higway driving. I just use it as a rough estimater whereas I use the mileage on the trip odometer (zero after every fillup) as my true reference point.

Just works better for me...

Cheers...

aming

European Accords:

http://www.motorcities.com/contents/02IID514901914.html

http://www.fabio.com.pt/Accord.htm

If these come over as a TL it would be great.

dindak

Ya.. nothing like paying big $$ for a rebadged Honda.

bodydouble

there are a lot of rebadged something or 'nother throughout the industry now

mouseonline

Friend of mine is buying a 99 Accord EX V6 with 169,000 miles on it.

Is it safe to keep a car with this much miles on it?

Can it go to 250,000 miles?

Thanks.

ickes_mobile

You like the European/Japanese Accord?

Well, you'll be able to get it as a NEW Acura model (not the TL replacement).

Expect it to debut at NAIAS in January and on-sale Spring '03.

aming

If honda still makes the cars like they did in the late 80's you should have no problem. I drove my Accord 366k km and it would have gone 500k if I didn't have to part with it. Just make sure it's in good shape. It always helps if the owner has all the upkeep records with them.

Just keep in mind there is a slight chance that it could have the bad trannie, but my guess would be that if it lasted 169k miles then it should be fine...

Just my .02 worth..

ravyn

thanks for the prompt responses and info, especially stantont. very thorough, and the acura bar is prolly what i will end up getting. again, thanks.

umyaya

We've had two Acuras now and in both the gas light came on with 3 or so gallons left. I don't know why you all are complaining about that though. To me what's the harm in having more notice... especially once you've figured out that you have 3 or more gallons left. It maybe helps you think (on a highway trip) that I need gas in a bit and should start thinking about how far I want go. On highway trips I know I like to find either the cheapest, or most highway accessible place and so extra time to think at 70+ miles an hour is good.

jud95accord

I just filled up my tank a few days ago when the low fuel light came on. I filled up the tank with 13.2 gallons.

silverk21

light comes on in my '98 coupe with 3 gallons left. I agree with umyaya, whats the big deal? Actually, it is a good feature IMO, not a bug or flaw.