Periodic Maintenance

inkie

Can't top your last post, lol. The only message I have is your dating yourself {and so am I} with glyptal varnish. It brings back a lot of memories I used to formulate with the glyptal resins.

venanzik

how do you do it? i think ive taken all the screws out (hidden ones behind air vents and switch gear) but the dash doesnt want to budge around the lower part where the ashtray goes (took 2 out from the back in there). do the two that hold the ashtray bracket on have to be removed?(hard to get so i didnt want to remove if not neccessary) any help would help. thanks.

stickershox

I purchased my Accord EX in late March 2003 and have only washed the car. I heard that the paint on these new Accords are not that good; easily chips.

1st - should i wax/polish car after 5 months of ownership?

2nd - if so, what kind of wax/polish do you recommend for a silver exterior?

Thanks.

tblazer503

I usually lay out 2 coats of was about the 6month timeframe... a good idea would be to clay it before you lay the wax out, though. "claying" the car is basically spraying a soapy solution on the car, and rubbing a clay against the paint to remove paint contaminates, and bugs, etc. takes a while, but basically strips the paint. Then lay those 2 coats of polish down, and should work well. car looks great in the rain after driving about 35mph it's pretty dry... except the trunk area...

I use meguiars yellow wax. some people tell you zaino is the best stuff out there, zymol is pretty good stuff... IMHO, just don't use the cheapo $1.99/bottle no-name stuff on your car.

Mr_Shiftright

I've been rubbing that grease on my bald head but no results yet. Will report progress as necessary.

OVERFILLING THE ENGINE OIL:

Yeah, it can possibly cause damage depending on the engine design. Probably the worst that could happen would be oil pushing past an engine seal. I guess in extreme cases the oil could cavitate(foam up) and that could be real trouble.

snuke59

All of my service work is done by a privately owned Honda Car Specialist shop. It will soon be time for me to take my 2000 AccordEX in for a 30,000 mile service which includes changing the coolant. I had planned to purchase the coolant from the parts dept. of a Honda Dealership. However, when I called to obtained the price and the amount needed, the salesperson told me that I would be wasting my money because the original coolant that is placed in Honda cars is very durable and doesn't need changing this soon. Has anyone else heard of this? Should the coolant be changed at 30,000?

zueslewis

confirm it through the service department at your local Honda dealer.

4ztc524

Ask 10 different Honda service departments and you'll get 11 different answers, all incorrect. The correct answer is in your owner's manual. For my 03 Accord i4 the answer is 120,000 miles, or 10 years, whichever comes first. Remember, service departments make most of their profits from selling unnecessary service. Honda knows best. Don't let the dealer tell you otherwise.

Bob

zueslewis

Even the guy who posted just before you?

Thanks a bunch, bud.

4ztc524

my point was that the answer is in the owner's manual. there is no need to consult the service department. i have yet to find a service department, honda or otherwise, whose "maintenance schedule" didn't include lot's of service that wasn't listed in the official maintenance schedule. that's all ... didn't mean to offend, sorry if it came across that way.

bob

q45man

But the offical schedule is just designed to get the car thru the warranty with minimal cost to factory!

If you ask engineers to define a schedule which would maximize the life of each component regardless of cost they would have you change every fluid [including the AC PAG oil] every year and oil every 90 days. [65 running hours is the spec for standard oils]

Your solution is somewhere in betwen these two extremes.

To determine WHEN to change coolant you just measure the PH of the coolant that will tell you when the alkaline additives are used up and the the mixture has turned acidic and is eating things from the inside. Simple inexpensive test with test strip.
Same with brake fluid when it changes from clear to amber to brownish it is contaminated and eating seals. When ATF is no longer sparkling red it has been degraded by over heats.....when oil has changed from clear to brown it is contaminated and has started to break down.

 Mostly a sample [of each fluid] of new and used [a drop] on a white paper towel will tell you all you need to know.

All depends on whether you want components to last 50k, 100k, 200k, or 300k or 500k.......each is possible depending on maintenance ........you can even destroy them earlier if you try hard......use tap water or inexpensive fluids that barely meet specifications brand new.

zueslewis

It's amazing how many people can't, or haven't read their owners manual - it's easier for them to make a phone call.

I'm shocked at the number of people who have NO idea what the maintenance requirements of their vehicle are - most never unwrap the manual - just gas it and go.

armtdm

My experience, regardless of the manufacturer, is that the sales person not only doesn't know the service or maintenance schedules of the vehicles they sell but they never attempt to go over this with the customer either.

swschrad

when Noah filled the ark with two of everything, he also took along a couple of tech manuals.

they STILL haven't been read. real men don't need directions, just a bigger hammer

inkie

G45man has the right answer, get the pH test strips to check the solution in your radiator I believe instructions are included in the kits you get from auto stores. If not, I always change at a pH of 5.5 to 6 but I dont't know what solution you will use so measure a fresh mixed sample to get a baseline. One thing to remember as the pH goes down in numbers from nuetral {7.0} it gets very acidic after 5.0, thats why I change at 5.5 or so.

according2me

I had my water pump, antifreeze, timing/balance belts and seals and accessory drive belts replaced today. Since I don't have a Honda dealership in my home town (one is currently being built), I got prices from the existing dealerships in the New Orleans area and independent shops in the area.

They ranged from 20-42 mile distances and the prices ranged from $510-$640 for this service, with two of the nearest dealerships at $640. The Gulfport,Ms dealership (42 miles) not only had the lowest cost, but accepted my appointment on 1 days notice and completed the work in less than 3hours this morning while I waited.

For this maintenance, it definitely paid to shop around. I had to go 14 miles further than my selling dealership, but it was well worth the drive.

I'm curious how this compares with the cost of this service in other parts of the country for the 98-02 model years.

Other than brake pads shortly, I should be good for another 100K hopefully. This car continues to shine!!!!!!!

tblazer503

don't forget to change the spark plugs/wires and have the valve gapping adjusted... (105k tuneup)

according2me

tblazer...I changed the plugs @102K miles and went with copper NGK's instead of the plats and the valves are making no noise so I'll wait on that.

plethysmo

I could not find a filter wrench small enough to get the old filter off. Smallest wrench I could find was for 2 13/16 and larger. The new filter that I bought from handa.com is larger in diameter, (but shorter in length) and fits my filter wrench.

Does anyone know where to get a small enough filter wrench? Is the original filter probably screwed on so tight that I won't be able to get it off myself anyway?

zueslewis

your best bet is to buy a pliers-type filter wrench - I got mine at Sears for $10 - doesn't matter what size the filter is, and I can get into any of the three vehicles I have without a problem.

atlantabenny

In addition to having the right wrench, try accessing the filter through the right tire wheel opening for better leverage. Also, that oil gushes out strong when you remove the drain plug, so your oil collector needs to be positioned just so.

mikek37

Good call Atlanta.

The oil shoots out quite far. Didnt realize this till my street was covered with oil.

Oh , if you didnt know, never over tighten the filter!~

swschrad

I had to get a factory-new filter off my ranger once with a chain wrench... punching a screwdriver through and turning it only ripped the cap off the filter, like the "easy-opening can" in the old beer commercial.

bostonoriole

I have been told that my 1990 Honda Accord needs to have the wheel nut torqued to 80 ft-lbs. This seems like a lot to me.

Does anyone have an opinion on this?

zueslewis

90 on steel - consult your manual, if if your wheels are aftermarket, go by the manufacturer's recommendation.

80 lbs isn't that much - and if you use 40-50 instead, your wheels will fall off. That's a bad thing.

alcan

Accord-ing to my spec books, wheel lug nut torque for 1990-96 Honda Civic, Accord, Prelude and del Sol is 80 ft-lbs. When in doubt, do as Zeus suggested and check your owner's manual.

bburton3

On my accords between 80 and 97 model years the steel rim lug nut torque was 80 foot pounds. Some AL rims are a lot less.

Was watching one of my neighbors using a small torque wrench to torque his Saab lug nuts-Er sez me-what torque setting are you aiming at for those lug nuts-something foot pounds he sez-hmm-how do you convert the foot inches on that torque wrench to foot pounds?-went and got my overpriced snap on. So be careful out there-there be inches, pounds and those evil impact wrenches.

mikeysoft

"Does anyone know where to get a small enough filter wrench?"
 
I got one at Wall-Mart for about $2.50. It is a black thing that fits on a socket wrench. They have two types (brands) of the same size, one is a little smaller and works good. The slightly bigger one works on the small fram filter for the 03 Hondas, the smaller on works on the Honda small 03 filter and the Wall-Mart small ST filter for the 03.
 
Both filter wrenches fits on the end of the oil filter.

zueslewis

I threw my others (I had 8) away...

swschrad

but it wouldn't work on little skinny filters... so there are multiple sizes of them as well, perhaps even three.

then there is the infamous ViseGrip tm 12LC locking plier, with a curved jaw like a baleen whale that opens up and clamps hard on cylinders as large as 3-1/4 inch diameter. that ol' boy would either take your filter off or shred it like cole slaw, so if you ever get that desperate, use it on the filter near the flange of the engine, and be SURE it's clamped on the filter. the flange is a bit more costly and ugly to replace they work great for opening up old Atwater Kent horn speaker diaphraghms

bburton3

Have a 72 vw van and the filter is huge-had to go to a adjustable nylon strap wrench which should accomodate virtually any size filter-this sucker is surrounded by other engine parts-it is in a hole and could not get a grip on it with my monster channel locks. This adjustable strap wrench fits into a 3/8" socket wrench-found it at a farm & fleet store.

quaternion

I too had the problem of my oil filter wrench being slightly too big for the original oil filter. I taped some cardboard on the inside of my wrench and was able to remove the filter. I have a 4-cyl EX and noticed that Fram calls for a different replacement filter in their paper catalog as on their website.

mikeysoft

Apparently, Honda is replacing its older and larger oil filter with a smaller oil filter for the 03 Accord. The old larger filter can be used on the 03. Fram and others make both sizes, I use the older larger size filter on my 03 Accord.

lelandhendrix

Just curious if everyone else on here has seen this comparison between the Honda genuine and the Fram filter? Interesting...

http://www.handaaccessories.com/15400.jpg

I apologize if this was brough up earlier in the forum.

swschrad

"you can pay me now... and... you can also pay me a lot more later" perhaps for the modified slogan?

bburton3

Somebody did a detailed review and has it on a web site of most major aftermarket oil filters out there and there are a lot better options than the orange ones. Seem to remember AC Delco and the Walmart private label filters doing well.

stubborn1

Does anyone just hand-tighten their oil filters anymore? On my old Ford pickup, I used to just give it a good 2 hand twist at the end and never had a problem with leaking. Granted, you can't get close enough to most filters now to give it a 2 hand twist with any leverage.

zueslewis

I can get my hands on the filters of the three cars I work on (PT Cruiser GT, MR-2 and Nissan 240SX).