Honda Accord (1998-2002) Maintenance and Repair

05ody

Well he mentioned something about a bearing, but I think he was trying to convince me that it was breaking in, because he knew we bought the alternator from them, and Im pritty sure that we have a 1 year warrenty (bought december 7th of least year I believe). Should I bring it back in and ask for a replacement? I still have the bill of purchase.

benjaminh

I just read an article from the Car Talk guys (Click and Clack) where they wrote about the dangers of "hydrolock." Basically, if your air intake is too close to the ground then driving through a really big puddle at high speed could pull H2O into your engine and trash it. Apparently Volkswagens have this problem quite a bit. Does anyone know about the air intake in this generation of the Accord? I'm not the type to go through a deep puddle a high speed, but I'm wondering if I should be extra cautious.

Mr_Shiftright

You know, it's more a question of what the driver does. If he charges into a deep puddle at high speed, just about ANY car could suffer hydrolock. The riskiest cars are the ones that have been modified with aftermarket cold air intake kits, which are often placed lower and further ahead than the stock intakes. If you buy a car with one of those, be aware of the risks.

Mr_Shiftright

Absolutely bring it back. Alternators aren't supposed to scream, except to say "help!"

bolivar

That's exactly what he's trying to do, wait out the warranty.

Demand a replacement. Alternator don't make much noise at all. Anything else means it's faulty.

05ody

Well I know your all probablly tired of hearing about my alternator, but not my car wont start. I was dirving and my subs kept cutting out, so when I got home the lights started dimming and I shut it off for abit. When I went to go start it about an hour later, it makes a horrible like electrical zapping noise and the engine doesnt turn one but. Also when I hit the lock button twice, my horn barelly makes a sound. Is this my alternator or battery?

bolivar

Subs?

You never mentioned any subs!

I'm out of this discussion. When you put a kazillion amps of load on a rebuilt alternator, you should expect non-standard life from it!!!!!!

Did the saleman that was wanting to wait out the warranty see your 'subs' by any chance?

05ody

Wow man, take it easy. Its not a big system. And I am sure that he knew because he fooled around with my CD player and music in the parking lot. And how was this alternator rebuilt? Alot of people but big systems in there car and their alternators can handle it. I can see the battery dying out on me, but not the alternator.

cgphil1

My '89 Honda Accord had a sticky accelerator so I removed the air intake hose and sprayed some throttle body and air intake cleaner unto the plate and into the throttle body opening. It no longer sticks but now the car idles rough and will not start easily if not completely cool. The RPM also drops to 300-400. Did I pour too much cleaner into the opening? I drove it until the engine heated up to see if the residue would dry off but no results. How can I fix this problem. Please HELP!!!

Clive

user777

google it. maybe in the process of freeing the throttle body assembly you swamped some idle control valve or some other sensor with the cleaner (or the gunk you dislodged).

did you accidently pull another hose off somewhere? are there any leaks?

around the assembly - look for any sensors and check all connections.

snuke

Is there anyone out there with a 2000 V6 Accord who has not had a problem with the automatic transmission?

keung

My accord has a temperature sensitive problem - in warm weather, underground garage, after driving for a bit, then allow the car to sit for 25 minutes, it will not restart. You crank it and it immediately dies out. Or depending on how long it sits and the cooling period, it will start but the idle is extremely low, where it may shut off. The only way to get the car started is too wait or start it like it's flooded and then applying throttle to get the idle up. It's been tuned, wires cap, changed main relay, fuel pump, ignition coil. The only code it has given is " ignition coil misfire". In summer, for sure it will not start, the problem has been consistent, however in winter the idle is low on the restarts. Any ideas ?

user777

apologies: ideas only...

is the "main relay" the same as the "fuel pump" relay? not sure, but maybe you can do some googling or look in a haynes or other manual. i thought there were two different relays myself. i have come across references to both and am confused to be honest if people with this warm start problem are referring to a main relay, or some seperate fuel relay.

since you are having issues even on winter with idle, i'd be looking at the idle control valve / hoses, and perhaps there's an idle adjustment, or idle re-learn procedure. i'd also be thinking maybe the throttle body needs cleaning. did the vehicle have the throttle body cleaned with the tune up? maybe it's sticking. maybe there's some vaccuum hose off somewhere, or a leaky hose.

there also must be an attached TPS (throttle position sensor) to the throttle body assembly. there's probably a way to check it for proper operation with a voltmeter: that it's getting voltage and also that when you apply throttle it's signal ramps properly with increasing demand).

perhaps when you are completely off the gas when starting, it isn't reading fully closed (either because of sensor issue or body sticking) - then perhaps the idle control valve isn't being commanded to do it's thing properly and you are trying to start in a too rich condition.

hopefully someone else will chime in.

consistency is good. if you can get a Haynes and use a voltmeter, you can sluth it down some and perhaps get to the culprit.

another idea is to call around to some independant service shops dealing with Hondas and provide the symptoms and see what they suggest.

tjlmbklr

I had the "engine" light come on about 6 months ago. I had Autozone check the code. It came up "EGR valve insufficiant flow" or something close to that. I bought an EGR vavle factory direct off of ebay and put it in. I cleared the code (disconnect battery). But after driving a few miles the light came back on. I had Autozone check it again and it came back the same. What am I missing? It is just a plug and 2 bolts.

carolinagirl48

Can anyone answer the question of when the timing belt should be changed? I thought it was around 100,000. I have an 1999 Accord that I purchased new, with 97K. Should I wait awhile are go ahead with it?
Thanks

elroy5

Not sure if your engine is the same as a 95, but this is a link on cleaning out the EGR ports. The valve itself, may not have been the problem. Link below, Good luck

http://members.troublecodes.net/hondadude/95AccordEGR.htm

keung

Thx for the ideas. Yes the main relay has been replaced and it is different from the fuel pump.

cgphil1

I am having the same problem with my 1998 Honda Accord EX. This started after spraying throttle body cleaner unto the plate to free a "sticky" throttle. RPMs are now at 1200 when engine is cold then go back and forth from approx 1200 to 2000 when warmed up. Can you tell me exactly where the IACV is located? Is it behind the throttle body against the firewall? There are instructions on how to disassemble and clean out the carbon and other residues.

Thanks

user777

i meant different from the fuel pump relay.

keung

The code I am getting for my starting problem is P0301 ignition misfire. Any idea what this could be, or where I can find out what this can mean.

user777

well, the P0301 is specific to misfire detected on cylinder 1. are you sure you get this on starting, or when running at speed? you could have a bad wire, plug, coil, valves. i don't know. could even be the injector to the number 1 cylinder.

i suppose i'd run some injector cleaner on a full tank. if the code kept being thrown, i'd have someone knowlegeable about ignition/spark issues look at it.

bolivar

It's my understanding that more working EGR valves are unnecessarily replaced than any other part. The error can be set because of several other things being bad, not just the valve.

It's my understanding the valves seldom fail. But there are vacumn lines and other solnoids and relays involved in this sub-system that can fail and set the code. And yes, on some motors the ports under the valve can become clogged and set the code.

falcon65

I have a 2000 Accord V6 with an automatic transmission that has never had a problem; however, the transmission fluid was changed at 30,000, 45,000, and 60,000 miles. I've owned 4 Accords in the past 20 years and have dealt with the same dealership. I follow the service manual to the letter, and my dealership knows that I'll be upset if anything fails. I think that is why they changed the fluid so often. Although the car only has 62,000 miles on it and is in great shape other than several parking lot dings, I'm trading it in because I purchased it just under 7 years ago. Honda's extended warranty expires 7 years after the date of purchase. I'll probably by another Honda because my dealership is the best in the area.

snuke

Thanks Falcon65 for replying to message. It is really good to read that someone else with a V6 2000 Accord has not had transmission problems. We seem to have a lot in common. I, too, have own Accords for the past 18-yrs. I kept my 1988 for 12-yrs. and have had the 2000 for the past 6, i.e., I hate car notes. I have 67,000 miles and have had regular transmission fluid changes but not quite as often as you. My service guys have their own business of only servicing Hondas/Acuras and are absolutely great. You have now given me an idea. I will start asking my mechanic to began changing my transmission fluid more often, too. I assume you feel that might be the reason you have not had a problem. By the way, was the transmission fluid used made by Honda or did you use another brand? Thanks for responding. You now give me some hope that I might stand a chance of not having transmission problems in the future.

thegraduate

Make sure you are getting transmission fluid "flushed," not just changed. If you change it, MUCH of the old fluid is left behind.

snuke

Thanks for the tip thegraduate. I am a female and not too car savy, so explain how is a transmission "flushed" vs "changed"?

thegraduate

Since I only understand the basics, I'll give it to you simply (because that's the only way I understand it).

Flushing the transmission fluid gets most all of the old fluid out, where changing it only gets rid of the excess that isn't actually surrounding the transmission at the time. Flushing it involves adding fluid, running the car to mix it, then draining it, and repeating the process several times to get most all of the fluid out, leaving you with something like 90% new fluid, where only "changing" the fluid will only give you maybe 1/2 new fluid mixed with old fluid.

Hope this helps!

elroy5

If you change the fluid often enough (change mine every 15k miles) there is no need to flush. Use only Honda ATF-Z1 automatic transmission fluid (no additives). I change the fluid myself, so it only costs me the price of the fluid (3quarts=$12). That's cheap insurance.

thegraduate

Yes, it accomplishes the same thing; flushing every 60k miles or changing every 15k. For people like me though, I'd rather only go to the dealer once for that particular service and get it flushed every 60k (because I'm not proficient enough to do it myself, I'm afraid).

elroy5

That's cool, but it is actually easier than changing the engine oil (no filter). The hardest part is finding the right funnel.

user777

actually, there is a post on another forum where someone brought their vehicle to a quick lube place and they drained the AT, instead of the oil, then to make matters worse, apparently tried to fill the AT with regular oil.

ouch.

i think the thing people need to be careful of, and i haven't attempted this yet myself, just building up the courage , is first, correctly identifying the ATF drain plug.

then yes, using only honda ATF which is recommended.

then, using a careful strategic means of putting in the same amount of ATF back in as came out (and don't over-fill), and doing so 3 drains cycles while each time, exercising the gearing in forward and reverse.

apparently doing just a once drain and refill isn't going to replace enough of the old fluid with new. everyone seems to recommend 3 cycles.

and, you also have to have the ATF at temperature, and you'd think you must have to put the transmission through it's gearing forward and reverse during drives each cycle.

so to be honest, it appears to me at least it may be a tad more challenging than changing the oil.

re: funnel, do you have a suggestion? i'm thinking funnel and flexible hosing myself.

elroy5

apparently doing just a once drain and refill isn't going to replace enough of the old fluid with new. everyone seems to recommend 3 cycles.

If you change the tranny fluid every 15k miles (I do), by the time you get to 60k miles (the recommended interval) you will have changed the fluid 4 times. I also want to change it before I get to 60k miles because by then the fluid will be 4 times as dirty. I'm not suggesting everyone should do it this way (some people have to pay someone else to do it), It's just my way.

so to be honest, it appears to me at least it may be a tad more challenging than changing the oil.

I guess I should have said easier for me (I know how much fluid to put in, and have the funnel to make it easy). I also have the Helm service manual, so it is spelled out in detail for me. The owner's manual has little or no information on this.

re: funnel, do you have a suggestion? i'm thinking funnel and flexible hosing myself.

I have a V6 engine, and can do it through the fill hole, instead of trying to pour it into the dipstick pipe. On a 4cyl. engine it may be totally different (the dipstick may be the only way on a 4cyl). Happy Hondaing

snuke

Thanks Elroy5, User777 and thegraduate for all your helpful information. I will print this so it can help me remember what to tell my mechanic I want to have done. I sure hope this will help to extend the life of my transmission. I am hoping to keep this car a minimum of 15-yrs. so I have 9-more to go.

bolivar

Transmission drain at 15,000 miles?

You guys are way, way, into overkill.

Tranny fluid doesn't get 'dirty'. There are no combustion blowby here. Heat is the only enemy.

If Honda engineers say 60,000 miles, and their manuals say only to drain and re-fill, not your 'flush' process, then 60,000 miles should be good enough. More is overkill.

user777

let me clarify: everyone seems to suggest when you go to change the fluid, it's a process that involves doing it 3 times before it's considered "changed"; othewise you don't get sufficient exchange of fluid still left inside when just draining: apparently a good deal is left in the torque convertor and other passages / places in the AT... that would make sense to me. yes, fill location on the I4 4spd definitely appears to be through the dipstick. a long funnel, or funnel and flexible hosing should both work.

to bolivar's point on intervals, i understand your point on 60K and it apparently appearing to be overkill to do it more frequently, but i've had 1 dealer and 1 independant, plus an accord 1998-2002 haynes manual recommend fluid changes at 30K intervals. i can say that after having my accord and odyssey serviced at this interval, i noticed definite shift quality restoration.

as they say YMMV.

elroy5

If Honda engineers say 60,000 miles, and their manuals say only to drain and re-fill, not your 'flush' process, then 60,000 miles should be good enough. More is overkill.

They also had a recall on the transmission, after the engineers came up with this maintenance schedule. I would rather be safe, than sorry. Fluid does get dirty, that is why they put magnets on the drain plugs. Call me "Mister Overkill", but I'll do it my way.

grbeck

A friend of mine has a 1999 Accord V-6 (manual transmission) that is showing signs of problems with the head gasket. Was there ever a TSB for this problem? Thanks...

mrbill1957

Tranny fluid doesn't get 'dirty'. There are no combustion blowby here. Heat is the only enemy.

Yes, tranny fluid gets dirty. Particles worn away from the clutch, and other things like the meshing of the gears create particles. Some is caught by the magnet in the drain plug, the rest is floating in the fluid, or lying on the bottom of the tranny.

Mrbill

thegraduate

A friend of mine has a 1999 Accord V-6 (manual transmission) that is showing signs of problems with the head gasket. Was there ever a TSB for this problem? Thanks...

Don't know, but since your friend has changed out the transmission, I would imagine Honda is less likely to do a goodwill repair with such a major modification to the engine. They might, but I'd think it'd be less likely.

grbeck

Sorry, I meant to say four cylinder. My mistake...

lletourn

Anyone know what could cause this? It usually happens when I am driving down a hill and am breaking to slow or stop the car. The steering wheel vibrates and you can also feel your seat vibrate. Thanks

thegraduate

Anyone know what could cause this? It usually happens when I am driving down a hill and am breaking to slow or stop the car. The steering wheel vibrates and you can also feel your seat vibrate. Thanks

Sounds like a classic case of warped brake rotors to me. They need to be refinished, or turned.

Mr_Shiftright

bad front brake rotors or one hell of a front end out of alignment (caster angle).

Remember those bad shopping carts when you try to push them too hard? Bad casters.

scorpion11

I have the same problem with my 2001 accord lx at with 68k miles. After I've ran the car for a while it would stumble and stop at a red light or stopped in traffic. At first it was only periodic but now it seems to happen more frequent. If I catch it in time and put the trans. in neutral it doesn't stall. Dealership couldn't find anything. Anyone have any idea what's causing this ?

avoidinghmwk

I need to replace the fuse that covers the radio and cigarette lighter relay, and I don't know which one it is. It's a 1998 Honda Accord EX. The sticker with the fuse map on the panel doesn't have anything that looks like it would deal with "radio." I tried replacing a few of them, those that looked like they might be relevant but to no avail. The story behind it is, my girlfriend plugged in her phone charger in the cigarette lighter and the radio instantly died; it did the same in her car, so I'm assuming there was something going on with the charger that blew the fuse. If anyone could tell me what number fuse (or what relay it might be on, i.e. AC, lights, etc.) it would be, that would be great.

Also, I have the same problem with my car dropping RPMs and stalling in certain situations. The whole car shakes and if you don't hit the gas it completely stalls. Generally it doesn't happen going downhill for me. It's usually only when it's very slightly uphill and you let off the gas at a certain speed. It also happened once on the freeway in really slow traffic though.

I read somewhere that it might be a problem with the engine idling too low. Apparently there's a way to increase its idling speed? Does anyone know anything about that?

lletourn

Thanks to you and thegraduate. My poor car has a lot of repairs/maintenance that needs to be taken care of, so I'll add checking the alignment and rotors to the list.

user777

my guess it is one of two fuses. probably the second.

in my '02, similar to your '89, there are three fuse blocks.

there is a fuse block in the engine compartment that you need not worry about for this exercise.

then on each side of the dash, when you open the front doors, there will be access compartments to the fuses in the cabin interior. these doors pull out.

on the driver's side, pull the fuse panel. look for the ACC Relay Fuse in position 8 (7.5amps). in my '02 it's the column closest to the seat, 4th from the top (top being position 11, a 15amp fuse for the ignition coil). your panels should have a fuse diagram for you. the location (what is position 8 in my car) may be different from yours. There is a FR-> symbol indicating vehicle front on the fuse diagram.

if you want to cut to the chase, on the passenger's side, pull it's panel. look for the Radio Cigarette Ligher Fuse (20Amps) in Position 9 (on my vehicle, that's the column closest to the front bumper, at the very top).

based on the '89-02 Haynes Manual i'm looking at, it is the 20Amp fuse which is blown as it's the fuse which supplies power from the battery through the Accessory Relay Contacts when the Ignition is turned to / past ACC and the relay is energized. The 7.5amp fuse is the one supplying the coil of the relay with power which is energized when the key is turned. it's not likely to be the 7.5Amp fuse because electrically, there's no way for it to blow when the acc socket was shorted by your girlfriend.

it wouldn't be the fuse to the relay coil, but rather the higher amp fuse for the flow through the relay contacts.

i bet i know what happened. i bet the phone adapter / charger is a poorly designed one; one where the contacts for the plug are exposed in such a way that if the charger isn't plugged perfectly into the socket when the vehicle power is on, the thing ends up shorting the socket.

it's always a good idea to plug these things in when the vehicle is off so a poorly designed plug can't short the socket out.

see if that helps. if it doesn't, then the 20Amp fuse didn't blow quckly enough, and perhaps the contacts on the Acc Power Socket Relay are melted, and the relay needs replacement.

regards.

avoidinghmwk

Thank you so much. I did like you said and it was the 20amp Radio Cigarette Lighter fuse, I replaced the fuse and everything's working now. I didn't even know that there was a fuse panel on the passenger side, and only found the drivers side one on accident. I don't have the manual anymore, and the guy at Kragen was not helpful at ALL. I told my girlfriend what you said about plugging stuff in before starting the car by the way, thanks.

I don't have very much experience with cars at all though I'm trying to learn more about them, nor with electrical work, so a lot of that didn't make sense to me. I don't know what the ACC socket is or the relay coils, and it's pretty hard to find this stuff online. You have to sift through piles of irrelevant junk just to find something useful. But anyway, thank you.

Also, I have another question. I just took my car in to be serviced and they want to replace the SRS control unit and the brake switch. It looks like the SRS unit will be $350-500 for the parts and labor, how hard is it to do this myself? I don't have any trouble following instructions (if I had them), and I definitely don't have $500 to spend on non-essential stuff. It sounded like the guy was trying to screw me to be honest.

I was getting a recalled item replaced (the shift knob was locking in park, so I had to use my key to disable the lock every time I wanted to come out of park, and shift into neutral to start my car) so that's supposed to be no charge, but then the guy was trying to tell me I was having trouble shifting into drive and they need to replace the brake switch, which is complete bull, at least, symptomatically speaking. So they want to charge a bunch of money for that, how valid is that? My car wasn't doing the things they're saying it's doing, and he kept insisting that I WAS having what should have been very noticeable problems.

As for the SRS thing, I'd like to get some additional information on 1. How easy they are to replace, and 2. what my other options are. It looks like they're 50-80 dollars (99c on EBay?? haha), and apparently there's a recall on those as well for some issues with interference with cell phones. I'd really rather not pay to have the stupid thing replaced.

user777

geesh, pointing you to the 20A fuse was easy compared to all the other stuff.

i'd get a second opinion on the SRS and the stuff from an independant. i can't really suggest what you need to do with respect to the SRS unit (what is wrong with it), because it is a safety item and i don't know much about it anyway.

you could get a Hayne's Manual which would only set you back about 16 bucks and from that, see what you could do yourself.

as for a manual, you could call Honda and get a manual from them or on Ebay perhaps 24-36dollars. There are places on the web to get manuals too.

avoidinghmwk

Haha, geesh indeed. Well it wasn't just directed to you (in fact I should probably de-tag it from being a fuse replacement question & reply at this point). I'll take a look for the Hayne's Manual and the Honda manual online, it would probably be a good thing to have. Thanks for your help, I'll also take it to someone else and see what they say.