Honda Accord (2003-2007) Maintenance and Repair

elroy5

You should have gotten a plastic wallet size card with the code number on it when you bought the car. If you don't have the card, you have a problem.

tallman1

If you can't find the card with the code on it, you'll have to contact a Honda dealer to see about the next step. I believe they are the only ones who can help you. Did you buy the car new?

mamamia2

Unless they personally know you, the dealer would probably ask you to stop by, verify that you own the car (and not some thief) and then they can easilly find the code based on your VIN number.

chucko3

If you lost your code, contact your dealer. They will ask
you for the serial number of the radio which can be found
in the glove compartment.

ken972

The oem wipers and blades seem to be working alright...but Im curious if anyone has tried the valleo or rainx latitude wipers on their accord? The rainx commercial has me curious.

fated

This afternoon when I tried to start my car (06 Accord Ex-L 4 cycl), it wouldn't start. It was bought new only six months ago, and it was parked indoor. I didn't drive it for a mere two days. After having the car jump started, I drove it to the dealer, who checked the battery briefly and came back with a "good -- recharge" diagnosis. He said any further testing/diagnosis would require an appointment but suggested that I probably didn't need one and asked to just drive and see if anything goes wrong again.

I was just puzzled and frustrated. It never happened before when I didn't drive for two or three days, and my friends' old cars start OK after being left alone for a week parked on the street. Why is this happening?

elroy5

The car may be new, but the battery could be pretty old. If it happens again, make an appointment.

fated

thanks for the reply. the diagnostic the dealer ran indicated that the battery is about 24 months old, and has a life of 60 months? in any case, i was just very puzzled why this had happened, after only two idle days.

would it be worthwhile to send the car in for a checkup?

mamamia2

I had the same exact problem with my 1-year old Sonata. It was out in my office parking lot for a day, in a snow storm, and the battery was dead at the end of the day.

But the same car was parked in my garage for 2 weekend days in single digit temperatures, and the car started... sluggish, but OK.

My ONLY explanation to this is that SOMEHOW one of the lights was left on (dome light? maybe one of the doors was left ajar?) which drained the battery. I am also suspicious that driving to work in the morning -- because of the snow -- I switched my headlights from the Auto (that turns the lights on only when it's getting dark) position to the ON position WHILE DRIVING, which may have confused the computer and caused the headlights to stay on even after I shut the engine off (even though the Sonata has Auto Shut-Off lights)... I don't really know.

But the bottom line is: If something is wrong with the battery, or the Alternator, or anything else that causes a short or a "leakage" -- it WILL happen again. Don't use the car for 24 hours (in the weekend?) and see what happens.

fated

thanks for sharing your experience mamamia2. i am actually afraid that it might happen again... has your car been starting OK since that incident?

user777

the advice about checking for lights left on, or doors open is good. but a good battery in a vehicle with a working alternator that is driven properly should be able to handle that situation ok for a night.

now add in extremely cold temps (where do you live?), and the possibility you aren't driving your car very far each day, or the alternator may be bad, or a slipping belt...

go over to an advance auto or autozone and get someone to put your battery and alternator under a "load test". this will reveal if the battery or alternator are marginal. then have your dealership repair.

otherwise if things check out ok, make absolutely sure, specially in cold weather you are driving sufficient miles for the alternator to actually keep the battery at a charge level which will provide good starts.

mamamia2

has your car been starting OK since that incident?--- yes, no problem since.

a good battery in a vehicle with a working alternator that is driven properly should be able to handle that situation ok for a night. --- Even after leaving your headlights on all night? I don't think so. I don't think ANY car would have with ANY juice after leaving its headlight on all night....

make absolutely sure, specially in cold weather you are driving sufficient miles for the alternator to actually keep the battery at a charge level which will provide good starts. --- I agree. It's not only for the battery's sake -- it's very important for the ENGINE and the emission system to let the car, any car, get to its working temperature, meaning HOT, so that all the condensation build-up and sludge is burnt out. Short trips are any car's KILLERS, especially in cold weather.

BTW, since we also have an '05 Accord, which does not have DRL as the '06 does, but it will shut the lights off after about 10 seconds after the car's engine is off and the doors locked --- does the '06 have the Auto Shut Off feature built in?

tallman1

Yes, the 06 has auto-off headlights.

I've left my car for several days while on trips and never had a problem. I agree that short trips can cause some grief. Another thought is that since the original poster has an EX-L, the heated seats may have been used. Combine that with short trips and there could be a significant drain on the battery.

I'd certainly be aware of all the suggested causes here and test it on a weekend. One day (or many days) should not drain the battery.

thegraduate

BTW, since we also have an '05 Accord, which does not have DRL as the '06 does, but it will shut the lights off after about 10 seconds after the car's engine is off and the doors locked --- does the '06 have the Auto Shut Off feature built in?

Yes, it does. Take it from a 2006 EX Sedan owner. The DRLs shut off when the car is turned off. If headlights are on, they turn off about 10 sec after the car is locked.

Thegrad

user777

how do you leave the lights on in an accord that has a chime for lights still on? i've just never done this, but i can see it killing the battery charge sure.

thegraduate

how do you leave the lights on in an accord that has a chime for lights still on? i've just never done this, but i can see it killing the battery charge sure.

Um, when the door is closed, the chime doesn't "ding-dong." The lights then cut off shortly after the car is locked. The only extra battery charge used comes from the lights being on during the time you are getting out of the car once the engine has been shut off.

Does this answer your question, or did I misunderstand?

tallman1

On my car, you don't have to lock the doors for the lights to go off. Just shut the door. As thegrad says, that stops the chimes and the lights go off soon afterwards.

thegraduate

The lights stay on for a longer duration if you don't lock them, but will go off eventually (a minute maybe?) as you say.

tallman1

hmmm, I'm guessing that mine went off in about 10-20 seconds. Now I'm going to have to go try it with and without the doors locked to see if there is a difference.

elroy5

I think what user777 was asking is. How could you accidentally leave the lights on, because as soon as you open the door, the chime will sound (unless you never open the door, and sleep in the car haha).

thegraduate

I'll have to try in the parking deck tonight when I leave school. I'm still on campus waiting on a night class to start. There may not be a difference, but I always thought there was. May be a head-games thing and I'm fooling myself. :P

Sure will be nice having my car light my path to it tonight! It's like Motel 6!

tallman1

That's kind of what I figured he was asking too. I've never left the lights on, even with the auto-shut off feature but it is nice to know it is there. The chime does the trick.

Kind of reminds me of a time when cars first got buzzers/chimes for keys left in the ignition. I was sitting in my car for awhile before I got out so I forgot about the keys still there. I was in such a habit that I got out, locked the door and shut it. Just as it was closing I realized that it was chiming.

elroy5

My brother and I used to play tennis. We would take a break between sets, and sit in the car with the doors open, and listen to the radio. Every time I would say "I'm going to disable that darn buzzer, so we don't have to close the doors" :mad: . Never got around to it though.

tallman1

You've got me curious too. I only tried the auto-off thing a week or so ago... I've just always turned off the lights and never even tested it until then.

Kind of like how you mentioned that the window lights go out when the window lock is engaged. I finally got around to checking that too. Heck, I didn't even think about them being lit until someone mentioned it here.

tallman1

lol... memories. I would push in the door button with my finger to shut the thing off. Not very comfortable!

mamamia2

"....unless you never open the door, and sleep in the car haha"

I'm a big believer in DRL. But since Honda, unlike Toyota, has been LAZY adding it to its cars, till the '06 model year, I made it a habit to LEAVE THE HEADLIGHTS ON ALL THE TIME on our '05 Accord. And having leased Camrys before (since 1993, they all had both DRL, light-sensitive auto-lights and auto-shut-off lights) -- the bottom line is -- in the past 14 years I have NEVER bothered to TOUCH the headlights switch, ever....

I don't drive my wife's Accord much (I drive my '06 Sonata with auto-lights and auto-shut-off lights) but -- IF I REMEMBER WELL -- the problem is with our Accord, if I wait in the car with the engine shut off, for my wife to get something from a store, or any similar scenario, the lights will STAY ON... I haven't checked it lately, but, again, if I remember well, they will shut off only 10-15 seconds after I LOCK the doors... So not only opening the driver's door and shut it, I have to LOCK it too... Or is my memory failing?

tallman1

lol.... Okay, I did some testing:

When I got out of the car and shut the driver's door, the lights went out after about 10 seconds. This happened with the doors unlocked as well as when they were locked.

When I sat in the driver's seat and didn't open the door, the lights never went out (I waited over a minute).

When I stayed in the driver's seat but reached over and opened and closed the passenger door, the lights never went out.

This was done on my 06 Accord EX-L. Now didn't this all start with a question about a battery dying? Because after all this, I'm worried that my car won't start now. :P

mamamia2

As long as you are not homeless and don't stay to sleep in your car, as already mentioned here, you have no worry, tallman...

But thanks for the updated info.

elroy5

So, unless you sleep in the car, or exit through a passenger door, you can't leave the lights on. Nice to know, even though I always seem to hear the chime, and turn them off before getting out.

One question. So if you leave your lights on, go to bed, then wake up the next morning. When you hit the unlock button on the remote, the lights should come back on. Might be a good idea to leave the lights on, if you park in a dark place.

tallman1

So if you leave your lights on, go to bed, then wake up the next morning. When you hit the unlock button on the remote, the lights should come back on.

Yup, that is exactly what happens. They only stay on for those 10 seconds though so you'd have to press the remote again if it takes you longer to reach the car. This would be a good argument for keeping the lights on when you get out of the car in a dark place but, like you, I always turn mine off too.

user777

exactly.

mamamia2

Yes, same on my wife's '05 Accord. The lights are ON all the time, and in the morning when we use the remote to unlock -- they come on.

fated

Thanks for all the replies -- I double-checked everything. The lights were definitely off (and the car does have auto-off), doors were shut tight, I never used the heating seat function -- in short, none of the usual suspects was guilty.

The only thing I could think of is my short-trips -- I once posted here that I only drive 1 mile one way to work (with a really low MPG, if you still recall). In the past week before the battery died, I drove from Monday to Thursday, 2 miles per day (altogether 10 starts), Friday, 8 miles (4 starts), Saturday, 6 miles (2 starts), Sunday 4 miles (3 starts) -- Monday and Tuesday no driving --> Wednesday I couldn't start the car.

This morning the car started fine after I drove 20 miles yesterday, and I circled around when I went to work to prolong the trip. sigh. I hope everything would be fine...

user777

oh yeah, now we remember you.

as a few of us have posted, going for short trips doesn't give the alternator time to recharge the battery, but worse, and we are being repititious i know, you are not allowing the vehicle to get to temperature, which is really hard on your MPG and your wallet.

but more importantly than the battery and the fuel efficiency, it's been stated that exclusively making short runs is hard on the vehicle in other ways: oil life, cat convertor, perhaps the transmission. your vehicle is in a constant state of running rich (higher fuel/air ratio) and retarding the use of the full gearing on cold days.

please take long trips in the vehicle. i feel like an idiot telling you to burn more gas than you need, but ...

did you read your manual cover to cover? there may be a comment in their about avoiding excessive short tripping.

mamamia2

My wife used to have a Volvo 850. When it was only 2 months old the Check-Engine light would go on on a regular basis... Finally the mechanic asked her about her driving habits, and that's when we realized that working 2 miles from home is NOT such a good thing for the car... So he told her to get on the expressway at least once a week, and drive for at least 20 minutes.

He also suggested she drives keeping the car at 3rd gear (vs D) to get the engine hot...

So when someone tries to sell you a low-mileage car of his gramma, telling you she only drove it to the grocery store 4 block away, say NO, thank you.

blane

fated,

I read, many years ago, that it took seven or eight miles of driving/charging to replenish the battery with the amount of juice that it takes to start the engine. With more modern car and battery technology today, the figure may be different. But that may be something to keep in mind.

deewof

I'm nodding my head w/ all the others re the v. short distance driven & inadequate warm up as the likely causes for your depressingly low mpg. However...I'm also getting lousy mpg w/ my '06 6 cyl. Accord compared to my prev. '03 that was virtually identical. I drive approx. 11 miles to & from a park 'n ride lot each day w/about 7 - 10 traffic lites. So I can't put the blame on a cold engine.
Instead, I'm going out on a limb & pointing the finger at something Honda calls "Grade Logic Control", aided & abetted by its co - conspirator, "ECM", or Electronic Control Module. I came to this conclusion after reading several postings from other Honda owners who seem to have had the same infuriating problem I'm having. I'm sure the idea had the purest of intent : Honda didn't want us to go sailing down Pikes Peak out of control @90 mph into a curve that could only be negotiated @35mph. The Grade Logic is designed to automatically downshift, apply much - needed engine braking & we all live happy ever after. But in my case, the ECM gets this crazy idea that I must need a heavy dose of engine braking & goes into its downshifting mode on perfectly level terrain, when I would much prefer to maintain a normal flow w/the traffic. And maybe get some decent mpg. Would welcome any thoughts on the matter

elroy5

All I have is a suggestion, that helped resolve the issue for me. When letting up on the accelerator, do it a little slower. In other words don't let up suddenly, just ease off. It can be hard to remember, but I've found it stops the tranny from downshifting as much. Good luck.

nclefty

Can anyone tell me how to replace the light bulb in one of the 2006 Accord's interior spotlights? This is one of the two lights just above the sunglasses holder in the ceiling. Looks like the lens should just pop off with a small screwdriver. I tried this but didn't want to put much pressure on it just in case there was a trick to it.

Thanks

blane

Since yours is a 2006 vehicle, why not have your dealer replace the bulb for free under warranty?

rcc8179

I have taken these lenses off in my Accord (2003 EX), and they do just pop out with a small screwdriver. Be gentle, but there is no special trick. If I remember correctly, the places to pry the lens off are toward the front and rear of the vehicle.

accorder1

I own a 2003 Honda Accord V-6 EX with 30,000 miles on the odometer. The Check Engine Light illuminated and generated fault codes P2247 (O2 reference voltage circuit/open bank 2,sensor1), P2243 (O2 sensor reference voltage circuit /open bank 1, sensor 1), and P0154 ( O2 circuit no activity detected bank 2, sensor 1). Does anyone have any insight on this problem? Of the 4 O2 sensors on this car, which is sensor 1? And which is bank 1 and which is bank 2? I'm assuming that this refers to cylinder banks. My friends tell me just replace the O2 sensor, but I don't know which sensor is #1. Nor do I know if this is an electrical problem or sensor problem. Can anyone help me?

elroy5

First of all, I have the Accord service manual, and I don't see any of the three p codes you listed. Bank two is the cylinder bank closest to the rear of the car. Sensor 1 would be the sensor before the cat converter. An O2 sensor code does not necessarily mean the sensor is bad. Check to see if the sensor is loose, or has loose wires.

PS: the sensors are on the exhaust pipe.

toslat

I want to replace the front two shocks and change the oil on my Accord 03 EX. My problem is I dont know the best point to place my 2 ton floor jack at the front and where to place the 2 Jack stands?

Looking in the user manual, I could only see the recommended spots for tire changing and though I feel they might work, still cant figure out where to place the floor jack.

bodybuiltbrock

Hey guys, I'm new to Edmunds, but have been reading a bit... I love taking my car to redline on one particular onramp most days, it's just a blast (2004 EXV6 sedan - 77k miles). Do you think this is terrible for the car? I'm a pretty quick driver, but get 32 MPG on trips, and low 20s in my regular drive (mixed, with a LOT of traffic lights).

Just looking for advice. I may be replacing my Accord with a new one soon, not sure yet though.

BB Brock

chucko3

Agree. Sensors #1 on both banks may connect to a same
reference voltage wire. Must be a loose/broken wire.
It's unlikely both sensors failed at the same time.

hondalova

Some of you may remember my older posts about my rough idle, Check Engine light, and the multiple cylinder misfire codes I was getting (changed EGR Valve, called Honda, blah blah blah).

Anyway - since it got cold out, I've still gotten the rough idle at startup, but the light hasn't really happened until this past week.

Someone mentioned to me that I should possibly have the "engine idle learning process" re-programmed into the cars computer and that there is a TSB out from Honda for the rough idle that relates to this.

Could someone tell me what it is, how it relates, how expensive is it to do, and what are the chances for my success with this project? I'd gladly replace an O2 sensor to fix the engine light problem at this point, but with multiple individual and general misfire codes stored for BOTH banks, I find it hard to believe that both uptake sensors have malfunctioned at once (especially since one was replaced at about 10,000 miles).

Thanks!

-FS

accorder1

You dont see these codes in the Accord service manual because they are OBD-2 generic codes. The #1 sensors are not on the exhaust pipe. They're on the exhaust manifold/catalytic converter; the #2's are on the exhaust pipe.

chucko3

He did say it right about the sensor #1. It's before the cat.
The #2 is right after the cat.

ken972

Im thinking changing the battery in my 04 accord before it decides not to work. Mayhbe one with better cold cranking ability. Does anyone have any recommendations for an other then oem battery or is the oem battery good?