Honda Accord Problems 2000-2005

bburton1

I would not take the chance-have compared the appearance of both and the tread design is different. What really cuts it for me is that these people really lean on their suppliers to play game with packaging so that they can prevent the customers from making head to head comparisons. Now the tires may be identical-but you could end up with the equivalent of the MXV4's and that would be awful.

Still remember going into a 4 wheel slide on the O'Hare entrance ramp (MXV4's) with 4 people in the car-bad bad but since the banking was perfect, managed to get it out of the slide. Called the pucker factor. Also that horrid squalling every time you make a not even reasonably fast corner on dry pavement.

auburn63

Soory this response took so long but I have been out with a bad back and havent been on the computer. Anyhow I will have a look at the hood and its adjustment as soon as I return and get back to you if its not too late by then. The height adjustment is usally done at the front edges by rubber screw in and out stoppers. The forward/back adjustment used to peformed at the hinge by loosening the bolts on the hood side and sliding it on the hinge. As for the fenders they usally can be moved in or out slight amounts by loosing there fastner bolts but I will try and check on all of that to be for sure.

jrct9454

...are not X-Ones in disguise. That doesn't make them bad tires, but it does mean that test results from Consumer Rpts and Tire Rack, both of which have X-Ones rated very highly, cannot be presumed to apply to the warehouse Michelins.

As for an Accord being moved around at 90+mph on SR4...you're darned right it will move around in those kind of cross-winds! And remind me to be somewhere else when you're humping your Accord at 90+ anywhere on SR4 - already one of the most dangerous stretches of road anywhere in Calif.

Our '01 EX V6 with the OEM MVV4s was very steady in most situations, but I haven't owned anything that doesn't weigh 5000 lbs that won't be moved in the conditions you describe - and that includes any prior-gen Accord. Yes, I'm familiar with the road, the cars, [including the pre-gen Accord], and the conditions...

cappyk

Hello,

I have a 1988 Accord LXi Hatchback that I am looking to part out or sell outright. I live near Baltimore, MD. It's been a great car and I've owned it for the past 6 years. I've taken good care of it.

Here are some specifics:

Black Exterior
Tan Interior
5-speed Manual
254k miles
Most everything works.

Let me know what you need. Thanks.

CappyK

wordk@hotmail.com

canadiancl

I appreciate very much the extra effort you put out for me and others on this board. I did speak to my service manager this morning. She said she would book me in at a later date to see what could be done. But one of her concerns was that any adjustment may affect the hood latch in that the hood may not close properly afterwards. But from looking at the latch, it looks like it should have some built-in tolerance. What do you think?

zbx

Hello:

I have a new 2002 Accord SE V6:

1) Are the exhaust pipes/muffler stainless steel? I looked in the manual and can't find anything.
2) I read previously that the muffler flakes off its black paint, and that is exactly what happened to mine from day 1. Is this a problem that I should get fixed under warranty?
3) Only one (the one on the passenger side which is flaking off its black paint) of the dual exhaust pipes seems to discharge exhaust. Does this sound OK?

What do you think? Thanks.

isellhondas

I don't think I ever defended the MXV4 Michelin tires that you find so bad.

I simply stated, as have others, that I have experienced none of the problems you have. No "four wheel slides" or other mishaps?

I have to wonder how fast you drive in poor road conditions anyway? Then we have the poster who go's 100 MPH on Highway 4, a road I'm familiar with. 100 MPH? Really...?

For crying out loud! If you hate the way your tires act, REPLACE THEM WITH SOMETHING ELSE !!

And, I have read with interest, the positive comments about the X-ones. I've heard this comments before and I'll probably go that way when the time comes.

Until then, I'll try to drive in a sensible way, especially in harsh weather conditions.

Sure wouldn't want to risk a four wheel slide!!

cokane5227

do you like those black exaust pipes?
i know i don't. why don't u just go to ur local dealer's parts department and get 2 of the honda factory chrome exaust pipes and put them on urself. it will cost you around 100 bucks and will take like 2, 3 mins to install.
i think those look much better than the black ones.

cokane5227

highway 4 in CALIFORNIA, near Pinole Valley, passed Hilltop, and before the Richmond Bridge yet !!!
dude, stop trying to pick on other ppl, okay? cuz i don't take that s.
if u seriously know this road and u live around here, leave ur number and i'll take u for a ride and see if that very nice surfaced down-hill road on highway 4 will take us to 100mph or not.

canadiancl

I don't think anything can be done about the flaking exhaust. You see it on almost all Accords. It's starting to do that on my '01 CL too. I suppose you can keep repainting it, but it wouldn't be worth it, IMO

cardohdoh

Hi,

I'm looking to change the fuel filter on my 93 accord. Seems the fuel filter is hidden behind bunch of other items. Have anyone changed their filter and have advice for doing this procedure? what to remove first, precautions, etc. Thanks

tsandness

Is there an online source for 95 honda 02 sensor replacement procedure? Any tips?
Thansk 9n advance.
TS

isellhondas

Removal of the O2 sensor requres a special socket.

If you try to use a Sears chrome 12 point on it, you will probably round it off.

Then you will have a nightmare on your hands!

It takes a thick sided six point socket with a slot for the wire.

maxhonda99

zbx, Instead of wasting your time going to the dealer to have it repainted, I would just go buy a $3 can of flat black heat resistent spray paint and paint it myself. Either that or just peel all the paint off. The pain will peel off again after you repaint it. If the dealer repaints it it will also peel again.

I have noticed most of the cars from any manufacturer that has black painted bumpers has peeling paint.

auburn63

Barbecue grill paint seems to work good on the mufflers.....

auburn63

canadiancl
I think that the hood latch will be fine it can be adjusted slightly also and the amounts you need to move it aren't going to be alot.

cardohdoh
If you have ABS then it is a bit tighter and harder but still not too bad. You will want to remove the emissions box out of your way and then pop the gas cap to remove any pressure,the one bolt is a 17mm and on the other line you will need a 14mm line wrench. Without the line wrench you are taking chances on rounding the nut. Once lines are off then remove the 10mm bolts holding the bracket and remove and change the filter.Use the new washers on each side of the banjo bolt as it was when you removed it..Good luck

corinthos

In the mornings until about the first 20 mins that I am driving the car, I feel a slight vibration from underneath the car. Does anyone have a similiar problem? Any help would be wonderful.

beachnut

is not a bad tire. I've had two Accords with them. I don't know this for a fact, but I'm going to go out on a limb and say that they probably RIDE better than X-ones. Now that's after I suggested the X-ones to mikefm58 earlier, and no, I'm not schitzo. I too wish my MXVs would wear out so I can put on the X-ones. In fact, that's the main reason I chose them for our Mazda MPV over the MXVs. I know some people state that the MXVs wear well, but I've never had that experience. IMO, the MXVs wear out way too fast and if you don't rotate them, then forget about it. However, I've found the MXVs to be very smooth at high speeds. I run Alligator Alley here in FL quite often. It's about 80 miles of the straightest and flat road you've ever seen (except maybe in Kansas) cutting through the Everglades. I easily make that jaunt in under an hour (you do the math )!

SC

maxhonda99

The MXV4 tires actually wear very well for me. I drive my car pretty hard, take turns fast, etc. And the MXV4 tires still have alot left to go on my Accord with 26K miles. I estimate they will give me, with all the abuse, about 40K miles before I need to toss them. But I'll tell you one thing for sure, I won't be purchasing another set of Michelin's again.

killakella123

I recently had some body repair done (hit a deer) on my 2001 Accord coupe.. had the bumper, hood, headlight, fender, door, mirror, and window replaced.. there are a number of things that I am not very satisfied with. The reason I am posting this before bitching about all these things is that I am not sure if this is just something I will have to live with.. I am "trying" to understand that my car will probably not be exactly the way it was before this work was done. This is my first time having anything like this done so I would appreciate your input. Here is a list of what is wrong:

1. Clips used to hold inner fender splash guard are not factory.. they will not come out but most of them are not very tight, same with some bumper clips/screws.

2. Door makes a "hollow" sound when I close it.. When I tap on the door shell that was replaced, it sounds like it is more "hollow" than the side that was not replaced. Did they forget to replace some sort of sound damping material?

3. Window makes awful screech sound when I roll it up and down while it's wet.

4. They did not put a couple of things back together correctly on the interior (I already fixed those.)

5. Fender does not line up with the door. It sticks out away from the face of the car a little bit. I already had them adjust once, since the bottom of the fender piece was way too close to the door shell.

I would appreciate any feedback on this stuff. Let me know if these are legitimate problems or just stuff that is common when this type of work is done. Thanks!

isellhondas

Sounds like horrible work.

If a quality shop had done these repairs the car would have been like new. It is possible to do a good job.

If the body shop won't make it right, talk to your insurance company.

Good Luck!

jrct9454

...quality body work results in a car that only the most qualified expert could tell had been worked on. We have a new state-of-the-art shop attached to our local Honda dealer, and they do fantastic work. And I have looked at some of the stuff waiting to be repaired on their lot, and the picture is pretty grim when these cars first go in.

I'm sorry to say you seem to have been victimized by a sub-par shop.

rane1

My Accord 99 which has only 24K miles and has a motor oil leak and the Local dealer's 4 attempts to fix didn't work. They replaced the oil pan gasket all the oil seals and the the plate where the oil seals go. Any suggestions? Thanks

carguy62

Or a conference with a Honda rep seems in order after one dealer couldn't fix it after four tries.

apurush

I have about 55K miles and it looks like I need new tires. Any advice on what to buy? Also, if I go in for a 215/65-R15 instead of 205/65-R15 (just a little more wide), what are the pros and cons to it?

Thanks.

bburton1

Wider tires are not good for snow-turns your vehicle into a sled. I would not go wider-just get a quality tire. Check out tirerack.com and they have a lot of info from real users. I happen to really like Michelin X-One tires-great performance, last a long time and not that pricey. There are lots of very high performance and pricey tires. Watch out because some of these high performance tires are really loud. Others don't last at all. Lots of good rubber out there and some not so good.

timadams

I put Bridgestone Potenza RE950's (205-65-15) on my 98 Accord V6 when my original tires wore out. They handle good in the dry and the rain, but they leave a lot to be desired in the snow. They are quieter than the Bridgestones that came on the car, too. My only gripe is the snow performance.

http://www.bridgestone-usa.com/products/BSPRE950.htm

cokane5227

02 coupe ex-l
the transmission shifts from 2nd to 1st at about 2 or 3mph, which is almost at a fully stop. and i've ONLY found this happening to MYSELF, all other cars i drive shifts from 2nd to 1st around 15-20mph, my previous car did the exact same thing, it seems to have something to do with the way i drive, but i've driving for yrs and i really can't find out exactly WHAT I DID to make the car do this. the transmission works quite well other than this one thing. which i've been having ever since i learned how to drive. and it only happens to my cars.
i mean, does anybody else have this kind of thing going on? and what can i do to make my car run like a normal one? i mean, jeez, what did i do?
and it's not that i drive fast, it doesn't matter if i'm braking from 40mph in 10ft from the light or 10mph in 10ft. it does the same thing, it's not about the speed. i really need to make the car downshift 10mph earlier.
my previous car was a used one, and the transmission worked fine juz like others UNTIL I BECAME THE OWNER. AH ~~~~~~
any suggestions would be appreciated.

cokane5227

others should be downshifting from 2nd to 1st around 10mph, 20's too high.

letsrock

My wife's '02 V6 also shifts into 1st when the car has almost completely stopped. In fact, even at the speed, I can feel a slight "bump" when it goes into 1st which bothers me a bit. Mind you, it is very slight and it tends to be less noticeable as the tranny warms up. Is yours like that too? I actually think if it shifted into 1st at 10 mph, you would feel a significant lurch.

cokane5227

exactly ! i'm surprised that somebody actually has the same thing. cuz none of the cars other than mine that i've driven had this problem. from cheap rentals to MB S500. so i thought it's my way of driving that caused it.
i hate it cuz of the bump thing, i couldn't get the word to describe it. but that's exactly what's happening to me. I HATE THE BUMP. without that i can make a perfect smooth stop.
and yes, it gets better once it's warmed up. but it's still noticeable. i just don't know if it's a problem or not.

letsrock

Well, any other Accord owners out there who's experienced something similar with their tranny?

maxhonda99

My tranny does the same thing. I believe it is just a design(flaw?) of the transmission on the V6's.

I've come to deal with the slight bump. I will say though that the "Bump" is noticeably less then when the car was new.

beachnut

I had a '99, and now drive a '00. Both are I4s, and I don't have the same problems stated above. Instead, I get occasional gear searching under 40mph. The tranny will shift to 3rd, down to 2nd, then back to 3rd. Like maxhonda said, I've been told this is a design *attribute* ... they don't use flaw at the dealership, nor in the related TSBs. That would indicate something needing fixed, which they say they can't do

SC

letsrock

What beachnut said reminded me of something else: When I slow down but speed up again before the car comes to a complete stop, there seems to be a little shudder or stutter from the tranny (it's hard to describe it). But I suspect what it might be is that the tranny is undecided about whether to jump into a lower gear. So it kind of shifts in and out of a lower gear in a split second. I just hope all these "attributes" lessen as the car breaks in.

cokane5227

yup, mind does that too. currently have 12,000 miles on. it does get better as i put more miles on, hope it'll be gone when i hit 20,000 or something.
but what i do now is to juz wait a little more before step on the gas, so, u know, let the hesitation part do its job and find the gear.

kliu

I was recently browsing through Edmunds website and I stumbled upon a link under ownership that reads "How much will your next service cost?" After entering my data, 99 Accord V6, I was shocked to see a list of noticeable problems with my Accord 54 problems to be exact. Does the dealer know about these problems? Do I have to bring them the list of problems? Just to let everyone on the board know some of your problems are listed on that list take special notice of 5 and 19. I wonder why Honda & dealers never fix these problems earlier??? (Note the date when it was reported and when you bought your car especially for you owners of 2001 models)...=P

beachnut

I don't think that low-speed torque converter lock-up will go away with age. I had almost 60K miles on my '99 before I traded it and it still did it. It's really not a bad problem or even a problem at all, more of an annoyance. It only happens to me a couple times a month; the rest of the time the tranny performs flawlessly. Overall, I've been very happy with both cars!

SC

cokane5227

where exactly did you find the problems check-list? i went through all the topics in OWNERSHIP and couldn't find it. i wanna see it too.

isellhondas

Yeah...me too!

My 99 Accord EX V-6 coupe has now passed 44,000 miles with zero problems...oh, wait! the clock bulb just burned out!

cardohdoh

I'm new to the board and read that there was a recall on the balance shaft seal on '93-'95 accords. I never received any notice and didnt know about the recall. If I bring my accord into the dealer now, would they still fix the problem free? Thanx

mikemw1

they will place a bracket to retain the seal (design flaw) for free, they will also try to sell you the works to go with it. check first to see if it was already done. the dealer can access records. it SHOULD BE DONE ASAP.

mwcarlso

I was under the impression that the recall was for the 94-97 Accord, and not the 90-93 Accord. I have a 93 Accord EX with 147,000 miles and I am about ready to replace the timing belt so I guess I will order a seal retainer and install it. I guess I am lucky because it sounds like this seal fails quite often and mine has not failed yet.

tjlean

My 4 cylinder 97 accord SE(which is supposed to be a gas saver vehicle) gets only 22 miles. I bought it used so I don't know if the previous owners have the same problem. It already has a tuneup and even a techron gas cleaner poured into it to no avail. I heard that an engine performance test needs to be done in times like this? What is it and will it solve the gas problem? Any other suggestion?

venanzik

i noticed the other day when legally passing a slow truck up a hill, smoke comming from the exhaust. i have a 92 accord with 135K on it and has the oil changed every 3-4k with no notable need to fill in between changes. what causes the smoke, only noticible when car accelerates hard? will new seals solve the problem or is a combination of things ie tune up etc?

bd21

I have a 2001 Accord LX with side airbags that I bought new a year ago. I've never had a problem with the side airbag light until now. It comes on for long periods and flickers sometimes when nothing is in the seat. I called my local Honda dealer and talked to the service manager and he told me there is nothing they can do about it. They have a service bulletin stating the light can come on anytime or all the time. He said there is nothing that can be done. In the past the light has worked as advertised, meaning it only came on when someone was sitting in the seat and moved out of proper position for the side airbag, as stated in the owner's manual. Now the Honda dealer tells me that the light can just come on whenever, and I should just ignore it. Gang this is not normal; it is a defect in design and Honda needs to come up with a fix. Comments Please on Honda's "Quality".

fritz1224

I too had the side airbag light randomnly coming on even when no one or anything was in the passenger seat. The first time I told the service writer about it, he dismissed it as there had to have been something in the seat and mentioned purse, briefcase, cell phone and a host of other ridiculous possible items. Then I brought it in when the light was on and showed him Nothing was in the seat. At that point he agreed something was wrong.
They have a scanner they can hook up to the SRS control unit and check for any trouble codes. In my case they found code 15-3 which required replacing the OPDS sensor. This involves removing the seatback and cover. My work order refers to S/B# 01-030 and i bet this is the service bulletin referring to this problem.
There IS something they can do about this and I suggest you do not just live with it. When the light is on the side airbags are deactivated and will not deploy. If they are deactivated during a side impact accident there will be no protection provided. You paid extra money for this safety feature and you have every right to expect it to be there when you need it.
Oh, OPDS is "Occupant Position Detection System" which is what detects when someone is leaning in the path of deployment of the side airbags.
I suggest that you take it in, advise them of the problem(hopefully it will be on at the time) and if they give you the same response as before, demand a work order documenting your complaint as well as their response. Now you have a legal document demonstrating their ignoring a warranted safety related issue. And make sure whoever issues you this puts their name on it, or write their name on it right in front of him(or her).
Let me know how things turn out. Good luck.

auburn63

Fritz is correct and at the very least if they find nothing wrong they can re-initialize the opds. Using the scan tool this is a easy and often all you need to do repair unless there is a code and replacement is necesary..good luck

bd21

Thanks for the info Steve and John. I figured this was a common problem and my local Honda dealer was being lazy. The two Honda Service departments that I have been to did not impress me. Honda makes a good car, but I guess service departments are a crap shoot.

ssnyder4

Hi all. I have a '99 Accord EX with the oddball tranny issues you describe as well. I am particularly annoyed by having to stop completely at an intersection or stop sign, etc., for good accelleration--otherwise the car doesn't know whether to go or not if I apply the gas at a very low speed. It hesitates regarding staying in 2nd or going to first gear. It's the most annoying tranny I've ever put up with.

A question I have about the tranny for the rest of you is whether anyone else other than myself uses the auto tranny to slow down when needed by shifting from 4th to 3rd? I used to do it all the time because the owner's manual said it was alright to do so. I haven't any problems, I've just started to back off doing that a lot.

Now my big problem. I just picked up my car one day ago after my dealer needed to replace my fuel tank and lines as well as my fuel injectors. This cost me practically $1200! I believe very much this has to be a manufacturing defect. Of course my dealer just wanted to perform the job and collect the $$$. In all, I was told the tank was rusting from the inside out and the fuel system as well as the injectors were ruined.

Has anyone ever heard of this before? I've never heard of it, much less about a Honda or Toyota, etc.

Any advice about getting help or am I stuck with the bill? I've talked to Don Pippin in CA, (I'm in PA) who is a so called Honda Customer Care person, but as nice as he is, he doesn't return phone calls that readily and his business hours are a joke at best! HONDA OF AMERICA needs to get their act together here because I feel like I was treated like an annoyance rather than a loyal customer. I'm not sure what to do next but if I were buying today, I'd be very interested in VW and some others while excluding Honda entirely. Consequently, my car has been maintained perfectly since I bought it new and I have the records to prove it.

Also, is there anyone from Honda monitoring this topic that we can talk to? Subaru has Patti and she seems to be a great help to folks there.

Thanks to any and all for advice, comments, etc.
Shane.