Honda Accord (2003-2007) Maintenance and Repair

ezshift5 · February 2006

....oh yeah and I am broke because I paid so much dam money for their best accord and I am broke now.

...most of us....

...probably regret your lack of funds.....

..have been there....(sure was broke all thru college).

..John, how would you account for all those solid red circles for Honda in CR?

..other than that...

all the best, ez..

djm2 · February 2006

On cold mornings, try warming up your engine. Let it run at idle for about five minutes, before driving the vehicle. On very cold mornings, let the engine warm up a little longer. -----Best regards. -----Dwayne

jhinsc · February 2006

I would suspect the "grade logic" transmission kicking in when you slow down. It feels like the tranny is down shifting when slowing. It also is supposed to hold a gear longer when going up a grade. The purpose is to prevent hunting of gears, shifting back and forth. I've had 2 Acura's that did this, and it feels different from other makes. Ask your dealer service if this may be what you're experiencing.

jhinsc · February 2006

I wouldn't let your car idle much longer than 1-2 minutes. Idling is not a good way to warm your car, drving moderately is. All engines will sound louder when cold, including the Honda 4 cyl. Honda 4 cyl are not known for being especially quiet, compared to Toyota and VW. Have you changed the oil/filter and replaced the air filter lately? That may help. One possible culprit is the cold start setup in your car may have it running too rich. Maybe your service dept. can check/reflash the car computer that controls ignition and fuel delivery to see if that helps. Of course, this is all speculation on my part.

kanu · February 2006

I had 2005 4 cyc auto. My mileage has been improved slowly. I drive mix city and highway and get about 24 for the first month in last summer. It has been constantly improving especially after my first oil change. Now I get about 29 mile for mixing city and highway at 10k, and its still improving even though its in winter. I always drive around 80mph when I can. Im want to see what will be the mileage for this summer.

akl88 · February 2006

Ok, I drive a 2005 Honda Accord Coupe EX-V6 and it's an automatic, and I have the special 17-inch rims (EP-R5).

Now here is the problem:
My tires in the front looks flat, well not really flat-flat, but the side bulges out and it doesn't look normal to me. But when I check the tire pressure, it's a 34 psi and that's what the dealership said. The tires are stock (Michelin Pilot HX MXM4).

Here is the question:
Is it because most of the weight of the car is on the front, and therefore makes the tires bulge out?

So what is the tire pressure suppose to be for the tire that I'm using?
Someone help pls... :confuse:

mrbill1957 · February 2006

As long as the tires are at the recommended pressure, they will be fine.

What your seeing is normal. Unlike the old bias ply tires from years ago, radial tires do bulge out a little from the weight of the car, and the front end is heavier then the back, so it will look worse.

If you truly have a problem, it could be a defective pressure gauge. You might want to get a second reading with another gauge just to be sure.

Mrbill

tnguyen74 · February 2006

I have an 03 Accord EX 4cyl with 82k and lately I've been hearing the engine pinging at idle. It's very noticable standing outside of the vehicle. I've tried premium fuel and it hasn't gone away? Anyone else experiencing similar sounds? I sure hope it's a simple fix here. Thanks ahead.

mrbill1957 · February 2006

Pinging only happens under load. I doubt that your actually hearing the engine ping while it's idling. My guess is something else is creating the noise.

Mrbill

car_crazy1 · February 2006

Ensure that your ac and heated seats/mirrors are turned off for the first 5mins till the engine warmsup. Your best bet is to wait for the engine to warmup and the indication is your battery to come to normal levels. It should not take more than 4 or 5mins. Also sometimes, just fan could be a problem. on my car, i had the same pinging/rattle problem and i found that there are a few big particles at the place of window wipers and when they were removed, the rattle went away.

imidazol97 · February 2006

As soon as the motor starts the alternator should handle the electrical load from heated seats, mirror, rear window grids while it's slowly recharging the battery to compensate for the overnight drain and the current generated during starting. The battery is not being drained unless there's something defective or the engineering of the electrical system isn't good enough to handle the typical load.

tnguyen74 · February 2006

Thanks for all the replies. I haven't yet replaced the battery since I purchased the car. If it's the battery or alternator than it's relatively an inexpensive repair. I sure hope it's not engine related such as valves or pistons.

iansdad1 · February 2006

Mr. Bill the important thing to remember, as I hope you have learned, is before you post something have all the facts. Heresay will bite you everytime, "I'm only going by what I was told by 2 people...." I have an '03 Silver Coupe and I have a metal hood....plastic bumper however....

car_crazy1 · February 2006

If you have not replaced the battery, get it load checked at Honda and they will tell you if you are already due changing that .

blane · February 2006

tnguyen74,

mrbill1957 was absolutely correct when he wrote "Pinging only happens under load". "Pinging" is a synonym for preignition. That's obviously not your problem at idle. You might want to see if the sound you are hearing is some sort of sparking. To check for that, drive your car to a very dark location at night. Open the hood with your lights off and your engine running. Look under the hood to see if there are tiny telltale sparks (possibly blue-white) coming from anywhere. If there are, you've located the item that needs fixing.

mrbill1957 · February 2006

Well, I'm not going to shead any tears over it.

Is it possible that the hybrid has a plastic hood?

Mrbill

tandy_13 · February 2006

Ok Same problem here.
I have a 06 EX V6, bought last october and now with 5000 miles on it.
I drove the car through the blizzard last sunday in new york and after that noticed that the car was pulling to the left.
Took the car to the dealership and they said the front toe in was misaligned, probably I went over a pot hole or something and they said they fixed it.
Now I know for a fact I never went over a pothole, 95% of my driving has been over the Garden State Parkway.
Anyway I came back and again driving over the parkway at around 65-70 mph noticed that the car was drifting alarmingly, like I was skidding at 70 mph (frightening feeling).
Am taking the car to the dealership again this wednesday (closed today and tomorrow for president's day).
Hopefully they can fix it.
PT.

blane · February 2006

tandy_13,

Is your tire pressure equal on both sides? Is the pressure at specified cold tire levels?

jhinsc · February 2006

Have you rotated the tires? That may help. I had a 97 Maxima that would start pulling to the right slightly. Then after tire rotation, it would pull slightly to the left. It went back and forth each time I rotated and I put 50k miles on them. They still passed inspection when I turned it back in at the end of the lease.

jeffyscott · February 2006

Thats called "radial pull" or "tire pull". It is a tire defect and all it means is you drove a car with at least one bad tire for 50,000 miles.

car_crazy1 · February 2006

My car had a door ding and a bumper scratch . Its a new honda accord . It seems a kid must have hit it with his bicycle.

Whats the easiest way to get rid of the ding(right on the mould line on the driver door) and the bumper scratch. Will buffing help ? I checked with one service shop but he asked 500 bucks but i think thats a rip off. Any suggestions ?

mrbill1957 · February 2006

If the paint is just scuffed, and the clear coat is still there, then rubbing it out by hand will probably work.

You described it as a "ding", nothing you can do will remove it if there is an actual dent in it.

For what I've seen with the color matched mouldings on the door, they seem to have a thick clear plastic applied to them. again, if it rubs out, then your in luck, if not, then they may have to replace the whole moulding. I'm not sure if those can even be reparied.

Although the color matched mouldings look nice, I would rather have the old style black ones, they seem to take alot more abuse since they aren't painted.

As far as the $500 price quote, that may be inline if the have to paint the whole bumper (so the paint matches) and replace the moulding.

Mrbill

gly · February 2006

Quote by haefr: "... but they're still not in the same shift-quality league with the competition's automatics - and unless Honda goes to a planetary-type AT design, ..."

Why does Honda use such a unique AT design (no planetary gear)? What is the perceived advantage? It looks somewhat like a manual, with a shaft and countershaft.

BTW, the 5-spd automatic in my 2005 4 cyl Honda Accord LX has been running very smoothly.

user777 · February 2006

ahh yes, the new vehicle gets its first dings and scratches... happens in a parking lot too.

some places have "dent wizard" outlets / franchise that cater to small repairs and may be able to pull a dent back out successfully. i have a friend that swears by them, but i personally have no experience with same. let them look at it.

if you've got a scratched color-molding or bumper, Honda has touch up paint pens or tiny bottles (like women's nail polish size) of color match paint. look on your door jam sticker for the color code and go to the parts counter.

don't know. these may be viable options for you. good luck.

thegraduate · February 2006

I'd swear by them too. I ran over a piece of 18-wheeler tire and dented in my front fender near where it meets the bumper. They pulled the dent out (not perfect, but TONS better) for $35.

This was on my 1996 Accord; it's led a hard life in the last 3 years. Ran over the tire, a shovel (unavoidable in rush hour traffic) and into a guardrail at 40ish mph.

Still drives well, though!

user777 · February 2006

keep that one. your incident rate is pretty high. wouldn't want to crumple a new one. i think the vehicle has faith in you and wants to stick with you.

thegraduate · February 2006

I agree. I have a new 2006 Accord, but didn't have the heart to get rid of the old one (wasn't worth but $3k anyway). I drive the old one downtown to school in rush hour traffic everyday, and enjoy the new on on the weekends in good weather.

car_crazy1 · February 2006

Thanks Guys !

This is what I did... I called up honda dealership and asked them what they would do when they get new cars scratched when offloading the truck or if something happens in the lot.

She gave me the contact of the guy who does touchups on a new car after which dealershiop sells it to customers as a normal new car. He said that for 150 dollars, he can fix that for me . He will spray paint the same color in open air and put clearcoat on it like any other new car that came with a scratch from the factory.

For the dent, I contacted a dent specialist who works at a nissan dealership to remove dents on a new car. He will charge 50$

Hopefully, I will get both fixed.

thegraduate · February 2006

Good luck with an excellent match on the paint!

bmr123 · February 2006

I have a 5 month old 2005 EXV6 Accord 4door. I have noticed in the past 2 weeks a "tapping" "popping" noise from the driver side window while driving. I thought it might be from the weather being cold but it seems to not have changed with increasing tempertures. Anyone else experience this?

sockpuppet1969 · February 2006

Another reason I think there was no air coming from the central vents is that the climate control system waits for the engine to warm up before directing air through these vents. No sense in blowing cold or cool air on you when you are requesting heated air. When you set the requested temp to the ambient temp, no heating was required so you got air flow.

foepeng · February 2006

I bought a new 2006 Accord LX v6 at the end of last year. A week or so after I discovered that the heated mirror button that should be on the door console is missing! It clearly states on the window sticker that the car should have the feature. I'm going back to the dealer to have them check it out. What should I expect them to do about it? I'm extremely disappointed in Honda's quality control. Has anyone else run into this problem?

whitecloud1 · February 2006

Expect them to correct the problem. Try to make sure you have everything else so that you don't have to go back again.

stsweeper · February 2006

Has anyone had problems with axle seals on 04' Accord Exl 4cyl. sedan?Bought car new in July of 04'.After first oil change(3500 mi)I noticed a small amount of oil under car where I thought drain plug was located,I waited till next service at dealership never loosing any oil and wanted it checked out.Service Dept said axle seal was bad and replaced under warranty,now 2000 miles and 3 mos later it is leaking again,anyone else had this problem? Thanks, Streetsweeper

user777 · February 2006

Right. Your dealer should have given you the window sticker with the VIN and options. They should make good on it. What Factory installed options (and I'm presuming that is it was Factory - not Dealer) shows on the car in Owner's Link on Honda's Website?

tandy_13 · February 2006

That's a joke right?
PT.

lastwraith · February 2006

Why would that be a joke?

I had a pull on my accord, rotated tires, car pulled to the other side. Replaced the tire on the side the car was pulling to....voila - no more pull.

But perhaps I am missing something.

tandy_13 · February 2006

But my car has barely 5500 miles on it! I can't possibly change the tires on this car now.
Should I approach the tire company or go to the dealership and let them handle it?
PT.

jkenney1 · February 2006

I drive a 2005 Accord EX-L coupe with 5 speed.

How do you feel about the transmission in this car? I've always heard about how Honda makes the best manual transmission around, but I am definitely not impressed by the one in mine. The main problem I have is occasionally it takes a lot of force and maneuvering on my part to get the shifter into either 1st or R. The other problem I have is that it just seems overly not-smooth or precise. I can move the shift knob around a good bit even when I am in gear and when sliding it between gears, I can feel some rubbing. Is this normal for this car? Im hoping to get some feedback from some other who either own this car or have driven it.

For main comparison purposes, I drive my girlfriends 2002 Jetta and my roomates 2003 Focus (both manual) a good bit and both shifters feel smoother than my transmission.

whitecloud1 · February 2006

You should get it checked out. May need some adjustment.

ramida · February 2006

"How do you feel about the transmission in this car?"

Horsey rough -- that's what I used to describe my now "deceased" 2003 Accord LX 5-speed manual transmission. I hated my Accord so much because of this junk transmission.

I'm now driving an 06 Accord SE Automatic, and I'm beginning to hate it also because of its low MPG and weird-sounding, hoarse engine when running under 50 MPH.

Two Accords so far, and I'm not a happy camper.

ramida

accord6mt · February 2006

I had a manual '98 Prelude and now have a manual '05 accord coupe and both manuals were very smooth-shifting.

Here's one question - when you talk about difficulty getting into 1st or Reverse, are you talking about difficulty getting into gear from a dead stop or while you're already moving (such as shifting from 2nd to 1st, or from 1st to reverse while in motion)?

Best of luck!

jkenney1 · February 2006

"... are you talking about difficulty getting into gear from a dead stop or while you're already moving (such as shifting from 2nd to 1st, or from 1st to reverse while in motion)?"

Generally, the problem occurs when stopped, but the shifter seems to suffer from an overall lack of precision.

user777 · February 2006

rarely (very), i would have to put my '94 in first and drive it slightly forward before being able to engage reverse. happened maybe 4 or 5 times in as many years. when it was very very cold, before everything was warmed up, i'd routinely run through the pattern a few times before starting off.

transmission smoother and more precise than a scirocco, jetta gli, rabbit, mazda 323, toyota corrola, dodge colt i have owned and driven regularly, but not as smooth or precise (or fun) as a porche carrera 4 i did not own, but drove a few times.

perhaps your clutch and shifter both need adjustment.

lastwraith · February 2006

If a defective tire is causing the car to pull to one side then it should be replaced. Otherwise you are wearing the tires unevenly for no reason. More importantly, it's a pain to have to constantly correct for a pull and personally, I don't think it's a very safe condition to drive a car in.

I would seek satisfaction through the dealer first and then if they won't help you out try the tire company. What I personally would do though is have my mechanic check out the tires to find which is defective (or which rim is defective). Then I would either have the tire, rim, or both replaced with something from my local junkyard. Here it is $20 to have a tire mounted on your rim, $10 to get just the rim or $30 to have a tire and rim mounted on the car. Then get it balanced somewhere, usually about $10 per wheel for force balancing and you are in business. Replacing just one tire should cost no more than $50 in total and is worth it to me to get a car to drive straight.

You can always fight out getting repaid later, it's most important to get the car to drive the way you want....now. But thats just my $0.02

PS- I reread your response and you seem to possibly be thinking I mean to replace all the tires, I don't. Usually it is only one bad tire / wheel causing a pull. Only very rarely has it been more than one (once it was two tires - dunno what was going on with that car!).

eric6020 · February 2006

I have a 2005 Accord LX 4 cylinder. The noise comes out intermittently when the car is idling and on drive. The noise goes away if you shift the gear to neutral. The noise seems to be coming under the dashboard. Honda replaced the purge solenoid but the noise is still there. Finally, Honda told me that the noise is normal for 2005 Accords. I just want to find out if this noise is really normal for 2005 Accords. Thanks.

tandy_13 · February 2006

Thanks for the advice. Am taking the car for scheduled service to the dealership next week. Will let them have a look.
Actually after they said they fixed the alignment the car is still not surefooted.
Its hard to explain this but it actually doesn't drift all the time, sometimes on dead straight road I will hold the steering wheel dead straight and there is no drift; and at times when I am driving on curvy roads (and sometimes when I am changing lanes at high speed 65-70) the car doesn't feel sure footed like it used to.
Maybe the wheels are not balanced or something. I guess I will have more on the topic next week.
Incidentally does anyone have any comments about purchasing extended warranty for the V6 Accord. I have put a lot of miles on the car and probably am looking to put around 17-18000 miles a year.
Does somebody have any experience with purchasing extended warranty from hondacarewarranty.com?
PT.

coolhand · February 2006

I drive a 2003 Accord Sedan 4cyl 5spd with 84K on it and have issues with my transmission as well. First let me say I had a 93 Accord prior to this car and never had an issue with the engine and tranny when I sold it with 200K. The 03 tranny is very notchy, I can be stopped and shift through the gears and it has to "pop" into 2 or 3 of the gears. I can shift back and forth and "pop" it in and out of the same gear over and over. Its the same while driving. There is also a lot of play in the actual shifter itself. My other Accord had this play at 200K but not at 84K. I have been driving standards since I got my license and I have never had an issue grinding gears but I have done it several times with this car....I cant explain it. The shifter started feeling this way at 30K. I brought it to the dealers attention and they said it was all normal, I should have pushed the issue but put my faith in the Honda product thinking it was just me, its got a lot worse since then.

Other problems: There is a leak in my trunk when it rains. I also had a new engine put in at 12K due to a porous engine block. No problems with the new engine since the change, thats a whole other story. This 03 is nothing like my 93.

lowcabin · February 2006

Getting ready to by Honda Accord Tomorrow and would just like to here some reviews anyone has that has one or has test drove one.

lowcabin · February 2006

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Honda Accord (2003-2007) Maintenance and Repair

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