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Comments
it's the quality of the paint everywhere else that really p*sses me off.
but yeah, even on my back bumper. i have scratches and dings to a WHITE undercoat (that's also beyond me) from people bumper-parking.
i wonder at how adg44 got such a fast resolution from honda, even if it wasn't what he was looking for. it's been a month since the main honda office in CA has called me back, and i just keep getting angrier.. =P
Silvercoupe, glad to hear no problems with your "premature" oil change as well. This was my first brand new car and I was determined to maintain it well. Somewhat disheartening to learn my zeal could have had negative consequences, but I really don't think it will. What's even worse is the lack of information concerning this issue when I bought it.
p.s. Get OEM rotors! Don't cheap out and go to Midas or someplace like that.
Would it harm my engine in any way to use 5W-30 or 10W-30 motor oil instead? Please consider that I live in a warm climate where it gets to be very hot during the summer.
Don't fuss over the 5-20 recommendation; it's what they put in the crankcase initially, and what they had in the crankcase during the EPA test to get the best possible results in the fuel consumption tests. Any SJ oil with at least a low viscosity of 5 will do; my dealer and I have agreed on Castrol Syntec 5-50 synthetic, which I bring to the shop myself [it's easily available at the discounters], and which gives me peace of mind for both our 100F summers and 30F winters.
Right up until quite recently, a lot of dealers didn't have the 5-20 available in their shops - you don't suppose that stopped them from changing the oil in '01s?
I have replaced the original oil in a dozen or so new cars (Honda and others) within the first 1000 miles and was able to monitor their performance for several years following. None of these engines experienced any internal problems or used more than 0.1 qt per thousand miles. I attribute this success to oil change intervals of 3500 miles or less (as bobgordon advocates) and care to avoid any overheating. I am confident that the "early" first oil change did no harm but also expect it didn't really help.
Thanks for anwering all my questions in the past!
The power antenna on my 94 Accord got bent. (Garage door wasnt fully open). There is a
90degree bend approximately 5 inches from the top of the antenna. The antenna motor
now makes a grinding sound when both going up and down.
A few questions.
1) How expensive is it to get another antenna installed (i.e time wise & part cost)?
2) How do you take off the old antenna. I was reading that there is a locknut and washer. How do you open the locknut? is it some kind of special tool? I dont want to damage anything more! I have installed an aftermarket stereo. I just noticed the stereo has no off button toi stop the antenna from coming up. I just want to prevent damage to my antenna motor by removing the antenna.
3) Is this job dealership dependant? I like the dealership, but they are really busy down here...
Oh well....this is just a pain.
I await your advice!!
I am having a problem with my 93 accord LX. The engine temperature is going up whenever I switch on the a/c (It is normal with just the fans on). Any ideas. Please help.
Thank you
It is refreshing to have a service dept. who really cares about the customer -- even knowing the customer did not buy the car there. Dealer name-- Raegen Honda, Jefferson City Mo.
Good luck
I talked to a service tech at my local dealership. They would have to order
in a new antenna in 3-4 days. Additionaly, the antenna alone costs around
$79 Canadian dollars. Another half-hour for labour....total cost around $120
The service advisor at the dealership was pretty helpful. He told me it was a
relatively easy job....
I'll try straightening out the antenna first. If it breaks then maybe i'll try
my luck at a junk-yard.
Thanks again for all your help! This is the 3rd or 4th time you have answered
my questions!
You welcome I am always glad to try and help...
m9431
We haven't seen any of them do what you are complaining about as of yet. We did have one or two that did that one time a day within the first 5 min of driving. Which that turned out to be a normal event due to the evap test and timing of that with a decel or stop or slight hick up during accel at same time as test. Other than that sounds strange, have they replaced the pcm/ecm ? Or any other component as of yet? What have they done that you know of ? If you feel like it post some more info on your situation..
1. transmission shifts hard when cold from 1st to 2nd gear -- honda service has diagnosed that I need a new transmission -- cost (retail) $5,998
2. whine coming from engine when I turn lights & AC on -- honda service has diagnosed that it is due to a bad bearing in the alternator (a GM Delphi unit) and that I need a new tensioner belt --
cost: $525 alternator/$175 tensioner belt
3. The fuel gauge reads improperly (the fuel tank sending unit replaced has already been replaced once before) -- honda service has not been able to find the cause
4. grinding noise coming from right front wheel -- honda service has diagnosed that I need new front brake pads and rotors. cost:$466
(this is my second set of front brake pads and have already gone through 2 sets of rear brake pads)
In addition, the "check engine light" has come on in the past on 3 different occasions -- EGR port has been cleaned twice and the EGR valve, PCV hose, and intake manifold chamber have all been replaced
This is my 5th honda (my 3rd Accord) and I haven't experienced these problems (except for replacing the brake pads and rotots) on any of the other cars. This is getting expensive & I'm getting tired of walking. Users ronga, motiwala, kbarry, Z_, dano38,purma1_us -- I feel your pain. If anyone has any advice on how to get American Honda to pay for out-of-warranty repairs it would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.
Any info is helpful.
Thanks.
Sorry I didn't get back to you sooner. I just got back from a MUCH needed vacation.
As per your question. I have never seen the oil Honda uses in there factory engines sold on the open market. You have obviously answered a lot of peoples questions. I am glad to see the study you did on engine oil usage did not turn up anything abnormal. Why Honda decided to use a special oil for engine break in???? My only guess is that as we all know it's an all aluminum engine. Maybe they (Honda) feel that this oil will minimize wear during the critical break in period.
Stump21,
Hi,
Check that any caulking or foam around the steel A/C tubes going into the car is still intact. Not sure where you live but the heat and humidity we have been experiencing lately has a tendency to create a lot of condensation around the A/C components. Since you checked the drain, and that flows freely, you also could have a separation in the blower housing allowing water to exit there. These are a few places to start. Hope this helps.
Our '01 EX V6 varies from 20-22 mpg around town to 25-28 on trips. Tire pressures are the factory recommended 30 psi; AC is on about 80% of the time.
At times the engine doesn't even seem to have the power of a 4-cylinder. Check Engine light was on, I took it in and paid $150 to clean carbon out of the intake (or something like that) and the light is not on now but problem did not go away. Often it will downshift just to accelerate lightly from 30 - 45 mph. It is really hesitant at times. Anybody experience this?
Also am experiencing transmission shutter in overdrive at about 1700 rpm (55 mph). Very annoying when cruise is set at 55 mph.
I have Honda Care warranty, but am wondering if it will pay anything. It would not cover the previously mentioned $150 cleaning (which would have been $300 w/o much complaining to the dealership).
Is there hope for this car, or do I need to loose thousands of dollars to trade it. I had planned on keeping it a long time, but since I just bought it 6 months ago and did not get a very good deal on it or put much down I owe much more than what its worth. Which means the only way to keep it from being a financial disaster is to make it last a long time.
Had to really raise cain the last time I had my tires changed-their procedures manual requires at least a 100# torque on all lug nuts. Alloy wheels apparently even require less than 80. So be careful out there when you let knuckle dragging neanderthals work on your vehicle. The rotors that get warped could be yours.
I have a 1991 Accord 200,000 km on it and in the last 3 months is has been hesitating. It does not seem to matter time of day of warm or cold engine. You can be driving along and all of a sudden the engine loses power. You can push the peddle to the floor, but there is no reaction. After about 10-15 seconds, the engine will kick in and everything will be fine.
I have taken it to many mechanics and they are unable to determine the problem. I have replaced the distributor and checked fuel line and pressure. Does anybody have any ideas out there. This is driving me crazy.
did you check the spark plugs? gas quality?
or maybe dirt in fuel tank?
Bill
Sounds weird but it has happened me at least 4 times. Almost got me killed when it stalled in front of the snow plow!
Transmission "shutter" in O/D. Yeah, when I first got it in March 2001, it felt a little like the wheels were out of balance. It went away on it's own over time. It seemed also to be tied to how warm the car was, that's what gave me the clue about it's something in the engine or x-mission. Now after what I've read about v6 trans., I'm waiting for something to happen...although no problems yet!!
I also do get the loud "clunk" when I shift from D4 into park. I figure as long as it works, I'm not going to worry about it.
I've never heard any whining either in any of the gears. As it stands, 6500 miles, and no problems of any sort yet.
The most frustrating thing for the customer and technician is the rattle or vibration that can't be replicated when the car is brought in to be fixed. This can be vexatious work trying to get the car to act up and it won't.
We recently replaced a Prelude for a customer who kept feeling a "strange vibration" at cartain speeds but only at "certain times".
His Prelude only had something like 2000 miles on it. We swapped cars, sold the Prelude as a used car to a happy owner who can't feel the "strange vibration" anymore than our technicians and Service Managers could.
of course.. them other mechanic/technician say that phrase until they think that the customer would be gullible enough to believe some ghost diagnostic and repair
btw, trust the hard facts, not hear-say gossips.
I DO trust the hard facts and am smart enough(usually) to filter through the garbage...
But...sure, there are those mechanics and dealerships who will pretend a problem doesn't exist when in reality they are well aware that it does.
I still believe those shops are the minority unlike your original post suggested.
It was put back in and test drove again. No problem. The Service Mgr drove it home last night and back this morning. Still no problem.
The service technician told me a couple of days ago that one of the guys did get it to "act up" but she could not explain in detail what that meant. The ticket had not been updated - that was a verbal conversation between the two of them. I also find it interesting it is NOT noted in their service records.
The shudder sounds the same as my fluctuation. It feels like a subtle rocking motion instead of a smooth ride.
Is there a possibility that my problem could be electronic related?
Tom
Someone got in a hurry and did a sloppy job.
But...if a flying rock hits your hood, it WILL leave a chip! Got a few myself!
Sounds weird but it has happened me at least 4 times. Almost got me killed when it stalled in front of the snow plow!
If your car does not start in hot weather after frequent startup the problem is main feul relay. Its located under the driver side dash on the left kick pannel (instead of fire wall as suggested by official honda manual). To access it you have to remove cruise control computer (its a silver color box approx 4x3 inch, don't forget to remove battery connection). Once its out of the way you see the relay held by two 10mm nuts.
Another surprising thing that happened is that before replacing relay my clock was dead (it only worked if you press the lid on the clock) but now its working fine. Any comment on why that happened?