Honda Accord Problems 2000-2005

atlantabenny · March 2003

Off-spec welds, especially if structural in nature, may or may not be life-threatening in the near term but they'll almost certainly result in surface breaks (if not having happened already, what with popping noise), rusting, spreading of the crack/break and ultimately, glass breakage and major parts misalignment.

Not good for safe and satisfying operation of the car, and certainly not good for resale.

Replacement, if not full refund, is justified in these cases in my opinion.

isellhondas · March 2003

I do not own a 2003 Accord V-6. I do, however, sell them. To this point, I have never, once had one fail to start promptly. I've driven and ridden in lots of them. I have also never heard a "popping" sound.

I say this not to imply that these problems do not exist. I do believe, however that the VAST MAJORITY will be trouble free. All cars will have isolated problems.

I say this because, in these forums problems can get overblown and they may cause a casual reader to think the sky is falling when it is not.

I do own a '99 EX V-6 coupe. It has just under 49,000 miles on it. The only thing that I've replaced were the rear brake pads at 45,000 miles.

The front pads were less than half worn out. The factory Michelin tires that some here say are garbage have more than half their tread left.

The sunroof will start to make creaking sounds every six months or so. At that point, I take five minutes and wipe silicone grease on the seals and the noise stops. Both rear mufflers have peeling paint. Someday, I'll get a rattle can of heat resistant black paint and spend five more minutes touching them up.

Not everyone has problems.

mikek37 · March 2003

I agree with your point.

One question, the creaking noise that I am experiencng, seems to go away in warmer weather and when it rains. Is this any indication that it may be the seal around the moonroof. THe noise seems to come from above the passenger and driver side doors. But when its raining or when its warm out, its disappears.

jonesok1 · March 2003

Mine too seemed somewhat temperature/weather sensitive, at least at first. It went almost an entire day without popping when the temperature warmed up unseasonably. But after that, it started back up consistently. I would venture to guess (and that's all it is) is that the body is flexing, and that as it flex's, it may improve it or make it worse, from time to time as metal bends. Or perhaps the added moisture or humidity lubricates the area that is rubbing or flexing. No way to know. It will probably just get worse over time as mine did. The noise does seem to be unidirectional at times as it is transmitted throughout the body chassis, but if you hold your head down and to the left, from the driver's side, and if that's where it sounds like it is coming from, then that's probably what it may be. It always sounded like front left area to me, but to others it sounded like it was coming from the rear at times (it wasn't-just the difficult nature of determining where a very short noise came from). As for me, I'm now headed for arbitration through BBB Autoline, since Honda won't respond to the problem in any way.

jonesok1 · March 2003

There is no such thing as Honda Customer Service. It is a complete joke. They should save their money on the toll free line and have it disconnected.

imidazol97 · March 2003

Try putting paste silicon on the seals to see if the lube quiets the noise. That would verify if water is lubing them and preventing the noise.

gee35coupe · March 2003

All they can do is take your problem. There's not much they can do after that until the district guy checks your car out. I learned that on a problem i had with a new Civic. Grew to hate the customer service line. But in the end Honda gave me $1000 towards a new Honda at cost. It all worked out for me and all that was wrong with my Civic was I found a metal shaving in the paint and a misaligned rear panel. It all works out in the end. Especially in a problem as serious as the one you guys are having.

As far as weld problems...Lexus had to reweld a few early LS430's on the latest redesign. As soon as they pinpoint the cause I'm sure Honda will straighten you guys out. If they don't do it fast enough for you well I guess you'll just have to fume. I mean it's not like wheels are falling off or anything.

mikek37 · March 2003

I understand your point. Its true, Honda will hopefully resolve this issue in the near future. I suppose it just takes time, but its quite unassuring that as a Honda owner, I have to experience a negative like this on a brand new car. By the way, and update on the starting problems seen on the 03 accords.

jonesok1 · March 2003

The district manager already has checked it out. And they won't tell him anything either. The frustrating part is not to be able to talk to ANYONE with any authority, or decision making ability. It's like they all are completely unconcerned and could care less.

As I said, there is no customer service.

accord7 · March 2003

It might help if Accord owners with problems would post where their car was built. It might indicate if it's a design flaw or a factory build problem. I do hope there are resolutions found to these problems and I'll be looking for your updates.

jonesok1 · March 2003

Marysville, OH.

gee35coupe · March 2003

These aren't toasters bought at Wal-Mart. It takes time to find the problem and come up with an a)reason it happened and b)way to correct it. The priority I'm sure is finding out the cause since they are still building these cars at an intense rate. Like the transmission issue, one month of production can lead to tens of thousands of unhappy customers. Read back a few years during that debacle and you will see a mirror image to what's going on here.

isellhondas · March 2003

The noise go's away when it rains?

Heck, no wonder I don't ever hear it...I'm in Seattle and it's almost ALWAYS raining!

Seriously, I do hope they track it down.

jonesok1 · March 2003

Based on Honda's reaction so far, moving to Seattle may be Honda's next suggestion. No, probably not. They won't even go to the trouble to do that.

chikoo · March 2003

especially if it is due to a bad weld....todays automobile bodies are monocoque structures with no frame/chassis.....therefore the full load is distributed amonst the body members....not good to learn that sometimes someday the members would pop apart.....

anonymousposts · March 2003

You all gotta remember that this is a brand new design and while Honda did lots of testing to try and ensure the initial quality of the Accord there is no way for them to duplicate what happens when the first 50,000 come off of the assembly line. You may have a few first-year bugs but this Accord will probably still run to 200,000 miles with no problems just like every other generation. And the majority of people are probably NOT having problems. Our 03 Accord is at 5300 miles and we haven't heard a rattle, clunk, or squeak yet.

tbdang1999 · March 2003

I just went in for my 90K tune up service at my local Honda dealer. I had them also do a total body service which cleaned the carbon in the fuel injection system. After getting the car back, I notice a small subtle rumbling noise, a sound like the exhaust puffing away. So I went back to the dealer, and after their tech test drove it twice, said that my carrier bearings in the differential, the transmission, were going bad. Anyone have any information what might the caused be? Either poor workmanship or is it just wear and tear? The service advisor said it'll cost 5500 to repair the tranny. I called up American Honda and they said it might be just wear and tear. But I was thinking how can it be wear and tear when the car is in its prime. The car has 96000 miles on it, six years old, and I never experienced the noise before until after the service tune up yesterday. The car is a 1998 Honda Accord LX sedan. Any help is appreciated if anyone knows the cause of this and what the heck is going on. Thanks.

bburton1 · March 2003

Have had two different Honda dealers to try and sell this service-they have some slick brochures from 3M describing what the service does. Looked one tech right in the eye and said-why does my honda need this-rough idle he said-rolled my eyes 360 degrees and said-you are a good guy-don't try to bs me-he grinned-he would not say for sure but I think he got $50 of the $300 IIRC for the service.

Now the dealers who tried to sell me this service were not bad people-just trying to pull in a few more bucks. So if you want to part with your money-hey feel free-course your engine might be loaded with carbon. Yup can still remember the days when we used to pour Casite into the old carbs and smoke up the whole neighborhood-clean out that carbon.

driver123 · March 2003

I own a 98 V6 EX coupe with only 34000 miles. At approx. 20K the car had transmission replaced (was told-tranny had a couple of gears that broke). Many models had that problem. The cost of new transmission installed, according to paper work, was $2000.00. You are better off buying a new tranny. A few month later steering wheel audio controls started acting up. They had to replaced whole steering column. Two months ago @ 32000 miles (few month after warranty expired) alternator gave up. Cost $440.00. Finally a few weeks ago rear bearings started humming. Cost approx $550.00. After talking to General Manager of the dealership where I bought the "trouble free" car I ended up paying for labor only $220.00. I am fed up with this car. Had less problems with my old Ford than with this car. Finally 2 weeks ago I bought a G35 sedan 6speed and love it.

gee35coupe · March 2003

before I started reading Edmunds. I'd be terrified to buy one reading these posts.

moolman · March 2003

Hi everyone,
Well, I thought that I would be able to get the email addresses of the people that signed the petition from that web site but it I might not be able to, so if you are an owner of a 2003 V6 accord with the problem.

Please e-mail me at: ackang@email.com

Make the subject: 2003 Accord

Your name:
Vin number:
Phone number:
Dealer name:

I'm going to try this over the phone at first and then if all else fails, I'm going to drive to Torrance, CA and talk to them in person. I live in Los Angeles so it's a 20 minute drive.

Thanks

Alex

atlantabenny · March 2003

...if the car window price sticker mentions the 03 Accord transmission's place of manufacture ?

It says "Japan" for my just-purchased Accord EX V6 coupe, while 65% of the car is made in the USA/Canada.

I thought this peculiar considering Honda's transmission problems, with the sticker maybe subtly assuring people that Japan-made trannies won't have issues.

FWIW, my car's month of manufacture was Feb 2003.

gregoryc1 · March 2003

Carbon is a real problem for many land and marine engines. If you look at an earlier posting, you will see that I use Marvel Mystery Oil as an upper cylinder lubricant to control the formation of carbon. Toyota, is having problems with "sludge" in their engines. Part of the problem could be frozen piston rings allowing "blow-by" to enter the crankcase forming sludge, by diluting the lubricating oil with fuel. MM oil is safe for 02 sensors and Cat converters. It is reasonable to purchase, ($3.00 a quart / at Pep Boys). I use 4 ounces for each 10 gallons of fuel. I use this product as part of a preventive maintenance program which includes oil and filter changes at 3,000 mile intervals. Naturally, the choice to use this or any product is up to the individual. ----Greg

imidazol97 · March 2003

Recent posts and posts at about 4500 - 4510 keep postulating that
Honda past reliability image means there are no real problems now.

If honda's superb reliability reputation were as good as proponents have hyped it, then a
new accord model would have had next to not problems. Reading this
board makes it obvious that there are problems.
Welcome to the world of _real_ cars.

Comparing with Mazda:
Trying to pass off problems cited by concerned owners here with the explanation
Mazda doesn't have as many sales of a particular model, therefore there's no way to
compare doesn't cut it. Just use proportions in the number
of complaints????... Read the boards. People with complaints about their
model or their service or the company tend to get on the board, even if
their model hasn't sold as many in a time period.

Passing off complaints about real problems to owners by saying the media
hasn't mentioned it isn't acceptable either. In our area one TV anchor always
gave the twitch of the head, curled her lip, and read slowly with emphasis when
American car companies
had recalls on the news. (I live in an auto industry area).
Seldom did the Honda/Camry recalls I heard about
get the body language from her and were read quickly and
with less emphasis. Then I saw her gasing up her Camry at
the local Speedway station....
See aroma's post about the media 4056 -- he's got it right.
The press has its favorites. Just like in politics.

How many of the people commenting on this board are employed or related to a
dealership or business servicing/selling/promoting Honda or other brands???
It's good to have people related to the business contributing/discussing; they have extra knowledge about the cars. Please let the readers know, so they can determine from where your viewpoints are coming.

dudleyr · March 2003

I recently replaced the distributor on my Honda, but it still does not run quite right. It seems very sluggish. The distributor was definately bad - you could barely turn it. I wonder if the timing belt could have skipped a cog when the distributor froze. I had to turn the new distributor all the way to one side when I installed it to get the timing right - is this another hint about the skipped cog? Would anything else cause this sluggishness? Fuel filter maybe? The car idles fine, but when you give it gas there is a hesitation then it builds revs. It is not dangerously slow, but it is nowhere near what it used to be.

The car is a 1990 with 150,000 miles (Acura Integra actually, but this board is much more active and the cars are cousins), and the belt was replaced once at 95,000 miles. I would rather not get into the whole timing belt- water pump routine yet - is there something simple I am not thinking about?

bburton1 · March 2003

Having to turn it-the distributor- all the way to the right to get the "timing right" says you have a timing or other problem in your ignition system. Out of time would make it slugish-also out of time can really cause problems of burned valves and burnt pistons-so get someone who knows what they are doing to check this out-valves and or pistons would cost more to fix than the car is probably worth.

ray_h71 · March 2003

Agree, bburton. dudleyr, might as well just have the timing belt removed and replaced, too. At 55,000 miles and counting, it's false economy to put it off at this point.

dudleyr · March 2003

Do you think a skipped cog on the timing belt, or is the problem somewhere else in the ignition system (which is basically new - with a new distributer).

gee35coupe · March 2003

that sells all makes. The were the first to notice the sludge problem in Camrys. They don't have any transmission warnings for Accords. Or any other warnings for that matter. Sure there may be problems with a cartain run of Accords. But this is only a certain production series. It's obviously not ALL Accords built since not everyone is complaining. Mine doesn't clunk.

Just as when they recall medicine food, or other even other cars they have to find out which products are effected. Since Honda builds/sells 30,000-40,000 Accords a month, even a one day glitch in a production machine could cause a problem in several cars. That's a risk you have in mass production of something as complicated as a car.

vooch · March 2003

What is the point of defending Honda on this board? This is a "problem" board, therefore, the majority if not all posts will be people with problems/solutions, except for the people with agendas. Any "problem" board is going to have problems, jeez. This certainly isn't the place to be defending anything - since its all about problems!

Someone said they'd be scared to buy if they had read this board first - of course, this is a problem board. Makes sense to me. Go read the "Honda is the Greatest" board for positive reinforcement. People work out issues here I'm thinking.

bburton1 · March 2003

Think it is something else-the distributor should not have to be set all the way to one side to make it approximately in time. IT could be the wrong part or something could be worn. Slipping a notch would affect valve timing and not ignition timing-it would have very little power and should not cause the distributor setting to be off. Again burnt valves/pistons might be the end result so get someone to check this out. If you can find an honest dealer with a good service dept-I have had the best luck with small town dealers. A tech that works on hondas all day long will know this by heart as long as his aim is not to empty your wallet.

acky1 · March 2003

i do not know much about cars but it seems to me that when i start my car i have to crank it for a full second or more before it turns on.i also feel that my radio has alot of static in it.i have been reading post about starting problems in the v6 but not the 4 cylinder. maybe i am just oversensitive about my new car but it is bothering me. does anyone have the same problems?

gee35coupe · March 2003

And I'll "defend" the Accord for the same reason people make the problems worse than they are and you ask why we "defend". Because we all have something to say.

dudleyr · March 2003

Actually I do have someone checking it out right now. I don't want to do the timing belt thing myself, so I took it to a garage that specializes in electrics, and they seem to also think that it could be a skipped cog (they looked at the distributer and thought it seemed fine), as does the Acura dealer that I called today. Your statements that you think the problem lies elsewhere does make me a little nervous though - hate to spend the dough for no reason.

I know that valve timing and spark timing are two seperate things, but wouldn't valves that are out of whack affect the ignition timing in the sense that the valves open later (or sooner) therefore the spark is needed later (or sooner)?

Anybody else have any thoughts, or have this same problem? Unfortunately I live in the heart of 'merican pick em up country (SD) and the nearest Acura Dealer is 300 miles away, and there are not too many import specialists around, so I appreciate any advice that I can get on this forum. Thanks!

auburn63 · March 2003

It is very possible that if your distributor was very hard to turn then it could have made the timing belt skip. If this happens then it could cause some of the problems you are talking about. The timing belt connects the crank to the cam shaft, the cam shaft turns the distributor, if the belt skips then it changes the timing of the ignition as well as the valves. Ignition timing can be adjusted for by turning the distributor but valve timing can not and if they are open slightly during combustion or power stroke you loose compression and power. Sounds as if this is what you have wrong and as long as there is no internal damage you should be fine with a timing belt reset.Good luck

babsny1 · March 2003

My new Accord will not allow me to downshift from 2nd to 1st gear. I must come to a complete stop. I've never experienced this in a 5 speed. The service dept at my dealer said this is how they are made now. Makes no sense to me. Are they lying? Any advice will be greatly appreciated. Thanks.

dudleyr · March 2003

Thank you Auburn63!

gee35coupe · March 2003

at speed. 1 gears usually don't have sychros.

shipo · March 2003

"1 gears usually don't have sychros."

Ummmm, say what? I've been driving manual transmission equipped vehicles since the late 1970s with my first car being a 1970 Dodge Challenger with a 3-Speed, which I upgraded to a 4-Speed. In that time, the only manually shifted car (or truck for that matter) that I have ever driven that did not have a synchronized first gear was a 1974(ish) Ford Courier pick-up.

It seems to me that the actual reason that it is difficult to shift into first gear when moving at any kind of speed is that the syncros are unable to accelerate the internal assemblies enough to allow the shift to occur.

Best Regards,
Shipo

gee35coupe · March 2003

I haven't been able to do a 2-1 shift at speed.

isellhondas · March 2003

Even with first gear syncros this is VERY hard on the syncros!

victorsam · March 2003

I took my new 2003 Accord EX V6 back to the dealership for service after noting that the malfunction indicator lamp was on since I bought the car. It has less than a 1,000 miles on it.

After they "fixed" the problem, the malfunction indicator lamp came back on several days later. After that I didn't drive my car for about 9 days but when I tried to start it, the battery was dead. I had the car jumped and the car started right away. I didn't use the car until about a week later and it happened again. I had to jump the car. It seems if I don't use the car every x number of days, it dies.

I called the service center and the manager said "with new cars, the battery can die if you aren't using it on a regular basis". This didn't happen before I took it to them to fix.

Any advice on this would be appreciated. I totally disagree with the service manager. A new car should never die that easily.

I also want to know if I can bring my car into any Honda Service Center since the car dealership and service center I purchased from is just a little bit far for me. Will the problems I indicated above be covered under warranty? Or is this a problem that the car dealership should fix since it is a new car and should not have these problems?

Thanks in advance.

mikek37 · March 2003

You can bring the car anywhere you please. And yes it will still be covered by your warranty.

bburton1 · March 2003

Anybody that tells u a car sitting for 9 days will cause a battery to go dead is somebody that is either stupid or does not want to fix a problem. In either case-don't go back to these people-wow that is something. Starting a car by jumping it is really dangerous-ok I have done it a lot but you can have big problems if something goes wrong-like blown alternator, ECM and rarely an exploding battery.

Sounds like you have a short or slow drain in the system-takes time to find these things-start keeping a record-find out what your state's lemon law sez cause you might have to use that to unload this thing. Electrical system problems are not that common with Honda IMHO-but when they occur-they are hard to find. Some of the older DC minivans were legendary for their ability to eat batteries. Course it could have been a bad battery-very possible. Tracking down slight electrical draws/shorts usually takes the smartest guy in the shop-skinny long arms help too.

good luck

auburn63 · March 2003

we have seen several canister vent shut valve problems in cold weather areas. The canisters are allowing water into the canister and then they are freezing in front of the canister vent causing a clogged canister vent code. P2422 is the code I am thinking of so if this is the code and you may have a bad canister and valve assembly..

As for the battery I have seen 1 or 2 that had similar complaints and they both had bad batteries that tested good after a full charge but yet went dead after 3-4 days. What they are saying is not completly wrong due to the electric load detector and the possibility of short trips not being good enough for a battery recharge..So depending on your conditions anything is possible...Good luck

gee35coupe · March 2003

"Anybody that tells u a car sitting for 9 days will cause a battery to go dead is somebody that is either stupid or does not want to fix a problem."

I agree. My Lexus LS sits for months sometimes before I decide I need to drive it. Starts right up.

bolivar · March 2003

-If Honda distributors are anything like what I've worked on in the past, 'Having to turn the distributor all the way to the right to get it in time' describes a problem with pulling the distributor and then not dropping it back into the correct cog on the drive gear.
(Auburn63, am I wrong here?)

-I also don't understand the statement about 'the distributor was hard to turn'. When in place, isn't the distributor tightened down with a bracket and doesn't turn at all? The only time the bracket is loose and the distributor being turned is when it is being timed? Now, if you are talking about manually moving the vacumn advance inside the distributor, this is something else.

Course, this is a Honda - all my distributor work has been on older 'American 3' vehicles.

dudleyr · March 2003

The shaft inside the distributor was hard to turn once the distributor was removed - in other words the bearings were nearly frozen.

Also the distributor only fits on one way so it can't be off a cog - though you might be able to get it off 180 degrees.

bolivar · March 2003

Ok, I think I understand now. The distributer doesn't have a drive gear, it must have a 'slot' type drive. Then it will only drop correctly into the slot.

And I didn't read close enough before to see you replaced an almost frozen distributor.

So, what Auburn63 told you also makes sense. And he's always right from what I've seen of his posts. You had a timing drive belt jump a cog when the distributor was going bad, which would put timing off.

royevans · March 2003

I just bought a new 2003 Accord EX-V6 Coupe about a week ago. The past few days, I've noticed a rattle or two coming from the backseat. One seems to be coming from the rear driver side pillar. I think the other rattle is coming from the center of the seat back somewhere. These usually occur when drving on moderately bumpy roads. Has anybody else experienced anything similiar? Any suggestions? I really love this car, but rattles can be so irratating.

Honda Accord Problems 2000-2005

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