Noob Intro

[justabill]

Hey all. My name is Bill and I live on Oahu right now and the only car I've owned since 2006 is an 05 Civic LX. Got interested in this forum because I found an 88 Accord LXi on Craigslist for $2400 and I'm thinking about buying it. Spoke with the owner and the timing belt hasn't been changed yet but I've decided to check it out this evening. If anyone has any advice on what to look out for on this car I'd greatly appreciate it!

:cheers:

[justabill]

Test drove it around town and really enjoyed it so I went ahead an bought it. Has anyone else had issues with the radio just shutting off after a few minutes of driving? Will post some photos soon!

[87accordlxi]

Welcome! Let's see the pics.

Wouldn't hurt to try a different radio - it's a piece of cake to swap out.

[justabill]

7374

7375

[Dr_Snooz]

Looks cherry, except I don't know what happened to the upholstery on that passenger seat. Welcome!

[justabill]

Haha IDK what happened to that upholstery either but I can live with it.

So... seems like oil was leaking somewhere onto the exhaust and causing a lot of smoke to come from under the hood. Also, when switching into reverse to back out of a parking spot or when coming to a stop at the stop sign/red light the steering wheel and dash shook a lot. I changed out the valve cover gasket, spark plugs, and spark plug wires last week. Since then, there's been no shaking steering wheel and the smoke stopped after a few days which is nice.

Still have to look into an oil leak elsewhere (maybe oil pan or filter?) and once in a while I'll get a really soft brake pedal (air build up in brake lines?). Haven't switched out the radio yet but I will once I check the connections to the speakers to find a cheaper solution than finding another '88ish Honda cassette radio on EBay.

[Tdurr]

wow that looks great! Good find, and welcome to the boards!! keep us updated on this gem and get some more pictures!

[conozo]

Haha IDK what happened to that upholstery either but I can live with it.

So... seems like oil was leaking somewhere onto the exhaust and causing a lot of smoke to come from under the hood. Also, when switching into reverse to back out of a parking spot or when coming to a stop at the stop sign/red light the steering wheel and dash shook a lot. I changed out the valve cover gasket, spark plugs, and spark plug wires last week. Since then, there's been no shaking steering wheel and the smoke stopped after a few days which is nice.

Still have to look into an oil leak elsewhere (maybe oil pan or filter?) and once in a while I'll get a really soft brake pedal (air build up in brake lines?). Haven't switched out the radio yet but I will once I check the connections to the speakers to find a cheaper solution than finding another '88ish Honda cassette radio on EBay.

Sweet ride.

As for the brakes. Check your flexible brake lines for cracks and also your brake cylinders in the rear drums to see if you have any leaking brake fluid. Also check the vacuum hose going to the brake booster to make sure its in good shape too.

[derolph]

So... seems like oil was leaking somewhere onto the exhaust and causing a lot of smoke to come from under the hood. Also, when switching into reverse to back out of a parking spot or when coming to a stop at the stop sign/red light the steering wheel and dash shook a lot. I changed out the valve cover gasket, spark plugs, and spark plug wires last week. Since then, there's been no shaking steering wheel and the smoke stopped after a few days which is nice.

Still have to look into an oil leak elsewhere (maybe oil pan or filter?) and once in a while I'll get a really soft brake pedal (air build up in brake lines?). Haven't switched out the radio yet but I will once I check the connections to the speakers to find a cheaper solution than finding another '88ish Honda cassette radio on EBay.Another source of oil leaking can be the oil filter stand gasket. They are not easy to install. You can get one at 88 1988 Honda Accord Oil Filter Stand Gasket - Engine Mechanical - Ishino Stone - PartsGeek (http://www.partsgeek.com/catalog/1988/honda/accord/engine_mechanical/oil_filter_stand_gasket.html)

[justabill]

Thanks for all the help guys! I'll def keep y'all posted.


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[justabill]

Turns out it really helps to check "pre gapped" spark plugs. [emoji16] The car runs a lot smoother now.


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[Hash_man_Se_i]

Welcome to the forum. That's a clean looking 3g, and the issues you're having should be pretty easy fixes.

Oil pan gasket can be pretty common on the motors in these cars, I have had to replace a few in the past.
Start by bleeding your brake lines and flushing out all the old fluid and replacing with new fluid. Most people neglect that on their cars.