Looking at an 88 LX, have a few questions

[my89dx]

Hello everyone...

I am looking at an 1988 Accord DX for about $1,000. Here's the deal. It has like 180k on the engine and seems to run decent. They say it has a blown head gasket, but I see no water in the oil or oil in the water. The car didn't heat up beyond normal operating conditions. The wierd thing is when I checked the oil it looked as though there was really thin oil in it. I mean there was no color to it and it had a funny smell to it. I am wondering if someone put a different kind of oil in this thing or something. From what I can tell it looks like it has just recently had an oil change and possibly they put new coolant into the engine. It doesn't act like a car would with a blow head. I had it running at idle for over an hour and it didn't go passed the half way mark. I am not sure if it really does have a bad head or not. I am thinking they are not sure what is wrong with it because they couldn't give me a straight answer except for that someone who looked at is said it had a blown gasket. I just don't see the signs of it. Even under the radiator cap it was lookin good. I looked under the oil cap and it looked good. There was no signs of a blown gasket. It doesnt idle bad or anything like that, doesn't smoke so I am not sure what to make of it. I am thinking about bringing the compression tester with me to see if it is indeed a blown head or if someone was trying to cheat the dealer out of a nice looking 3G. Any advice would be helpful. I loved my old 89 but she has been turned loose. I am stuck between this accord or a 86 VW Jetta which ran and drove well, but the jetta is $500. So, I just want to see which one would be the best deal. Thanks.

[MessyHonda]

yeah if i was you i would just get a Fuel injected accord...they are much nicer....i can tell you since i have a DX and now i upgraded to a Lx-i and this thing gives the 3rd gee a new life....my Dx had a blown headgasket but it leaked coolent...it gave me signs like a month early since it would leak a frew drops....then it just gave up and dumped all the water....well do a compression test and you might also want to do is a cooling system test...when you put pressure on the system(around 10-15 pounds) to check it it looses pressure....also 1000 bucks sounds too high maybe like 600 with a blown headgasket....that how they go for around my area

[forrest89sei]

Hello everyone...
I am looking at an 1988 Accord DX for about $1,000. Here's the deal. It has like 180k on the engine and seems to run decent. They say it has a blown head gasket, but I see no water in the oil or oil in the water. The car didn't heat up beyond normal operating conditions. The wierd thing is when I checked the oil it looked as though there was really thin oil in it. I mean there was no color to it and it had a funny smell to it. I am wondering if someone put a different kind of oil in this thing or something. From what I can tell it looks like it has just recently had an oil change and possibly they put new coolant into the engine. It doesn't act like a car would with a blow head. I had it running at idle for over an hour and it didn't go passed the half way mark. I am not sure if it really does have a bad head or not. I am thinking they are not sure what is wrong with it because they couldn't give me a straight answer except for that someone who looked at is said it had a blown gasket. I just don't see the signs of it. Even under the radiator cap it was lookin good. I looked under the oil cap and it looked good. There was no signs of a blown gasket. It doesnt idle bad or anything like that, doesn't smoke so I am not sure what to make of it. I am thinking about bringing the compression tester with me to see if it is indeed a blown head or if someone was trying to cheat the dealer out of a nice looking 3G. Any advice would be helpful. I loved my old 89 but she has been turned loose. I am stuck between this accord or a 86 VW Jetta which ran and drove well, but the jetta is $500. So, I just want to see which one would be the best deal. Thanks.


for around the same price you can get a LX-i or a Se-i!

I own a 1986 Accord LX and have gone through alot of problems with my carb! the only way I'd buy a carb car would be if it were in MINT COND and if I were doing a FI swap or poping a weber on it.

$1,000 is kinda high for a DX with 180K and a blown head gasket.
if your going to GET IT CHECK BY A SHOP BEFORE YOU SIGN PAPERS!
you do not want to find out that you have a cracked head due to it over heating.

Check Cragslist, eBAY, and your local FREE papers.

[my89dx]

I found a 87LX for $500 that all it needs is a battery that I might go for. I told them at the dealer on the 88 that I thought $1000 was highway robbery because you just don't know what kind of damage was done until you get it apart. I would rather get one that is injected because the old 89 I had nothing but problems with the carb. The 87 is in OK shape, not perfect. It needs a paintjob but seems to run good. The only downfall I see with it is the fact that it is an automatic. I would think that will take from the power. My 89 had power all the way up to its last days, and it still got me home. I love the hondas, they are the only jap cars I would ever even take a second look at. The 87 I believe it has like 202k on the engine and as soon as I put a good battery in it, she fired right up after pumping the gas like 4 times. So I am thinking just pay the $500 for that and convert it over to FI. Its already an LX so just add FI then it becomes an LX-i. Is there any differences the the engines from the A20A1 to the A20A3? Just wondering how hard it will be to convert over? Thanks for the replies people I thought they were charging too much for that 88. I told him I'd give him $500 for it but he said he could take it to an auction and get more for it...even though I would argue that point if he tells them the head is gone. But tell me what you think of the 87 accords...automatic...ick...ick. Thanks guys.

[MessyHonda]

well that is a cheap price for the LX....but it would be better if you just get a fuel injected car...if you were willing to pay the 1000 bucks for the Dx you can find a decent fuel injected car for that price....check out craigslist....some times you will find a jem but you have to go find it....i picked up a 89 LX-i with 136K for 500 bucks in the bay area(every thing is like 2x than in other places) all it needed was a radiator and a water pump. take your time if you are not in a hurry....took me around 3 months to find a decent car.

[2oodoor]

Messy is nailing this one on the head....literally
figure all the time and labor in converting. your gonna have a 2000 car time all is said and done, but it wont be marketable for that, it has to be for the love of Hondas my freind. That 88 sounds suspicious, could have been some snake oil fix done to it , or totally misdiagnosed, or not even the same car the dealer could be mistaken it for another car, sometimes used car dealers are not the sharpest pencil in the box ya know.l..dont let super clean interiors fool you on these cars, they go to the scrap yard like that sometimes, these interiors hold up real well sometime.

[my89dx]

Hello everyone,

Been a while since I have posted last. Anyways my 89 a few months back died on me (trans and carb went) so I sold it. Didn't want to, but the wife said it would take too much to put it back on the road. Anyways, my question is this: I am looking at a 88 Accord DX for $200 or best offer. The car looks very nice (good body, paint and interior) but the problem is, the fuel shutoff relay is bad from what the owner tells me. He said if you cross the two prongs on the connector it will run but it will blow a fuse. Now, I don't know what fuse it is, but I am wondering if I should take a chance and get it and see if I replace the relay if it will run without blowing a fuse. I am not sure what the miles are, but I know from my old accord that if you have good running gear and all that these cars will run forever. I miss my accord and I want another. I believe I could get this one back on the road with minimal effort. I was just wondering what would be causing it to blow a fuse? Could it be because a relay turns on and shuts off or is there an electrical problem that I would have to diagnose? I am thinking that he ran it out of gas. He said he replaced the fuel pump and other things, but that is what I am thinking in order to blow the relay. Any ideas? Any help would be appreciated.

Thank you.:huh:

[ghettogeddy]

prolly a short in the wires just folly them and see lol it also my be a bad relay

[MessyHonda]

well that is a good price...you should look for fuel injected cars since they are easy to work on than a carb with 30 lines coming out of it. i own a 88dx also and i changed the fuel relay...i think they go bad after 150k...i also changed the fuel pump and filters.

[my89dx]

So the relay can cause a fuse to blow if you cross the prongs? How much do those things usually run? I never really had problems with the vac lines on my 89. All of them were labeled so it was cake. I just want to make sure I can get this thing to work.

[A20A1]

I thought you could rip out the fuel cut and it would still run.


Anyways the pump will run once and shut off when you turn the key and they when you start the pump will be on again... though I dunno if it's constanly on or on on demand.

For me I would just buy some external pump and wire it up to an on with ignition wire but have a secondary switch where you can run the pump for say 2 seconds before actually starting the car. That way mimicing the stock setup.

More hastle on your end but at least you know where things are so no hidden electrical gremlins to worry about.

[my89dx]

I am looking at an 88 Accord LX and I have a few questions. I asked something simular earlier and I have more info, so I am going to ask it again. Okay heres the deal, the guy who is selling the car said that when you turn the key on it only gets one spirt of fuel and nothing else. If he crosses the prongs on the fuel relay it will start, but then it blows the fuel pump relay. I was thinking relay, but then I thought that its working if its giving it fuel. I was thinking fuel pressure regulator? What do you guys think? He is only asking $200 for it and it looks okay. I am loading a picture of it on here too, I hope it works. He said that it comes with a CD player, so thats a bonus. I just want to get it running because I have no way to tow it home. I would rather have a honda then a gas guzzling truck. Please let me know what you guys think.