Maintenance questions

[Invisigoth]

Hello, I am new here. Sorry if this isn't the right place for this question.

I am the proud owner of an '87 Accord LXi 4door automatic and have had it for about 3 years now. I bought it for $600 but since I have owned it I have put over $2k worth of work into it because things keep breaking down. It has about 230k miles on it.

I love this car and I would like to keep it as long as possible. I know next to nothing about cars, so my question is... What things should I have a mechanic take a look at to make the car last longer?

Total repairs so far:

-water pump
-oil pump
-power steering pump
-power steering hoses
-coolant hoses
-some kind of mainfold for some coolant hoses
-timing belt
-numerous oil leak problems
-alternator
-battery
-cv joints
-brakes
-tires

Things I know I need are:
-front right calipur
-rear drum rotation
-muffler

What else should I have someone look at?

One concern I have though is my programed fuel injector light stays on. I looked in my manual and it says its normal to come on real fast when you start it, but it stays on. Is this a big problem?

Also sometimes when I start it it sounds like it revs and drops and revs and drops until I hit the gas.

And sometimes it sounds like its going to die when I start it, but this is rare. Usually I can hit the gas and it'll stop and sometimes I have to turn the car off and try again.

I know this is a lot, like I said I am a car idiot... but I love it and want to keep it running. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

[2oodoor]

welcome
wow , looking at your list you just about got it covered but as I was thinking about it I finished reading and yes, you need to have the throttle body and IAC, EGR systems all cleaned.
Probably be a good idea to replace the radiatior if it never has been done.
Make sure your battery cables are in top notch shape.
Distributor Ign, probably could use a good going over too

[Invisigoth]

Thanks for the advice! I'm going in next weekend to have the calipur replaced and rear drums rotated and I'll have the mechanic look at those.

Battery cables are good, they were replaced about 3 or 4 months ago. And I had a radiator flush a while ago too.

Any thoughts on the Programmed Fuel Injection light?

[Vanilla Sky]

I'm with Roodoo on the IAC and EGR systems. You may also want to have your oxygen sensors replaced. Those are the 3 biggest causes of that PGM-FI light to stay on.

[Invisigoth]

Thanks again! I'll have that looked at as well!

[LX-incredible]

Sounds about right, I've replaced most of the parts on your list. You should be seeing the end of that soon. Check the codes with the light on and the engine running:
http://img463.imageshack.us/img463/2357/codechartje8.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

[2ndGenGuy]

^^^ Woah, that's pretty cool how the ECU trouble code light is on the ECU under the seat!

[AccordB20A]

^^^ Woah, that's pretty cool how the ECU trouble code light is on the ECU under the seat!

looks like you dont have much to do with fuel injection systems lol

[Hauntd ca3]

get the trans serviced religously every 12/15thousand miles.
they have a tendancy to die pretty quick if you dont.
Mine died after 30thou with out a service.
gave me reason for a manual convertion

[Blkblurr]

get the trans serviced religously every 12/15thousand miles.
they have a tendancy to die pretty quick if you dont.
Mine died after 30thou with out a service.
gave me reason for a manual convertion
Believe it or not I had 200,000 on mine before I changed the trans fluid for the first time. I have never had any trouble with it.

[Fataliac]

With older cars, it's good to give the suspension a thorough check...especially ball joints and bushings (esp. control arm bushings) . Those bushings dry out over the years, and before you know it, you have shimmy in the steering wheel, pops and creaks -all of which, if over-stressed and ignored, can be hazardous to your health (and everyone elses) If you have any of these symptoms, drive easy on it until you can have them repaired.

[MessyHonda]

Believe it or not I had 200,000 on mine before I changed the trans fluid for the first time. I have never had any trouble with it.



man...you never got around to it. i think the longest for my dx has been like 40k....it killed the tranny slowly that i had to swap out trans

[Blkblurr]

man...you never got around to it. i think the longest for my dx has been like 40k....it killed the tranny slowly that i had to swap out trans
I was told by an engineer at Honda that these trannys can go along time without changing the fluid. This is of course if you don't abuse them and don't live in a harsh environment. I wouldn't recommend doing this but it worked ok for me.

[Invisigoth]

Thanks for the replies everyone. I'll be sure to get everything checked out that was recommended.

Just an update. I went today to get my calipur replaced and rear drums rotated (which after the telling the mechanic that he about laughed at me because he said you don't rotate drums). He said that they all looked good and whoever told me that must not have noticed that the brakes were out of alignment and that they were just trying to take my money.

So I had saved up to get all that work done and turned out I didn't need it, so I just got an oil change and a new muffler because my muffler sounded like a jet airplane trying to take off, haha.

[MessyHonda]

I was told by an engineer at Honda that these trannys can go along time without changing the fluid. This is of course if you don't abuse them and don't live in a harsh environment. I wouldn't recommend doing this but it worked ok for me.


i think the steep hills killed mine...my mom worked up in a mountain...where the brakes and trans go out fast...thats why her boss would buy new cars every 3 years...she worked with them for 8 years and i bet they had 7 cars.

[Invisigoth]

I looked for this ECU box under the driver seat and did not see one... Is it really small or hidden somewhere?

[2drSE-i]

no, its the only thing under there. Look for a small trap door, it will be staring you in the face. Also something i would have checked out is the sway bar bushings, mine were shot after only 120000 miles. as for your jumpy idle, have the fast idle valve adjusted, or do it yourself. Go to pauldesign.ru and download the shop manual, it will be a godsend