Starting an Accord that has been sitting

[jls]

I have inherited my sister's 1989 accord carburated lx. It has been sitting in the driveway for the last ten years, and has just over 100k miles on it. I put a new battery in, poured some fresh gas in the carb, and it fired up and idled without any hesitation.

I have a long list of things to do, including oil and filter, coolant, tires, fuel filters. I think I should change the drive belts as well.

The car had a new timing belt and water pump at 80k. Should I replace that as well? Anything else I am missing? Thanks, jls

[ShyBoyCA6]

well 20 k isnt alot man you can still use it for another 40 or 30 k more if ya want change the spark plugs too probably not gonna last very long...

[dacantu]

ummm I would change all the belts if theyve been sitting for the past 10 years with no frequent movement. I feel that they might have gotten old and dried up.

just my 2 cents

[greentee76]

Welcome.
I would be suspect of any rubber parts after sitting that long.
If it were me I would go ahead and change the timing belt just for piece of mind.
I would also clean the engine bay really well as it will make it easier to detect leaks later on. I have read that honda engines do not like to sit for long periods of time as their seals tend to deteriate. I have not had any problem with this, but it is something I would watch for in your situation.
A good coolant flush is probably in order after sitting this long, you can check the condition of the hoses at this time also. These cars do not like dirty coolant.
That's all I can think of at the moment.
Again, welcome and good luck with it.

[w261w261]

The main difference between people that have reliable old cars and people that don't is that the people with reliable ones do maintenance in advance of failure. If you don't mind being stranded every once in awhile, then you can wait for a part to fail before fixing it. This allows you to get every bit of use out of it, but at the cost of the inconvenience. Me, I go for preventative maintenance.

Many things will announce themselves in advance before they fail completely. The front end will get progressively more loose before a ball joint fails, a muffler will get louder and louder, etc. For those parts, if you pay attention to what the car is telling you, you can replace them in plenty of time.

But there are other things that won't give you any warning. Those you should replace on a schedule. Here's some from my list:

1. Timing belt. If you don’t know when it has been replaced, you should plan on doing it now. If it fails, everything stops. Also do the water pump. Some say if the belt fails you might also bend some valves, but others here say that won't happen.

2. All hoses. I think they should be replaced every four years, but others say you can go longer. Some are more heat-risked than others, I guess. You can squeeze the big ones to see if they're soft-feeling, or pull one off the radiator and look at the inside (they fail from the inside out). I just go ahead and get them all. Unfortunately, "all" includes about 8 little hoses that go to the idle stabilizer valve and idle air control valve, at least on the f.i. engines. When you or your mechanic flush the cooling system, be sure to tell him to put in Peak antifreeze or something that is bright green, not the yellow stuff. The reason is you need a nice dark coolant to check its level in the overflow bottle, which isn't so easy to see in the best of cases, with light-colored coolant it's really difficult. The water part of the 50/50 mix should be distilled, which you can buy at a grocery store. Make sure your mechanic uses it too, or uses premixed. If you can convince him when he flushes it to use distilled water that's good too, because after flushing and a radiator drain, 40% of the system’s capacity still has water in it. Doing this will pay off in your coolant not getting that rusty look for a lot longer.

2a. Clean your overflow bottle, so you can best see the level of the coolant in it. Failure to check fluids is high on the list of things not to do on old cars. The 3G does not make it easy, with a low obscure mounting point, but if you have a clean bottle and a flashlight, it's very do-able. See my posts on how to clean the bottle (take out the battery, the battery tray, the bottle, and swab it out with some phosphoric acid. Takes an hour or so).

3. Thermostat. Do with the hoses. It isn't expensive. You might as well get the temperature sensor (I think it's called the TW sensor or somesuch) that's near the thermostat too. When it starts to go the engine won't run right and finally won't start.

4. Auto tranny fluid. Use Honda OEM. Don't delay on this as there's probably some crud in there already, and a tranny fix is expensive. Manual tranny...use Honda fluid also. Change every 15k miles or so, but in practice you can probably do it when you change a drive shaft. If I get a torn boot, I myself put in a whole new shaft at that point, and I use Honda OEM shafts. Expensive, but no problems.

5. Plugs, plug wires and air filter. Change the oil every 3k miles, and do it yourself – you can buy the ramps so you can get under there. There are three reasons to do this: (1) save some money and get a decent filter (don’t buy Fram) (2) Keep some idiot at an oil change place’s hands off your oil drain plug. If he strips it, you have a problem that you don’t want to have (3) You can look around under there and check things out. Oil-wise, some here put in synthetic and say it makes a difference. I don't use it myself. You can get very involved in oil discussions with passionate people if you wish.

6. Buy a big bottle of Techron and put it in the gas every couple of thousand miles when you fill up. You might want to use two bottles with two consecutive tanks of gas, if you haven’t used it before . Techron is the best to clean the fuel injectors I think.

7. Go under the car and check the rubber booties that are at the inboard and outboard ends of the driveshafts. If the boots are torn that means that sand etc. has gotten into the cv joints, and they need to be inspected and repacked with grease. Clicking during low speed turns is the symptom. The boots need to be replaced if they're torn of course.

8. Check the ball joints for wear. There are 6 of them, 4 on the front and two on the back. Learn how to check them yourself or have your mechanic do the simple check when you’re having other stuff done. If a ball joint fails, well, think of your arm coming off at the shoulder, except it’s your front wheel. Nuff said.

9. Look at the bushings for the stabilizer bar, radius rods, and control arms. Check the steering rack for leaks, and never use anything but Honda power steering fluid, or at least fluid that specifically says it's for Honda..you will have big trouble if you use the wrong type. Look at the brakes and the wheel cylinders for dry rot. Replace the brake fluid, which should be done every 2 years, as it absorbs water.

10. If you're really into preventative maintenance, you might replace the main relay, as the solder develops micro-cracks. The install is a bit of a chore, but see the plentiful posts here on how to do it. There are two versions, for the f.i. and carbed cars. I don’t know if the carbed cars have the same issues.

11. Take a look at the radiator.

12. Does the battery have a date on it? If it’s 4 years old, get a new one before it fails on you in the winter. Take the wires off the battery posts (remove the ground wire first and put it on last, the reason being that if the ground is connected and you mistakenly short the positive post to the car with a wrench, you will produce a big spark and probably blow the alternator....don't even think about what can happen if you connect a battery backwards!). Buy a battery post/clamp cleaner thingy and thoroughly clean the post and the clamps. Get a set of those red/green felt circles that go around the posts so you won't get a buildup of corrosion.

13. Take a look at the ground wires. There's one from the valve cover to the front of the car, but mainly look at the main one from the battery to the frame. Take it off, and clean the end and where it attaches. Replace the wire if it looks rusty, and use a nice big thick gauge.

14. Check the tail lights for water pooling in the bottom of the units. Their seals leak. I use gutter tape on my sedan so the water draining from the trunk lid gutters goes over the tail lights as opposed to down across their inside face. If you have a leak, eventually the water will get high enough inside to short the bulbs and make an unsightly watermark.

15. Clean the sunroof rear drains. When they get blocked the water pools in the sunroof cutout, and when you put on the brakes you get a shower down the back of your neck. The drains are reached by taking out the trunk liners and cleaning out the plastic tubes that drain out behind the wheel wells. Use a panel-popping tool sold in auto stores to get the buttons out, using a screwdriver will make a mess.

16. Replace the pitiful sealed beam OEM head lights with Hella's, so you can use a nice replaceable bulb by PIAA or Sylvania. That way, you can actually see where you're going at night. Most of the replacement headlights on eBay are junk. Buy quality.

17. When your driver's window starts not wanting to go up, it might be the switch, as that's the one that gets the most use, but is probably the coil in the auto-drop controller, which is behind the door panel. Eventually, you won't be able to raise the window at all. There are posts on here on how to install a new one.

18. Check the tires and get some decent ones if they're worn. Get an alignment.

19. I bought a tool box and have in it a set of tools including a metric 1/4" drive socket set, all types of pliers, one of those 4 in-one screwdrivers, a spare headlight bulb, taillight bulbs (actually there's a clip for a spare tail light bulb on the inside of the covers to access the bulbs). Get some assorted spare fuses, a Maglight-quality flashlight (plus a small Maglight for the glove box). A quick tire repair kit. There's probably more stuff in there I can't remember now.

20. Buy a couple of those reflective triangles or flares, in case you get stuck at night on a dark curvy road.

21. Eventually you will leave on your headlights and run down the battery, or you will get a flat. I bought one of those jump starters / air compressors (a good one, prob cost $75) and keep it lashed to the inside of the trunk. It's bailed me out a couple of times, and I've been a good samaritan more than that. Cheap insurance, and an easy way to be a hero to those who are not prepared and would be up Shit Creek if not for you.


Remember, a reliable car is a product of the original manufacturer (ours is GREAT, of course) and constant diligence. We drive old cars, and things are always needing attention. Keep your eyes and ears open, and your 3G will reward you for hundreds of thousands of happy motoring.