Common faults/problems 89 accord

[team-monkey]

Hi there

Just bought an Accord Aerodeck today for a european road trip, and was wondering what the common faults with the car are to look out for? Means we can take some spare parts with us if necessary or get them fitted before we set off.

Some quick info on the car; is a UK 89 aerodeck ex 2.0i manual. 115,000 miles.

Cant wait to pick the beast up, is a tad ratty - red paints faded and still on steelies, but one previous (old) lady owner with a honda garage service history so hoping it's mechanically pretty sweet.

Any help is much appreciated

.gareth.

[2oodoor]

Hey with 115k miles AND service history you are probably good to go!

[Legend_master]

If the car is a fuel injected model then I would be a little preemptive and start by re-soldering the main fuel pump relay.

PGM-FI Main Relay repair (http://knarg.imgur.com/honda_pgmfi_main_relay)

Since you are going on the road, I would make sure to bring 2 full metric socket sets with some breaker bars, a couple pliers, vice clamps, multiple sizes of phillips, and flat head screwdrivers, a rubber mallet and hammer, and also a full set of open end wrenches. You might also grab a socket for the axle nut, and a ball joint separator just in case your suspension has to come off for some reason. If you have space available a floor jack can be your best friend lol.

Once you get the car make sure to look over all the ball joints, and brakes. Those tend to get the most wear and neglect (minus interior) on most the 3geez I have owned. A failed balljoint at highway speeds could leave the car completely totaled. Verify all the bearings are in proper order as well. Besides that, these cars are pretty damn reliable as long as they have been maintained somewhat. Suspension and brakes seem to be where I always have to invest the most to restore.

Where do you plan to road trip, and how far? I actually replaced the stupid spare tire with a full sized, and it ended up beneficial on my road trip.

[Vanilla Sky]

For the most part, you're just dealing with 24 year old car issues. I carry a spare main relay with me, and a small tool kit. You don't need the full kits at all, because everything on these cars under 17mm is an even number, and everything 17mm and higher is odd. There's nothing that's a 16mm, so you can leave that one out, too. Same with wrenches. As a matter of fact, if your suspension is in good shape, you only need 4 sizes of hex tools, 8mm, 10mm, 12mm, and 14mm, plus a 17mm if you ever expect to work on your fuel system on the side of the road. It's all I ever carry with me because anything else should be done where a full set of tools is available. 3 Phillips head screwdrivers, 2 flat blade drivers, and Gearwrenches in the sizes above round out the rest of my kit. No copies of anything, just singles. The only times I've been left stranded and unable to fix one of my Accords was due to parts availability, not a lack of tools.

[team-monkey]

Cheers for the replies, very much appreciated. Will be showing them to my mate who i'm doing the trip with as we'll be nicking his tools i think. Brake lines were all replaced by the honda dealership the service history is with as were the rear splash plates. But i will double check over them and the suspension components. Luckily i have a friend with a garage so can get mates rates if any work needs doing before setting off.

How much is a main relay btw?

Car also has the original cassette player in if you think anyone on the forum would be interested in it? (will be installing a new one with aux input)

This is a rough bodge up of the route we're planning on doing. Will be doing far more research etc on it yet but gives you an idea:..

https://maps.google.co.uk/maps?saddr=Brugge%2C+Belgium&daddr=Luxembourg+to%3ABasel%2C+Switzerland+to%3ALi echtenstein+to%3AStelvio+Pass%2C+Santa+Maria+Val+M üstair%2C+Switzerland+to%3AVenice%2C+Province+of+V enice%2C+Italy+to%3ALake+Bled%2C+Bled%2C+Radovljic a%2C+Slovenia+to%3APlitvice+Lakes+National+Park%2C +Plitvička+Jezera%2C+Croatia+to%3ADubrovnik%2C+Cro atia+to%3Aohrid+macedonia+to%3Ameteora+greece+to%3 Aistanbul+to%3Aburgas+to%3Abucharest+to%3Atransfag arasan+to%3ABratislava%2C+Slovakia+to%3AVienna%2C+ Austria+to%3Anurburgring+to%3ABrugge%2C+Belgium&hl=en&ie=UTF8&sll=45.782575%2C16.082925&sspn=17.47607%2C39.462891&geocode=FVRqDQMdJTUxACkNQh7B0FDDRzH3TYPIWvOiGg%3BF eke-AIdr4ddAClHISHKuUWVRzHvktMC9mDbZA%3BFS2r1QIdfdpzAC lPMGknx0mQRzGQim3zcOscNg%3BFTCyzwIdrc2RACn9L0cdRDG bRzGJsVrdNrXqYA%3BFdUKxgIdUHSfACkdHBhV5BqDRzFg64Mu iAkHHQ%3BFU9ftQIde-u7ACmJPdbx2rF-RzEvEJK98Majew%3BFc5zwwId7Q3XACmH5EMmN5F6RzHwiXaSH PgAKg%3BFXTQrAIdqlnuACFwXpo3-I8aBSk9D9n-bF5hRzFwXpo3-I8aBQ%3BFSnMigIdVxkUASl96DUIootLEzEA1SuGUK0ABA%3BF VR3cwId8a09ASlXZuqHZdtQEzHTyQs5ZfxsxA%3BFY5hbAIdyE ReASnjzappMzioFDFLIeW8ahangw%3BFdawcQIdQCe6ASlrCGg ABKfKFDHQsAG8mP7M4Q%3BFVmSiAId7AujASmRnfz5ZpKmQDHw Tb9pEqAABA%3BFc8QpgId1zaOASlPrTy_OvmxQDEoppx84zIGr A%3BFaDctQIdSWV3ASlzfDA4qt1MRzE3h2C9en5RUA%3BFeSl3 gIdwQgFASmXYcoKNolsRzFoQ4j9gpsfYw%3BFS6Z3wIdO9j5AC mfyjZRngdtRzFGW6JRiuXC_Q%3BFUgGAAMdyPppACGaWMpzG8L bgClZxRCQNq2_RzGaWMpzG8LbgA%3BFVRqDQMdJTUxACkNQh7B 0FDDRzH3TYPIWvOiGg&oq=vienna&t=h&doflg=ptm&mra=ls&z=5

[dieselgus]

Take a couple meters of 7mm, 10mm vacuum and fuel line, also a couple meters of 10mm coolant line. Aside from that, not too much to worry with. I just picked up another 89 in November and drove it on a 5000km round trip halfway across Canada over the holiday season with zero issues in -30ish C weather.

You will be fine. Take some hose just in case you lose one (rubber hoses are getting old and brittle on these cars if they haven't all been replaced already at least once)

[Dr_Snooz]

Belts and hoses are really the only things that will stop you cold. I've driven hundreds of miles on a quart of oil. Hundreds more on a bad oil pump. You can always limp them home. There really aren't any problems that you can't massage your way through. These are the best cars ever made. Just grab a roll of duct tape and enjoy the drive.