LIST: What are the common problems?

[Einstein]

Based on your experience and things you learn on this board, what are the common things that go wrong on the 3G Accord?

I would like this list to be a resource for anyone looking to purchase or carefully maintain a 3rd Gen Accord.

I'll start:

Deteriorated engine motor mount(s)
Leaking water pump
Front lower ball joints wear out
Rust on rear fenders above wheelwells
Tranny Throttle valve out of adjustment
A/C expensive to recharge
Ignition switch and/or transmission interlock switch fail
Passenger window goes down slowly

I guess it wouldn't hurt to mention some of the things that hold up well compared to other makes of cars:

Valve seals don't leak
Interior fabric holds up well

[RobT5580]

For me with my 3 1989 Coupes:
Water pump
CV Joints

I would say that was the only common items that i have had but my 2nd accord i was a bit unlucky with and had to do:

Rear coolant hose to firewall blew while driving
Water pump pulley fell off (cause mechanic didnt tighten properly)
Tranny blew (cause of same shitty mechanic)
Oil Leak appeared after the same mechanic touched the car
loose starter solenoid wire cause problem starting
Bad axles again cause mechanic used tie raps and didnt hold the grease in

I had lots of problems cause of this mechanic but this was before i knew how to work on cars. The sad thing is it was a normal small garage but the guy hacked up everything he ever did. After finding numerous problems and having to take things back 3 times for the same thing my tranny went and was determined not to be leaking and had only a tiny bit of tranny fluid in it and this was after driving about 2 miles away from the mechanic after saying he check the fluid level. So this was the start of my car repairs and have been fine ever since.

[Jims 86LXI HB]

Other than stumbling idle while warming up I had ZERO problems.
Other issue's I had are NORMAL wear and tear than all car's can get over time.
Slow syncro's in 2nd and towards the end, 3rd.
Radiator needed to be replaced (original still in car at 226k)
A/C needed service
Noise from rear suspension caused by warn out rear sway bar bushings
To low idle fixed by turning idle control screw
Replaced left drive axle after finding one boot torn
Replaced front rotor's after warpage

I car was rarely babied, most of the time I of course obeyed the laws. But I hot rodded it quite a bit. Any car I own has to deal with my driving style. My 3g took everthing I threw at it and never flinched. And it was a hell of a fun car while doing it

[Mike's89AccordLX]

It a tough little car. I drove it really tough before I got to love it. Now I baby the thing. But when I'm racing the babying stuff is out the window. That stuff isn't too bad for a 14 year old car.

[87accordlxi]

my car so far..

rust on wheelwells, moonroof
alternator replaced
power steering pump replaced (my fault)
CV joints/boots replaced
struts replaced, need replacing again
rack unit creaking
3rd gear syncro is going
A/C needs recharged
warped front rotors
valve cover gasket replaced
possible wheel bearing issue

[86AccordLxi]

Power windows being slow and/or master switch going out.

This in addition to previously mentioned problems.

Alex

[Stefi-blueLX]

Originally posted by Mike's89AccordLX
It a tough little car. I drove it really tough before I got to love it. Now I baby the thing. But when I'm racing the babying stuff is out the window. That stuff isn't too bad for a 14 year old car.

Ha! That sounds like me! Yeah I drove mine "tough" during my high school days, but now, I baby mine too. Mines same as yours too, but an auto.

The major problem I have with the car is oil leaks, usually in 2-3 different spots. I think it's common with Hondas. My mom's has the same problem.

[HondaManDan]

well so far...

REPLACED:
all four struts
all four springs
heater hoses
rear wheel wells
rear wheel bearings
flex pipe
front rotors (stock at 80,000miles)
catylitic converter
heat shields between exhaust and undercarriage
all four upper ball joints
CV joints and boots
Axles
Control arm end links

NEED TO REPLACE:
powersteering cooler
power rack ends
front lower ball joints
muffler and cat-back
timing belt
other belts and hoses (routine)
tranny fix... slips a little

[Jareds 89 LX-i]

Well I think the actual common problems with the 3geez are:
-main relay
-leaky fuel injectors
-leaky moonroof
-EAC valve
-motor mounts
-CV boots/joints (but that's to be expected with any FWD vehicle)


--Stuff that's been replaced since we bought it 5-30-97 with 140k--
Keep in mind some stuff had to be replaced because of a wreck
-CV joints, 2 fuel injectors, timing belt @190,000
-alternator @ ~215-220k
-thermostat (don't remember when)
-main relay (don't remember when)
-2 rear struts and a muffler (also don't remember when)
-radiator @ 253k (due to accident - was perfectly fine beforehand)
-cooling fans @ 253k (due to accident -- worked fine before)
-both radiator hoses (around that time somewhere)
-drivers side CV boot (also around that time somewhere)
-water pump, timing belt, all drive belts @ 260k
-TPS/throttle body @ 265k (my fault -- I broke it while cleaning)
-fuel filter and tranny oil change (don't remember exactly)
-all new exhaust piping and muffler @ ~268k
-drivers rear power window motor/regulator (around that time somewhere)
-oxygen sensors @ ~270k
-2 rear upper balljoints (control arms) @ 271k
-cat converter @ 274k
-headgasket @ 275k (overheated a few times)
-brake rotors @ ~285k
-front brake calipers/rear wheel cylinders @ ~295k (my fault -- broke the bleeder screws)
-front motor motor mount @ ~290k
-master cylinder @ 296k
-rear motor mount @ ~298k
-original starter @ 298k (old one actually still worked good, just wanted to replace before my trip)
-4 brake hoses @ 301k (old ones were fine, but I wanted to replace before towing the trailer on my long trip)
-cooling fan timer/control unit @ 308k
-steering column combo switch @ 308k (sorta my fault too. Was acting weird, but I broke it completely)
-EAC valve @ 308k
-A/C condenser, A/C hoses, reciever/dryer, and compressor currently being replaced (all do to the accident, and thus not being used)
-regular oil and filter change every 3-5k

That's everything. I know it looks like alot, but that really is everything (and I do mean every single item) that has been replaced in the near 170k miles we've had it, which is on top of the 140k it already had. I do need to replace the CV joints again as they are starting to click-click-click (damn reman parts). Still the most damn reliable car I've ever owned. Never once left me (or anyone else) stranded or failed to start. Runs like a champ currently @ 309.4k

[Blue Impact]

With the car aging, we should expect some repairs. Every once now and then I will have to replace something. I've never had any leaks of any kind. My biggest problem right now is that my car squeels whenever I steer.

[Mike89Accordcom]

My oil pan was leaking bad, injectors started leaking, and my air conditioning fan went out. Those are the few things I've encountered in 7 years, otherwise my accord has been great! Just happens in time because our cars are older.

[sanjay]

*sunroof - sunroof's are the pits, to all you punks out there desperately wanting a friggin sunroof, be thankful that you don't have one.
Whilst it is nice being able to open the sunroof and let the breeze flow through, watch the underside of trees whilst driving and letting some sun in - here where i live in australia, the sun burns after 10 mins! Also, when i bought the car, the dealer said there wasn't any rust. However, there was rust around the sunroof area cause the drainage things were clogged up. Thanks for the how-to i was able to unclogg the bastard!

anyways, that's my bitch for the day!

[A20A1]

-Old or loose belts normally indicated by a squeeling noise under fthe hood. Turn on the car and listen for squeeling... tun the wheels left and right and listen for squeeling, rev the engine once or twice. turn the car off and inspect the blets.

- Water pump, check for water/coolant stains on the area above and below the water pump. Signs of a leaky pump normally end up on the underside of the hood as a caked on spray of brown or redish crap.

- Outer CV boots, the grease from a broken cv joint is easy to spot on the inner wall of the rims and on the spring assembly and brake parts. Tilting the tire or opening the hood will give you a view of the cv boots. The boot may still be on the joint but a tear may have happened some place so check both sides.

- Valve cover gasket (just wears out over time... posibly the easiest gasket to replace... check the oil content and color... if thats ok and the leaky gasket is the only problem it's not something to turn the car down over)

- Radiator and or Just filler neck leaking (Too much pressure, just getteng old who knows... this is something that should be watched carefully and repaired or replaced... check the coolant level and color. There are some repair kits for the radiator for small leaks. Any major leakes will require a replacement radiator.) if you can carry the cost of getting a new radiator and you haven't added several items to a repair list already... still consider buying the car.

- Weakened Coolant hoses to and from heater core and other collant hoses. With your hand sueeze the hoses and see if they are brittle or overly soft. new hoses are ridged but flexable.
When replacing old hoses consider doing them all at once.

- Old vacuum lines to Carb / Emissions controll box vacuum lines usually stay in good shape. Carb vacuum lines are a headache to those unfamilliar to the older emissions controlled carbureted vehicles. While a leaky vacuum line will seriously hurt the cars performance and drivability. It's not easy to spot outright... if you can have someone you know who is fammiliar with the car look over it for you. Though a test drive would give you an idea of how well things are holding up under te hood. Listen and look for sporattic idle, stalling, and or hard starting problems.

- (automatic cars only) Old Transmission cooling lines to radiator. Its hard to check these lines... again have someone who is mechanicly minded with you to locate and check the transmission fluid level and color and wiggle the hoses to see if they are brittle.

- My front passenger windows slowed down. It's fixable... normally the motor bushing are corroded.

- I've never had this problem on my cars but on the motor I got the plugs were seized in.

Easy exterior visual stuff.
- Rust under antenna port on roof.
- Rust in gutters above rear door.
- Rust near the base of front and rear windows.
- Rusting exterior and interior of muffler and pipes leading up to muffler.

Some other things to check.
- When getting a DX LX remove the filter lid and rub your finger over the inside of the air box looking for dirt build up, and check the filter color(most are a white paper filter, they turn grey or blackwhen used)... then with a flash light look through the brass screen down the barrels to see if it has ever been cleaned before. The color of clean carb barrels is a light metalic gray. The plates inside the barrels if clean are a brass color like the screen above it.

- Also with a flash light inspect the rear white plastic filter near the rear driver side tire... it should be bolted near or on the gas tank I believe. Clean the exterior of dirt and look to see if the inside of the filter is clean. another job for your mechanicly minded friend.

[ACCORD EX]

slow windows
wheel bearings
leaking steer rack
cold idle
weak hand brake
rust the wheel wells , sunroof


MIKE

[markmdz89hatch]

I think we should add a mileage mark to each item that had to be replaced. There are many repairs that need to occur to any FWD vehicle of high mileage (if they can make it as high as 3G's ). An example would be axles, bushings, ball joints, etc. But there are some problems that are characteristic of the 3G that should be looked at depending on it's mileage.

...rear wheel well rust
...for 86-87 LX-i's they had warpage problems with their rotors due to undersized braking sys. up front.
...DX interior upholstery deteriorated quickly, but foam stayed intact.
...LX-i interior upholstery was just the opposite. Great uph., but foam deteriorated faster. (prob. due to diff. upholstery of LX-i's)
...power steering issues after 200K mi.
...rear upper control arm/bearing needs to/should be replaced after 200K mi.
...auto tranny's good only for about 180-200K mi. and CANNOT take a beating.
...aged power window motors.
...mounts very soft at about 200K.
...bearings usually hold up 'til about 200-250K mi.
...lastly, take a look at the timing belt and ask for replacement dates/mileages. If that goes, kiss your engine goodbye 98% of the time.


I think that's all I can think of so far. I just came up with that stuff based on my experiences with my 2 3G's. I could be WAY off based, but if i am, please correct me so that I'm not giving bad info to anyone.

[ACCORD EX]

damn i forgot to mention all belts !

MIKE

[markmdz89hatch]

Originally posted by ACCORD EX
damn i forgot to mention all belts !

MIKE

Including those damn f*king retracting seat belts. LOL! Grrrr... those things blow, and the people that don't feed it back in before they wing the door shut, and end up fucking up the jamb and door panel, need to be slapped.

[ACCORD EX]

i think you got me wrong Mark !
i meant belts in the engine LOL :lol !

MIKE

[markmdz89hatch]

Originally posted by ACCORD EX
i think you got me wrong Mark !
i meant belts in the engine LOL :lol !

MIKE

yeah, I knew you meant the engine belts, but you reminded me of my major complaint with those damn f*king seatbelts.... AHHHHH I hate those little f***er's sooooo much!

[AccordEpicenter]

my engine belts are completely stock since the car was new... never changed at belt in my 88... i think he means seatbelts, i hate them too

[ACCORD EX]

i think this is getting more and more confusing !
anyway seat belts are really a pain in the a$$ ! :angry:

MIKE

[markmdz89hatch]

Originally posted by ACCORD EX
i think this is getting more and more confusing !
anyway seat belts are really a pain in the a$$ ! :angry:

MIKE

agreed! At that, I'm leaving this thread alone. Now I'm just reading, no more posting on this thread for me.

[ELM'sLX+CHL'sDX]

From the look of this, most of these problems are age related and are to be expected with cars as old as ours. Most of us are running into the gambit of oil leaks, failed pumps (water, fuel), deteriorating seals and various other electrical problems. I think all everyone of us should be thankful we've had such great use of our cars. I purchased mine at 80K miles and didn't start having major problems until I had around 250K miles. I don't think we can include maintenance issues such as belts, fluids and brake elements (pads & rotors). As far as frequency of parts failure here are the parts I've seen replaced often on our cars of high mileage.

Fuel Pump
Alternator
Water Pump
Outer Tie Rods
Ball Joints
Oil Pan, Valve Cover & Head Gaskets

Claude