Performance Upgrade

[meangreenLXi]

I wanna make my car quicker. From a stop to 60mph, what can I do ? I had a tune-up a month or two ago, but I didn't know at the time that I had a blown valve cover gasket. I seems that after the gasket cover change, my car hesitates . I do think it's because the valve cover change came after the tune up. Is this true, if anyone knows ... Before the valve cover change, after the tune up, I felt quicker :pimp:. That was after the winter here in upstate NY(April), every since the valve cover change I can only get quick starts after hesitating a sec or so , SPEED OPTIONS PLEASE, oh yeah I'm gonna get the tune up again or should I ...

[1988starter]

As long as they did a full tune up meaning change all fluids plug wires plugs and filters you should not need a new one. As for the gasket decreasing peformance that is something I have never heard. But expect the car to be a little slower when it is warmer out. If you have an auto try doing a flush and refill with Honda ATF and also clean your throttle body. You may also want to get an intake system for staters try a 92 civic short ram cut about 3-5 inches off the filter end and it should fit nice. here is a pict of an AEM one I bought from www.nopi.com but it would be probably be cheaper to get a no name brand of ebay I just like the K&N filter that came with this one.


Here is a pict of my 90 integra cai it was a lot more work to fit but the end result was nice. Also I live in mendon NY about 30 min south or roch so if you need help I am sure we can get together.

[meangreenLXi]

:super:, cool I was just lookin at some of your pics earlier today...I had the wires and plugs changed, along with the distributer and rotor. They did change the fuel filter also. I'm not sure what other filters could've been changed. Is this considered a full tune up

[1988starter]

If they did all that you probably do not need another tune up but defantly get some throttlebody spray and clean that bad boy you may also want to replace your PCV valve it may be cloged (look in the how to). Your ignition coil could also be going I would suggest getting an accel super coil if you are thinking about replacing it about 30 bucks once again check ebay and the how to section.
You may also want to get 2.25 inch pipe with a decent muffler dynomax super turbo is a favorite on the board. So to start with speed do this

Intake
2.25 inch exhaust
header (save the extra money go Ceramic)
accel coil (any time)
Cam
MSD ignition
peformance clutch if 5 speed
underdrive pulleys
Ajustiable FPR
and come back when that is done

[1988starter]

you may also want to look here
https://www.3geez.com/showthread.php?...ormance+how+to

[meangreenLXi]

Great, I need a starting point, thanx for the info. I'm gonna start on it this week. I'm at work that's why reply's are so infrequent. Lookin at the site now for more tips...

[meangreenLXi]

I've got an automatic...

[88' Accord Ltd]

5 speed swap!!

[1988starter]

go to the dealer and get some honda ATF I think 6-8 bottles then go home drain it out and rill it up run it then drain and fill again because when you drain an auto tranny not all of it goes out that way you can dilute the old fluid but I highly recomend honda ATF it seems to work the best.

[meangreenLXi]

Transmission fluid ? I went to a shop and the guy told me that once your car's milege gets past 70G's you can't do a fluid change, I've got 142G's

[1988starter]

Well I have never heard that one before

[infecto]

I would say if the tranny was having real problems not to change it. But if the tranny seems alright I don't see how changing the fluid coudl cause any problems.

[meangreenLXi]

I do have a little hitch in it when I let off the gas, the problem got better by 50% after getting the valve cover gasket replaced, now the hitch is smaller and I know to let off slowly, so it's almost unnoticable. I was reading a post that said it could be the motor mounts?? So not sure yet if it's mounts or tranny..

[CARBurn]

Originally posted by meangreenLXi
Transmission fluid ? I went to a shop and the guy told me that once your car's milege gets past 70G's you can't do a fluid change, I've got 142G's

I've heard of this kinda of. I know pep boys would not change my manual transmission fluid in my 87 because my car had 200k+ miles. I believe 70k and above is considered high for them to change it. I ended up changing it myself.

[meangreenLXi]

So If I drain the tranny and refill, I should get better performance or smoother running

[Mike's89AccordLX]

Well it will be better for the car overall. I've read on here that Honda MTF can be better than other oils. They said it was a noticeble difference so I went out and bought some Honda MTF today b/c I will change it when I finish the CV shafts tonight hopefully.

[meangreenLXi]

where do i get it? Honda dealer, pepboys, advanced auto??? The fluid. Oh yeah, i'm a newbie.. what is "MTF" is that manual transmission fluid. I have an automatic, so i need ATF, if I'm on the same page...

[meangreenLXi]

okay i see up above from 1988starter, go to honda dealer and ATF, that's where I heard it before...Thanx 3gers

[Mike's89AccordLX]

Honda dealer is the only place to get it. For a full change you will probably need 3 quarts of it. And it's about $5 for each quart. Well MTF = Manual Transmission Fluid, If you have and Auto the you would need ATF.

[1988starter]

Here is my experience with honda trannys and trust me it is a lot. For honda manual trannys get 1 bottle of lucas transmission stuff it helps beyond belief for syncros in our old trannys in fact i still use it in my rebuilt tranny then fill the rest with Honda MTF. For automatics just use Honda ATF but make sure you run it after you fill it once and then drain it again to dilute the old stuff. In my experience it helps shift much smoother and it goes into gear from park with less clunking.

Here is the lucas site i am a huge fan of all their products I use their manual tranny stuff and their engine stuff I also use the fuel inkector cleaner stuff. http://www.lucasoil.com/

[Mike's89AccordLX]

I've also heard that if your tranny has a problem then Lucas will make it more aparent (meaning it will go out faster) The guy that told me this was a Lucas dealer. He said if your tranny is fine the it will keep it running great.

[meangreenLXi]

So it should be no problem, if i just use the ATF and do the drain-fill-run engine-drain-refill?

[1988starter]

I can not see it being any problem just do what you just said it is something many people here have done.

[meangreenLXi]

Any help with what a bad tranny is like the characteristics of a bad tranny, how does it or doesn't it perform, any noise, shake, rattle or roll to it.

[Mike's89AccordLX]

not shifting correctly. slipping etc...