Hi All,
I'm new to this list, but a long time Honda Hatchback owner. I've had a 77 (replaced by the 82), 79 (given to the ex to get her out of my life) and 82. I've had the 82 since 86 and it's got 232K on the clock. Motor smokes pretty good and tranny makes noise. My hopes were to put a motor/tranny from an 81 with 4K miles in it, but I've realize my crazy Uncle is never going to get around to letting that happen so I started looking. Ideally I wanted an 86-89 LXi. I found an 86 LXi with 105K miles, but a little rough for the money he wanted.
This past week I saw an adD for an 87 DX hatchback for $1200 so I jumped on it. Well overall it's in good condition (slight body damage on the front right quarter panel). The AC doesn't work and when I was looking at it I notice there was no belt on it. I started twitching thinking that will be an easy fix. Well, maybe it won't be. It's a Keihnen compressor and it looks like the clutch is on crooked where there is a gap on about half the circhumference and no gap on the other half. That concerns me. Since the pulley is rusted, I put some penetrating oil on it to hopefully loosen it up and bought an AC belt to see what happens.
The other real bad part is the water in the cooling system must have never been changed. It was a nasty reddish-brown mess. I took it for a test drive (automatic) and it seems like it needs an accelerator pump, otherwise it runs pretty good. After stopping though, water was boiling in the overflow for a good 5 minutes, but the temp gauge was only half way up. I drove it home later that night and the same thing happend. Today I pulled the t-stat, drained the block and radiator. Then flushed water into the t-stat housing and radiator until it came out farily clear. The t-stat was in bad shape and part of the dome had broken so it couldn't have been opening so the car was running hotter than hell, but the temp gauge didn't go that high and that puzzles me. Maybe I need to change the temp sender???
Also the lower radiator hose was compressed in and when you squeeze on it, it sounds like it crunches or cracks. Maybe I need to change all hoses (Cooling and Heater) after I do my flushing? If so, should I use Honda hoses or ??? I don't mind paying a little extra to get good stuff.
I guess the one other thing I'll do is check compession. I pulled a couple plugs, measured one gap at .055' and a worn electrode. THe manual says gap at .040 if I remember right, but I've seen .044 in other books. Which is it?
Then there's the Keihnen compressor with a clutch that appears to be on crooked. Any suggestions there? I don't geuss my Sanden setup in my 82 Accord would interchange into an 87? That would be sweet since it still blows cold R12.
Also, I will probably be getting rid of this 82 Accord in the near future (as bad as I hate to). The body is rough, but the interior and mechanical part is in above average condtion. The car is brown with tan interior so If anyone is interested, please let me know. I'm in Central TX.
I've put a new 180 t-stat in my new car and plan on cycling some water through it a couple times, drain it and then add some cleaner and run it through a couple of times before I put a 50-50 mix of antifreeze in it. Does anyone have better suggestions.
Looks like the car has used 10W30 oil it's whole life and I plan on continueing that with Castrol 10W30. The book calls out for DexronII ATF fluid. Is there any reason why not to use Honda ATF fluid. I know it costs more, but probably worth it.
Sorry for the long winded message, but I do appreaciate the help and guidance.
Thank!
Pat
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