maintenance for 88 lxi..

[FishyMan]

hello, i'm a noobs..

i've done searches and read up on things. very informative.

i've picked up an 88 hatch lx-i. (it has no power locks right?)

well i wanted to ask what types of maintenance i can do to fix it back up, prep it and such..

i've done an oil change already, and want to completely flush coolant and what not. i am curious how and what not to do it. do i open drain bolt, and add water in till it drips clear? i've checked the DIY for the coolant, and thought there's another way instead of bleeding it by the screw.. (no want to risk things).

also wanting to do fuel filter, spark plugs and what not.

thanks.. any diy links? etc?

[shepherd79]

you can buy flush kit. that will attach the water hose and flush the hole system for you.
it is made by prestone. you can get them at any autoparts stores.
you can do regular stuff like fuel filter, sprk plugs, spark plug wires, distributor cap and rotor.
just little things that will make your car run smooth and better.

[nswst8]

The way that I flush is to get a radiator flush solution, run it throught the system real good, I usually drive around for about 20 to 30 minute nothing hard, just to get the engine temp up so as the thermastat opens. Remember to turn your heater on to high.
Some people remove the thermastat so that the solution cycles through the entire cooling system.
Now you can add a back flush system if you wish but I wouldn't the only place to attach the "T" is over the Starter and these things leak and eventually will corrode your starter.
I usually just remove the radiator hose clamp a water hose to it and then flush it. If you remove the thermastat then you don't have to worry about warming the engine to get the thermastat to open up. Besides if your flushing it you should replace the thermastat. The only one that I would use other than Honda original is a Motorad Failsafe. Don't bother with the lower opening thermastat these are not really heplful if your not running mods yet. But I do use Redline Water Wetter.
Hope this help.

[accordlxi2.0]

oh did you check the timing belt?
everyone say's to change it, but since i found out our engine's are'nt interference i did'nt chage'em . . .

[maka_RTH]

i've picked up an 88 hatch lx-i. (it has no power locks right?)

No power locks on the 2/3drs. you can however get some actuators for it and put a regulator in, and wala, power locks. there's been a few threads on it.

also wanting to do fuel filter, spark plugs and what not.

fuel filter is easy, it's located on the firewall more on the passenger side, kinda by the black box. go NGK for spark plugs, and yah, just your basic cap/rotor/wires/plugs along with that. maybe new air filter (or get yourself a custom intake) have fun with the hatch!

[FishyMan]

thank you very much.. i'll take things slowly when money permits.. any diy? threads? links? .. i'm a noob. gonna do air filter weekend, and look up on coolant stuffs..

[Luis 89LXi]

thank you very much.. i'll take things slowly when money permits.. any diy? threads? links? .. i'm a noob. gonna do air filter weekend, and look up on coolant stuffs..

hey Fish welcome to the board. you should check the How To: section on main page. Theres a lot info for all kinds.

this is the link:
https://www.3geez.com/forumdisplay.php?f=20

[FishyMan]

thanks i've checked that out.

is there another way to replace coolant?..

can i just drain and do similar thing? like running it till the drain is clear water?

there's no more spark plug diy either, i will try search around though.. thanks.

[FishyMan]

bump for diy for the spark plug part.. =I .. i will do more searches on forum .. i really wanna go from top to bottom, from big to small in trying to fix this car up. from a/c vents. to recommendations in buyin tools.. etc..

in the mean time will using toyota red coolant on my 88 lxi be bad for it? as im targeting the coolant this week.

thanks..

[k-roy]

Ok for the coolant buy a bottle of Prestone flush and follow the instructions. Then filler up with a 50/50 mixx of Antifreeze (I use prestone) and water. Then check the howto section on bleeding the air out of the system. That should set you strait there. You might want to consider changing the thermostat while you are at at, and check over all the hoses to make sure there is no cracks or leaks. Just go over all the lines by hand, if any hoses seen extra soft or hard then its a good bet to replace them.

Spark plugs are super easy. Get a set of decent plugs, I like Bosh Platnium and NGKs. You need a special socket for your ratchet to get them in without damaging them. Do it one at a time. Remove a wire, remove the old plug, thread in the new one by hand till its tight, then tighten with the wrench.

Other things you may want to consider is new spark plug wires (NGK), PCV valve (cheap insurance), distributor cap and rotor (super easy), Air filter (you might want to consider a new short ram intake, I got a Civic one off eBay for $40 shipped with a decent filter), fuel filter (located on firewall just to the left of center), check over all the small vacuum lines to see if any are damaged or not connected, Transmission fluid, thats about it for a tuneup really. You can also check your ignition timing with a timing light.

You should browse through the howto and FAQ forums on this board, a lot of these things are allready covered. Good luck and welcome to the board.

[Vanilla Sky]

after you tune the motor up, go over all of the suspension parts, especially the ball joints... they like to wear our on these cars, and tend to bring pretty nasty problems around when they break... after that, check your suspension bushings... those can lead to bad handling...

after you have all of that done, you may want to get into the market for some new tires... this is also a good time to get some upgraded rims if you don't have any already...

if you do all of that, you should be pretty much set until the next regular tune up...

have fun!

[FishyMan]

im a poor guy :P .. haha i guess i have to rank and do things by priority based on cost. this car is just a side thing for me, to learn, to experience and what not.

im gonna try do spark-plugs, and wires. then followed by radiator flush/drain. <-- just the plugs/wire thing now. i gotta get the tools, and a gapper for the plugs.

thanks.