Let me introduce myself

[G. White]

Hello 3geez community. I have been scoping out the forum for a couple months and have decided to take the plunge. I purchased a well taken care of 89' accord lxi as my second vehicle and have been bitten by the third gen bug. Now my beloved silverado collects dust and the accord gets the garage. I have been an F-16 mechanic in the Air Force for the last 14 years and have always done my own vehicle maintainence so I know my way around the tool box. I will contribute all I can to the forum but will probably need to pick the brains of the fellow forum members until I am spun up. I attempted to post a pic of the accord---I followed the directions on the sticky but do not have the imageshack option at the bottom of my screen. If this link works please disregard if it doesn't---does anyone have any advice? Thanks to all and keep up the good work.





[IMG]http://img227.imageshack.us/my.php?image=1001076ey2.jpg

[forrest89sei]

Hello 3geez community. I have been scoping out the forum for a couple months and have decided to take the plunge. I purchased a well taken care of 89' accord lxi as my second vehicle and have been bitten by the third gen bug. Now my beloved silverado collects dust and the accord gets the garage. I have been an F-16 mechanic in the Air Force for the last 14 years and have always done my own vehicle maintainence so I know my way around the tool box. I will contribute all I can to the forum but will probably need to pick the brains of the fellow forum members until I am spun up. I attempted to post a pic of the accord---I followed the directions on the sticky but do not have the imageshack option at the bottom of my screen. If this link works please disregard if it doesn't---does anyone have any advice? Thanks to all and keep up the good work.





[IMG]http://img227.imageshack.us/my.php?image=1001076ey2.jpg

Fixed

and :jawdrop: I love your accord sooo clean!

How Many miles does it have?

And

[Nafs Asdf]

Fixed
And welcome!

[Nafs Asdf]

omgtooslowwtfbbq o.O

[EX-ileAccord]

Welcome to the site. That thing is MINT!!

[Dr_Snooz]

Wow! What a beauty. I'm hoping that will be my "After" pic someday soon! Definitely post more pics soon.

Welcome to the forum. It will be good to have another knowledgeable mechanic on board.

[G. White]

I just clicked on my post and the pic worked. Here's a couple more.

[IMG]http://img82.imageshack.us/my.php?image=1001080fs8.jpg

[IMG]http://img72.imageshack.us/my.php?image=1001077hh0.jpg

[IMG]http://img528.imageshack.us/my.php?image=1001078fn7.jpg

[ghettogeddy]

I just clicked on my post and the pic worked. Here's a couple more.

if you finish all your pics with [/IMG] it will work fine


actually what you do is use the direct code form image shack and put [IMG] YOUR URL [/IMG]

[Nafs Asdf]

They still don't work, you need to copy this link from the image page

[ URL=http://img82.imageshack.us/my.php?image=1001080fs8.jpg ][ IMG ]http://img82.imageshack.us/img82/7174/1001080fs8.th.jpg[ /IMG ][ /URL ]

It should then like like this:


Or right-click the image, and copy the image location then put it inside [ IMG ][ /IMG ] tags. (remove the spaces)

Will look like this:

[G. White]

Well, maybe the second set of pics didn't work. That's what I get for pressing my luck. I bought the car for $2500 with 157,000 miles on the clock. The interior is like a time capsule. New paint, tires, cv's, windshield, rack and pinion, left wheel bearing, just gave it a tune up and did the ground wire upgrade.

Thanks for the compliments

[IMG]http://img528.imageshack.us/img528/593/1001078fn7.jpg

[Nafs Asdf]

if you finish all your pics with [/IMG] it will work fine

No they won't, cause those aren't the links to the images but links to the image viewing page.

[Nafs Asdf]

Well, maybe the second set of pics didn't work. That's what I get for pressing my luck. I bought the car for $2500 with 157,000 miles on the clock. The interior is like a time capsule. New paint, tires, cv's, windshield, rack and pinion, left wheel bearing, just gave it a tune up and did the ground wire upgrade.

Thanks for the compliments

[IMG]http://img528.imageshack.us/img528/593/1001078fn7.jpg

You almost got it, now just add [ /IMG] without the space after it

EDIT: or you can just click the image icon in the message box thingy and paste the location there...

[ghettogeddy]

also forget imagae shack lol
get a photo bucket account lol makes things alot easyer
plus you can go back to them alot easyer lol


www.photobucket.com

[G. White]

Thanks Naf's----I think I will leave the photos alone for the rest of day before I wear out my welcome. Thanks for posting the interior shot!

[ghettogeddy]

No they won't, cause those aren't the links to the images but links to the image viewing page.

ya i relized that after i posted lol

fixed lol
i really hate image shack lol i only use it when i need to do large pics lol

[2ndGenGuy]

WOW! That thing is so super clean and perfect. A 5-speed LXi coupe with that interior and that gorgeous exterior color... All in perfect shape. Damn that thing is nice!!!!

[codyJDM]

I'm speechless!

Your car is incredible. Welcome to the site!

[nswst8]

Sweet looking ride, you won't be disappointed with its reliability. A couple of things will come up every now and again but after you find everthing the others missed you won't want to give her up ever.

[nswst8]

Now, lets see the engine bay.

[w261w261]

I posted this a couple of months ago in response to someone who asked how to make their car more reliable. Obviously, you are ahead of most as far as mechanical ability goes, but this does cover some of the 3G spots:

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The main difference between people that have reliable old cars and people that don't is that the people with reliable ones do maintenance in advance of failure. If you don't mind being stranded every once in awhile, then you can wait for a part to fail before fixing it. This allows you to get every bit of use out of it, but at the cost of the inconvenience. Me, I go for preventative maintenance.

Many things will announce themselves in advance before they fail completely. The front end will get progressively more loose before a ball joint fails, a muffler will get louder and louder, etc. For those parts, if you pay attention to what the car is telling you, you can replace them in plenty of time.

But there are other things that won't give you any warning. Those you should replace on a schedule. Here's some from my list:

1. Timing belt. At 70k, you have to assume it hasn't been replaced, and it's now 20 years old. Do it now, along with the water pump. If the timing belt fails, you stop Right Now! Some say if the belt fails you might also bend some valves, but others here say that won't happen. In any event, if the belt is indeed age 20, it could go anytime.

2. All hoses. I think they should be replaced every four years, but others say you can go longer. Some are more heat-risked than others, I guess. You can squeeze the big ones to see if they're soft-feeling, but I just go ahead and get them all. Unfortunately, "all" includes about 8 little hoses that go to the idle stabilizer valve and idle air control valve. I can almost guarantee they've never been replaced on yours. When you or your mechanic flush the cooling system, be sure to tell him to put in Peak antifreeze or something that is bright green, not the yellow stuff. The reason is you need a nice dark coolant to check its level in the overflow bottle, which isn't so easy to see in the best of cases, with light-colored coolant it's really difficult. The water part of the 50/50 mix should be distilled, which you can buy at a grocery store. Make sure your mechanic uses it too, or uses premixed. Also, the problem with flushing with a garden hose (e.g. not distilled water) is that a good part of the flushing water will stay in the system unless you open both the block drain and the radiator drain. Most people just use the radiator drain. Therefore, if that is what you do, you really have to drain as much out after flushing as you can, then top up the system with a distilled water/coolant mix. Drain again, refill again. Check with a tester to see what the lowest temp the mixture will support. If it doesn't make it down to -35 then drain and refill with 100% coolant. Don't forget, you aren't getting the whole system when you drain. Eventually you will home in on the right mixture. It's easier than it sounds, and you will end up with a nice, long-lasting green mixture, which will pay off in your coolant not getting that rusty look for a lot longer.

2a. Clean your overflow bottle, so you can best see the level of the coolant in it. Failure to check fluids is high on the list of things not to do on old cars. The 3G does not make it easy, with a low obscure mounting point, but if you have a clean bottle and a flashlight, it's very do-able. See my posts on how to clean the bottle (take out the battery, the battery tray, the bottle, and swab it out with some phosphoric acid. Takes an hour or so).

3. Thermostat. Do with the hoses. It isn't expensive. You might as well get the temperature sensor (I think it's called the TW sensor or somesuch) that's near the thermostat too. When it starts to go the engine won't run right and finally won't start.

4. Auto tranny fluid. Use Honda OEM. Don't delay on this as there's probably some crud in there already, and a tranny fix is expensive. Manual tranny...use Honda fluid also. Change every 15k miles or so, but in practice you can probably do it when you change a drive shaft. If I get a torn boot, I myself put in a whole new shaft at that point, and I use Honda OEM. Expensive, but no problems.

5. Plugs, plug wires and air filter. Change the oil every 3k miles. Some here put in synthetic and say it makes a difference. I don't use it myself.

6. Buy a big bottle of Techron and put it in the gas when you fill up. You might want to use two bottles with two consecutive tanks of gas. Techron is the best to clean the fuel injectors.

7. Go under the car and check the rubber booties that are at the inboard and outboard ends of the driveshafts. If the boots are torn that means that sand etc. has gotten into the cv joints, and they need to be inspected and repacked with grease. Clicking during low speed turns is the symptom. The boots need to be replaced if they're torn of course.

8. Check the ball joints for wear. There are 6 of them, 4 on the front and two on the back. At 70k, they're probably ok.

9. Look at the bushings for the stabilizer bar, radius rods, and control arms. Check the steering rack for leaks, and never use anything but Honda power steering fluid, or at least fluid that specifically says it's for Honda..big trouble if you use something else. Look at the brakes and the wheel cylinders for dry rot. Replace the brake fluid, which should be done every 2 years, as it absorbs water.

10. If you're really into preventative maintenance, you might replace the main relay, as the solder develops micro-cracks. The install is a bit of a chore, but see the plentiful posts here on how to do it.

11. Take a look at the radiator. Plenty of cars have had a new one by now.

12. Does the battery have a date on it? If it's 4 years old, get a new one before it fails on you in the winter. Take the wires off the battery posts (remove the ground wire first and put it on last, the reason being that if the ground is connected and you mistakenly short the positive post to the car with a wrench, you will produce a big spark and probably blow the alternator....don't even think about what can happen if you connect a battery backwards!) Buy a battery post/clamp cleaner thingy and thoroughly clean the post and the clamps. Get a set of those red/green felt circles that go around the posts so you won't get a buildup of corrosion.

13. Take a look at the ground wires. There's one from the valve cover to the front of the car, but mainly look at the main one from the battery to the frame. Take it off, and clean the end and where it attaches. Replace the wire if it looks rusty.

14. Check the tail lights for water pooling in the bottom of the units. Their seals leak. I use gutter tape so the water draining from the trunk lid gutters goes over the tail lights as opposed to down across their inside face. Eventually the water will get high enough to short the bulbs.

15. Clean the sunroof rear drains. When they get blocked the water pools in the sunroof cutout, and when you put on the brakes you get a shower down the back of your neck. The drains are reached by taking out the trunk liners and cleaning out the plastic tubes that drain out behind the wheel wells. Use a panel-popping tool sold in auto stores to get the buttons out, using a screwdriver will make a mess.

16. Replace the pitiful sealed beam OEM head lights with Hella's, so you can use a nice replaceable bulb by PIAA or Sylvania. That way, you can actually see where you're going at night. Most of the replacement headlights on eBay are junk. Buy quality.

17. When your driver's window starts not wanting to go up, it might be the switch, as that's the one that gets the most use, but is probably the coil in the auto-drop controller, which is behind the door panel. Eventually, you won't be able to raise the window at all. There are posts on here on how to install a new one.

18. Check the tires and get some decent ones if they're worn. Get an alignment.

19. I bought a tool box and have in it a set of tools including a metric 1/4" drive socket set, all types of pliers, one of those 4 in-one screwdrivers, a spare headlight bulb, taillight bulbs (actually there's a clip for a spare tail light bulb on the inside of the covers to access the bulbs). Get some assorted spare fuses, a Maglight-quality flashlight (plus a small Maglight for the glove box). A quick tire repair kit. There's probably more stuff in there I can't remember now.

20. Buy a couple of those reflective triangles or flares, in case you get stuck at night on a dark curvy road.

21. Eventually you will leave on your headlights and run down the battery, or you will get a flat. I bought one of those jump starters / air compressors (a good one, prob cost $75) and keep it lashed to the inside of the trunk. It's bailed me out a couple of times, and I've been a good samaritan more than that. Cheap insurance, and an easy way to be a hero to those who are not prepared and would be up Shit Creek if not for you.


That should be enough to get you started. Remember, a reliable car is a product of the original manufacturer (ours is GREAT, of course) and constant diligence.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

[86ccord]

omg.. clean car.. damn..

[Hazwan]

Nice clean car!

[greentee76]

Man that thing is gourgeous! I said it before, But I LOVE that dash color combo.(Helps give me motivation to get off my lazy ass and find another in the junk yard )
3gs just don't look like that up here in the rust belt

[Dr_Snooz]

Original Honda radio and all. I'm so jealous.

[Pico]

Welcome to 3Geez. You have a very clean Accord looks like it just came off the showroom floor