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[Kiwi303]

I have one stupid question: Why people here and there can buy such a cheap 86-89 accord at 300-400usd? Whereas i find some particular auto part on ebay at the same price of that car?

In my case, the seller was as mechanically minded as an earthworm... I bought a car which had failed the mandatory 6 monthly safety inspections required to remain road legal here in NZ. The seller decided to sell rather than do the work to bring it up to road legal standard.

Given that one of the points of failure was "low brake fluid in reservoir, needs topping up:"I think you can draw your own conclusions as to what his level of automotive maintenance skill is... What sort of duffer doesn't do a whip round the car to check the fluids are full, the tyres have enough tread and the lightbulbs all work BEFORE going down to the testing centre...


Non-Legal cars sell for a LOT less than road-legal cars, there's a certain level of "oh, if it failed, what sort of lemon would I be buying" attitude to deal with on the buyers side, which keeps the prices depressed below what you would reasonably expect a ready-to-drive legal car to go for.


Add to that a bit of "didn't know what he had or what it was worth" on the sellers behalf... the rims on the car? I know where I could sell them for as much as I paid for the car itself... so seeing those rims in the photos, I was happy to take a punt on the car since if it was unfixable, I could break the wheels off and that would cover the purchase price, plus the money the wrecker would pay for the rusty scrap steel left would have paid for the petrol driving it up. All I would have been out would have been the time taken getting there and driving home again.


An '85 is an OLD car, the cheap student car here these days is a mid 90's usually. It's an old sedan with a "grannycar" rep as well.

[apache07x]

in my case, the seller was as mechanically minded as an earthworm...

roflmao

[firefighterwhite89]

http://item.mobileweb.ebay.com/viewi...amp;cmd=VIDESC

I was given these. Free. Brand new in the box. Will these fit our accords? I looked and they looked like they would be an exact fit.

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[Legend_master]

http://item.mobileweb.ebay.com/viewi...954&cmd=VIDESC

I was given these. Free. Brand new in the box. Will these fit our accords? I looked and they looked like they would be an exact fit.

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I actually use the 1994-1997 Accord (1990-1997 are the same to my knowledge) coilovers, and the work like a charm.

EDIT: i read that wrong, didn't realize you already had them. I think Ghettoeddy used these,but had to use a floor spacer in the rear as they made it way to low.

[firefighterwhite89]

Got a good one!!!
Tracked down the cause of the vibration I get like an imbalanced tire. When I parked my car, I could turn the tire side by side with approximately an inch or so of play. The play was coming from the steering rack. Any idea what would cause this movement? Does the whole steering rack need replaced? Or maybe just a part inside? Steering Gear maybe? Could it just be the fact it's out of fluid? It's slowly getting worse as time progresses.

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[Legend_master]

Got a good one!!!
Tracked down the cause of the vibration I get like an imbalanced tire. When I parked my car, I could turn the tire side by side with approximately an inch or so of play. The play was coming from the steering rack. Any idea what would cause this movement? Does the whole steering rack need replaced? Or maybe just a part inside? Steering Gear maybe? Could it just be the fact it's out of fluid? It's slowly getting worse as time progresses.

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Have you ever replaced your inner tie rods?

[firefighterwhite89]

No sir, I have not. Is there a way to verify they're bad? Would those going bad cause this terrible vibration?

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[Legend_master]

Definitely, luckly they are very easy to replace. From the symptoms you are explaining, they could be inner tie rod failing.

[firefighterwhite89]

I purchased 2 new inner and outer tie rods today. 19$ for two outer and 35$ for both inner. Parts arrive tomorrow at 12pm. Will install and reply with results. Lets hope its this and not something much more $$$$.

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[Legend_master]

The next thing would be wheel bearings, but it sounds like you could see the slack coming from the rack&pinion. Did you get replacement dust boots for the end of the rack?

[apache07x]

Got a good one!!!
Tracked down the cause of the vibration I get like an imbalanced tire. When I parked my car, I could turn the tire side by side with approximately an inch or so of play. The play was coming from the steering rack. Any idea what would cause this movement? Does the whole steering rack need replaced? Or maybe just a part inside? Steering Gear maybe? Could it just be the fact it's out of fluid? It's slowly getting worse as time progresses.

Sent from my SPH-M820-BST using Tapatalk 2

If the tie rods don't fix it there is a boot / shield on the inside of the car that the steering shaft goes through. Inside of that boot there is a knuckle on a splined shaft that can loosen up and make you think the slop is in your rack. What you're describing is exactly how my sedan was acting and I thought it was inner tie rod ends. It ended up being the bolt was loose that pinches the knuckle onto the splined shaft. Tightened it up and zero slop in the steering. But that is a key point I had slop in it going down the road too. I could turn my steering wheel 1" or so before it started to turn don't know if you do as well.

[apache07x]

I need new LCA bushings on each side. Currently I'm not aware of any bushings I can just press in. As far as I know, I gotta buy the whole new LCA to get the new bushings. Ideas? Opinions?
I noticed rockauto.com sells just a ball joint. Are all our ball joints on the LCA/UCA and the knuckle all the same sizes?

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You can get LCA bushings http://www.summitracing.com/parts/ptp-8-210 summit doesn't say anything about them fitting our cars but prothanes site says that's the correct one.

Upper ball joints are different than lower and you can press old ones out and new ones in on the lowers. All I could find for the uppers when I changed mine was the whole upper control arm with the ball joint already installed. I got them from Advance Auto Parts. You can find a discount code for them here on the forum somewhere.

[firefighterwhite89]

I purchased 2 inner and outer tie rods. Had alot of trouble attempting to get the inner ball joint unscrewed. I was using a 13/16 wrench cause it seemed to be the only one to fit well enough. Anyone had this issue before?

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[Legend_master]

Mine just unscrewed. It is definitely a metric size tho, not standard.

[firefighterwhite89]

I thought I'd read I needed a 17mm and 19mm wrench. Neither seemed large enough...could this thing have already been changed before maybe?

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[conozo]

Its probably been changed before. I just changed my outer tie rods and the new stuff was english/standard.

[firefighterwhite89]

Thanks. About the only think I can think to do is to take out the whole steering rack, drop it down and take the tie rods off that way. There's little to no room to take them off while still on the car. Hopefully, this will solve my steering wheel/car vibration issue. I noticed I could turn my steering wheel about an inch from side to side before the tires would start to turn. I'm going to tighten the rack nut/bolt to. I forgot the name of it but it can be the cause of being loose as well.

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[lostforawhile]

Thanks. About the only think I can think to do is to take out the whole steering rack, drop it down and take the tie rods off that way. There's little to no room to take them off while still on the car. Hopefully, this will solve my steering wheel/car vibration issue. I noticed I could turn my steering wheel about an inch from side to side before the tires would start to turn. I'm going to tighten the rack nut/bolt to. I forgot the name of it but it can be the cause of being loose as well.

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you know on the upper control arms, by getting second generation Lude arms, and using a couple of washers, you gain camber ajustability, and the ability to replace just the ball joit, Chedda also makes poly bushings that press into that arm, so once you do that, you'll never have to replace the arm again, don't buy the autozone or advance upper arms, they are complete garbage, they will fail in a short time

[firefighterwhite89]

Excellent info Lost!

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[TKP89]

Hey guys, this is my first time posting on here, and i recently purchased an 89 hatchback lxi, and i know the combo switch for the wipers must have been replaced with a coupe/sedan switch, so my rear wiper doesn't work. Is there any way to wire a separate switch into the dash for it or should i just try to find one at a junkyard. I've heard that the combination switch for the hatchback is hard to find, and cost a pretty penny.

[Legend_master]

Hey guys, this is my first time posting on here, and i recently purchased an 89 hatchback lxi, and i know the combo switch for the wipers must have been replaced with a coupe/sedan switch, so my rear wiper doesn't work. Is there any way to wire a separate switch into the dash for it or should i just try to find one at a junkyard. I've heard that the combination switch for the hatchback is hard to find, and cost a pretty penny.

Yep that is possible, it is a very simple system. There is a schematic in the shop manual that would help you track it down.

[alonsocardiel]

Just bought an 89 Accord Lx but the flywheel teeth are jagged and eaten up so i need to know how to get to the flywheel, i have the tranny sitting on a jack right now but i cant seem to find any detailed information...please any help would be greatly appreciated

[Legend_master]

Just bought an 89 Accord Lx but the flywheel teeth are jagged and eaten up so i need to know how to get to the flywheel, i have the tranny sitting on a jack right now but i cant seem to find any detailed information...please any help would be greatly appreciated

Click the link to the shop manual in my signature. Starting on page 13-7, it explains in detail how to get to it. Basically once you remove the pressure plate, there are a series of bolts holding the flywheel to the crankshaft.

[TKP89]

Yep that is possible, it is a very simple system. There is a schematic in the shop manual that would help you track it down.

Thanks for pointing me in the right direction.

[TKP89]

Okay so neither of the door locks on the 89 hatch work from the outside, when i put the key in the lock cylinder and turn it either way it doesn't lock or unlock the car, but i can lock it from the inside. I had to climb through the hatch because i couldn't get the door unlocked. I've now disassembled the door and found a metal rod that has a plastic piece that's connected to it and looks like it has been broken off the lock cylinder and the lock cylinder is not connected to anything. Is this an easy fix? How much do you guys thing a replacement would cost?