1989 Accord SEi Coupe Owner

[LesE]

Hello everyone,

I'm the original owner of a 1989 Honda Accord SE-i Coupe. The car has seen limited use over the years and now has less than 47,000 km on the clock. The car is quite solid but some rust is present in the usual areas. It was rust proofed when it was new which worked reasonably well despite the rust that has appeared in the last few years. Unfortunately, it needs a fair amount of mechanical work. The lack of use and the insane amount of salt and sand used around here during the winter has taken it's toll. In the last 12 years, the brakes had failed on me four times due to rusting brake lines. Quite an unpleasant experience as I'm sure you can imagine.

Les.

[Dr_Snooz]

Sweet Jesus! Get those brakes fixed!

And...Welcome!

[LesE]

Thanks for the welcome Dr_S.

Each time one of my brake lines fail, I make sure to ask them to inspect all of the lines but they never find any other issues. But after a couple of years or so, a new rust spot develops and pops. They usually fail where the brake lines bend. I figure I'm just about due for another failure any time now.

Unfortunately, the problems go beyond that. The springs are shot, the power steering has a bad leak, the AC needs repair and the exhaust system is due for replacement. And those are just the problems that I know about.

[LesE]

Here are a few pics for your viewing pleasure

[Legend_master]

Beeeeautiful interior!!!!! Welcome, home you get the brake thing taken care of.

[LesE]

Beeeeautiful interior!!!!! Welcome, home you get the brake thing taken care of.

Thanks very much. The leather is in excellent condition since the car has spent most of it's time in an underground garage and rarely exposed to sun for an extended time. I can probably count on one hand the number of times there were asses in the passenger and back seats.

The brakes actually work fine right now. What happens is they can be working fine one moment and then the next time you go to brake, the pedal goes to the floor with no warning. At this point, I think the only way to prevent it from happening is to replace all of the brake lines. The exact same thing happened to a friend recently but in her case, her 1997 Accord was totaled. Thankfully, nobody was hurt.

I'm at somewhat of a crossroads with this car since I know that the cost of repairs will far exceed it's resale value.

Les

[LesE]

In case anyone was wondering, I do still have all of the Bose goodies. Back around '93, some lowlife smashed out my back window to get at the rear speakers. In the process, he destroyed the rear deck trying to get the speakers out from above. I guess this guy wasn't bright enough to realize that the speaker boxes bolt in from inside the trunk. Fortunately, all of the parts were available at that time including the bronze tint rear window with defroster. Since the cost to replace the rear speakers, speaker boxes and grills was insane (more than $2K), I decided to pull most of the remaining Bose equipment out and go with aftermarket. Of course, the aftermarket stuff also got ripped off afterwards (twice). After being broken into several times and considering how little I use the car, I decided that having a stereo in the car wasn't worth the trouble so I've been without one for the last 15 years.

The original Bose amp is still in the trunk unused since '93.

[Blaaz]

The braking issue sounds like a bad master brake cylinder.

Sorry to hear about your stereo theft issues. One of the reasons I stick with a stock (non-bose) radio. It is connected to aftermarket speakers and a MP3 changer in the trunk. None of that is visible from inside the car.

[LesE]

The braking issue sounds like a bad master brake cylinder.

Actually, the brake problem is pretty easy to diagnose since it always ends up with fluid leaking from a hole in a brake line and a total system failure. But, I often wondered if perhaps the dual proportioning valve is defective. I was under the impression that the valve was supposed to ensure that half of the system provides braking if the other half of the system fails. In my case, when one brake line springs a leak, the pedal goes to the floor and there is no braking. One time, the brakes failed when a mechanic had the car out for a road test after I brought it in for another problem.

Sorry to hear about your stereo theft issues.

Yes it's a bummer for sure.

[Dr_Snooz]

The prop valve ensures that a given percentage of hydraulic force goes to the back brakes vs. the front brakes. The failsafe operation is in the master cylinder, though I confess I don't know how it could cause a total braking system failure like you're describing. Possibly you've been driving around on the failsafe for some years already and now it's failing too. It's definitely something to put at the top of your repair list. If you've had this same issue into the same shop more than one time, it's time to find a different shop. They're asking for a wrongful death lawsuit, and you're asking for major hospital bills and possibly a lengthy probate for your heirs. Yikes.

Your other repairs don't seem all that major to me and by every appearance the car is pristine. If you do decide to sell it, I hope you find a good home for it and don't simply scrap it.

[ADSA20]

Wow, It's in great shape. I love the leather! My power steering was a little leaky too, I was quoted $1000 change over for a reconditioned rack so i had a good laugh and topped up with prestones stop leak.

[derolph]

The brake issues sound quite strange. My 88 Accord gets exposed to plenty of winter road chemicals here in Ohio and I have never had a leaking brake line. Now, my 88 Accord did come from Florida when it was about 9 years old, so it was not exposed to road chemicals during those years. But, I also have 91 Accord with 305K miles on it and this car has always been in Ohio and I have not had a leaking brake line; I did have to replace the master cylinder in it due to a warm-weather fading pedal problem that was making driving dangerous.

If I had your car, I would address the rust issue soon; the sooner the better. I believe your car has the black cover strips on the rim of the wheel wells. Those strips can be removed and I would remove them and thoroughly inspect the wheel well rim for rust up inside the well. I would repair the rust issues found up in the wheel well area. This would include filling gap in the rim between the wheel well metal and fender. And, I would leave those "protective" strips off because they trap moisture (including the chemical-ridden water from winter driving) and this contributes to rusting. If the rust is something you don't want to deal with, perhaps you should sell it. If you do, let me know. Perhaps we can work a deal.

[LesE]

The failsafe operation is in the master cylinder.

I see. I must have misinterpreted the description in the service manual for the proportioning valve. Since there are two lines from the MC to the valve, it makes sense that the MC would or should be providing the redundancy. Thanks for clarifying that for me.

The first two failures were repaired by my Honda dealer and they never looked at the MC. After a certain point, they didn't want to work on the car anymore. At the time, they did a full mechanical inspection and gave me a parts list totalling $4000. They warned me that it could get worse if they start into it and other parts start breaking etc etc. Essentially, they recommended that I scrap the car. I then took it to another shop and they managed to do a complete brake service and replacement of the exhaust system without any problems. They didn't identify a MC problem but they probably didn't look at it either. If I decide to invest more money into the car, I'll be sure to have this looked into.

[LesE]

Wow, It's in great shape. I love the leather! My power steering was a little leaky too, I was quoted $1000 change over for a reconditioned rack so i had a good laugh and topped up with prestones stop leak.

Thanks, the leather is in really nice condition. My power steering leak started slowly so I kept topping it off occasionally as required. One day, something let go and the system could no longer maintain any pressure. Knowing my luck, I figured that the steering rack was done although I don't know that for sure. So I removed the belt off of the pump and I now operate in the "armstrong mode".

[LesE]

The brake issues sound quite strange. My 88 Accord gets exposed to plenty of winter road chemicals here in Ohio and I have never had a leaking brake line. Now, my 88 Accord did come from Florida when it was about 9 years old, so it was not exposed to road chemicals during those years. But, I also have 91 Accord with 305K miles on it and this car has always been in Ohio and I have not had a leaking brake line; I did have to replace the master cylinder in it due to a warm-weather fading pedal problem that was making driving dangerous.

I think that in my case, the low miles and lack of use has been a significant contributor. During the winter, the temperature of the garage I park in is just above the freezing point so the mixture of snow, sand and salt melts slowly and the underside stays wet for a long time. The original factory muffler actually lasted around 5 years but the aftermarket exhaust parts tend to last for only 3 years tops before being relegated to the dumpster.

If I had your car, I would address the rust issue soon; the sooner the better. I believe your car has the black cover strips on the rim of the wheel wells. Those strips can be removed and I would remove them and thoroughly inspect the wheel well rim for rust up inside the well. I would repair the rust issues found up in the wheel well area. This would include filling gap in the rim between the wheel well metal and fender. And, I would leave those "protective" strips off because they trap moisture (including the chemical-ridden water from winter driving) and this contributes to rusting.

You are absolutely correct regarding the strips. Unfortunately, it's too late as I am already seeing bubbling under the paint. You can actually see some of it in the second pic that I posted. Take a look at the wheel well where the fender meets the bumper panel.

If the rust is something you don't want to deal with, perhaps you should sell it. If you do, let me know. Perhaps we can work a deal.

Sure, I'll keep you in mind. But if it ends up going to the recycler at some point, I'll make sure to save the cup holders at the very least.

[charliekuney]

I love that Canada got the SE-i coupes in red and mint green.

[LesE]

I love that Canada got the SE-i coupes in red and mint green.

I didn't realize that there were differences in the Standard equipment and colors between US and Canadian SEi's before visiting this forum.

Here are some shots from the Canadian 1989 SEi sales brochure.





As you mention, coupes were only available in Red and Green while sedans could only be had in Taupe and Granite. Power door locks, sunroof and rear center arm rest was standard only for the sedan while the rear spoiler was only standard on the coupe.

[charliekuney]

Here we have Tuscany Taupe and Charcoal Granite sedans, all with power locks, sunroofs, and rear arm rests...but all LX-i and SE-i sedans here had those. Our coupes were Brittany Blue and Asturias Grey with tan and black interiors respectively, respective to your green and red exteriors with tan and black interiors. Our LX-i sedans, coupes and hatches were available in your SE-i coupe's green and red.