As I reported a few months ago (https://www.3geez.com/forum/showthre...ly-got-a-Honda)
I bought a 1989 Honda Accord LXi that had been sitting for a few years.
Changed coolant, oil, v-belts and radiator hoses (the rest looked well enough for now).
Replaced all 4 dry-rotted tires with new ones based on factory specs (195/70R14). It looks like they are too big; the car sits real high, especially in the front. Is that normal?
Didn't come with a battery so I threw in one of my spares I had sitting around.
Since it started and ran so good I put it on the road as my daily driver.
Overall I've been really pleased with the handling, performance and gas mileage.
Very reliable too.
However...
It seems most of the seals on the engine have gotten hard and are disintegrating.
What started as a small oil leak from somewhere on the driver's side has over the three months I've been driving it become a major leak and has been joined by significant leaks on the passenger side and from the center.
I've been able to pinpoint them to the front and rear main seals and the valve cover gasket. The front main (driver's side) is the worst and unfortunately where it leaks onto the frame it runs over to leak all over the exhaust system.
It's one thing to just keep feeding it oil (I do that with my Voyager's transmission) but when I have smoke billowing up from the under the hood every time I stop at a light I get concerned that one of these days it'll catch fire and then I'll have real problems.
Combine that with the fuel leak I have back at the gas tank (I've already fixed two from the former owner's botched fuel pump replacement ) and it's just a recipe for disaster.
I decided to park the car for now which is a real shame because I really like the car but sitting at a light with my car on fire doesn't really appeal to me.
I had already planned on rebuilding the front suspension with new upper control arms, ball joints, bushings and tie rod ends. It creaks and squeaks so bad people will stare when I'm driving through a parking lot.
Looking at the work involved with this and doing the seals on the engine it seems to me that it would be well to just pull the engine and tranny and replace the seals while they're out of the car and I have good access to all parts. While they're out I could also do the suspension work so I only have to put things back together one time.
For now, that's my plan and I'm gathering all the parts I need to do this.
I had not replaced the heater hoses or any of the other miscellaneous hoses since they looked good enough for now. Neither had I replaced the timing belt since it looked like it might have been changed shortly before it was parked by the previous owner. Now that I'm planning on pulling the engine and transmission I'm thinking I should go ahead and replace all those while it's easy access.
I've seen these timing belt kits that include either or both an oil pump and a water pump.
I'm pretty sure I'll go ahead and do the oil pump but the water pump seems fine and doesn't get driven by the timing belt. Is it a lot of trouble to change the water pump on these with the engine in the car?
I'll probably also do the engine and transmission mounts too since so much oil has been splashed on everything.
Additionally I'll be pulling the blower and duct work from under the dash to get that system working right. At the moment the fan doesn't work at all (there is voltage to the fan) but there's no air blowing from the vents, ever. Every other car I've owned there would be at least a little air coming from the vents even with the fan off when I'm doing 60mph or so. Nothing with this car so I assume a critter had gotten into the duct work and built a nest while the car was parked thus blocking all air flow (and possibly obstructing the fan from turning too). I did manage to get a factory shop manual for the car but the instructions for servicing the duct work aren't as clear as I would like so I'll probably be looking for some help with that.
Of course I'll be trying to find that last fuel leak and fixing that before it goes back on the road. Might have to drop the tank though for that in which case I'll want to replace all the connecting hoses while I have good access. I would also like to pull the pump and check it and the strainer to see how they look. They work fine now but could have pending issues from sitting. Same for checking the inside of the tank for rust. I can still get a new tank for this right?
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