acuransx213

Hi everyone,

I'm glad to find a place to talk about Honda Accords. I have a 1987
Honda Accord LX with 122,239 miles (exact mileage as of today 5-31-
2004). I love this Accord because it's rare now (a "classic"), still
performs great especially on the freeways, incredible steering
effort and easy to drive. I had this car since 9/1998 and it was
92,000 miles when I bought it.

Here are my questions I have about my car's performance:

1) When my fuel gauge needle reads low, usually an orange or yellow
light with the fuel pump symbol lights up but this light has not
been doing its job for 3 years now. Is there anyway to get this
light to properly function again?

2) My RPM seems to be too high compared to other 1989, 1990+ Accords
I've driven before. Every morning, a cold engine start causes the
RPM to go up at 2000 -> 3000 RPM (the RPM won't go down unless I
press the gas pedal to help it go back down to 1750 RPM). Speaking
of cold engine starts, the gas pedal must be pressed down in order
to start the car otherwise it won't start at all (it feels like a
dead battery).

3) In addition to high RPM, I paid close attention to my speedometer
and tachometer in my 1987 Accord, and here are my observations:

(these speeds are maintained with the gas pedal constantly applied)
15 mph = 1600 RPM
20-25 mph = 2000 RPM
30 mph = 1100 RPM (if the transmission does it job to upshift)
otherwise the RPM is 2000.
40-45 mph = 2000 RPM
50 mph = 2500 RPM
60-70 mph = 3000 RPM

Are these RPM readings normal for a 1987 Honda Accord?

4) There are 2 distinct chimes when you put the ignition key on. One
of the chimes is the usual "Honda" chime (4 beeps repeating until
driver side door is closed) when the driver side door is open (door
jam) and the other chime is for the seat belt warning (a series of
single beeps lasting for a few seconds). Is there any reason why the
seat belt chime does not work anymore? Is there a way to fix it?

5) My A/C stopped working. Usually when I turn the A/C on, the
radiator cooling fan stays on whenever the A/C is on, but this time
the radiator cooling fan does not turn on and no cold air comes out
of the vent. Is it a condenser problem?

6) The recommended fuel type is Unleaded (87) for Honda Accords. My
car failed the smog check few times and a friend of mine suggested I
use a higher octane rating such as 89, 92 or 93 (ultra) to burn off
the excess carbon that is still sitting inside my car's engine. Is
it okay to use a higher octane than 87 on my 1987 Honda Accord?

These are all the questions that I can think of, I'll probably have
some more as time goes by. Thanks for reading and responding.