A friend just bought a '96 accord ex sedan. it has a F22b1 motor, 130,000 miles. he has a few ?'s.

- Car idles rough on cold start, any ideas on whats going on. My civic never idled rough cold. so i don't know if its just the motor or if something needs adjusted.

- Are the valves adjustable, Someone told him he had to replace the valves to correct the idle, I think he should be able to adjust the valve clearances, and be good.

- Any common problems with this motor or trans.

-He also said that the car shifts very hard when he throttles it.

thanks for any help.

 

..depending on how much you gonna spend.. might as well return the car and get one without the problems or headaches......

 

my best guess is the person who owned that car before your friend beat the hell out of it, ran it hard. accords are great cars and will run great for a very long time, well over the 130k that your friends car has, but thats saying if he ran it good, or if he ran it hard, atleast kept it up to date with oil changes, and kept it clean..

 

you dont need to replace the valves to correct the idle, yes you can adjust them and good instructions are given in any haynes or chiltons manual...also check the fluid levels in the transmission...

 

The valves are adjustable... and as stated before, should be done according to a service manual. As for the rough idle, I think the valve adjustment is a good place to start.... probably won't fix the issue, but it won't hurt and is basically free. I would look at basic things first for the idle... like tune up parts, ignition wires, etc. The trans shifting very hard could be caused by failing to use Honda's ATF, or it could be something worse... either way, a fluid change is a good place to start, and again pretty cheap.

This particular body style Accord didn't really have any major issues. Small things like temp switches, or power windows... but nothing serious. Overall, they are very good and reliable cars.

 

thanks, I'll pass that along to him

 

Check to see if you need to change the motor oil, spark plugs and wires, transmission oil, air filter.

 

i have an EX 96.....

anybody who owns one have advice for when it reaches 190,000 K in mileage? i want to know how often i should do the oil changes, fluid replacements etc, inspections.... i want to make sure this baby doesnt die on me in any way for the next two or three years. i dont push it hard and i dont drive it all that much, just to work and back but its highway here and back.

 

Regular oil changes every 3000 miles, flush coolant (once every 2 yrs), check battery, alternator and the belts, also check spark plugs and wires, air filter. I guess thats the basic, when was the last time the car had a tuneup?