Hello. I just happened to stumble upon this site. I have a 1997 Accord LX V-6. she has 192K on her. I bought her with 87 K on her. She has developed a small oil leak. Now, I don't know much about cars at all, so I am not sure where the leak is, but there is a lot of buildup on the front of the engine. From my vague description, could anyone guess areas of this leak?

While I am getting the leak fixed, I am going to go ahead and do her NEXT timing belt and water pump, since she's only got 20K to go before she needs it again anyway, + transmission and radiator flush.

Anything else y'all recommend? I want to keep this car as long as I can. It's the only car I have ever had that was worth taking care of . Thanks for any help.

 

Well I don't mean to be a real smartass , but oil is liqiud and gravity pulls it down, so if you follow it back up the front of the block to the highest point of the black fuzzy crud mess, you will know where the real oil leak is.
With that many miles on the old gal, I'd say to go ahead and change crank&cam seals.
With the coolant being out for the water pump replacement it is easy to have the T-stat changed, sort of cheap insurance

 

Hey, I like term "fuzzy crud.'' That term can have so many applications ha ha.

Ok. I feel like a DUMBASS for asking this, but ok, there's the engine. At least I know where it is... Anyway ok there is a seam and the oil starts there and "fuzzes" on down. So... ok. Crank and cam seals still your opinion? I wanna take care of her. She looks great for having her original paint and interior. She has never given me a bit of mechanical trouble; I have tried to take good care of her. When I had my 90K service the mechanic said that he could tell that whoever had the car before me had taken care of it, which made me happy and I want to do the same. I have been faithful with oil changes and the like. I am going to drop by my service people and make an appointment for her to get a total go-over. thank you and I don't think you're a smart ***.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Paulsmom &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">... Anyway ok there is a seam and the oil starts there and "fuzzes" on down...</TD></TR></TABLE>Stand in front of the car, facing the engine. Is that seam across the front of the engine? If so, it sounds like a valve cover to me. Putting a new gasket on a valve cover is a pretty easy job. In fact, it's gotta come off to do the timing belt & that other stuff, so it should almost be included in that job. (Somehow I don't think you're asking for instructions to do this yourself??)

Other stuff? How old is the brake fluid? Every 2 years you should get that flushed so it's fresh. It gets corrosive with age & the insides of your brake cylinders isn't where you want things to corrode.

I don't know V6 engines as well as 4's, so what about valve adjustment? They get adjusted occasionally on 4-cyl engines, but for all I know the V6 has hydraulic lifters (auto-adjusting).

Wheel alignment?

Another important thing is Honda automatic trannys don't like being flushed. Should just drain & refill. Sometimes it's just a matter of wording even when they're doing the right thing. Either way, drain & fill would be cheaper than power-flushing anyway.

 

Yep, that's it! Cool! Ok !

Yeah, I thought they might have to take that part off and open it up to change whatever gasket it is so I intend to do the tb and wp at the same time. I'll also ask for brake fluid and transmission DRAIN and FILL instead of a flush. I'll get my radiator flushed (or whatever that terminology is) also.

I have lifetime alignment, so I can drop by Firestone and get them to do that. But I don't trust THEM to do anything else to MY BELOVED. Where I am taking my car (I moved and my friend takes his car to this place and they have already replaced my O2 sensor so I know they do good reasonably priced work) they have a guy who really enjoys working on the Hondas so I guess my car will make his day. :-) And my wallet will make THEIR day with all of this stuff but it's better than a car payment! I periodically go to the Honda Dealer and look around and then get back in my car and drive off. I'd love to have a new Accord but at this point it would just be buying a new car because...? why?

I love my Honda. I just love it. I know. I am preaching to the choir. It's my first Honda. In fact, I have said many times, ''If I win the lottery, I am going to buy ONE of every Honda.''

Thank you all so much for your advice! I can't wait to get my baby back to total perfection!

 

Oops, sorry - Yeah, they don't do the valve adjustment on the V-6 that I could see. It mentions the 4-cyl in the manual but not the V-6.

 

since you love honda so much like i am
use honda ATF only


Modified by 99hbdx at 11:33 AM 2/23/2007

 

I can get that from the dealer and take it to the place, unless THEY can get it from the dealer. They are right across the street.

 

Sometimes dealers sell stuff to mechanics at wholesale. Ask your mechanic before you walk across the street & buy it.

Here's what I tell people who are gonna change their own tranny fluid...
When you drain it, only about 1/3 of the fluid comes out. So if it's nasty dirty, you should drain & fill then drive around (20 or 100 miles?) & do it again. And again. And again until it's clean. If you do it yourself, that's easy. 3 or 4 different trips to the mechanic can be a pain.

 

It is really fun cracking the ATF filler bolt open on a 95-97 Auto V6 tranny, such a PITA when your extension hieght is in the same plane as the factory strut tower bar.

 

Ha. I don't even know what you just said.

Thanks everyone for all of your advice. I am calling Monday morning to make my appointment.