Greetings! First off, I've really learned a lot just browsing through, but I have some questions, so I finally signed up for an account. This really seems like a great site!

Background: I'm the proud new owner of a 1992 Honda Accord EX with 93k original miles. I've been driving it regularly for a little over a month now since purchasing it from an older couple who no longer needed the car. It has basically been sitting for 3-5 years with minimal use. Thus, it has a few problems. So I've got a few questions for you.

1) Gas mileage stinks. I'm getting an average of about 23 MPG. First tank was about 16MPG and the second jumped to 29MPG. Since then I've been getting 23MPG with mostly highway driving (65-70 MPH).
- The 29MPG tank was solid highway driving and all those RPMs blew a nice hole in the bottom of the rusty muffler. Since the mileage plummeted, I quickly replaced the crumbling can with an OE style from the local Auto Parts Store. I also pulled the BackUp fuse to reset any engine settings. I figured the first few tanks would still be poor mileage, but after 3-4 tanks I thought it would have rebounded. Is this normal or did I screw something up? I was hoping to get close to 30MPG's from this car on the highway. Is that too much to ask?
- The weather has gotten cooler as well. I've noticed that my temp gauge only rises about 1/4 of the way up the gauge. On my previous car (a piece of GM junk) the thermostat went bad (stuck open) and cut my gas mileage in half. Could this be the same problem? It still blows lots of heat, so that indicates that the engine is at least warming up...
- The plug wires LOOK original. They don't appear to be in great shape, but not overly awful either. No bare wires, just dried insulation. I haven't looked at the plugs themselves, but I plan on doing that in the next few days. Should I just go ahead and do the 100k tune-up at 93k?
- If I should do the tune-up (Plugs/wires/cap/rotor) is it worth the extra money for platinum or even iridium plugs in this engine. Is there any benefit (better mileage, smoother running, more power) or any chance I could screw something up by putting state of the art plugs in? My guess is that it couldn't hurt the car, but I was hoping to hear from some experienced owners about your opinions of whether it's worth the money.
- I have already replaced the Air Filter, so that can be ruled out.
- It seems a bit sluggish through 1st and 2nd gears where it want to rev to 3k RPMs before shifting. Don't know if this has any affect or gives you a clue.

2) There is this odd 2-second growl when I first start to drive the car (within about 10-15 seconds after putting in gear) that comes from somewhere under the hood. My guess is that it's the ABS system getting ready and doing some sort of priming routine. Any clue?

3) The car is really stiff when going into and out of "Park" sometimes. As in, you depress the brake, push the shiny silver button (It's an Auto if you haven't guessed already) and it takes great effort to pull into reverse. So much effort it normally flies to D4 or D3 when it finally lets loose. I almost always set the parking brake whether I'm on a hill or not and before I put the car in "Park" so I know it shouldn't be the parking pawl. I have adjusted the shift cable at the selector end and it has made it much easier, but it's still sticking a bit. Could this be a bad cable since the car has sat in Park for so long? I'm really hoping there is some other solution as that seems difficult to change.

Well, I think thats enough for now. Kudos to anyone who actually read this whole post. I apologize for it's length but wanted to include as much detail as possible to give a clear picture of the problems. Also, much thanks to those of you who respond out of your great wisdom! It's much appreciated by this "poor college student".

- joc1394

 

1. Do the tune-up now, since you have some problems. Generally, the major service intervals for your Accord is every 30,000 miles; so, you are past due (@ 90,000 miles). To answer some of your other questions in #1.

- 30 mpg is very doable for your Accord.
- The temp guage reading about 1/4 the way up is normal for your Accord.
- Platinum or Iridium sparkplugs will not be worth the extra money for your car. Just use NGK coppers, and you should be fine.
- A valve adjustment may also help on gas mileage and some power.
- Also, drain and refill the automatic transmission fluid. Recommended to use Honda ATF, as other brands may cause harsh shifting.
- You might also want to change and bleed the brake fluids. Check the brake pads, etc.
- The timing belt should actually be changed too, if the previous owner never changed it. (Generally, the water pump, oil seals are changed at the same time too.) -- Expensive; unless you know someone or you can do it yourself.

2. You may be right that the growl is the ABS. You may have a slight leak from the seals at the ABS reservoir unit. As it is time consuming and tedious to replace the O-rings, and/or expensive; just make sure the brake fluid is up to level in the ABS reservoir.

3. The hard-to-shift out of park may be a problem with the shift interlock, key interlock system, or brake switch. Here is a link regarding the shift interlock and key interlock:

http://autorepair.about.com/li...b.htm

 

Thanks for the quick reply and the straight answers!

I'll look into the Valve Adjustment. As far as the timing belt, it was recently changed as was the water pump and seals. The previous owner did a pretty good job of keeping up with routine maint., just never really drove the car (hence why they sold it). By the way - I should mention now that I personally know the previous owners (since 1996) and they are very good to their cars. The brakes are virtually brand new and in great shape. I live in PA, so it's already passed it's state safety inspection with flying colors.

Thanks for the advice! I'm looking forward to many more happy miles in this car!

 

The only thing I would add to the previous post is, Use Honda OEM parts, for things like spark plug wires. Regular maintenance items, like air filter, oil filter, and such you can use any good brand. But for major parts always use Honda, including fluids. Good luck with the car. I had one just like it for 12 years, and it was a superb car.

 

I second the Honda parts only... What PSI are you running in your tires? that can make a huge difference in your mileage. Depending on the condition of your plugs (they will tell you the condition of the engine) and how your tranny fluid looks (red? brown? burnt smelling?) you should have a great car that easily gets 30mpg.

If a tune up and everything doesn't fix the mileage, check to see if the EGR ports are blocked, and maybe give it a sea foam treatment. Also does it throw any codes when you jump wire the ECU?

SOHC

 

Wow! Thanks for all the help!

To answer your questions SOHCMAN:
- I'm running about 35-40 PSI in my tires (Max on tire is 44PSI).
- I'm hoping to find a long enough ratchet extension soon to pull the plugs and take a look at them. My tools here at college are a bit limited, as is time to play
- Tranny fluid is red and smells nice and plasticky...

As for the tune up, I hope to get to that soon. However, in the mean-time, I noticed an extreme build-up of brake dust on the drivers' side front wheel, and when I had a speaker short and quit using the stereo, I noticed a squeal whenever the brakes WERE NOT applied. So after some investigation, I found some rusted bolts/pins on the calipers that were causing at least that front wheel to drag. So, I checked the brakes all around more closely than the PA inspection people and found that my rear driver's caliper was missing a pin and a bolt or two. It was also wearing much faster than it should have. SO, I've got new brakes on all four wheels (Bendix OEM's) and hopefully my gas mileage will rebound at least a bit. Thank goodness the rotors aren't warped! It drives SO smooth again.

The ECU was not throwing codes when I bought the car in August, I'll check that again when I get a chance (hopefully in the coming week or two).

I've also ran a tank of gas mixed with STP Fuel Injector Cleaner.

Also, could you give me a little more info on this "Sea foam treatment" you speak of. Is this available at a local auto parts store? What is is "supposed" to do?

Thanks so much for all your assistance. I LOVE my Accord. (I fully realized this when I drove my brother's 2000 Alero v6 (my previous car) for a week while I was working on the brakes!)

So long for now!

- joc1394

 

Your car is rated 19-26mpg, so you're ok at 23. That 16 sucked though. It is time to replace some parts though. Stick to all OEM parts for plugs, plug wires, cap, rotor, belts, hoses.....you get the picture. Along with repplacing that stuff your timing belt and water pump could probably use some new life. And if it's been sitting you need a new valve cover gasket kit.

Not sure there. My 90 EX was funny once it was out into gear everytime. But the tranny had 250k on it.

You may want to get a tranny flush. I get one every year and your car has been sitting.


Good luck with this project. I remember my first CB7 (92 LX). I swore I'd never buy one again. Then my second came a few months later, 90 EX.

 

I wish my accord had 93k og miles
I wish my accord did 29mpg in the city only does about 14-20
its bad right now

 

I have, for the record, figured out that it is the ABS system that makes a start-up growl. Someone pulled out smack in front of me the other day on a wet road and I slammed on the brakes (right after I put the new ones on!) causing a little rear wheel skid, and thus the ABS to kick in. During my quick stop and for a second or so after I let off the brakes, I heard an identical growl...so...I'm 99% sure that noise is the ABS system. I'm really not concerned with it, as now I know it does indeed function (and it worked much better than the ABS on my previous car that was 8 years newer)

Not sure if I mentioned before, but the belts (timing and accessory) are very new. Also, the water pump was replaced with the timing belt shortly after 90k (I found the notes about recent repairs...) Since I'm at 94k right now, it's been fairly recent.

Thanks!

 

The older ABS system (before '98) has to pump up the pressure in an accumulator. That's normal. Occasionally it'll have to pump itself back up, especially if you activate the ABS by sliding (like you did).

When you turn on your car, watch to verify that the ABS warning lamp comes on for a couple seconds (system self-check). Then it should go out. If good, then you know the ABS warning bulb is not burned out.

The system watches for how long & how often it needs to pump up. If it's not OK it'll light up the ABS warning lamp.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by BLKFLSH &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">The only thing I would add to the previous post is, Use Honda OEM parts, for things like spark plug wires. Regular maintenance items, like air filter, oil filter, and such you can use any good brand. But for major parts always use Honda, including fluids... </TD></TR></TABLE>

Hey, it's me again!
What's the deal on Gaskets and such? I've always had great luck with Fel-Pro and I've put one on the valve cover with success... I'm trying to fix my car's oil leaks that are getting progressively worse and currently have found ones at the oil-pressure-sending unit and the oil pan gasket. I will get the Honda Oil Pressure sender, but wondered what experience others have had with aftermarket gaskets like Fel-Pro?

 

You can get Honda parts online cheaper. I use http://www.hondaautomotiveparts.com . They are pretty good, but if you are not buying a lot of parts, when you add shipping, it might be cheaper buying from your local honda dealership.
Two weekends ago, I had to buy a valve cover gasket for my brother's 91 Prelude, and we went to Autozone because the Honda dealership was closed and he had to go back to school after the weekend of visiting me. It was a pain getting the autozone gasket to stay in, and I remember the Honda gasket in my 94 Accord was a much better fit than this Autozone gasket, so I would stick with Honda stuff as much as I can.