Car is a 92 Accord lx sedan, four banger 5 speed. Just short of 250k miles.


**Brake Issue**
I was talking to him the other day and he's never worked on disc brakes before, and I told him it's pretty easy and I'd show him how. He went on about needing shims.

I ran a search and a front pad replacement seems pretty straightforward. I was told that shims would reduce noise. Are they needed (as in, the brakes would be an epic fail without the shims) or just reduce the occasional brake noise?

I did new calipers/pads/rotors on my Jeep last fall and didn't install the shims that I supposedly needed, and it works fine, only occasional brake noise. But a Honda is totally different than the Jeep in terms of parts and how it goes together (the Honda rotors look to be a pain to replace here in the rust belt).

So- once I know if the shims are needed or not, I can head over and get started.


**Engine Issue**
Driving economically during the daily commute he shifts it a little short of 2000rpm, but the other day it started lugging when he did this. I thought it may be a fuel supply issue, but he says it pulls fine at higher engine speeds though. With this I ruled out a clogged fuel filter.

He thinks it is running rich... I'd have to check the plugs to confirm this. He also commented that he thinks it may be something to do with the fuel pump. I'm just puzzled as to what could be wrong at the moment.

Any help would be appreciated.
matt

 

as for the brakes, front pads are easy to change. when i did mine i used the shims but i dont think its a must. dont know if your were planning on replacing the rotors but thats a whole different critter there. and for the bogging issue mine just did that about a week or two ago and it was a fuel filter clogged. and if hes running rich it may be and o2 are there and cel's????

 

Use the shims. Typically they come with the pads, particularly if you get Honda parts.

Personally, I'd tell him to shift at a higher speed, if I shifted before 2000, I'd never get anywhere. Check air filter, EGR valve and ports been cleaned out? What kind of gas is he using?

 

Shims are better, but I didn't use them my last pad change and I have 18k on them and they look new. I agree with the quick shift. My Accord runs so much better when I let it wind out a bit.

 

Yea, being a Honda they love to rev (the d-16 in the fiancee's civic comes alive at ~3500, anything less is terrible). Total opposite of my ol Jeep.

He had 'a tune up' done at a shop a year ago, not sure what that involved (probably new plugs, pcv, and an air filter for about $300 lol) and I'm pretty sure they didn't clean out the tb or EGR.

I'll look into a fuel filter for the accord. I got wagners (much better than the generic 'gold' or 'silver' parts store crap) for it. On my Jeep they produce zero dust and the ceramic compound is very fade resistant and is easier on the discs.

 

any ideas on the engine besides fuel filter?

 

If he really never lets it rev, it may be carboned up; ask him if you can borrow it and take it out for a good high speed run.

He might consider a fuel system cleaner. A local car shop owner who does a radio car repair show recommends using Techron. Put a bottle in with a tank of premium fuel, run that tank out, run a tank of premium, then another tank of premium with Techron. A number of folks on here will recommend Sea Foam, I just tried it on my 90, used a spray bottle to feed about 1/3 the can into the throttle body with the engine running (this cleans the intake manifold upstream of the injectors), then put the remainder in the tank.

 

dude- i have worked in honda and acura dealers. we get to pretty much decide if we put the shims on. un-officially of course. i trash the shims but i do put brake grease on the back of the pads. get the small bottle your auto parts shop sells. the little packs aint enough and the bottle usually has an applicating brush. as to the engine , i agree that shifting at higher rpms will help. however, the mileage is high and a rebuild is going to be in the engines best interest some time soon. the injectors may need to be checked at a minimum, but i would go a step further and have them cleaned in a shop. this is because most people dont have the real tools for doing this. the fuel lines come off the fuel rail and pinched off. lines are then ran to the fuel rail from a service tool which has a valve and a injector cleaner solution can adapter. the valve is opened and the car is started. the car will stop running when the can is empty. most people and shops dont have this tool so make sure you get the real deal. or just replace the injectors. they are getting about due anyhow

 

What goes bad in the injectors? I'm still running the originals at 301,000. Recently pulled them out to check if they were carboned up, some around the OD, but the tips were clean. Inlet screens were clean as well. Car still runs great. I hope a rebuild is still a way off, still have 190+ compression in each cylinder, no blue smoke, no fouled plugs.

 

You don't need the shims, as mentioned. They're intended to silence the occasional brake noise; leaving them out won't necessarily cause the brakes to screech all the time provided that they have a higher quality friction material compound.

To replace the front rotors, they must be pressed off of the hub & bearing assemblies. It's a real pain.

A low RPM misfire is usually caused by clogged EGR ports. EGR ports usually clog quickly on cars that are constantly puttered around at low revs. I'd suggest having the EGR ports in the manifold and the valve cleaned, and then tell him to make sure he revs the heck out of it every once in a while to keep the carbon cleared out.