Hello After years of wishing I had a Honda, my girl and I finally bought one. Its a 1996 Accord Lx 5 spd. 6 Cylinder 2.7.

Everything seems to be mechanically sound, aside from the fact that the previous owner hit a curb in low-pro's, so now i have to find a rim to match or (more likely) find a spare on a junker somewhere. But that's not really what this post is about.

I want to learn about engines and all that, hands-on style, piece by piece. I grew up in garages so i have a much better understanding of things than most laypeople, but my level of expertise and experience with working on ANYTHING could probably be summarized by saying that if I were going to change the plugs or the oil, or anything like that, I would have to consult the Haynes manual to get started and make sure i wasn't forgetting anything.

Now, to get to my question, or topic I guess. This car has 200k miles on it. I know Hondas "run forever" but I want to help it out. I'm all about conserving, and i want this car to be running like it's in it's prime, or as reasonably close as i can expect to get without spending more than a few grand (over a period of time, cuz I'm just a broke student).

What I would like is if some people who have experience could tell me what might be a good starting place to begin the quasi restoration process. I would like to get stock parts as much as possible to begin with. Not necessarily looking to supe it up, I just want to be able to, say, drive to California from Indiana and not have a problem.

So I what I want to know is where I should start. What are the cheaper easier things that will get the ball rolling for me? I'm a very motivated person, and I'm not looking for a tutor or someone to tell me step by step. I'm simply looking for someone with experience to show me a few doors and I'll be more than happy to walk through em.

Thank you very much!!!!

~Dibz

 

To begin I would get a nice ~150 piece Craftsman tool set from Sears. It will provide most of the tools you need and you can keep buying more when the need arises.

First and foremost try and figure out if any maintenance has been done to the car. Do a basic tune up like oil change, transmission fluid (use Honda MTF), air filter, spark plugs, distributor cap & rotor, valve cover gasket and spark plug wires.

That is all very basic stuff that should get you started on being your own mechanic. I would really recommend the transmission fluid change, you have no idea how much smoother your gears will be!

 

Whe was the T belt done? Also check the susp. very close

 

X2 on the suggestions given.

Do you have any service records? If not assume everything is due. Especially the t-belt, honda says 7yr or 100K miles so being at 200K you could be due. Might not be the the first learning experience you want to do. If the belt breaks, major damage can/will be done.

Don't forget the other fluids- brake, PS and coolant.

I would add that a good jack and jack stands should be on the list - NEVER get under a car without proper safety.

BTW - I still refer to the manual(s) when I do something so I don't forget anything...plus with as many Honda's that I work on, I get confused on which one takes what (spec's and that)......so please continue to refer to manuals.

 

Are you positive you have a 6cyl? There was no 5spd manual or 5spd automatic transmission in any 95-97 Accord V6.