This was just listed, no price yet. 185k miles, standard transmission (what I want). I know this 2.3L engine has a timing belt. How is the engine's reputation in general? Being Honda I'd expect better than average. I realize with a 20 year old vehicle there are other concerns - just age alone for metal and rubber components. Also considering a '98 CRV. I know those 2.0L engines require periodic valve adjustments, don't know if that's also the case with the 2.3L.

As much as I'd love the CRV the other concern is how it's geared - I've heard at highway speeds the engine is well over 3k rpm. If it's not obtrusive then I'd be fine with it, I know the engines are designed to run at high rpms. Although fuel economy is not a huge concern, I've seen reports averaging only in the low to mid 20s for the CRV, while the Accord is a few MPGs better. I'd expect the 5 speed manual Accord would be running at a more relaxed rpm at 65 mph.

 

Those 6th Generation Accords were (and still are) quite popular. I think it was the best-selling Accord generation of them all. I think the coupe is one of the coolest designs Honda ever drew up. Mechanically, I don't recall reading anything bad about them. I think there was a TSB about a multiplexer that loses contact and must be awakened with an odd sequence of key and accessory clicks,, but, once done, the fix stays. If the one you are looking at has been cared for, you should be good. It's good that the timing belt has been done. Nearly all Accords in those days needed the valve clearances adjusted, but I am not familiar with how important it was with the 1998.

That car would be prone to the soot buildup in the EGR rail, but I think Honda had made it far easier to clean that out on that generation than the prior ones. Make sure the tires and brakes, radiator, etc., are good, and that the AC works right. If you have a really willing owner, do a compression test on the cylinders to be sure. But if the owner has service records on the car, and you drive it and can tell that the power band is good all the way through the gears, you will know the engine is in good shape. Look for leaks under where it is sitting, and identify what is leaking. A test drive with a combo of urban and suburban traffic is always my preference.

Good luck.

 

I drive a 98 accord, 4 speed automatic and get approx 400 miles freeway on one tank of gas. Averages city 300-350 just depends on how bad the traffic is.

 

Thanks. Today they listed the price, I was expecting maybe $2600 or so, but - it's $1499. I'm thinking there's gotta be something wrong with it for that price. I think the 98s still look great - I like form follows function. Toyotas have been notorious lately for overstyling IMO. I may inquire about the vehicle without outright asking - why so cheap? In this area that's a very low (almost suspiciously) price.

 

Good to know. That's excellent fuel economy by my standards. That's another attribute of the Accord that I like - a relatively large (17 gallon?) fuel tank for the size car.

 

Now I know the reason for the low price - the car has no paint! Just primer. They're going to paint it, post photos and of course raise the price.

 

Make sure you check the subframe in front of the firewall, passenger side. This generation had an A/C drain spigot positioned there and are notorious for rusting through at this location.

 

Today I put a down payment on a 1999 5MT Accord EX. I checked (hopefully thoroughly) around the firewall where the A/C drain spigot is and didn't see anything unusual. This manual transmission shifted the way I remembered all of my Hondas did, very well. At 65 mph the engine was at a very reasonable ~2500 rpm. A few weeks ago drove a 2002 Toyota Camry 5MT. This Honda was much smoother to shift and drive. The Toyota had a slipping clutch which added to the unfavorable experience. I suppose (of course for a higher price) a 2003 + would be a better choice given the timing chain instead of a belt, but to find any Honda Accord with a manual transmission is very difficult around here. I know if I didn't buy this someone else likely would soon. I've seen several on the popular vehicle websites come and go.

 

Not a bad price..65 mph at 2500 rpm..thats why i love my 2012 civic..at 75 im doing 1800

 

Wow - you must get excellent fuel economy. Surprised at that gearing, sounds like a transmission for a V8.

 

Clearly your 2012 Civic has an autotragic transmission.

 

I've been driving manual transmissions for over 40 years, but I wonder what the owner's manual means by "Normal acceleration" and "Cruise from acceleration". I would tend to use the "Cruise from" shift points. I couldn't find an online manual to download, only an online version. The car does have the actual manual, but it would be nice to have a full .pdf of it. Due to the technology of the era it appears each page was scanned.

 

My wife and I have both been driving manual transmission equipped cars for over 40 years, and between the two of us we've had something like fifteen cars so equipped and not one of them had an Owner's Manual which adequately described how/when to shift the transmissions.

 

True! It's just second nature to us I suppose. The "Cruise from" shift points were at a lower rpm. Those that are experienced like us just shift when it feels right.

Every once in a while I'll see a story where a car is attempted to be stolen by a younger generation - then the thieves realize the car is a standard and get out and run. Not all kids are inexperienced - the kid at the dealership who runs it with his dad has a couple manual transmission cars and prefers them.

 

Yeah, back in 2009, a couple of years before our son was going to get his driver's license, I bought a fairly bargain basement new Mazda3 TVE with a 5-Speed for my son to learn on. He was the only kid in his driver's education class able to drive a stick. He has since had nine cars, all of them stick.

 

That's cool your son is one of a few that can drive a stick, and stuck to a stick! Back in my day in high school (cave-man days, early to mid 70s) the unusual kid was the one with the pickup truck - and it was probably a standard. Another car I was going to look at in fact was a 2007 Mazda3 with a 5 speed. Looked like a good car, priced right. Then the 1999 Accord came up and I thought I should move on it. Seems like the Mazda3s with standards come up more often. I do like that the Accord is a bit larger than the Mazda.

 

My son is a equal opportunity stick driver, of his nine vehicles, he's had three pickups (his current truck is a 1997 Chevy K2500 with a juicy 5.7 and a 5-Speed), two Miatas (the second of which he did a Flyin' Miata turbo build), and now has a brand new Fiesta ST.

 

best is 43mpg..i just drove from Chattanooga Tennessee to Myrtle Beach South Carolina on one tank...499..

 

Excellent - what's amazing is he has a full size pickup truck with a standard. I'd love to have that K2500! Full size pickups with a manaul are so hard to find. I tried - ended up with a 2002 Chevy Silverado 1500 with the 5.3 V8 and of course 4 speed auto. I gotta admit that combination is a good one, returns surprisingly good mpg for a V8 truck. When I was looking at a max price of $4,000 I was surprised to see a couple manual transmission Ford Fiestas. Looks like a fun car.

The 1999 Accord I bought would have been great to have yesterday (hope to get it in a few days) driving to the Woodstock fair on the hilly rural roads of Connecticut. That's where a manual transmission really shines.

 

I own a 97 accord, best car I've ever owned. I recently did a motor and tranny swap, due to the fact that after driving 426,000 with no problems ever, it blew the timing belt while I was on the freeway.. So I towed it home found another car that was in a fender bender but airbags deployed so it was at a wrecking yard motor had only 168000 miles on it. Got it for 300.00 (just bought the whole car). Got it home and redid my entire car interor, and motor and tranny so its really a new car.. I Swapped tranny from auto to manual. it's been on the road now for 6 months and doing great. I highly recommend this generation Honda. It's been an amazing car.. Secret to my success with it going 426, 000..regular oil changes. I do it every 3500 miles and just love her unconditionally..

 

Wow - that mileage is amazing to say the least! That was a great price for a Honda with only 168,000 on it even if it was in an accident. The '99 I bought has 169 something thousand. Your entire project sounds like quite a huge job - and on top of that changing the car to a manual! I really love driving my manual 1999. I'll keep in mind oil changes are a key factor to longevity.

 

Shipo,

"Auto tragic" very funny! I'll have to copy that.

Stelcom66,

I am almost ready to go for a manual tranny 98 to '02 Accord. I love my '02 Accord but I really miss a manual transmission. I probably should just let my Accord go and find one with a manual I like but I want to get 250K miles out of mine and she's still doing great at 181K right now.

Manuals are still crazy popular in Europe and Asia but there people aren't as fat (lazy) as they are here. That's the main reason (I assume) of the US manual tranny demise. Manuals offer so much more in terms of fun, reliability, and versatility there is no reason to even consider an auto (auto tragic LOL) unless one mainly did bumper-to-bumper city driving.

When I was young I wanted to change my 6 cylinder, 3 speed on the column (manual) truck over to a V8 and 4 speed in the floor (manual). Now that I am older I have no plans at all to change her over unless the engine goes out and then I want the larger 292 6-cylinder. My next car will be a manual if I can help it and hopefully it's a 1998 to 2002 Accord.

Speaking of mileage, my 2002 4-cylinder Accord will get about 350 miles per tank of city and highway miles (which is what a normal tank-full of driving is for me). On purely the highway, I can easily see 34 mpg but my best has been 39 mpg. Unless I am in a hurry I cruise at 55 mph and I stay in the slow lane. I've been doing this since 2006 and at that speed both my Civic saw and Accord sees a 25% increase in mileage. That speed allows for better stopping times and is more relaxing as there is less stress (purely subjective). That speed has saved my life once also as I hit a black bear in the Accord! At 55 mph and at 9:30 at night I was able to see the bear and slow down to perhaps 30 mph or less before impact, which only resulted in a $1,600 dollars of damage (mainly hood, bumper cover, and one headlight). The lady in the Chevy Traverse, following me, going much faster (70 mph plus) and not paying nearly as much attention destroyed her vehicle, knocked herself out, killed the bear, and nearly killed herself. Her Traverse left on a roll back as I drove my car home, not seeing a body shop until three months later and being driven every day until then.

No doubt I will get the "I can't drive 55" from someone on this forum and some people are fanatical about driving as fast as they can but I've been driving this way since 2006, and I am yet to have a problem other than drivers who cannot look ahead beyond 2 car lengths and end up stuck behind me when they had many minutes to pass but weren't able to look ahead at how fast cars in front of them were going. *Worst was a trucker that got ticked and tried to run me off the road. I was ready for it, braked, let him come on over into my lane, and then I was nice enough to contact state police who responded by really making his day worse when he ended up in the back seat of a state police cruiser. And yes, I've seen the movie "Duel" many times.

 

Slow&Steady - good choice installing a manual transmission in your 2002! Not only more enjoyable to drive IMO - the EPA rates manuals as getting slightly better mpg. Nice you're getting better than the EPA's rating on 28mpg for highway. One nice thing about the auto transmission is I believe the overall final drive is slightly lower (numerically) resulting in less rpm than the manual. For the first time since buying my Accord I filled the tank after the initial fill up, calculating the mileage. I had less than 1/8 of a tank left and 384 miles with maybe 20-25% highway driving. Came out to 27mpg. Seems like the EPA ratings are on the conservative side. It's so nice having the relatively large tank (about 17 gallons) for the size car.

Yes the faster you go, the less fuel economy. Wow - good thing you were going slow enough to see the bear! Sounds like the lady literally didn't know what hit her - or vice versa. I hate when I'm doing 65 in the extreme right lane and someone is close to my bumper.

Is your auto transmission running fine? Sounds like the truck you're referring to is a Chevy C-10 maybe, or GMC - the standard 6 years ago was a 235cid, then the 250cid. Or was the 292 Ford's engine before the 300cid 6? If I had that truck I'd keep it a 6 also. Wish I could have found a manual transmission 4x4 6 cylinder truck, they're extremely rare, About 6 months ago got a 2002 Chevy Silverado with the 5.3V8, of course with a 4 speed auto. But - that year the EPA rates autos for that truck getting better mileage than manuals. That 4 speed auto works well with the truck though. Never drove an automatic Honda 4 speed. The Pilot I had for about a year was a 5 speed auto, Traded it in for the truck, Honestly the Honda Pilot got the about the same mileage as this truck, around town averaging about 14.7 mpg.

 

Stelcom66,

*Good job guessing the truck. Dad bought it new off the lot for $2300.00. 1972 Chevy Custom 10, 250 I6, 3OTT, stepside with spare tire on side. He gave it to me in 1994 for never drinking, smoking, using drugs, or dipping snuff at least until I was 21. That was our deal. I also received an all-matching vet bringback Walther P38. *I still don't do those things (never even tried pot) although I binge drink on rare occasion if out with friends I can trust to keep me out of jail.

Oh no, I wish I had the mechanical ability to put a manual into my car! *And I'd pay a member to do so for me if I could help and learn something. I'll just keep my eyes open and try to buy an Accord that is a factory manual.

About the bear. It was 9:30 PM in November of 2015. I was returning to WV from MD with my 1972 Chevy truck's outer grill having had it media blasted and shined up at a metal working place in New Kinsington, MD. I saw something moving in the dark outside the range of my headlights. I immediately applied brakes but there was no "going around it" as it kept moving side to side, off the road, and back across the west-bound lanes. At close range I see it's a bear! I thought "OMGosh! OK, OK, I think I have time to fully stop"....BOOM...I hit it. I immediately swore as I loved my car and feared she was toast.

I had to have been braking for several seconds before I pulled over although I was slow enough by impact to pull over immediately after. The bear mainly rolled up onto the hood as the front of the car was pitched downwards under heavy braking. The bear (she) shot forward in the slow lane outside headlight range.

I was stopped on the side of the interstate for perhaps 2 seconds and then I HEARD AN EXPLOSION.

I was CONVINCED I had been rear-ended although that made no sense: how could I have been hit when I suffered no injury and neither did the back of the car? Also, 15 feet behind me lay a black bear lying down! I thought "where did it come from? I saw the bear shoot away from me!"

*This shows the effect of adrenaline on the though process. Although evidence did not support my version of what happened, I was convinced I had been hit by a driver that left the scene, and that was what I initially reported to 911. I checked for fluid leaks----I had none---while keeping an eye out for the bear. It was still breathing and I was armed but I didn't want to have to kill a bear I didn't think was hurt enough to need it. (She was grievously wounded, actually).

Two men walked back to me, explaining an SUV had hit a bear just after I pulled over. Now the rub. The SUV had driven so far away, I couldn't see her! She had been following me, going much faster, and NEVER SAW MY BRAKE LIGHTS. Had I actually been able to stop (as I was trying to) SHE WOULD HAVE RE-ENDED ME IN A CHEVY TRAVERSE AT 70 MPH OR MORE. She'd have killed me.

I got to her (300 feet away walk or more) and she did not have on a seat belt. All air bags had gone off, all side bags also, and she had groceries strewn all over. She was hyperventilating and vomited on herself. She was conscious but not coherent. I called 911 again, requesting EMS and fire, plus wrecker. In the end, 4 police cars, 2 fire trucks, an ambulance, two wreckers (one a roll back), and two pickup trucks of fire fighters arrived on scene.

A policeman ended up shooting the bear with an AR 15 (after he asked me if he should) and I made a statement to the first responding officer.

The SUV had front-end damage to driver's side, bear fur between wheels and tire, damage and feces all down driver's side, full airbag deployment. The lady refused to go in the ambulance as her husband came to take her home. Before I left though, her daughter brought me to her for her to ask "what happened." I told her husband, "sir, you need to reconsider taking your wife to the emergency room" as I feared a concussion. Given her state of mind when I got to her and how far away she had driven since the impact, I suspect she didn't have her seatbelt on and the airbag had knocked her out momentarily.

Now the real crazy: I have had full coverage on that car since I got it in 2009. My hood and bumper cover had damage and for $100.00 out of pocket, I ended up with a NOS hood since the insurance wanted to use an aftermarket hood. So I ended up getting my front end fixed up for only $100.00, which was great since I was saving up to have it repainted anyway. I'm sorry the bear had to die though, if only I had hit her she'd have shrugged it off.

***
My Accord auto tranny seems to be holding up although I have decided to change tranny fluid every 30K miles starting next summer. My dad's 2005 GMC truck is a 5 cylinder 4x4 but the engine is too weak for towing much. I know old trucks like mine come up for sale on Craigslist.com and you could join www.67-72chevytrucks.com to find one there. I kinda wish my truck was a LWB and 4x4 also.

 

Now I see - you were looking for a manual trans. Accord around the same year as yours. Not a crazy thing to do - years ago I traded in my 2002 automatic Subaru Outback for the same year manual Subaru Forester. Had to give them cash also since the Forester had lower miles.

My sister and brother in law live in a remote rural area - she always tells guests departing to watch out for deer. Add to that now a days bear. There have been almost routine photos and videos sent into the local TV stations that make it on the air or on the website. Good thing you were paying attention - slowing down as much as you were. Sounds like the lady was almost or completely oblivious to the bear's presence. I wish bears were more fearful of vehicle noises/lights.

Sounds like you father's truck is a Canyon. My neighbor who passed away at age 98 2 years ago had a '72 Chevy C-10, 350V8 - or maybe a 307, 4 speed manual on the floor. It was finally sold about a year ago. I drove it once - his daughter was there and needed to move it, she couldn't drive a standard. She said it was Ok to drive around the block. Started in 1st - barely moved! Then I realized it was like the school buses,
back in the 60s, normally starting in 2nd.