I'm looking at a few Accords, a few 86's, 89, and a 90. I'm not familiar with these cars at all. What motor's should I look for that are good and what ones aren't? Did the accords come with the same motors as the preludes? Either way, could someone let me know as I'll be calling around tomorrow to see. Thanks in advance!

 

any particular reason you are looking at those years?

 

with the 86 and 89, it's no so much the motor as the trim level. Find an LX-i and your getting fuel injection...superior to carbs.

 

I'm looking at those years, cuz they are the ones that are for sale around me. I'm not saying those years only, just those are the ones that are around me....

Yes I will check out the trim level to make sure they are fuel injected

 

As far as reliablility, 3rd gen really can't be beat ('86-89). The A20A1/A20A3 engine is totally bulletproof, and will run forever and then some. I have 2, one with 325k and one with 151k and both run like new, literally. I too recommend finding an LX-i/SE-i (fuel injection), cuz the carbs can be kinda finnecky sometimes, and also have less HP and torque. 88-89 EFI have the most HP and torque of all 3rd gens (120/122).

My $.02

 

By no means do i consider the accord to be a high performance car. It's a family sedan, and that's what it's really good at.

The 3g's that are still on the road will last about a half million. There are lots in the junkyard though. I really dislike working on my friend's 3g because of the caruberator's complexity. I think that the ones that made it this far will make it a long way. 4g's (90+) however... you don't see them in the junkyard as often. They're a totally new design as compared to the 3g's. The engine in that car was used till about 2002 as far as I know. (f20, 22, 23 series). Your performance options with a 4g is far greater than a 3g because performance motors to just a few years ago will still fit in a 4g car with little to no modification.

I think overall the 4g's are more reliable, but the 3g's that are still on the road now are super-reliable... because the ones that haven't been taken care of are already in the junkyard.

If you want a car thats really cheap and reliable, then get the 3g. It's light and nimble compared to the 4g but there are few performance options available. (yes, ive seen the 3g turbo'ed accord, 3geez.com, but thats alot of fab work compared to a 4g's options).

I prefer the 4g because it offers more interior space, has more of a modern design, available with safety features such as abs and airbags, it has no fancy honda 3 barrel carbuerator, more performance orientated parts available, wide support, and reliability. It's also more stable at the high speeds imo.