Howdy. I came in here from a search regarding tranny stuff on the 4th gen accords, but figured i'd ask the folks that know the best about this honda.

I'm looking to buy this 91 Accord LX Auto. I need something reliable and cheap that can make at least a monthly 750 mile round trip drive.

The only problem i found thus far is (sadly) the tranny. But i don't know what to think:

it's an AT with the Sport shift option. in first, it'll run up to about 3000-3500 rpms before shifting, regardless of throttle position. all other shifts seem fine. I've read about the "positive shift" thing, and i'm also reading about the fluid changes. i don't know the service history of this vehicle. The sister of the owner is selling it (fiancee of a friend, so i trust her).

here's the specs:
1991 Accord LX 4dr Auto
PW/PL (power to locks don't work)
AC (can't tell if it's cold though)
174,000 miles (this scares me)

$1500

think that's a fair price? What else should i look for other than the tranny? CV Joints i'll check out in the morning. i have the car all week.

Thanks!
hac

 

Sounds pretty good to me, even if you get just a few years out of it. Say you get it to go to 210,000, that is 48 months or 4 years at 750 miles a month.

 

what about the tranny? should i worry or just service it?

 

well if u drive it normaly it should shift about about
1 gear >>> 2700rpm
2 gear >>> 2800rpm
this is on normal driving conditions.
then u should do another test
pull a little hard. make sure the tranny shifts over the 3500rpm on first second and third gears. if u see any jump between these gears then the tranny is going bad.

check the tranny fluid. smell it. if it smells bad then the tranny its on his way down.
but the tranny is the easy part to change in the car.
make sure the engine runs good and doesn't burn any oil. get a compresion test and check for oil leaks around the engine. check the crank shaft pulley.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by hacman &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">174,000 miles (this scares me)

</TD></TR></TABLE>

Why does that scare you? Do you own a domestic or something????

I have 248k on my 91 Accord and in two weeks, I'm taking it on a 1500 mile round trip vacation. I have no worries.

175 is a baby....there's a guy on this board with over 340k on his accord and it's still running perfectly....

 

most of them are high way driven.
my engine on my accord died at 140k and the tranny died at 145k. i had to swap both of them.
that is why the guy is scared.

 

exactly alb...

i've never owned a car with that high of mileage. that's why i'm a tad worried

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by alb_accord &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">most of them are high way driven.
my engine on my accord died at 140k and the tranny died at 145k. i had to swap both of them.
that is why the guy is scared.</TD></TR></TABLE>

Your car was obviously not properly maintained...most of my miles are highway miles as well...it runs like a champ....why? Because it was properly maintained. You can't abuse a car and expect it to treat you well...

 

that's another worry of mine. 175,000 miles, no idea of the maintenance history. ;(

also, i noticed a small puddle of oil under the car. it had sat there since march though.

and timing belt? my school of thought with those was with a mazda i owned years ago, and we replaced that at 60,000 i think.

 

findings:

okay, the shop downstairs found that oil is leaking (was 3/4 quart low)
tranny fluid leaking (was 3 quarts low)
brake fluid was a little low but no visible leaks
exhaust needs to be replaced from the cat back
bushings here and there
a motor mount was a little tweaked somewhere

as for the drive afterwards, on normal condition, tranny shifted from 1 to 2 at 3200. 2-3 at 2800

heavy accel - 1-2 was 4200 or so
2-3 was 3800 or so

shop didn't notice anything with the tranny fluid about smell. tech said it's a good deal, and as long as i watch the fluids i'll be fine.

thoughts?

 

3 quarts low on tranny fluid eh? I don't know about Accords, but my Integra holds 2.5 quarts of tranny fluid...sounds like it was almost dry.

 

The shift problem COULD be the throttle cable has been tightened to bump up idle and that will mess up the trans pressure cable setting that goes to the transmission pressure lever from the throttle body

 

well dude my car was clean as hell. the car was maintaned. and it was owned only by two people before me. the last one was a woman. she bought the car at the same place where she took it bac after 6 years.

my problem was that it keept braking the exaust vavle on #1 piston. it did it 3 times. which means the bottom of that #1 piston probably was big time fucked.

now my first accord that was a different story. that one lasted forever.


by the way. first gear shifting at 3200 rpm that is bad man. that should shift at 2700rpm. so probably something wrong with the tranny(personal experience)

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by alb_accord &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">by the way. first gear shifting at 3200 rpm that is bad man. that should shift at 2700rpm. so probably something wrong with the tranny(personal experience)
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It depends on throttle position.

 

[QUOTE=alb_accord]well dude my car was clean as hell. the car was maintaned. and it was owned only by two people before me. the last one was a woman. she bought the car at the same place where she took it bac after 6 years.

nuff said....just kidding